Thank you to everyone who showed up on my new Substack platform! It has been a very exciting week over here in the DALS house and I feel as energized as I did when I launched this blog 10-plus years ago. For those of you who are still wondering what the heck is happening, I’ve compiled a list of FAQs:… Read more »
Happy New Year Everyone! I am so excited (read: terrified) to announce that Dinner: A Love Story is growing up. As of this week, you’ll find all new DALS content over at my brand new Substack platform. If you are like me, and detest transitions, you will probably need some reassurance right away and so here it is: Nothing terrible… Read more »
Good morning! Before we get to the food, I wanted to extend a huge thank you to those of you who have donated to the DALS World Central Kitchen fundraiser. I can’t tell you how good it feels to watch that amount creep up, even in increments of $5 or $10 — so keep the cash coming! (And remember, if… Read more »
Not that Halloween was very much of anything for the kids this year, but at about 5:30 on October 31, Abby, outfitted in a Walter White costume that involved a white mini skirt, announced she was heading out to some kind of outdoor get-together. Did you have dinner? I asked her. Nah, she said. There’s gonna be candy. She’s 17…. Read more »
Here in New York, we’ve been willing the universe to make fall last as long as possible because, as Andy says every single morning in ominous, Game-of-Thrones-like tones, winter is coming. In normal years, I don’t usually care that much. Cold weather is the season of cozy food — braised meats, red wine, warm-your-bones stews, and friends and family around… Read more »
There are many factors I consider when measuring the success of a cookbook, but ultimately, there’s only one that really matters: Does it get you into the kitchen? In my mind, I don’t care who wrote it or how trendy the recipes are — if it convinces you to cook, it’s worthy of a James Beard Award. If it inspires… Read more »
Thank you all for the Seattle restaurant recommendations. As predicted, I didn’t get a chance to explore as much as I usually do on these kinds of trips. Other than a quick hop to Fremont Bowl to eat salmon poke bowls and what I think is maybe the best tofu on the planet, we cooked and ate in. I should… Read more »
I’m off to Seattle this morning but felt an overwhelming urge to download some random recent dinner discoveries for you as I sit at Gate 1 in JFK’s Terminal 7. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) For starters: Due to popular demand, I created a highlight for the mushrrom-farro recipe I posted on instagram stories last week. (Note to… Read more »
A few weeks ago, the Times did a story about dialing back on meat and there was lots of great stuff in there — not the least of which: that mushroom bourguignon that everyone including us seemed to be making over the long weekend — but the part I keep turning over in my dinner brain was this quote: According… Read more »
We were about halfway through the Mojave dessert last week, praying the rental car wouldn’t break down, when I turned around to ask the girls — who were sitting on the same sides of the backseat they’ve sat on since they were toddlers in boosters — a very pressing question. It was Day Six of our California road trip (read… Read more »
I didn’t mean to make this beet salad for Thanksgiving. And when I was looking for a place on the buffet at my parents’ house, alongside the carved turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and other holiday dish royalty, it wasn’t entirely an accident that I sorta kinda placed it on a neighboring table where maybe nobody would see. (All the more… Read more »
There was a time in my weeknight cooking life when, if I came across the phrase “In your food processor…” in a recipe, I would automatically turn the page. Who in his or her right mind would want to lug a small appliance out of the upper cabinets when they were on the clock for feeding hungry kids? And who… Read more »
One of the more satisfying things about roasting a chicken is the aftermath, when I’ve picked every piece of meat off its bones, laid down the jus-slicked roasting dish for my lucky, licky dogs, and then plunked a big Dutch Oven on the stovetop, ready to receive the carcass for a rich and hearty stock. Sometimes I’ll make that stock… Read more »
When the kids were little, in the interest of Palate Expansion, we used to give them ten bucks at the farmer’s market and tell them to spend it on something brand new. Something they’d never seen before or something they’d always wanted to try. This is how they ended up falling in love with “dinosaur egg” plums and pickles on sticks,… Read more »
Every New Year’s Day for the past few years — and by New Year’s Day, I of course mean, the first day of school — I’ve had the same resolution-y thought: We need to eat less meat in our house. It’s a low-rumbling call year-round, but something about September and the ramped-up schedules and textbook pile-ups on the kitchen counter… Read more »
4:00 Drop off daughter at camp in Western Mass; settle in for 3-hour drive home. 4:15 Realize the kitchen waiting for us is basically cobwebs. We have no fresh food except possibly half a red onion. 4:17 Pull over at first farm stand we drive by (I see you Pioneer Valley!); pick up 3 ears corn, a bag of sugar… Read more »
A few weeks ago I headed to Park City, Utah for a mini reunion with my college roommates, where the seven of us spent a long weekend hiking, eating, and hard-core hanging. One night, as my Seattle friend Jenn and I were putting together dinner for the crew (salmon salad, naturally, plus a version of Samin’s cauliflower) when my San Francisco friend, Cara… Read more »
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 »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and Dinner: The Playbook More
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