A few years ago, I got in an argument with an anonymous commenter after posting a recipe that involved pan-fried sweet Italian sausages. The gist of the person’s complaint was that cooking any recipe using sausage was not cooking from scratch, and furthermore, if you are someone who makes a living writing recipes, you are breaking all kinds of rules… Read more »
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 »
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 »
I got a Fitbit for Christmas. Well, technically Phoebe got a Fitbit for Christmas and technically it was Christmas 2016, a full year ago, and she loved it more than anything until she didn’t anymore. It sat in its bright blue box collecting dust since January 22, 2017, which was the “last sync” date that came up when I plugged… Read more »
On Saturday, while I performed my weekly-ish refrigerator dump to clear the way for new groceries, I threw two heels of Parmesan and three nearly depleted bags of shredded mozzarella on to the counter. Who knows how or why, but as clear as day, a voice inside me announced: Artichoke Dip. Even though it was before noon. And even though… Read more »
I am so delighted to feature guest-poster Caroline Campion today. Caroline is a Saveur alum and one of the OG bloggers, having first caught my attention almost a decade ago with her site Devil & Egg; today she co-writes keeperscooks with Kathy Brennan. Their new book, The Dinner Plan, is, obviously, near and dear to my heart, and, among other things discusses the all-too-familiar… Read more »
. I was all excited to share my Super Easy Family Dinner Party Plan with you a few weeks ago after serving three of the most delicious pizzas for my college friend, Samidh, his wife, Nithya, and their two kids. I was envisioning calling it “Family Dinner Party in Three Easy Steps” because, really, it felt so effortless, the kind… Read more »
. The first time I wrote about tortilla soup on this blog, the girls were playing cops and robber at recess and were so young I had to call it “taco soup” because tortillas were just so, you know, sophisticated (read: intimidating) sounding. The second time I wrote about it (as an ideal “deconstructable dinner“) was May, 2012, a month… Read more »
. An abbreviated list of what I feel grateful for on a daily basis: I married a guy who is a Yankees fan even though he grew up in Virginia; I live five miles away from a restaurant that is a destination for diners around the world; and, most relevant for today’s purposes: My children like broccoli. And by “like” I… Read more »
I made these hasselbacks for Sunday dinner with the most beautiful little sweet potatoes I picked up at the market on Saturday. They were misshapen, small, pale peach colored, not even in the same family as the bloated, cloying sugar bombs you get at the supermarket. “Do you know about hasselbacks?” I asked Andy when I pulled them out of… Read more »
If I was a smarter blogger, I would’ve posted a good old-fashioned downloadable back-to-school menu for you today (like I did when I was my best blogger self back in 2013) complete with strategies, under-30-minute tricks, and cook-once-eat-twice kind of ideas that make up the backbone of family cooking. You have my word that I will try to be smarter… Read more »
Not a lot to report today, but wanted to point you in the direction of a promotion I worked on with Food52 that included this Corn Stew with Chicken and Sausage, one of my all-time favorite end-of-summer dinners. (Playbook owners might have already discovered it.) Head over there and let me know what you think. Also: Thanks to those of… Read more »
For better or for worse, when I’m trying to decide what to have for dinner — especially a weekend dinner — I’m hardwired to start the brainstorming with the main dish. And for better or worse, the main dish is usually a pile of protein. On Saturday morning, as Andy and I wandered the farmer’s market, that was implicit in… Read more »
The Scene: Tuesday Night. Dad out, 13-year-old at camp, me at office, five minutes from home. Pouring. 4:00 Receive text at work from 15-year-old: Can we see The Big Sick tonight? 4:03 Quick Flixster scan of movie times. Me: 6:15 show, be ready a little before 6 4:04 Can we have dinner before we go? I’m starving 4:05 Sure. Quick scan from memory… Read more »
. Greetings everyone! So sorry for the long absence. As mentioned in the last post I wrote — nearly three weeks ago, the longest I’ve ever gone — I have been traveling, returning a few days ago, but unable to get anything done this week thanks to the insane velocity of the news out of Washington. I swore off Twitter… Read more »
Continuing along this week’s theme of Things Jenny Cooked from Cookbooks While on Assignment, I’d like to present to you one last mind-blowing recipe: Joe Beddia’s Asparagus Pizza with Lemon and Spring Cream from his new book Pizza Camp. I don’t think it should come as a surprise to you that we eat a lot of pizza in our house…. Read more »
I’m beginning to think that my kids are never going to warm up to tofu. Though I guess I can’t blame them considering that I never served it until relatively recently…and also because I never really ate it myself, unless a little silky white cube in my miso soup accidentally slipped onto my spoon. In the last few years, though,… Read more »
For my birthday last month, I asked for two things: A Shake Shack picnic dinner at our local Hudson River waterfront park — a success by all accounts — and a family vegetable garden. By “vegetable garden” I did not mean one-clicking a few raised bed kits on Amazon and calling it a day. I meant that I wanted everyone in the… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and Dinner: The Playbook More
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