What’s cooking? Crispy Chicken Thighs with Charred Zucchini Happy Halloween! Did you know that most children think Halloween is the second most important holiday after Christmas/Hannukah? I am pretty much in that camp. In fact, I feel so strongly about it, I wrote an essay about it for The New York Times. You can find a link to the piece here. One of the things I miss most about our life in New Jersey is the ’weeners. I always carved a pumpkin, and was ever at the door in my witch’s hat when the ’weener alert went out. Our next-door neighbors’ children covered their front lawn with ..read more

What’s cooking? Citrus-Glazed Turnips and Beet Dip with Yogurt (or Labneh) This post is not about football, but it is football season, and I always laugh at this cartoon. Plus, we really need some laughs these days. So here it is. Not long ago, I was perusing my favorite section of The New York Times – that would be the Wednesday Food Section – when I was struck by the following headline: “The Secret to Ordering the Best Thing on the Menu.” Well, of course I wanted to know. I mean, I have my own painful habits in menu-parsing, and I say “painful” because I am invariably the last person to d ..read more

 What’s cooking? Broken Phyllo Cake with Orange Spiced Syrup Three college graduates – one a PhD – with long and successful careers behind them set out to drive to a friend’s house 35 miles away. I was one of them. (Not the PhD.) Because it’s mostly hill country driving, and because I’d actually looked it up on my phone, I knew it would be about 45-50 minutes. I entered the address into the GPS on my phone, and off we went. I’d been to this woman’s house once, and thought we’d be heading down one of the back roads I knew, but I always trust WAZE to get me there without terrible tra ..read more

What’s cooking? Mamo’s Apricot Tarts You say Santa has come and gone?! But I have these tarts for him! Well, “Qué será, será.” What this really means is that I started this post before Christmas, and then... well, you know,... Christmas. So a few things got lost in the shuffle. But these delightful little pastries are so easy and fun that I felt sure you wouldn’t really care if they’re too late to be Santa treats. Make them now, and then again in December for Santa. My maternal grandmother was not known for her cooking. But she had two recipes at which she succeeded magnificently: brownies ..read more

 What’s cooking? Holiday Sparkler Cocktail The Kitchen Goddess is celebrating the new year. Yes, in spite of the fairly grim forecasts for the next few months, we can all celebrate something, if not more than a few somethings. After all, the past two years have brought Covid marriages, Covid babies born, and not a few who’ve taken the Covid wake-up call to reassess their careers and goals and move their lives in new and exciting directions. So there’s sure to be good coming out of 2022. And what better way to celebrate this new year than with a bit of alcohol? Anything that bubbles ..read more

 What’s cooking? Are you crazy? Who has time to cook when we have shopping to do?! Who is more deserving than the person who, every night during the COVID lockdown, still figured out what to have for dinner? When life was one long Zoom call in your sweatpants, who made the effort to put something new and different in front of you to eat? That person deserves a little nod, and maybe a little something under the tree. Besides, it’s that time of year when it’s way more satisfying to give than to receive. With all this in mind, the Kitchen Goddess has had her eye out for little bits of sp ..read more

What’s cooking? Asian Chicken Soup with Lettuce, Rice, & Ginger This is the week when you really don’t want to have to work at putting food on the table. Between the menu planning and the ordering and the shopping and the decisions on how to decorate the table, there’s not really much energy left for the meals leading up to Turkey Day. But we all have to eat, even on those other days. Ta-da! Kitchen Goddess to the rescue. Today’s recipe relies on the simplest of ingredients, tastes amazing, and comes together in less than 30 minutes, including the prep work. Really. Would the KG lie t ..read more

 What’s cooking? Pocky Sticks Summer is finally over, but I am still reliving the memories of baking with my grandchildren over those three months. As 7- and 9-year-olds, they have a keen interest in the baking process – the stirring or whipping, the measuring and combining of ingredients, and of course the decorating. My grandson, the 7-year-old, wants to taste each ingredient. At first, I said, “No. You don’t understand – the ingredients don’t taste anything like the cookies themselves.” And then I had a moment of clarity, as I thought, What do I care? It’s not like any of it is p ..read more

 What’s cooking? Herby Grilled Chicken Thighs with Pickled Peaches Kitchen Goddess note: I have discovered – via epicurious.com – that if you can’t find fresh peaches, the pickling recipe below will also work – equally well – with canned peach halves. I haven’t tried it that way, but epicurious.com hasn’t lied to me yet... And I’ll probably try it at some point just out of curiosity, as the pickling juice is a terrific addition to my collection of Useful Liquids to Have in the Fridge. With every year that I spend back in my home state of Texas, I’m reminded of some of the culinary tr ..read more

What’s cooking? Peach Sorbet and Rustic Peach Tart It’s been a season of joy. The pandemic kept my hubby and me in Texas last summer, and while we don’t suffer from any sort of food deprivation there, I nevertheless moped my way through every Sunday morning of June through September, missing the rotating splendor at my NJ farmers’ market – of berries, garlic scapes, tomatoes, arugula, corn, and the stone fruit parade of peaches, apricots, nectarines, and plums. At one point, my despair was so great I persuaded a friend to ship a box of peaches to me. (Not recommended, but desperate times c ..read more