Chili and Bowls

Last weekend, while it was still unseasonably warm here in New York, I bought a bag of mixed soup beans at the farmers market and set out to make chili. (I found the beans—beautiful beans!—through a great new initiative called the Greenmarket Regional Grains Project.) I wondered if it was too warm, that chili was the wrong thing for the weather. But …

Reset: Spinach Soup

I avoid making resolutions, but the new year is a always good time to "reset." After the holidays, and all the excess of excess, it feels right to return to a healthy baseline normal. This is a roundabout way of advocating "manageable expectations" if you're the goal setting-type. Find the healthy habits that work for …

Celery Salad with Pears and Hazelnuts

My friend Lesley and I drove up to Narrowsburg, NY, a few weekends ago and had dinner at the culinary draw there, a restaurant called The Heron. We ate rich, decadent, dare I say “Brooklyney” fare that hit the spot on that first bracingly cold night of the season. The celery salad was the highlight for …

S.L.S.C. Almond Cake

"I brought you a cake!" Is there ever a time when that isn't a nice thing to hear? This cake is that offering, for your friends and loved ones and hosts and hostesses. It's something of a "little black dress" (LBD) cake, but in my case more of a "slick little sport coat" (SLSC) cake: perfect for …

Friendsgiving Greens Galette

Now is the time to put  your Friendsgiving on the calendar. I suppose Thanksgiving is coming up, too, but Friendsgiving is so much fun. If you, like me, enjoy cooking and also control (over the menu, and every other detail), you may have found that for a holiday so devoted to food, Thanksgiving can fail to satisfy. …