A Thanksgiving Tradition I’ve never shared Thanksgiving dinner with Betsy Cole, but I like to think we commune every year on that day. She’s always busy cooking for her extended family down in Richmond and I’m always (until this year) busy cooking for my extended family in the Shenandoah Valley. But through the transitive power… Continue reading Betsy Cole’s Never-Fail Bread Rolls
Category: Food
Blindsided by The Blight
An essay about stupid, stubborn hope. (Art by Samia Ahmed.) Read the whole piece here at The Washington Post. Read the rest at The Washington Post.
Stock Up? Make Do? Or Splurge?
Confusion in My Quarantine Kitchen People are suffering out there. In here, life is truly . . . pleasant. This piece is about struggling with that contrast. You can read the whole thing here. (If you don’t have a Washington Post subscription but you do have a library card, chances are you can access the… Continue reading Stock Up? Make Do? Or Splurge?
Cooking for the Family Again
With one kid at college and one kid eating all her meals at school, I got out of the cooking habit this year. I still loved to cook, but I cooked mostly for dinner parties, cocktail parties, potlucks — occasions that assembled a more gratifying number of eaters. Suppers with my husband and the one… Continue reading Cooking for the Family Again
Put Some Butter On It
Three things before I offer you this little essay from my files. One, it’s old. It features Noah, now 15, as a toddler. Two, the culinary climate it describes has shifted slightly since I wrote it. Fat has gotten almost trendy: upscale restaurants are now serving pork belly and chicharrones (in tiny, delicately garnished portions, but still). And… Continue reading Put Some Butter On It
Sourdough Resolution
Lena, having a snack at the counter after school, asked me what my favorite possession was. I mentally sifted through my stuff. I don’t really think of myself as a “thing” person. I rely on my computer. My noise-cancelling headphones are like a parachute: although I hardly ever use them, they offer me the reassurance… Continue reading Sourdough Resolution
Canning Notes for Next Year
Every year for at least ten (to judge by the date on one dusty jar that I can’t bring myself either to open or to throw away), I make and can salsa and sauce with tomatoes from our garden. Every year, I have to remember how all over again. Same goes for buying school supplies and baking birthday… Continue reading Canning Notes for Next Year
Process This
The season of scratch-foodie bliss has begun! This morning Adam planted more tomatoes, more cucumbers, and some lacinato kale. Tomorrow morning, after I start some focaccia dough, I’m going to take my daughter to a local farm to pick strawberries. Or maybe we’ll go to a farmer’s market, where someone’s beautiful display of homegrown strawberries… Continue reading Process This
Wellskringle: A Tale of Love and Lying
What follows was my contribution to a reading called “Eat the Past,” held last night at the Arts Center in Troy and hosted by food writer Steve Barnes. (Note: Those of you who signed up for thoughtful essays on atheist parenting will have to suffer through the occasional food essay. Those of you who signed… Continue reading Wellskringle: A Tale of Love and Lying
How to Start Your Own Holiday
Can you remember (without looking or guessing) what you did for dinner on October 12? No? How about on Thanksgiving? That’s my twenty-word argument in favor of holidays. Without holidays, the past dissolves into a smooth and pleasant blur. With them, our feeble brains hold onto at least a few moments each year.[1] But what… Continue reading How to Start Your Own Holiday