Posts Tagged: popular

Vacation Highlight Reel: Death Valley

Over holiday break, we traveled to Death Valley National Park in California. Why, You might ask, if you are like everyone else we know? To be honest, even though it’s a place that’s always fascinated us (IT’S CALLED DEATH VALLEY) we ended up there mostly because we were late with the planning, and the flights to Las Vegas (the closest… Read more »

Reading What Your Kids Are Reading

Remember that heartbreaking scene in Catcher in the Rye when Holden drops the record he bought for his little sister and it shatters into a million pieces? Or when Sylvia says she can no longer be with Dorian Gray because their love is interfering with her art? Or the deeply sad ending to Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men? Wait, what,… Read more »

Concessions of a Vegetarian Cook

I’ve been pretty good about sticking to the Weekday Vegetarian plan ever since issuing the official decree in our house back in October. What’s been surprising is that the girls have been great too, even though I have all sorts of plans in place (including a bag of drumsticks frozen individually in their marinade) to supplement their meals when I… Read more »

A Simple Cake

Odette Williams’s Simple Cake arrived on my doorstep the day before Phoebe’s birthday, but something tells me even if it was a random Tuesday in the middle of the night, this book would’ve given me no choice but to beeline for the kitchen to bake a cake, like the one you are looking at above: What she calls Chocolatey Chocolate Cake… Read more »

The Big Trip: Sicily

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that for the past few years, right around this time in January — just after the holidays, when the cold is burrowing deep into our bones and our next vacation feels far far away — is when we sit at the kitchen table, four laptops open to google maps, calendars, camp websites and Orbitz,… Read more »

Abby’s Chocolate Cheesecake

A few weeks ago, Joanna over at Cup of Jo asked me for some lessons on parenting teenagers. It just so happened I was in the middle of a rough patch and the best I could do without compromising anyone’s privacy was report that I was constantly being reminded of a quote from my friend whose kids have long since left the… Read more »

Weeknight Sushi Bowls

Last Thursday, I posted the above photo on instagram stories and it almost blew up my phone. Not the actual photo, but the messages people sent in reaction. The one that sums it up the best is perhaps this: Sushi on a weeknight? I can’t decide if I really love you or really hate you right now.  I’m writing to make sure… Read more »

Weeknight Hero: Panko-Crusted Roast Chicken

As I hand over this genius weeknight recipe, it’s hard not to think of my earliest magazine editor days, when I was expected to constantly pitch story ideas — food and otherwise — to my boss in the dreaded weekly “beat meetings.” I was just starting out and operated under the assumption that anything that was interesting to me was… Read more »

Shalane Flanagan’s Superhero Muffins

. Guess what I did when I saw Shalane Flanagan, the first American woman to win the New York City marathon in 40 years, cross the finish line yesterday? Well, if we’re being truthful about it, I teared up a bit, because Flanagan was crying, and is there anything better than watching a professional athlete accomplish something seemingly superhuman in… Read more »

Vacation Highlight Reel: Hawaii

.. Where do I even begin with this post? A little over a week ago we returned from a family vacation we won’t forget any time soon: Twelve days in Hawaii. The trip had been something we’d all been fantasizing about for, well, on my end, maybe my whole life. (Or at least ever since I watched the Brady sisters… Read more »

Gin & Tonics: The DALS Way

Last Friday, Andy returned home from work, loosened his tie a bit, and staggered into the kitchen. It had been a long week for him and if I couldn’t tell by the look of exhaustion on his face when he’d left that morning, I could tell by the wine and martini emojis he was texting me from the train all… Read more »

Orecchiette with Sweet Sausage Bolognese

I’m a little obsessed with this dinner — even though I haven’t really eaten a legitimate bowl of it yet. It started at the farmer’s market on Saturday — right now is slim pickins there in terms of greens and produce (see: Winter, Brutal) but I was still able to pick up a few old friends that I had been… Read more »

121 Great Kid Books

You guys have been very good to us over the years. You’ve read my books, you’ve written the most thoughtful letters, you’ve spread the DALS word to your friends, you’ve trusted me with your own treasured family recipes. As a token of our gratitude, we are happy to re-offer a free copy of 121 Books to the DALS community. For those of… Read more »

Instant Dinner Party

Spoiler alert: If you come over to our house for dinner any time between now and the first day of spring, there’s about a 90% chance we’re going to cook this for you. The pork shoulder ragu you see above is our new obsession. It’s the ideal dish for Sunday dinner, or even better, an informal winter dinner party: It’s… Read more »

Grilled Chicken for People Who Hate Grilled Chicken

  [Photo and Recipe updated August 2022] We never used to grill chicken. It was… eh. Never quite satisfying. We were always throwing it back on the grill (“does this look cooked to you?”) because we were paranoid about getting sick, or complaining that it was too dry, or overwhelming it with some ketchup-y four alarm KC BBQ sauce that,… Read more »