Have you ever rented an apartment based on its proximity to one of your favorite restaurants? I’ve done it twice. When I first moved to Brooklyn, I took an apartment out of my price range because it was three blocks away from my favorite ice cream shop… and it had a dishwasher. While I was…
Pear and Cranberry Bostock
If you’ve never tried bostock, you are in for a serious treat. I like to think of it as French toast’s more sophisticated cousin. She’s the aloof cousin who went through puberty a year earlier than everyone else, studied abroad in the south of France, and took you to your first R-rated movie. In its…
Leftover Turkey Avgolemono
Leftovers. They’re always better than the real thing, especially when it comes to the turkey. I have never been a huge fan of the bird when it comes to the Thanksgiving table – give me cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, and dessert, and I don’t even need a bird. I am of the “the best kind…
Maple-Tamari Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Ah, butternut squash soup – the season’s most basic creation, second only to the pumpkin spice latté. This time of year, farmers markets are abound with a vast array of autumnal squashes – from blue kuri to kabocha to honeynut to 898 (a newer variety, as sweet as candy.) I overload my bags with squash…
Pumpkin Coffee Cupcakes
I almost made it through the month of October without enlisting the help of a can of pumpkin purée and a jar of cinnamon. I don’t like to overdo the pumpkin spice content in my life. I really like to wait until the weather turns. I hold off until a solid week has passed when…
Secret Ingredient Chili
There’s a reason only two letters stand between ‘chilly’ and ‘chili.’ Chilly weather signals the start of chili weather. Around this time every year, when I hear the radiator click on and I wake up to see my dog snuggling up a little bit closer than usual, I know it’s time to take the big…
Celery Salad with Parmesan and Anchovy
Hands down, celery wins my vote as the most underrated and underappreciated vegetable this side of the Mason Dixon. If she had a page in a very cruel high school yearbook, she may be voted “least likely to succeed.” My hopes are that she would turn a fiber-rich cheek to all the losers who mocked…
Concord Grape Manhattan
You guys don’t know the lengths that I went to to make this Concord Grape Manhattan for you. Ever since I can remember, I have had a more than irrational fear of insects. I use the active shooter protocol as a guide for how to deal with a bug in my apartment. First, run. If…
Brown Butter Salted Cornflake Cookies
Recently, a good chunk of my life has been dedicated to figuring out, once and for all, what goes into making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Not all heroes wear capes. People have very strong opinions about their cookies. It is almost as divisive an issue as candy corn come spooky season. I don’t mean…
Spicy Pork Ramen Noodles
This weekend was one of those lazy ones where the days seem to tangle together. I hit a wall on Saturday afternoon, and the next 24 hours were all a blur. It was one of those weekends where all of your meals are either delivered or eaten straight from the cereal box. It was one…