Today the rain started lightly, tapping at the window to wake me up early. It's coming down in sheets now. Every time a car passes outside on the dark street, it sounds mysterious and hushed, swooshing through the wet puddles. I'm finishing a glass of wine and sampling a slice of babka, which I made today using a recipe I'm playing around with (more on that soon).
Read moreBACK HERE
I feel a little like Adele right now (not in the sense of being able to carry a tune or having cheekbones fantastically suited to blush or anything like that): "hellooo, it's me..." Are you guys still there? Is this thing still on? I hope you are!
Read moreOATMEAL COOKIES
How was your weekend? Are you slightly sunburned, and sticky with aloe gel? Are your shoes gritty with a fine dusting of sand? I'd like to think there was excellent music (I'm thinking Bruce Springsteen and the Lumineers and some country because #mdw #america as the kids say), bare feet, and iced coffee. That you pulled your denim shorts out of the bottom drawer where they've been all winter, and ate a bowl of blueberries for breakfast, and went to bed an hour too late after drinking too much tequila and laughing so hard your abs hurt.
Read moreRASPBERRY ALMOND CAKE
There’s nothing as delicious as anticipation. Even the word is luscious, long and drawn out, and strung with crisp consonants. I like how it feels to say it. I like how it feels to sense it.
The best sort of anticipation is for something good but undefined. A nebulous, hazy event awaits, shimmering ahead of you. You're ready, but you don't know quite for what.
Read moreBEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
I stand with the refrigerator door open, lazily surveying the contents. There’s a very old rind of Parmesan in the crisper drawer (who put that there?!). A bag of baby spinach threatens to wilt, droopily, from the corner shelf. I take note of a handful of pistachios, a half-gallon of milk, and a lemon. A few strips of bacon are nestled up top next to a carton of eggs.
I reach for the most delicate-looking ingredients, the ones about to take a turn towards overly ripe and ready.
Read more