We are now solidly into the magical stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas, that no-holds-barred span of weeks that I typically use to indulge all of my wildest cookie and hot cocoa and cinnamon roll whims, and yet, much to my dismay, I've spent most of it so far thinking about, not chocolate or candy canes or marshmallows, but vegetables. In ...
thanksgiving
sticky toffee pudding with mascarpone butterscotch
I've been meaning to make some form of sticky toffee pudding for at least a few years, ever since a friend of mine first waxed lyrical about one she'd had at a pub near our offices called the Shakespeare. At that point, I'd never had sticky toffee pudding or, possibly, even heard of ...
hazelnut coffee cheesecake
For as long as I can remember, hazelnut coffee has been my dad's way to start the day. Almost every day of my childhood and every day that I'm back home now, I've come downstairs in the morning to find him sitting in our sunny breakfast nook, already up for hours, with an oversized mug of coffee in his hand and a newspaper spread out on the table, ...
rosemary citrus bundt cake
My first introduction to this cake came on a brisk evening last April, in the form of a cheerful crowd of teeny baby Bundts at the launch party for Sweeter Off the Vine, the cookbook it comes from. The spread there, all baked by the inimitable Yossy herself, might ...
pear, parmesan, & balsamic salad
Our Christmas tree is up! It's the first real, live, non-plastic tree to make an appearance in our household. We chose it in about five seconds flat last Saturday with babe in tow, in the signature haste of panicky new parents who are still not very good at this "taking the baby out into the world" thing. (Luke, meanwhile, was just passed out ...
custardy crème fraîche apple pie
What a strange, hard week this has been. It feels like it has been hard in every sense of the word -- difficult, unyielding. I hope everyone is okay. This is the first of a number of recipes I've had saved up for these first few baby-filled months, and, thankfully, it is so very easy. I think "easy" was going to be my mantra in the kitchen for ...
cheesy garlic pull-apart bread
We've had adventures this week! Last Friday, I braved the pre-blizzard craziness at the supermarket to buy the only things I thought we needed for a snow day -- (a) pork and (b) bok choy for (c) lion's head meatballs. And maybe also some seltzer. While the ...
thanksgiving leftovers “red beans” & coconut rice
I'm boring when it comes to leftovers. (Strategy: Remove from refrigerator and eat. Alternatively, freeze, forget about, then find three months later and still eat.) My mom, on the other hand, makes magic with them -- I can't remember a single time that she tossed out leftovers in our kitchen, or a time that we didn't ask for the rest of our dinner ...
potato, garlic, & leek soup
Every once in a blue moon, usually when we're just about to fall asleep, B2 likes to come up with ideas for things I should cook next. I use "ideas" loosely, because it's mostly a sleepy, intentionally goofy dialogue that consists of "what about ..." followed by ...
date & maple butter tarts
So I think I'm about five years late to this party. But I am newly, and really, obsessed with dates. They are so good. How are they so good? I don't know how I was so woefully misinformed, but up until a couple months ago I had this idea that dates were just a vague something to be nibbled on at your grandmother's house if all the ...