Posts Categorized: Books, Gifts, Culture

Alexi Pappas is an Olympian runner, actress, author of the new inspiring memoir Bravey, and one of the best role models out there. And it’s not necessarily because she’s so accomplished. She’s important to me, a college runner myself, because she’s actively changing the way people approach mental health in sports, specifically track and cross country for girls. In between her… Read more »

Greetings to longtime and brand new Dinner A Love Story readers! Herewith, the annual holiday gift guide featuring the best of eating and reading of 2020. In keeping with tradition, there’s an amazing giveaway for a few lucky readers, but this year, being 2020, there’s a little twist, and I hope you’re up for it. Happy Holidays, Everyone! Chef Knife… Read more »

Good morning! Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but today, I wanted to point you in the direction of a mystery novel I read and reviewed called The Boy in the Field, by Margot Livesey. I really loved it. The pages fly, it’s beautifully written, and it has exactly nothing to do with food. Here is my complete review. PS:… Read more »

Today’s post is this hopeful correspondence lifted from the pages of To Obama, With Love, Joy, Anger and Hope (by Jeanne Marie Laskas), a compilation of letters from the Office of Presidential Correspondence during the Obama administration. The OPC, a staff of 50 readers and 30 interns plus hundreds of volunteers, were charged with sifting through 10,000-plus letters every day, then scanning,… Read more »

I am so psyched to present today’s guest-poster, my friend and reading guru Catherine Hong. You already know and love her because she writes the childrens’ book blog, Mrs. Little and because she’s an OG DALS favorite. (Could she be any cuter in this sleepaway camp shot circa early 80s?) Her family’s reading line-up right now is so perfectly summer — graphic novels, adventures,… Read more »

The berries are popping, the aperol is spritzing, and the grill (as well as the griller) is getting FIRED up. That means one thing: It’s summer, and time to talk about the latest crop of new cookbooks that make me want to get the most out of the season. Head over to the New York Times for my annual round-up,… Read more »

Quick post today to let you know that our friends at Mouth, assemblers of the coolest indie food gift baskets ever, are having a storewide sale as we speak. Use code SPRING30 for 30% off everything, including the deliciously delightful Mother Nature or Easy Like Sunday Morning pictured above. Check out all their Mother’s Day gift boxes here.

This is a very exciting day for me. Not only do I get to tell you about Curtis Sittenfeld’s brand new short story collection — You Think It, I’ll  Say It, my favorite of all the books she’s written — it is the day that the real life Curtis Sittenfeld makes a cameo on Dinner: A Love Story. Yes, that’s right…. Read more »

Last week, we here in the Northeast found ourselves trapped in the clutches of some pretty fierce negative single-digit winter weather. Remember that love letter to my Fitbit I wrote less than week ago? It’s still on my wrist, but all I will say is that as of Thursday morning, when the first storm hit, it was in zero danger… Read more »

. We have just returned from our annual South Carolina beach pilgrimage, where among other things, we stockpiled our Duke’s mayo, grilled and cooked the usual suspects, and did our best to pretend that summer vacation is not over in two weeks and one day. How can it be that, as of this morning, half the house has staggered off to… 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 »