
One day when Mira was about 4 and Liev about 2 and keeping me busy, the phone rang while I was melting the butter for this recipe. Someone was asking for a phone number or a play date, etc., and I left the kitchen for a couple of minutes to attend to the request. When […]
Read the rest of "Brown Butter Banana Bread"…

My Spring Semester Cooking Class this year was really one for the books. It included mostly 6 and 7-year-old girls, among them the daughter of a former gourmet food magazine editor. My student informed me that she liked five things: chocolate, bacon, pizza, plain pasta, and chocolate chip muffins. Let’s pause for a moment and […]
Read the rest of "Mac and Cheese with a Crunchy Cornflake Crust and Cooking Class Survival"…

Liev, former owner of gigantic adenoids and even huger tonsils, had surgery to remove both this week and is now, thankfully, on the mend. He was super brave and, despite a bit of fear as he was coming off the anesthesia, he handles it better than most adults might have. This week has left both […]
Read the rest of "Recovery (and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes)"…

My first taste of Tom Ka Gai changed my world. It happened when I was 15, visiting New York for the first time ever and already in love with the City. That bite of spicy coconut chicken broth-laced with the sour lime juice and lemongrass sealed my fate as a future New Yorker. The soup […]
Read the rest of "Tom Ka Gai: Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup"…

It can be frustrating waiting for the berries to show up at the Greenmarket. When they do, we pretty much swoon and buy cases to enjoy. For Mother’s Day, the mini-chefs needed something that they could throw together and with which to impress their mamas. Since we couldn’t wait to use fresh berries, we settled […]
Read the rest of "For Mother’s Day: Strawberry-Blueberry Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream"…