Category: cooking with kids
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Toffee-Dark Chocolate Matzo Crunch & Loving the Rainbow
So, my latest novel, co-written with the witty and wonderful Brendan Halpin, is nominated for a Rainbow Award. Exciting news! But not for someone who decided the LGBTQ subject of the novel and the award is enough to end our Facebook “friendship.” Okay. I wonder why this person friended me in the first place. I… Read more
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Deep Dish Salmon, Kale, and Potato Pie & Revisited Recipes
Spring in the UK comes early, and when I brought my daughter to see her godmother in London it was a flurry of blossoms, green stubbled grass, and muddy tromps in borrowed boots. We had a gaggle of kids, and the kind of laughs that are only shared with very old friends, wind-red faces from… Read more
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Banana-Bran Muffins & Sports Parenting
The score is 53-11, and my oldest son is playing on the Brown team, losing to Red. His team of twelve and thirteen-year-olds are still putting all efforts into the game, playing hard. But this isn’t what I’m admiring from the stands. What makes me grin? That they are having fun. Amidst their awkward,… Read more
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Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside Down Cake & Upside Down Cooking
I have a thing for upside down cakes and inverted dishes. Possibly this is because they tend to be simple affairs with layers of freshly rolled dough covered layers of cheese or caramelized French toast with vanilla beans. Or it could be the childlike glee that fills the room when one takes a cake that… Read more
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Brown Sugar Swirl Bread &Questions
A collection of recent questions from the kids: When you are alone during the day and I’m at preschool, are you lonely? Is it true that one day the earth will run out of water? Do you love Daddy more now or more when you first met him? Why do I have to wear underwear?… Read more
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Fried Eggs with Baby Greens, Feta (or Cheddar) , and Black Beans & Quick Lunches
Apparently, I am not alone in my need for quick yet satisfying lunches. As a result, I’m sharing another 5-minute meal today. I love this kind of dish because the flavors meld together, the cooking time is mere minutes, and it’s incredibly healthy and inexpensive. As my Grandma Bev would say, “What do you have… Read more
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Crispy, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies & Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies & A Tale of Two Cookies
Faulkner wrote “between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” Given the choice, I would choose chocolate chip cookies. If we had the time and calorie deficit, we could debate for hours over dough, chip size, semi-sweet? dark chocolate?, how much brown sugar versus white, whole eggs or yolks, letting the dough rest overnight or… Read more
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Mushroom, Fontina, and Spinach White Lasagna & Super Bowl Weekend
I am ready for the big game! That exclamation point makes it seem as though I am actually excited about football. I am not. I like Boston sports teams as much as the next bookish traveller mom, but…what I really enjoy is the excitement other people have for the game. While they cheer and watch,… Read more
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Cinnamon-Sugar Pecans & Vending Machines
In Italy, the kids and I were barefoot, looking for a bathroom inside a seaside shack. “Look, is that underwear? In a vending machine?” Yes. And it should be noted that the underwear was red, sparkled, and bikini and all yours for a couple of Euro coins. In college, times were such that in the… Read more
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Best Split Pea Soup Ever & Terrible Band Names
So the kids are talking at dinner, each one suggesting names for bands they haven’t created and which I am pretty sure no one wants to join. Jamie, almost a teenager says, “The Communists.” Daniel, 10 and still way into Star Wars, suggests, “Luke’s Dilemma.” Julia, 7, says, “Painted Pony.” When her brothers groaned, she… Read more
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Deep Dish Shepherd’s Pie & The Writing Life
At book readings and events, I’ve been asked to describe ‘the writing life’. As with many professions, from the outside, it looks pretty good. And it is. I am lucky to be home with my kids and, in theory, to work in my pajamas. (Note: I do not ever work in my pajamas. Just not… Read more
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Funky Monkey Cake (Banana Cake with Chocolate and Vanilla Layers) & Cake for Breakfast
Lest you being to think I’m the mom who force-fed my children kale from birth, I’ll have you know I am a big fan of cake or puddings for breakfast. First of all, this makes my life fairly easy in the morning. Second of all, CAKE FOR BREAKFAST! There’s nothing magic about scones or muffins… Read more
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Eton Mess (Meringue Crumble with Vanilla Custard and Berries) & Holiday Traditions
We grew up hacking down a grand pine tree in the woods at my grandparent’s house, schlepping it back to their house, and adorning the branches with glitter-coated stars and peaceful doves; the decorations of Jews who have Christmas trees. Why did we have a tree? The answer is simple and not. Simply, the trees… Read more
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Brown Sugar Sorghum Muffins & Yoga Nonsense
So, I’m a semi-recent yoga convert. And while I am grateful for the practice and enjoy my flexibility, I have some issues. Do I appreciate my toned back and newfound tolerance for way elevated heart rate meets ninety-two degree heat? Yes. Stretching, working hard, lifting one leg up high behind me while stretching one arm… Read more
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Italian Cherry Pie with Graham and Ginger & Recovering from Tragedy
So, I tried not to think about it. But, like all emotional baggage, tragedy does not fit into the overhead compartment nor under the seat in front of me. Today is year anniversary of the worst day of my life. The night before, I’d gone out when everyone was asleep and bought a super soft… Read more