Whatever You Do, Don’t Cut Your Noodles

Our daughter Julia, our delicious foodie, is Chinese by birth. I say by birth because we adopted Julia when she was 10 months old and, since then, she has lived right here in the good ole’ USA. The honest truth is that my girl is more comfortable noshing on a hot dog smothered in ketchup […]

Keeping everybody happy…

Hi there from the North Pole- oops, I mean, New York. We got more snow today. And, then just to mix it up a bit, the snow turned to sleet, and finally settled into a cold, dreary rain. It was miserable, but at least the temperature rose mid-day to a balmy 40 degrees. But before […]

Boys will be boys

Wednesday night I had five men over for dinner. It was, of course, a business dinner for my husband. And, it was super easy to cook for. Because, truth be told, men are just big boys and they love the comfort food of their youth. And, if you can spice it up a bit- give […]

Dear Dinner Dilemma…

This morning I returned home from a zillion errands to find the following email waiting for me: Dear Dinner Dilemma: I have a little challenge for you- I made a baked risotto last night from the Food Network. It intrigued me… risotto that you don’t have to stir and is rated easy? I had to […]

Ina’s got nothing on me…

Tuesday night found my kitchen looking something like a scene from a Barefoot Contessa tv episode. A roast chicken was in my oven, its’ aroma spilling out and scenting the whole house. The white chairs around the kitchen island were scattered, out of place and arranged so all were facing the oven and the stove. […]

Brought to you by the letter P…

My children adore pasta. They would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every now and again I, too, want a pasta fix. But, when this happens I want to aim for a pasta that everyone in the family will eat-and my idea of good pasta and theirs is definitely not the same. They are […]

The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle….

Today was cold and gray and just a tad biting- a perfect reminder that Spring is still as fickle as ever: a sniff of sweet Summer with a bitter hint of Winter still holding on. While the temperature was not “cold” today, it was not warm and the wind, when it blew, was fierce. But […]

Cozy Food

A blizzard is raging outside; 7” or so of snow are already on the ground with more to come.  There is a snow day.   The kids are home and they have had their fill of sledding, snowball fights and snowmen.  Hot cocoa has been the drink of the day.  And now, as darkness falls, there […]

Girls you can count on

This morning started with an unexpected snow.  By that I mean: it was unexpected to me.  The meteorologists may have known it was coming but I did not!  And, before you could say “school drop off” there were several inches of cold white stuff on the ground.  The roads were slippery, and honestly, it was […]

The Beginning

I have always loved kitchens- the heart of any home. For me, a kitchen is where the really good and messy stuff happens…homework, family dinners, heart to hearts, delicious, unexpected coffee breaks with friends who happen by, pointed political discussions over wine, and most importantly, the creation of food. Freshly baked cookies, roast chickens, fruit […]