Thirteen years ago, here on The Blog, Andy wrote about “fish presents” after discovering that the recipe was a sneaky way to market the meal to young seafood skeptics. This is how he described the dinner back in 2010, when our daughters were 6 and 8: Our latest venture in rebranding involved the kind of intimidating-sounding fish en papillote, which is… Read more »
I feel like I owe you guys an apology. I’m sure when you read last week that this was Grill Week on Dinner: A Love Story, that you were picturing sizzling ribeyes, creamy slaws, fatty ribs — Not a bunch of healthy lean meats and omega-3-rich fish. (It’s only Thursday, and it’s only May, so don’t worry, there’s still plenty… Read more »
Good morning. I hope everybody had a nice weekend. We took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday and went on a few long walks; visited my parents and sister again across the county; had gin & tonics (wayyyy) across the patio with family friends. (They BYO’d their G&Ts, adding a splash of Campari to make them pink, which I… Read more »
I’ve only watched The Simpsons a few times in my life, but I vividly recall an episode where Homer stands in front of his bathroom mirror shaving. As soon as he puts down the razor and towels his face dry, his six-o-clock shadow emerges as gray and shady as it was before he began. I mention this here because I,… Read more »
I’ve gotten really into shoving whatever vegetables I’ve got into a 400°F oven soon after breakfast so I have something hearty and healthy waiting for me by lunch time. (Perks of working from home, yes, I know.) Here are three recent winners, which you should of course feel free to serve for dinner. Roasted Eggplant & Tomatoes with Tahini Dressing… Read more »
I feel pretty good about my vegetable life at dinner time, but I’ve recently realized I am not terribly consistent about getting produce into my lunches when I’m working from home. When I even have lunch, that is. Often my mid-day meal, if I remember to stop what I’m doing to actually have it, is just a forkful of leftovers standing in… Read more »
Before we started Operation Less Meat in my house, we’d have this pot pie for dinner all. the. time. It was one of the first things I made in my very first NYC apartment decades ago, and I basically just never stopped. I keep trying to make it more vegetable forward, as they say, but I just haven’t landed on something… Read more »
We are nothing if not creatures of habit in my house, so when people come over for dinner in the summer, we generally fall back on the same rotation of old reliables — vongole, picnic chicken or steak or chops on the grill, surrounded by a ton of market salads and a cobbler for dessert — and save the more adventurous cooking… Read more »
I didn’t make any resolutions this year. I don’t know if this is because I’ve gotten lazier and grumpier as I’ve gotten older, or if it’s just that I’m more of a realist about these things working out. But it’s a slippery slope from realist to cynic, something I’m resolved (!) to never become in any part of my life,… Read more »
One of the things I love about my “job” as a food writer is that people email me all the time with questions, mistaking me for some kind of expert. Where do you eat when you’re in Nashville? They ask. Or Can you recommend a good food mill? I see you have marble countertops, do you worry about stains? I… Read more »
. In my tenure as a food writer, I’ve discovered that there are two kinds of cooks in this world: Those who love to do their own grocery shopping, and those who would rather confront a demogorgon monster in the slimy snake-infested Upside Down (‘sup Stranger Things fans) than spend their precious free time chatting with butchers and squeezing melons. Never is… 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 »
Project, Pantry, Purpose (March 2020 – present) Aperol Spritz Apple Pie Banana Bread Banana Flambé Bánh Mì, Tofu, Andrea Nguyen’s Beans, Cuban-Style Beans, Honey-Harissa Beans, Lima, with Bacon Dressing Biscotti Blondies Bok Choy, Gingery, with Scallops or Noodles Bolognese, Marcella Hazan’s Bread, No-Knead Broccoli, Chopped, Charred Brownie Sundaes Burritos Cacio e Pepe Cake, Almond, Snacking Cake, Buttermilk-Berry Cake, Carrot, Snacking… Read more »
“I’m tired of pretending.” These were the words I heard from my husband while we sat by the edge of an closed-for-the-season swimming pool in South Carolina over the holiday break. The kids were getting dressed in the locker room after an hour on the tennis court. It was the last week of December and the sun was white in… Read more »
Those of you who have your Ph.D in D.A.L.S. are already aware of the groundbreaking scientific work we’ve done proving various theories about dinner — the preparing of it, the consumption of it, the enjoyment of it. For instance, this well-worn favorite: When you take three measly minutes in the morning to do something that helps you get the momentum… Read more »
“What’s my angle on this post?” I don’t want to pull back the curtain on this whole DALS thing too far, but that’s a question you hear a little too often around our house, at about 10:00 at night, when the kids are in bed and one of us is sitting at the kitchen table, trying to write 400 words… Read more »
Our poor side dishes. Always getting buried at the bottom of a post that stars some showstopping piece of meat. But as anyone who is putting together her holiday party outfit knows, it’s all in the accessories, and so herewith, a round-up of some of our favorite unsung sidedish heroes. 1. Gingered Green Beans Add a couple handfuls of green beans… Read more »
…to have family dinner: When my kids are 16 and 15 (instead of 8 and 7) and we are dealing with friendship dramas, SATs, sexting episodes, and God only knows what else (Parents of teen-agers: please refrain from telling me what else) dinner will be so firmly established as my family’s 6:30 Magnetic North, that my kids’ hormone-raging, eye-rolling, parent-resenting… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
