Good morning! I completely forgot to pick up anything Passover related in my last supermarket shop, so last night was like all other nights in my house, sadly. (Haha.) We did have a Zoom call with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews for a pre-Seder check-in, but we signed of … | Continue reading
Greetings friends near and far. Yesterday was Andy’s birthday and we celebrated with a scavenger hunt, by car, through the neighborhood ending at a favorite pizza place for take-out. (Along the way, our friend Annie, a professional musician, played “Happy Birthday” on the French … | Continue reading
Hi friends. Hope you’re well on this Tuesday. Yesterday I went for a run; reorganized a small section of my book; made some veggie burger patties for the freezer (I can’t wait to share the full recipe with you, but it calls for one egg, with or without smiley face); and went for … | Continue reading
Good morning, Everyone. Welcome to what is our Week 4 of Quarantine Living. Maybe it’s longer or shorter for you, but wherever you are in the X-ing off of days, I hope you and your families are healthy and holding up OK. Our weekend was blissfully boring in that respect: We vacuu … | Continue reading
Happy Friday, Everyone. Tonight, we’re celebrating getting through three weeks of quarantine with a classic comfort food dinner: Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and a peanut-y kale-cabbage slaw I’ve been meaning to test for my next book. We’ve been trying to think of something to … | Continue reading
Good morning from our home gym to yours. Just came back from the supermarket — I consider it a small victory that we made it six days without going out for food. No flour, no toilet paper, no tofu (?), but they did have Pringles, which I believe will compensate for a lot. Yesterd … | Continue reading
Hello on this sunny April (!) Wednesday. Yesterday: I went for a long walk and listened a Bon Appetit podcast from a few weeks ago plus an episode of my Daily; I took my daughter to the living room for a Telehealth doctor’s appointment (she’s fine, just recovering from an injury) … | Continue reading
Good afternoon everybody! Today is our fourth straight gray day here in New York, and I know I’m not in the position to ask much more of the universe than continued good health, but I would really like to see the sun. Yesterday I read Love Letter by George Saunders and if you wan … | Continue reading
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was ok. Highlights from mine: I changed all the sheets on our beds; had Zoom cocktails with some friends and Andy’s brother’s family; and my newly permitted 16-year-old, who was only driving in the train station parking lot a week ago, drove us 12 … | Continue reading
Good morning, Team! Yesterday I went for another run in Rockefeller State Park, and saw my first bluebird of spring building her nest in a mounted house. Then I came home and read this tweet: “After 130 years the rarest and thought-to-be extinct dwarf kingfisher was photographed … | Continue reading
Greetings, DALS family. I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve gotten the nicest notes since I launched the PPP series, and I wanted you to know a) how grateful I am for this community and b) how therapeutic it is for me to produce helpful (read: distracting) content, however Groundhog Da … | Continue reading
Last week, I broke my No Weeknight Drinking rule for reasons I probably don’t have to explain, but as of Sunday, I’m back to my old routine — my FaceTime wine date last night was postponed — and it reminded me about how much better I sleep when I haven’t had a cocktail or a glass … | Continue reading
Greetings everyone. Just came back from a 3.5-miler. I used to listen to The Daily during my morning run, but in the interest of anxiety management, I’ve decided to give myself the 30 minutes to listen to music instead. Otherwise, I’m literally connected to the news cycle all day … | Continue reading
Good morning! Hope everyone is doing OK. Over the weekend, we took Abby for driving lessons again; hiked (a four-miler up the River and my go-to); threw a FaceTime party with my brother, parents, and sister to celebrate her birthday; and dropped off bagged lunches for an NYC sand … | Continue reading
Good morning, good morning, good morning, Friends. Yesterday, I went for an early run, a pre-dinner walk, and in between made pancakes, wrapped up a deadline, and attempted to teach my newly permitted Abby how to drive in the local college parking lot. Phoebe went for a bike ride … | Continue reading
Greetings Quarantine Friends. Yesterday, I went for a run, made a batch of pudding, walked the dogs at Rockefeller State Park, and spent an hour re-reading the vegetarian cookbook I’ve been writing. It was like finding an artifact on an archeological dig, written in a language I … | Continue reading
Welcome to Day 3 of Pantry, Project, Purpose. Thank you for all the nice notes and comments. Yesterday, instead of heading to my favorite coffee shop like I usually do, I made myself a pour-over, then spent the morning working on a freelance assignment. Later, I made a batch of t … | Continue reading
Greetings from Quarantine Day 2. Yesterday felt like another one of those days where switches flipped all across the country, when people started taking the #stayhome orders more seriously, including my children. I went for a run, tested a vegan Caesar dressing recipe for my book … | Continue reading
I’ve been staring at my screen all weekend, struggling to find the words to meet this moment. Mostly, of course, I hope you are all doing your best to stay healthy and, however possible, check in on the people in your lives and communities who are most at-risk. So far, the hardes … | Continue reading
There are many factors I consider when measuring the success of a cookbook, but ultimately, there’s only one that really matters: Does it get you into the kitchen? In my mind, I don’t care who wrote it or how trendy the recipes are — if it convinces you to cook, it’s worthy of a … | Continue reading
Thank you all for the Seattle restaurant recommendations. As predicted, I didn’t get a chance to explore as much as I usually do on these kinds of trips. Other than a quick hop to Fremont Bowl to eat salmon poke bowls and what I think is maybe the best tofu on the planet, we cook … | Continue reading
I’m off to Seattle this morning but felt an overwhelming urge to download some random recent dinner discoveries for you as I sit at Gate 1 in JFK’s Terminal 7. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) For starters: Due to popular demand, I created a highlight for the mushrrom-farro … | Continue reading
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 br … | Continue reading
Over holiday break, we traveled to Death Valley National Park in California. Why, You might ask, if you are like everyone else we know? To be honest, even though it’s a place that’s always fascinated us (IT’S CALLED DEATH VALLEY) we ended up there mostly because we were late with … | Continue reading
What I’m eating and reading this week… Hot take: Winter fruit salads are better than summer fruit salads! Especially when they look like this one from my everyday cooking hero Sarah Carey. A new book column called “Group Text” from DALS-favorite Elisabeth Egan, all about what to … | Continue reading
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. We we … | Continue reading
For all the readers and eaters in your life, herewith the ninth (!) annual Dinner: A Love Story gift guide. As in past years, I’m focusing mostly on food and books, and would love to hear ideas from you as well, if you’re so inclined. Happy shopping everyone! Nothing to See Here … | Continue reading
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 … | Continue reading
This Thanksgiving, after the turkey goes in the oven and before the potatoes get mashed, I’m going to interview my parents. I’ve been promising myself I’d do this ever since my friend Ingrid told me about Story Corps, the app that helps you record meaningful conversations (with a … | Continue reading
Last fall, my friend Kate and I were driving north on the Saw Mill Parkway in New York when she started talking about the meals she makes for her 9-year-old son. “He’s vegetarian-ish,” she said, “but not vegetarian, so I make him really basic things.” Like what? I asked. “Oh, lik … | Continue reading
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 f … | Continue reading
Quick post today to make sure you saw this Clare Crespo post about clever ways to decorate Halloween cupcakes over on Cup of Jo. Thanks to Clare‘s advice a decade ago when we worked on some magazine stories together, I’ve kept every doll my daughters outgrew just for the purpose … | Continue reading
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 … | Continue reading
This past summer, I had the distinct pleasure of employing, Lily Soroka, a talented young writer and aspiring cook, as Dinner: A Love Story’s first ever intern. In addition to assisting on photo shoots and helping with cookbook research, you’ll be happy to know, she organized my … | Continue reading
Monday was Rosh Hashana dinner at my parents’ house across town, and as I was leaving for the night, my mom, as she is wont to do, shoved a fully wrapped, untouched round challah into my hands. “Take it!” The first thing I thought was not thank you or are you sure you don’t want … | Continue reading
Happy Weekend, Everybody. Two new things. As of today, I’m going to be sending out this trusty Friday round-up in newsletter form — so if you’d like it delivered straight to your inbox, be sure to submit your email in the sign-up box up in the upper right corner. Next, I’m introd … | Continue reading
You would be forgiven if you looked at this shot of the North Face trail near Mürren in Switzerland and didn’t believe it was real. Today, a little over a month after my family has returned from a vacation in Switzerland, I’m wondering if it was all a dream myself. Before we left … | Continue reading
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 i … | Continue reading
What we’re reading and eating this week: How to Cook for Every Back-to-School Meal, by yours truly. I’m late on this one, but if you missed Stephen Colbert on WTF talking about faith, sci-fi, depression, joy, all interspersed with recitation of poetry and Shakespearean sonnets, p … | Continue reading
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 sch … | Continue reading
I don’t know if it’s laziness or contentment, but it really takes a lot for me to switch up the routine these days. It’s tomato season, for instance, and every time I come home with a mini haul, I imagine grand plans for tarts and pies for dinner, but just wind up slathering mayo … | Continue reading
4:00 Drop off daughter at camp in Western Mass; settle in for 3-hour drive home. 4:15 Realize the kitchen waiting for us is basically cobwebs. We have no fresh food except possibly half a red onion. 4:17 Pull over at first farm stand we drive by (I see you Pioneer Valley!); pick … | Continue reading
Remember that heartbreaking scene in Catcher in the Rye when Holden drops the record he bought for his little sister and it shatters into a million pieces? Or when Sylvia says she can no longer be with Dorian Gray because their love is interfering with her art? Or the deeply sad … | Continue reading
Happy Friday, Everyone. I wanted to use today’s round-up to give you an update on a few things I’ve been working on over at Cup of Jo. As most of you know, I’ve been logging some time in Brooklyn with the COJ team, and in addition to being right next door to my favorite seafood m … | Continue reading
A few weeks ago I headed to Park City, Utah for a mini reunion with my college roommates, where the seven of us spent a long weekend hiking, eating, and hard-core hanging. One night, as my Seattle friend Jenn and I were putting together dinner for the crew (salmon salad, naturall … | Continue reading
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 fro … | Continue reading
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 d … | Continue reading
As most of you know, we are big fans of the celebratory birthday breakfast in our house and, thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be changing as the kids get older. In fact, they seem more into the tradition than ever, most recently evidenced by this spread for Andy a few weeks back. … | Continue reading