This week, on cooking without a recipe: stuffed peppers, Pete-style! This is one of those few occasions when inspiration and serendipity meet on the street and decide to go for lunch. Originally I had planned to make beef tacos because, duh, Taco Tuesday. But on Monday, I was driving home and passing the farm thatContinue reading “stuffed peppers à la Pete”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
sneaky sausage
Sometimes I try to trick my boyfriend into eating things he doesn’t like. I don’t think I’m alone in this. Food history is rife with people sneaking certain things into family meals—vegetables for kids (or adults), tiny bits of mushroom for the persnickety eater who “won’t” eat them and “can taste a mushroom even ifContinue reading “sneaky sausage”
a dal-liance
I have a dalliance with lentils, or dal as they are called in Hindi—a dalliance, if you will. (Oof! Terrible pun.) I love them. I grew up with stewed green lentils over rice, often with chopped up hotdogs, as one of my mother’s cheap go-to meals to feed a lot of people. But I alwaysContinue reading “a dal-liance”
bowl life
I have a new obsession with things in bowls. Maybe that’s misleading. I have always loved food in bowls. There’s something deeply comforting about that well of food, held so easily in one hand you can shovel forkfuls of it into your masticating jaws without taking your eyes off the TV screen or the bookContinue reading “bowl life”
pandemic pasta
Folks, it’s been a while. To be more precise, it’s been over a month since I last posted. I’ve been acutely aware of this, and daily sink a little deeper into the shame and anxiety of the degenerate who doesn’t stick with his own resolutions or intentions. It’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it? The moreContinue reading “pandemic pasta”
cooking the long game
I spent entirely too much time in the kitchen this weekend. We all have our ways of coping with the sweeping and devastating news that reaches us every day, with the fear and anxiety that crowd in at the corners, with the sudden shift in our priorities and clearances in our schedules. For those ofContinue reading “cooking the long game”
eating with your eyes closed
These days we’re doing a lot of guessing. It’s hard to know exactly how to plan, even for the week ahead, when the world is changing so rapidly around us. What was easy and accessible—second nature—only a few days or weeks ago is now socially irresponsible, even unthinkable. This week for the first time inContinue reading “eating with your eyes closed”
reflections over breakfast
I have to be honest: I don’t feel a lot like writing. Believe it or not, this happens to writers quite often. Writing is hard work, even when it’s something you love to do and have been practicing for years. It’s draining. And when you’re already drained for whatever reason, it’s like scraping the rocksContinue reading “reflections over breakfast”
chili for the end of the world
I think I’ve done it—I’ve finally mastered my mother’s chili. My mother is not what I would think of as an adventurous cook, but there is a fair list of household staples that she does very, very well. Her chili is one of my favorite meals ever. It’s a far cry from any kind ofContinue reading “chili for the end of the world”
conquering carbonara
I am one of those people who has had an unreasonable fear of pasta carbonara. At first, I just didn’t understand how something made with essentially raw egg tossed with some warm spaghetti could possibly be digestible, if not downright dangerous to eat. Don’t ask me to explain this or justify it, even with theContinue reading “conquering carbonara”