Category: sides
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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
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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
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Fig-Apricot Compote & Giving Thanks
It’s difficult to make the transition from talking about someone in the present tense to the past. Grandma Ruth likes liked likes liked to bake. She made chocolate bit cookies the size of a half-dollar, taught me how to make coffee-vanilla-caramel puddings from scratch, and always whipped up a banana bread with lemon icing for… Read more
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Whole Slow-Roasted Carrots with Thyme & Secret Shame
At the family bbq, our kids were nosing around the yard, digging in the dirt and becoming fast friends as kids under ten do. This writer and I stood around as writers do, chit-chatting until we feel enough time has passed to discuss work. Generally the conversations go something like this: Writer 1: So…what’re you… Read more
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Addis (Red Lentils with Tomatoes) & Old Haunts
I’ve loved some restaurants in my life. Some remain, some have since closed, turned over into other eateries or morphed into cell phone stores. I look back on these places the way one might look back on an old flame. Oh, tiny little place no one knew about in the then-dodgy part of London with… Read more
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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
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Beet Salad with Lime Vinaigrette (Raw) & School’s Out for Summer
Nothing says Summer Fun for kids like a raw beet salad, right? Wrong. But this does not mean I won’t make it again. It was a great for items in my CSA delivery and because it’s barely heated through, the beet retains bite Read more
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Triple Greens with Crispy Coconut & Saying No
I say no a lot. No you may not have ice cream, no you may not paint the dog, no you may not watch tv in afternoon. Saying no helps my kids learn how to be creative. No tv = magic wands made of paper towel rolls and chasing games around the house and soccer… Read more
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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
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Asian Broccoli Slaw & An Anatomy Lesson
My mom took Julia, age 7, and her friend Sally for the afternoon. They played make-believe, ate tuna salad and celery and Oreos and run around Grammie’s townhouse and did slippery-slides on the wood floors. That night, Sally’s mom called me to say she was sorry. “For what?” Sally’s mom is a pediatrician. “I think… Read more
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Miso Collard Greens & Making Out
Before I had ever kissed anyone, I figured liplock would be similar to the long, sunset-hued sessions on The Love Boat. I’d be there, in my off-the-shoulder dress and we’d gaze at each other before leaning leaning leaning and then joining mouths until Isaac or Doc interrupted us for the conga line on the lido… Read more
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The Splendid Table on NPR, My Son Hates Peas
As the Smiths sang, Peas, Peas, Peas, let me get what I want… lf you want, can listen to me read my essay, The Five Stages of Grief, on NPR’s The Splendid Table. Actually, please do. Then comment on one of the letters I received after the show aired, as well as my response.* Like… Read more
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Yoga for Bitches & Coconut Mushrooms with Asparagus
Everyone talks about yoga the way they talk about sex when they finally get good at it or the way a few friends from [insert high school, college, grad school, work, summer] talk about [insert pot, shrooms, Levain chocolate chip cookies, God, Clapton, David Foster Wallace, Princeton]. I tried yoga about a decade ago (and… Read more
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Morocco – Part 1
I know blog posts are meant to be short and easily digested. However, along with the now-defunct idea of curling up with the Sunday paper, I propose a larger meal…in light of the violence in North Africa this week, here is a happier tale. I adore Morocco – the food, the people, the history. Did… Read more
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In Which the Mother Drinks Beer
Confession #1: I am a lightweight. This means that a beer or a glass of wine is about all I can tolerate (see: horribly embarrassing episode only older brother knows about – thanks for both providing the alcohol AND cleaning up!). I do, however, like a glass now and then, particularly if it’s good Pinot… Read more