At least one morning during the school week, some time between 11:00 and 11:30, my daughter, Abby, a 12th grader who has spent her final year of high school almost entirely in a remote classroom, comes downstairs in her flannel pajama pants, stretches, looks at whichever parent is first in her line of vision with fluttery eyelids, and says: “Cacio?”… Read more »
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to tell you about these beans. Maybe it’s because it’s one of those recipes that’s not really a recipe, which is, of course, the best kind of recipe. Every time I make them, I text someone a photo saying, you have to make these beans. Then I follow up with the “recipe,”… 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 »
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 »
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 »
For reasons that will become clear in the near future but that I will currently explain simply as “an occupational hazard,” I had to bake eight batches of box-mix brownies yesterday. Technically, I didn’t eat any of the brownies I baked, unless you count the batter from each scraped bowl, and the crumbs under the cooling racks, and of course… Read more »
Andy: Office is closing early. Be home by 3:00. Me: OMG. CAN YOU PLEEEEASE MAKE DINNER TONIGHT? Andy: What do we have? Me: I bought ingreds to replicate that tofu wheat berry salad we had at Honeygrow last week Andy: OK, done Me: YASSSSSSSS. Be home by 6:00. Can you also do the track carpool? 🙏🏻 🙏🏻 🙏🏻 Loaded Wheat Berry Salad with Tofu and Pickled Peppers Serves… Read more »
Today I am delighted to cede the floor to my dear friend and mother-of-three Naria Halliwell. Astute readers might remember her as the first person to convince me to eat raw kale or the one who media-trained me for my first television appearance so many moons ago. (Fun fact: I was her very first client and now she’s coaching VIPs… Read more »
A week ago, I did something I’ve never done before: I loaded up my car with a few groceries, kissed my kids goodbye, and drove a few hours north to attend a five-day artist residency at The Spruceton Inn in the Catskills. As I pulled on to 87 North, I flashbacked to the last time I was away from my… Read more »
I know what you’re thinking: Please, Dear Lord let this not be another butternut squash soup recipe. I’m sorry to say that it is, but but but but…please stay awake! Because I think you’ll be happy about this particular version: A curried butternut squash soup boosted with coconut milk. The google search for “butternut squash soup with coconut milk” will… Read more »
The Scene: Wednesday, the first school/workday back from winter break The Scene, pt 2: Always the longest, most exhausting day of the year The Characters: Family DALS 5:30 Walk in door. Girls already home, one of them doing homework at kitchen table instead of cloistered in her bedroom, which brings me unspeakable joy. (Literally unspeakable — if I express this out… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
