…what I found & kept during the pandemic. Did everyone simply forget that the world nearly shut down in 2020? Well I didn’t. We don’t seem to talk about it anymore, which is perhaps a self-preservation response to a really awful couple of years. Global health crisis and political upheaval notwithstanding, the ability to “moveContinue reading “the little things…”
Tag Archives: weeknight
about Diwali…
…my unexpected tie to Indian cuisine. A few weeks ago I wrote about some unexpectedly social cooking and eating escapades, specifically a three-week October frenzy of excessive commensality. It was a welcome, but exhausting departure from my oh-so-comfy empty nest routine. By the end of the month I really needed some quiet time and foundContinue reading “about Diwali…”
cry me a river…
…a first-world sob story resolved in 3 dinners. Buckle in, we are going for a ride. I got a new camera last week. To be fair, I had to get a new camera last week because in late October I dropped my faithful long lens, Big Betty. We were together for 8 years which madeContinue reading “cry me a river…”
a leg of lamb, a pound of shrimp & a bunch of kale…
…not in that order and definitely not together. Over the last couple of weeks I made three meals that really stood out, each one for particular but elusive reasons. That disconnect has kept me from synthesizing a coherent, clever theme for this post, which has been sitting in drafts since last Friday. All three wereContinue reading “a leg of lamb, a pound of shrimp & a bunch of kale…”
highs & lows…
…savor the wins and take the hits. The last few weeks need to be presented as a giant hamburger. There’s a popular management exercise where you intentionally position negative feedback between two positives – the sandwich approach or the hamburger method. This is supposed to cushion the blow so constructive criticism can be better received.Continue reading “highs & lows…”
time well spent…
…in the company of three dead women. On Sunday I spent the better part of four hours coaxing a simple Bolognese sauce into the realm of the culinary sublime. While the recipe required time and patience, always in short supply, it mostly demanded concentration which I willingly surrendered. I was so intent on losing myselfContinue reading “time well spent…”
too near the sun…
…the party’s over, for now. In grade school I fell in love with a book that I swear I must have checked out once a month – d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Mythology. The descriptions of the gods and their escapades were fantastically romantic, but it was the follies of demi-gods and mortals that I foundContinue reading “too near the sun…”
everybody needs a cooking kitty…
My trick to combat loneliness was turning my kitchen into a miniature social network with a conscripted feline audience, a soundtrack of melodic voices and a collection of inanimate “friends” complete with names and personalities.
episode vi: return of the Sous Chef
…and with him came a week of favorites in my kitchen. Most of the time it’s all me in the kitchen from start to finish. But every time a college break rolls around, my little sous chef jumps right back in and the kitchen dynamics change in the most wonderful way. Sous Chef is amenableContinue reading “episode vi: return of the Sous Chef”
leftovers: sin or salvation?
…a heartfelt defense of the well-thawed. Leftovers get a bad rap. They are unfairly maligned for being by-products of thrift, laziness and indifference. The very mention of the word can evoke universal disappointment and even disgust. We have all experienced leftover fails, especially with food that wasn’t really that great the first time around. NeitherContinue reading “leftovers: sin or salvation?”
Foodishness. 