So there’s news on the Dinner: A Love Story front: I am one step closer to world domination, having taken actual, physical, tax-deductible office space outside my house, roughly two miles from my front door, and two miles plus ten feet from my kitchen. I share a space with six other enterprising businessmen and women, all of whom you will… Read more »
Like most of you, we eat like humans in our house. Which is to say, for stretches of days we’re all homemade whole grain salads, lean-meat mains, and practically swimming in our leafy greens. And then, just as predictably, there are the stretches when, you know, life takes over, when it’s just easier to throw something — anything — from… Read more »
You should see my freezer right now. There are amorphous Ziplocks of homemade chicken stock, a bag of pre-soaked beans, a bag of fully baked beans, some shredded chicken from taco night last month, a single sausage here, a chicken drumstick there, a sliced mini loaf of the crazy delicious Danish rye bread from Great Northern Food Hall (so good with… Read more »
In a few weeks, I will press “Publish” on my one-thousandth post for this blog. ONE THOUSAND. That’s a lot of words, a lot of years, and wow it’s a lot of recipes. It probably explains why I might look a little blank when I run into friends who tell me “I loved that pork chop with kale recipe“ or… Read more »
Here in the Northeast this time of year, under perpetually slate-gray winter skies, “market inspiration” can be a bit hard to come by. Feels like it’s all bagged salads and overpriced out-of-season raspberries in our house, as we countdown 33 days, 4 hours, and 17 minutes til spring. But you’d never know there was any inspiration issue over at Kitchen… Read more »
Last week, when Susan Collins, Republican Senator of Maine, broke with her party to vote against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, I know what you were all thinking: Yeah, it’s good to know where she stands on vouchers and charter schools, but what I really want to know is: Where does she stand on meatloaf? I hear you! As any… Read more »
Back in the fall, Christina Chaey, an editor at Bon Appetit presented me with a challenge: How would you stretch $30 at Whole Foods into five family dinners? My first reaction: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Can’t be done. (Whole Paycheck anyone?) My second: You know…this kind of use-it-or-lose-it exercise is always useful, no matter where I’m shopping. Plus, I had just returned from… Read more »
A few weeks ago I gave a talk at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn, and during the Q&A period at the end, someone asked the million dollar question: What’s for dinner tonight? Because I’m a faithful follower of the dinner-in-the-morning religion (for the uninitiated: The practice of taking a few seconds to decide what’s on the menu… Read more »
The other day, Abby came barging through the front door, shedding backpack and winter layers in big thwunks on the floor as she made her way to the kitchen, and asked what was for dinner. “Some kind of chicken and and some kind of broccoli,” I told her. “Oh mom, can it be the kind of broccoli that is super… Read more »
What can I do? We’ve all heard ourselves asking this when friends are struggling with illness (their own or their aging parents’ or their kids’) and we’ve all probably come back around to a similar answer: Food. For better (normalcy) or for worse (one more thing to be exhausted by), people still need to eat. In my mind — this… Read more »
Lest I miss out on all of the Year-in-Review fun that everyone seems to be having as we wrap up yet another one, I thought I’d try something a little radical: Present all the dinners I cooked in 2016, as recorded in my Dinner Diary. I know: Super exciting! But the headlines this year were so boring and business-as-usual, so what… Read more »
When I mention the city of Austin, what is the first thing that comes to mind? (By mind, I of course mean mouth.) Barbecue? Brisket? Tacos? Migas? Franklin’s legendarily eternal lines? Me speaking at the amazing Texas Book Festival last month hawking my book? (A great CyberWeek price at Amazon right now BTW:)) You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking any… Read more »
Apologies for being MIA. As you might have gathered from the last post I wrote, it was a rough week in the DALS house, and to be honest, a week and a few cabinet appointments later, I know we’re not alone in fearing that things might only get rougher. If I had to acknowledge a few bright spots, though, I’d… Read more »
Come over for some love and meatballs, I wrote without really even thinking. There had been a sudden death in my friend’s family and in situations like this, it’s hard to think of anything else to offer. At least we can feed him when he’s back in town. It didn’t feel like a lot, but it was something. And something… Read more »
It’s a little crazy how long it took me to come upon this rather basic chicken dinner given my 13-year-old practically short-circuits with glee anytime she sees honey-mustard on a menu. A green salad tossed with honey-mustard dressing? Heaven. A fleet of deep-fried chicken fingers served with honey-mustard dip? Jackpot. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure her… Read more »
From the Sunday Dinner chapter in How to Celebrate Everything: “As far back as I can remember, it’s been a given that we end the weekend with family at our own table, whether that table has been in our Brooklyn apartment, in our first house in the suburbs, or in my parents’ or sister’s house across the county. Only under special… Read more »
This post has been in my queue for six months now. I added it back in March, was when I was madly cooking my way through spring’s cookbook offerings so I could write about the best ones for The Book Review. As you may recall, the dinner table was getting a major shot of adrenaline during the testing phase. There were… Read more »
In accordance with the Louis CK mantra of “It’s hard to be sad and useful at the same time,” I decided that instead of mourning summer’s end, I’d channel my woes* into something productive, namely, a Weekly Meal Plan that should help you get back into the lunch-making, shoe-tying, carpool-dreading, form-signing (form-forgetting?) crazy-making back-to-school routine. The line-up is below — as usual,… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
