I suspect that the universal adoration of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, has something to do with her gift for making us all feel like everything is going to be OK. These are the lessons of reading her cookbooks and watching her show: if you roast a chicken for your husband every Friday, the weekend [...]
I love going to the grocery store just as the seasons change. I am thrilled to see watermelon, peaches, cherries, piles of artichokes and asparagus, and, for a few short weeks, rhubarb. Someone needs to use this pretty stalk in a flower arrangement. Tyson loved his grandmother’s rhubarb pie. I love Tyson. And so Sunday [...]
I get grumpy about Easter. In Arizona, it marks the end of all the nice weather. The days of sweat and suffering are on the way. Also, I’m expected to wear pastel clothing. I get grumpy about that, especially. But homemade popovers with Neiman Marcus strawberry butter? This could mitigate the email I received from [...]
This is a salad that begins innocently, like meeting your best girlfriend for a drink on a Thursday night. And then she might find herself on your rooftop, without shoes, dialing questionably and being tucked in for the night on your couch. Both options are enjoyable. One is much better. I had this salad with [...]
My clothes don’t fit, and I’m on a January diet. Oink to the world. I made my favorite healthy homemade granola for Tyson and myself as a Sunday breakfast treat. It’s a 15-minute job, and the house smells like cinnamon for hours. Layer it with fruit and Greek yogurt — and maybe just a bit [...]
Just before Christmas, I attended a dinner party during which the women spent a hilarious hour speaking in rhapsodies about marshmallow vodka. It’s a THING, y’all. “It’s the best mixer for Diet Coke ever,” promised Susie Timm. “It tastes like a root beer float.” I even made a man friend try it. First he sneered. [...]
“Who makes their own crackers?” Tyson wanted to know when he saw what I was pulling out of the oven. “The Barefoot Contessa,” I replied, and then he understood. We love crackers in our house, especially at Christmas, when December dinners feel like one long string of appetizers. These cheddar-jalapeno crackers are wicked all by [...]
This is genius breakfast — the kind you mix the night before in just a few minutes, then pull from the oven on Christmas morning, browned and glistening. It comes to you from my future mother-in-law, who is wise about Christmas breakfast and about simplicity in life. Clearly, I need help with that. RECIPE: Christmas [...]
I once interviewed the woman who runs OrganizedChristmas.com and she told me about making and freezing meals in November for busy December nights. She had entire pies, even, ready and frozen for the holiday. Like in October. On Organized Christmas, she’s built a 6-week Christmas checklist plan that is so detailed that it even includes [...]
Our gift to friends and neighbors this Christmas: homemade vanilla that we bottled and labeled ourselves. This is a crazy easy but impressive handmade gift. You don’t have to do anything but pour, shake, wait, and give with glee. I’m a vanilla freak and excited to share my brew around town. Vanilla means dessert, which [...]
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