Red lentil Thai chili
Sometimes I get bored of cooking. Actually, I often get bored of cooking. The idea of cooking one of the same five meals I have in rotation makes me just uuuugh and the idea of finding a new recipe and trudging to the store like a jerk to get all the stuff for it sounds … Continue reading
Stories for all your various summer needs
While summer reading lists tend to put one in mind of trashy paperbacks stashed away in canvas bags for beach reading, not many of us will spend the entire summer in a folding chair. Thus, a good set of summer reading suggestions will include options suitable for a variety of situations and pursuits. Whether you’re … Continue reading
Instead, dinner sort of sucked: Polenta
A month or so ago, I bought a tube of pre-cooked polenta (which, if you don’t know, is a sort of cornmeal) in a fit of optimism and adventure. I had no idea how to cook polenta. I had no idea how I was supposed to eat polenta or what I was supposed to eat … Continue reading
Butter, browned
I like to think I can work hard on some things, but for the most part, I’ll take the lazy route if you let me. So lately my cooking has consisted of an arsenal of 10 dinners or so and just cycling through them, week after week. Finding a new recipe takes time and then … Continue reading
Biscuits and vegetarian gravy, with apologies
I’m a breakfast purist. Even if, like yesterday, I’m not up and out of bed until noon, I’m having breakfast for my first meal of the day. No cold pizza or soggy leftover bullshit. Breakfast is way too good to miss out on. I also have strict ideas about what breakfast should be. For example, … Continue reading
Valentine’s day: Double rainbow coconut cupcakes
I’ve never cared much about Valentine’s Day, one way or the other. I don’t moon over a romantic evening or loudly proclaim that it’s some corporate bullshit designed to play on our tender emotions in order to get us to buy diamonds and chocolate. I’d rather get worked up over something important, like getting blue-shelled … Continue reading
Oven pancakes
I’m a big fan of breakfast. I eat it early, I eat it late, and just about once a week, I even eat it for dinner. Thus I was happy to discover a few weeks ago that one of my favorite breakfast chains, The Original Pancake House, has a restaurant just down the road. Unlike … Continue reading
Finding order in kitchen chaos
Everyone has their own way of finding order. Maybe you wash your hands until they are cracked to keep from catching something. Maybe you vacuum the entire house every day. Maybe you fold your underwear and sort them by color. Maybe you organize your books by size. Each is a way to find order and … Continue reading
Julia’s kitchen
My enthusiasm is usually a good sign that something is on the way out, and in fact by the time you read this, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History will have started to take down its display of Julia Child’s kitchen. Originally planned for an 18-month exhibition in 2002, and tucked away out of … Continue reading
Homemade chicken and dumplings soup
It’s strange to string up Christmas lights around a window framing palm trees and sunshine, instead of cloudy skies and snow. Listening to Christmas music on Pandora just felt like a sham. I wonder how parents in San Francisco justify Santa’s sleigh. There’s nothing for his runners to skate over in California but fresh asphalt … Continue reading
