I know what you’re thinking. School’s out! No more reviews! No more refresher courses! No more finals! (Oh wait, those are my childrens’ cries.) But I figured I’d remind everyone of a few crucial salad-making rules and regulations now that it’s late June and we have at least three months of glorious farm-market freshness ahead of us… Number 1. Homemade… Read more »
The drill-down on my cookbook round-up continues as I present to you Vietnamese Tofu Salad, this year’s recipient of Recipe Most Likely to Join the DALS Rotation, and one of the many dishes I’ve made from Ilene Rosen’s Saladish that have slayed, as the kids say. (Do the kids even say that anymore?) As I mentioned in my official review,… Read more »
Happy Grilling Season Everybody! Quick Public Service Announcement to those book owners out there looking for some good Memorial Day menu ideas. We were lucky enough to be invited to a cookout on Monday, but if I was grilling, I’d feel good about any one of these line-ups. (Your key: DALS = Dinner: A Love Story; HTCE = How to Celebrate Everything; DPB =… Read more »
. When I was a kid, my family had an account at the local bookstore, a privilege I don’t remember enjoying anywhere else in town. I felt so cool stopping in, picking up the latest V.C. Andrews novel, then then telling whoever was working behind the counter, Just charge it to “Rosenstrach.” I never felt guilty piling two or three… Read more »
. I was so happy when Short Stack Editions reached out to me a few weeks ago to see if I wanted to check out their latest volume, Cucumbers. For starters, their single-ingredient, expertly-designed booklets never fail to deliver on the recipe MVP front. (I’m guessing there are a good number of people reading this who have made Pasta Con Ceci — pulled… Read more »
I’m pleased to announce that, as of Monday, my annual cookbook round-up for the Times Book Review is live and ready for your reading pleasure. As you know, I always love this assignment, not only because I get to pore over beautiful books all spring, but because it really forces me to cook outside my comfort zone, to seek out new… Read more »
For the last few weeks, when dinnertime rolls around I haven’t found myself where I like to be the most, namely sitting around a table with my family, downloading the day’s events over a plate of something quick and fresh. Instead, I’m sitting in a parking lot or on bleachers or walking around a track waiting for a practice to… Read more »
My father’s mother, Grandma Tillie, didn’t attend my parents’ wedding. She was Jewish, raised in an Orthodox household by parents who had been born in a Romanian shtetl—and her oldest son marrying a Presbyterian from western Pennsylvania had not exactly been her idea of kosher. Naturally, her wedding-day protest weighed heavily on my father, but once my parents tied the… Read more »
Once, back in the days when I used to assemble after school snack platters, I presented my go-to dutiful little display of apples and peanut butter and set it on the table before the girls. Phoebe grabbed one or two but Abby stood up and started scanning the pantry. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “You don’t like apples and peanut… Read more »
In a few weeks, I will press “Publish” on my one-thousandth post for this blog. ONE THOUSAND. That’s a lot of words, a lot of years, and wow it’s a lot of recipes. It probably explains why I might look a little blank when I run into friends who tell me “I loved that pork chop with kale recipe“ or… Read more »
Back in the fall, Christina Chaey, an editor at Bon Appetit presented me with a challenge: How would you stretch $30 at Whole Foods into five family dinners? My first reaction: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Can’t be done. (Whole Paycheck anyone?) My second: You know…this kind of use-it-or-lose-it exercise is always useful, no matter where I’m shopping. Plus, I had just returned from… Read more »
THE ROUND-UP: Currently coveting: The Eva Solo Grating Bucket. (If only not so $$$$!) Teacher of the year. (I’ve probably watched this fifty times.) The smart folks at Bon Appetit have launched a new website called Healthyish, devoted to people who want to eat well without deprivation. (Aka, uh, everybody?) Check it out or follow them on instagram. A dozen Five-Ingredient Dinners. This cracked me up…. Read more »
Lest I miss out on all of the Year-in-Review fun that everyone seems to be having as we wrap up yet another one, I thought I’d try something a little radical: Present all the dinners I cooked in 2016, as recorded in my Dinner Diary. I know: Super exciting! But the headlines this year were so boring and business-as-usual, so what… Read more »
Welcome to our annual guide for everything we want, covet, crave, and, yes need this holiday. (I don’t know about you, but in my world, little tiny spoons qualify as essential.) As always, the round-up was compiled with cooks, eaters, readers, kids, and parents in mind, and as always, there are lots of free little treats and discounts for YOU sprinkled throughout, so… Read more »
I have been waiting so long to write these words: Catherine Newman, of Ben & Birdy fame, of Catastrophic Hapiness fame, is the author of this week’s guest-post on family rituals. I’m not sure there is any tradition that embodies the concept of my new book more than her Yay, It’s Wednesday Cake. I’ll let her tell you all about… Read more »
In accordance with the Louis CK mantra of “It’s hard to be sad and useful at the same time,” I decided that instead of mourning summer’s end, I’d channel my woes* into something productive, namely, a Weekly Meal Plan that should help you get back into the lunch-making, shoe-tying, carpool-dreading, form-signing (form-forgetting?) crazy-making back-to-school routine. The line-up is below — as usual,… Read more »
Who: The Family DALS What: Dumpling Dinner When: Wednesday Early Evening, Day 4 of a 6-Day, 90-Plus Degree Heat Wave Where: Somewhere in Suburban New York Why: Try them 6:30 I guess I should think about dinner. 6:31 Open fridge. Summer spinach, almost wilted, staring at me. Quick scan reveals heel of cabbage, bag of organic (yet still tasteless) shredded… Read more »
A few weeks ago, under the category of “Nice Work if You Can Get it,” I was tasked with tracking down the best cookbooks of the spring for the Times. Those of you who made your way through that round-up (bless you, it was a lot), might remember one of the stand-outs: Tasting Rome, by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill,… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
