The Poop Whisperer
I once held a friend’s knee aloft for the two hours it took her to muscle out a baby. I whispered encouragement, groaned in sympathy, and shouted Hallelujah! to the heavens when that dark, cabbagey head forced its miraculous way into the air. I had practically out-midwifed the midwife! I could have coaxed a million dollars [...]
Apple Pie Tutorial
I have written before, I know, about Michael’s New Year’s resolutions and their amazing, er,concreteness. And so, with the end of the year looming suddenly, and with apple season in full, fragrant swing, Michael decided to learn how to bake a pie crust. Which was the entirety of his personal goals for 2010. Of course, fulfilling [...]
Sparkling Cranberry Centerpiece
Birdy sat at the kitchen island this morning, munching these gorgeous sugared cranberries while I packed up school lunches. I wouldn’t typically make them in mid-November, for no reason, but I wanted you to have this recipe before the holidays, so you could plan accordingly: they make the most perfectly beautiful holiday centerpiece–especially if there [...]
Tabbouleh with pomegranate chicken kebabs
Ingredients For the chicken 1 lemon, juice only pinch ground cumin pinch cayenne pepper 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses olive oil 8 chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces pinch sumac, to serve For the tabbouleh 225g/8oz cracked wheat handful fresh flatleaf parsley, leaves only, chopped 6 spring onions, chopped 4 tbsp lemon juice sea salt and freshly ground black pepper [...]
Crisp lemon sole with chilli, sesame and soy
This hot and sweet Japanese lemon sole recipe can be whipped up in minutes if you ask your fishmonger to do the hard work for you. Ingredients For the fish 2 lemon sole vegetable oil, for deep frying 50-75g/2-3oz potato starch For the marinade and dipping sauce
Matzo Brei
Ah, you are good people, to ask after a matzo brei recipe–and to offer your own! Thank you. Matzo brei is a traditional Passover concoction, and there are as many opinions about its proper preparation as there are Jews in the world: you could make it like a big pancake served with syrup and jelly [...]
Rhubarb Crumb Bars
We had my favorite kind of weekend–what is known around here as “a real weekendy weekend.” Somehow there was time enough for absolute lolling–late breakfasts, pajama-clad board games (Settlers of Catan is our new favorite), lackadaisical gardening (the kind where I pull weeds one-handed because I don’t want to set down my beer), the pleasantly [...]
Crunchy Oven Fries
Ben is ten, and he asks many questions that begin this way: “If you had limitless wishes…” What would you wish for first? (Justice.) How many wishes do you think it would be before you wished that poop didn’t smell bad? (Never. Poop smells bad so we’ll stay away from it, which helps keep us [...]
Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies are from Kim Boyce’s wildly inspiring cookbook Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours, and they are made with, um, 100% whole-wheat flour. That’s right. 100%. And they are just insanely delicious. “Well they should be,” my friend Peggy said, reading over my shoulder. “Look at all that butter and sugar and chocolate!” [...]
Cold Noodle Bowl
I really do love to cook, but sometimes I just hate it. Like now. I don’t feel like making dinner, and if it weren’t for the kids, I’d eat a bowl of granola and a handful of cherries every night after drinking many cold beers. Instead, we have granola for dinner only sometimes, and sometimes [...]