I don't know about you, but I had some plans for 2020. For one, I planned to get my 2015 on and add video content to these monthly round-ups, finally taking the advice my (much younger) friend Emily offered about expanding the array of content to include some tutorials or other little clips that would, … Continue reading A few things: October 2020
The first kitchen I remember is the one on Agnes Place, the house, built in 1912, where we lived from my toddler years until I started first grade. I remember five very specific things about this kitchen. The first memory is visual: The window above the sink looked out onto the back yard, where we … Continue reading The solace of my mother’s kitchen: Part 1
"Hey, how about you come to dinner one night, and I'll bring out some good wine, and you can teach me how to make that chocolate soufflé. I'm dying to know how to make that." Here are the things I loved about my first apartment, a first-floor gem in an classic old, brick building, situated … Continue reading Prequel: A light in the attic.
An actual family dinner conversation (and yes, I have shared this one before, but what follows it is all new): SON: [to MOM] "So, why'd you move all that stuff and mess up the big room?" MOM: "I need more space for my art and sewing and things. Maybe I'll have people over, teach a … Continue reading Family dinner.
Here's the thing: Until Ruth Reichl's delightful Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir, I had made what I thought was a lasting peace with Bon Appétit. I had decided to accept, and perhaps even like, the hipster page layouts, the photos of people in vintage-wash t-shirts and man buns, harvesting mussels and ramps, pushing … Continue reading Do you remember?
Rise early, and head to the farmers market so you'll have the best pick of produce. Or, alternately, sleep in and head to the market when you're awake and have had some coffee. Don't like farmers markets? Fine. But know that you'll need tomatoes for this dinner, and grocery tomatoes will not do. Buy loads … Continue reading A summer dinner.
It's the season of honeysuckle and privet, of peonies, iris, and azaleas. Trees decked out in full, fresh green, unlike the worn-out color they'll be showing come Labor Day. Walk outside and take in the intoxicating fragrance and colors of high spring, here for only a few more weeks. (If you are the sneezy type … Continue reading A few things: May 2019
Well, It's mid-March, the end of spring break here. On cue, daffodils and redbuds and Japanese magnolias are showing off. Bernard and our daughter are on the way home from Santa Fe ("epic powder skiing"), and the boy and I have mostly recovered from our trip to New Orleans and the saddest funeral I've ever … Continue reading A few things: March 2019
