Food: The Great Connector

August 5, 2022

I didn’t meet Aanya until I walked into the cafeteria for snack time after my third soccer session of the day. She was eight years old (but tall enough to look twelve), wore round glasses, and had her hair tied in a low, messy bun. She was sitting at a table with Mahi, my closest co-counselor, talking excitedly. Aanya looked… Read more »

Where I Eat and Food-Shop in Westchester

July 25, 2022

[First posted 2016; Updated July 2022] Forgive me broader readership, I’m going super local today. Many of you probably know that I live in Westchester County, which borders New York City to the north and is flanked by the sailboat-dotted Long Island Sound to the East and the mighty Hudson River to the West. With the exception of college in… Read more »

10 Ways to Serve a Chicken Cutlet

July 12, 2022

One of the unforeseen benefits of having two kids in college is that their expanded social circles now encompass friends from the wider New York area, plus visitors to the New York area, plus friends just interning in the New York area for the summer. All of this translates to more guests at the dinner table, which means the weeknight… Read more »

6 Mini New York Itineraries

June 28, 2022

Last week, one of my daughter’s college friends was visiting New York for the first time and asked if we had any suggestions for what to do and see and eat over the course of a single weekend. It was fun (if overwhelming) to think about, and reminded me of a loose formula I used when the girls were young and we’d… Read more »

Kid’s Books to Love and Get Lost in

June 21, 2022

I just returned for the summer from my first year of college. It’s weird and bittersweet to be back in my childhood bedroom, surrounded by relics of my upbringing—including a massive collection of French comic books (pictured above: me at age 5 devouring Les Schtroumpfs, aka The Smurfs). My first night home, unable to sleep, I found myself picking through… Read more »

Double Rye & Buckwheat Plum Cake

June 20, 2022

Even if you think you don’t know Melina Hammer, you probably know Melina Hammer. She’s shot and styled for all the major food players in New York (Food52, NYT Cooking, Julia Turshen 🙂) and when one of her artfully chaotic recipe shots appear on my instagram feed, I don’t even have to look at the name on the handle — that rich, textured… Read more »