Category: main courses
-
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
-
Honey-Soy Shrimp & Keeping Bees
“Do you make your own honey?” someone asked. I was at a book signing and had finished telling a story about taking the four kids to pick berries and how they help make raspberry jam. “Oh, no,” I said and when the person looked surprised I had to explain. Here is what I do: I… Read more
-
Vidalia Onion and Leek Tart with Whole Wheat Rosemary Crust & Parental Blame
Not one, but all four of my kids, have been walking around the house singing. Not that I mind. I’m a singer – in cars, as I walk down the street, while I cook. And yet, this singing my offspring are doing the past couple of weeks is…terrible. Off-key? No. Offensive lyrics? No (and I’m… Read more
-
Crispy Mushroom & Shallot Toasts & The Weird Table
“Which lunch table did you sit at?” Jamie asks after he’s explained the intricacies of the middle school lunchroom, the center tables and their popular, designer jeans crew, the ‘second tier who basically want to be at the center tables but aren’t,’ and so on. Odd 14-year-old that I was, mushrooms on toast was one… Read more
-
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
-
Pasta Nero di Seppia, Garlic-Caper Sauce, and Italian White Beans & Pantry Suppers
As we get further into winter here, I begin to hunker down. Nothing says cozy and resourceful like a pantry supper. At least twice a week I try and use what I’ve already got in the pantry as the main part of our dinner. The green were from our farm share, washed, very well dried,… Read more
-
Amaranth Polenta with Leeks and Greens & Good & Evil
I’m the kind of nice person who might make you roll your eyes. I escort old ladies across the street. I’ve taught my kids to bring errant trashcans tossed on their sides back to driveways for people we don’t know. When the preschool sent out a plea for a family in need, I made them… Read more
-
Double Quinoa and Collard Greens Pie & Eating Alone
I spend most of time with other people. Often, these humans are small and frustrate easily and see nothing wrong with digging for worms in the yard and running in to taste a dish with their wormy fingers. I’m a fan of dirt. And worms. And people. This weekend we had staggered some visits but… Read more
-
Rosh Hashanah Recipe 2 & Happy New Year!
Rosh Hashana Recipe & Happy New Year Read more
-
Black Bean Burgers & Lime-Poblano Corn Salad & Waiting
I’ve kept you waiting, I know. And you, unlike my children who can be amused by “find something in the doctor’s office that’s a square” or “would you rather meet Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day or Kevin Youklis from the Red Sox” or “list in order the five places you want to visit”…you are… Read more
-
Breadcrumb Flounder & Learning to Cook
“How do you roast a chicken?” my housemate asked. We were living in a small house on the outskirts of Oxford, England, commuting to tutorials by bike or foot or, in my case, used Vespa. I had an enormous helmet that made me look like a misshapen bee or person from the future and yet… Read more
-
Super Sticky Thai Chicken Wings & Pieces of String
So there’s this old New England tale – the kind that gets passed along from one old fisherman to another, then handed down to me when I worked on boats and cooked on a wood stove or a diesel one, up at 4am and in bed at 11pm (the nights that prepared me well for… Read more
-
Zucchini Ribbons with Velvet Onions & The Mystery of the Green Bag
Upon our return from Italy last night we realized a few things: we are tired, which is silly considering we relaxed very hard while there…I’m thinking this had something to do with 19 hour travel day with five kids, two long-haul flights, time changes, system breakdown of in-flight entertainment, the airline somehow having us down… Read more
-
Oven Omelet with Garlic Scapes & baby Spinach & Art
In the food-as-modern-scultpure category, garlic scapes win first place. Green in shades from lightest to moss, twisted as witches fingers, lovely enough to use as a centerpiece and yet too delicious to waste on topiary. I love the bite. Are they the love child of garlic and onion? Perhaps. But they make for a flavorful… Read more
-
Father’s Day & To Sir(loin) with Love
Father’s Day starts early this year with six-year-old Daniel deciding to serve breakfast in bed to his dad. Sounds idyllic and yet looks a bit quirky as Daniel shows up with a tray of cereal he’s poured himself, an apple cut in half (“I couldn’t really do even slices”), the milk sloshing over the sides… Read more