Our mothers are both 70-something. They both wore shoulder-padded silk blouses to their full-time jobs in the 80s; they’re both skeptical of salt that is not iodized and turkeys that are heritage; and both made it clear when we were growing up that family dinner – which, yes, was centered on an old-school Italian repertoire, and supplemented by a little… Read more »
Here on the East Coast, it’s cooooold. Which means I’m guessing a lot of Valentine’s Day feasts are going to take place within the four walls of your own kitchens. Cold snap or not, you know I am a big believer in staying home on a night when all my favorite restaurant chefs seem to be lobotomized into thinking that… Read more »
What we’re reading and eating this week: Imagine living in this house? Cooking in that kitchen! (Yes, that’s Jens Risom and yes this is an old link that says he’s 97, so he must be near 100 now.) I agree with Dana Goodyear: I think the backlash against Mast Brothers is not really about being suckered into paying nine bucks for sub-par chocolate…. Read more »
Meet Pablo. He’s lived in our house for so long that I forget most of you probably know him already as the beloved bow-tied ringleader of The Backyardigans. When Phoebe was little, she and her sister were obsessed with the show, about five friends seeking out imaginary adventures in their backyard, breaking into song and dance routines as they do… Read more »
A lot of you checked in with me via instagram or email to see how we fared with our Big Blizzard Bo Ssam Dinner, and my answer is…well let’s just say I wouldn’t be too upset if the forecast called for another two feet of snow this weekend. It wasn’t our first attempt making Bo Ssam — Momofuku’s famous sweet,… Read more »
On the line-up next week: Simple Fish Cakes with Peas and Mint What I Wish I Could Change About My Children I’m a huge fan of Flat Vernacular wallpaper, and was thrilled to see they’ve entered the adult coloring book fray Is your child the next Food Network Star? Chopped Junior is casting! How to make Babka from NYC’s Sadelle’s Confessions of a… Read more »
Am I the only one who finds it really irritating that New Year’s and all its attendant cayenne-spiked-lemon-water dieting resolutions happen to fall right in the dead of winter…precisely when the weather is demanding you soothe yourself every night with stewy braised meats over creamy polentas or potatoes? Polished off with the brownies that your kids made earlier that afternoon… Read more »
“We’re looking at a pretty dire situation here,” I texted Andy. It was about 5:30 on a Thursday and one of his coworkers was coming for dinner an hour and a half later. The situation in question was the dinner itself. Ever since reading about Diana Kennedy’s famous Carnitas in Genius Recipes, I’d been meaning to try out the recipe,… Read more »
Let’s take a look at that holiday list, shall we? Organize Christmas menu, make sure you have enough place settings for holiday dinner, trim the tree, make the latkes, pick up cloth napkins to replace dirty old stained ones, figure out gifts for Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother, Uncle, Cousin, Daughter, Son, Teacher…wow that’s a lot of people!? Feeling overwhelmed? OK,… Read more »
What we’re reading and eating this week: How Ample Hills, a true mom-and-pop ice cream shop, landed an endorsement deal with freaking Star Wars! (Not to mix movie metaphors but…If You Build it They Will Come) Baked potato latkes or shredded potato latkes? I don’t need a whole lot of convincing one way or the other. At one point last week, Phoebe, Abby,… Read more »
When you finished Catcher in the Rye as a teenager, did you feel like someone finally understood your misunderstood self…OR were you captivated by Holden Caulfield’s go-to restaurant order: “a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk?” When you read (or saw) Silence of the Lambs, were you amused by Hannibal Lecter’s famous line — “I ate his liver with some… Read more »
Since we became parents, we’ve kept a running list unofficially titled: Things That Sound Like Fun with Kids, But Are Actually Not at All.* Parades fall into this category. Street fairs. Any event with the words “Harvest Fest” in its name. Beach day-trips made a brief appearance on the list, when Phoebe was four months old and we decided it… Read more »
What we’re reading and eating (and dreaming of) this week: A very special exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt! (God forbid any Pixar news goes un-reported on this blog.) We drizzled Sean Brock’s Homemade Barbecue Sauce on ribs last weekend and now we want to drizzle it on everything. In defense of Moms on Their Phones. (I totally narrate, do you?) Ruth Reichl’s refrigerator door. (Uh,… Read more »
When Andy and I first moved in together a hundred years ago, there was definitely an adjustment period. What was up with him leaving wet towels on the bed post? Why did he knock his razor against the sink in the exact same rat-a-tat rhythm every time he shaved? And did the Yankees have to be on every single night,… Read more »
As our kids head into their last week of school, teacher thank-you notes in tow, it got us thinking: What about our teachers in the kitchen? What about all the little voices that instruct us as we whip our cream, brown our chops… and overcook our dry-aged ribeyes? I’m not only talking about the Marcellas and the Julias and the Bittmans,… Read more »
Over the past few months I’ve been cooking more than usual thanks to an assignment I got back in January: Write about the best spring cookbooks for The Book Review. I got to expand my reach a little here — in addition to the quick-and-easy family dinner fare you’re used to seeing on these pages, I tried out vegan brownies… Read more »
I’ve always been into podcasts — or maybe the better way to say it is that I’ve always been into the archived radio shows on NPR, which keep me company in all manner of situations, particularly in the most suburban of situations known as Waiting for Practice to End. But lately I’ve been way more into podcasts than ever before. Why?… Read more »
Is one of these too much to ask for when I wake up on Sunday? What to eat when you’re pregnant. If I am to believe everything I read, the Spiralizer might just be the way to world peace? (Certainly zucchini pasta with fava bean pesto and grilled shrimp is reason enough to purchase.) Those long stretches I sit in the car… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
