I know better than to go shopping without a list. I have at least three iPhone apps to help me compile them. Pads of paper cling to the fridge simply so I can jot down items as I deplete their inventory. Lists prevent wastage, overstocking and second (even third) trips to the store. I advise [...]
One rainy summer day, unable to build blanket forts on the climbing bars or soar through the sprinkler on a tire swing, I decided my younger sister and I should do some baking. “Baking” meant raiding Mom’s pantry and dumping everything within reach into a bowl. Raisins, nuts, vinegar, flour, icing sugar, food colouring… There was [...]
The first Mother’s Day gift I made was a card. It had a flower and stars and kittens on it because I was obsessed with flowers and stars and kittens. Mom was allergic to two of these, but I was young and unable to fully understand how my mother might not love everything I did. [...]
Altogether now. On the count of three, “Ivy, you’re a genius!” Ivy Manning, author of Crackers & Dips: More than 50 Handmade Snacks (Chronicle ©2013), wasn’t always receptive to this praise. As a caterer, she found complex dishes like Pheasant Under Glass went virtually unnoticed. But when she brought out the basket of simple homemade [...]
Swag. It used to mean some sort of garland or window dressing. But times have changed. Ignoring the Urban Dictionary’s profanity-laced first definition, I pieced together other entries and conclude it’s an overused term meaning one’s personal style or attitude. I think it’s the new “mojo”, but don’t quote me. I’m hopelessly square and can’t [...]
I got myself into this and I’m going to get myself out. I did not, repeat not, acquire a one-trick pony of a pan. I could point you to the Indian, Thai, Korean and Japanese variations of the aebleskiver, but really, they’re all just spins on batter cooked into engaging little spheres. So, that ain’t gonna fly. [...]
Being born at the height of The Depression, my mother never wasted food. When there wasn’t enough leftover pastry dough to top a chicken pot pie, she made a roly-poly. She made them so often and with such authority, I assumed the roly-poly was the natural conclusion for all such scraps. Turns out –once again — I [...]
There were no party hats. No streamers. No banner saying “Greaty at Eighty!” There wasn’t so much as a candle. There was, however, pie. Simple, classic, 100%-from-scratch lemon meringue pie. Yesterday, my father turned 80. He marked the day by going about his business as usual. This is typical. He doesn’t need recognition. He doesn’t want us to [...]
Andrew and I are mature, level-headed adults. We can easily discuss our budget, the laundry schedule, and who goes where at Easter. We listen to each other, see the other person’s point of view and devise workable action plans. We use terms like “action plan,” or “fiduciary.” We do regular check-ins on newly devised systems. [...]
To paraphrase from Nigella Lawson’s latest book Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes, this dish is “verdiglorious.” Green basil, green beans, and green pistachios all come together in a “riot” of a pesto dish. What it lacks in authenticity, it more than makes up for in colour and flavour. As easily as Nigella breaks from the traditional [...]
