I realize I’m not breaking any journalistic ground with this observation, but I’m going to say it anyway: It’s kinda crazy what you can check off The List when you’re not surrounded by small people asking for a snack or to tie a soccer cleat or to find the math notebook which was right here a second ago and to look… Read more »
I’m beginning to think that parenting is just a lifelong excuse to turn anything into a celebration. Because if you really think about it, there is always something to celebrate. The problem with this of course, is…there’s always something to celebrate, i.e. there’s always some kind of treat that — in our house at least — seems to be central… Read more »
One of these days Andy will write his post calling bull$#@t on starters. (He could, in fact, fill a book dedicated to calling bull$#@t in general.) “Why,” he always asks “do we spend so much time putting together a delicious dinner if our guests are just going to fill up on cheese and crackers and approach the table stuffed before… Read more »
Entertaining Even when we were just-married in Brooklyn, with no idea that one huge bag of spinach shrinks down to two tiny portions (learned that the hard way), we loved having people over for dinner. We’ve figured out a few things since then and have written many posts about entertaining on the blog (and the book) these past few years… Read more »
What to Cook Tonight? Well, I guess my first question has to be: What kind of night is it? If it’s the kind of night where work/soccer/train ran late, and you need something fast, you might want to check out: Lentils with Crispy Sausages Burrito Bowl Hatch Burgers Old School Chicken with Lemon and Capers Chorizo Tacos with Avocado, Slaw,… Read more »
I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t call up about a line that Lisa Belkin wrote in the New York Times two or three years ago. In an article about overparenting and the self-esteem generation used to getting praise at every turn, she asked Are we raising kids who are prepared for college, but not for life?… Read more »
God knows, it’s not that I don’t love the kid. I have pledged my undying devotion to her here — she’s our firstborn, is kind to animals, has the soul of a poet, and is generally an all-around solid performer at the table. But Phoebe does not eat pasta. Phoebe, in fact, actively dislikes pasta. She hasn’t touched the stuff… Read more »
When I was in first grade, I remember my teacher handing me a notebook. Its cover was made of brown craft paper, and a piece of black fabric wrapped around the stitched spine. She distributed one to every student in class saying something about how we could use it as a journal or a workbook — whatever we wanted! This… Read more »
Dear American Idol, First just let me say how happy I am that you’re back. We love writing you into the family schedule with extra exclamation points and stars; already, we’ve spent way too many family dinners in heated discussions about prospective winners. (Phil Phillips: You heard it here first!) We love being part of the national conversation and the… Read more »
Dear Jenny, What a holiday! We had fun, didn’t we? Thanks for the jumbo ice cube tray, and the Nick Lowe shirt. I could not be more pumped to go back to work this morning. Remember last year when, in the clean-slate spirit of the New Year, we wrote up a list of confessions to one another and got some… Read more »
A few months ago, when we took the girls to see Rango, we settled back in our seats with some popcorn to watch the movie preview marathon. (They’ve gotten longer, haven’t they?) It was all the usual stuff — Chipmunks and Gnomes, nothing terribly exciting — and then, suddenly, a huge ship plowing through a dark sea. On the side of the… Read more »
Do you know this phrase? Controlling the Controllable. Or should I say, have you heard of this condition? Symptoms include: -Adding tasks to your to-do list even after you’ve completed them, just so you can experience the satisfaction of crossing that task off the list. -Having a sudden irrepressible urge to rearrange your sock drawer or color-code your bookshelf or… Read more »
We begin in the morning… 6:45 Phoebe’s alarm goes off 6:46 Abby’s alarm goes off 7:00 Mom showers, Dad gets breakfast (pomegranate seeds and cereal) for girls 7:15 Get-Your-Shoes-On Battle begins 7:22 Shoes finally secure, Mom starts freaking out about missing bus. Dad and Girls laugh at her. “Mom have we ever missed the bus?” 7:30 Bus Arrives. (No kisses,… Read more »
I feel passionate about broccoli. It’s not often you hear these words come out of someone’s mouth. Let alone a mom’s mouth. And yet, there I was a few weeks ago, having lunch with my friend Melissa Roberts listening to her talk about broccoli in a manner someone might use to talk about lobster or Shake Shack or the Green Bay… Read more »
I want to talk a little bit, today and tomorrow, about time. More specifically, about our lack of it when it comes to dinner. About that moment when you come home from work at 7 pm and the dog is begging for a walk and your fourth grader really needs you to drill her on her social studies definitions (quick:… Read more »
I love the idea of a recipe having a secret ingredient. When the girls were little, I would steal away to the corner of the kitchen to add a secret ingredient (sugar) to my magic hiccup potion (water). My friend Andras puts a shot of bourbon in his scrambled eggs. My old co-worker Myles adds a spoonful of peanut butter… Read more »
I really do believe that there are two kinds of people in this world: the bakers and the cooks (or “cookers” as Abby once called them.) Me — with my absolute inability to pay attention to amounts and rules and, you know, crucial details (last week I applied Athlete’s Foot cream on Phoebe’s rash instead of hydrocortisone — I fall… Read more »
On Friday night at 6:00, we decided to invite two families (total: six grown-ups, six kids) to our house for an impromptu dinner party. Since we only had a little time to prepare, the menu was a no-brainer for us. This is what we served: Meatball sandwiches, grilled steak, salmon salad, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, pasta with a ragu,… Read more »
Welcome! I’m Jenny, author of Dinner: A Love Story and The Weekday Vegetarians More
