Can I ask you a question? Do you often cook fancy meals when it's just you? No judgment either way. (After all, I consider a bowl of well-buttered popcorn a culinary accomplishment of its own sort.) I'm curious. Often I think "oh, that's too much trouble" about making a portion for just one. But really, more delicious food doesn't necessarily equal more difficult cooking.
Read moreSPICED CHICKEN WITH TOMATO SAUCE & SPINACH RICE
Today was a brilliant, sunny 68 degrees. I woke up and walked to yoga class without a jacket. Ninety minutes later, I walked home, drenched in sweat and on a little bit of an exercise high. I confess that I might have given a slightly superior look to all those bleary-eyed people slowly waking up over coffee in the local diner. But to the people already lined up at my local bakery (the one with the EXCEPTIONAL scone-sized cookies), I gave them all a mental high five. Those people have their priorities in order: Warm cookie > commute.
Read moreASPARAGUS & CHEESE QUICHE
This weekend it snowed: fat, heavy flakes that pelted downwind and hit my car windshield with a satisfying splatter. I drove from New York to Philadelphia, and the sky turned from a faded gray to a darkly ominous slate to complete white-out. The rain started somewhere in New Jersey. Driving in the rain can be soothing, the rhythmic swooshing of the windshield wipers, the cozy cocoon of warmth in your car. I put on quiet music. My sister slept in the backseat, her hair rumpled, waking up every few minutes to watch the towns tick by: Edison, New Brunswick, South Orange.
Read moreMUFFIN TIN MAC & CHEESE
I am an avid purchaser of dubiously useful single-application kitchen tools. Miniature doughnut pan? Why yes please, I’ll take two. Three different types of pastry tips? Got ‘em. I also own a hard-boiled egg slicer, tart pans of every conceivable dimension, at least 3 vintage pie servers, and a drawerful of cookie cutters in completely unnecessary shapes like corgis and the letter M.
Read moreROASTED TOMATO + AVOCADO GRILLED CHEESE
I came across an interview this week. The chef, in discussing her habits and philosophy, said that “everything is cumulative”.
She was talking about health. No day is good or bad in its own right. Nothing exists in isolation. Every run we take, or good decision we make, adds up.
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