1940 – 2024 Joan Druckman, 83, of Princeton Junction, New Jersey, passed away peacefully with her husband Richard of 62 years at her side on Monday, March 11, 2024. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, a second mother to many, a two-time cancer survivor, a math tutor, a baker and an artist. Joan was predeceased by her parents, Sumner and Natalie Moskovitz. She is survived by her husband Richard Druckman, her sons Mike Druckman (Andrea Druckman), Greg Druckman (Robin Druckman), and Steve Druckman (Vanessa Druckman), and grandchildren Nate (Hannah), Hilary (Gene), Sarah, Shayna, Bell ..read more

This year, I want to do more reflection, more taking stock of the little joys in my life. Every Sunday, I’ll be doing a recap post of the week’s joys. While the world seems grim and cold, focusing on gratitude is the only remedy! And hopefully some of the things I share will inspire you too and bring you joy. La Fermiere Yogurt Must Try the Fruit on the Bottom Version During a quick dash through Whole Foods, my eye got caught by this adorable jar of yogurt called La Fermiere. It comes in three flavors: Pressed Lemon, Vanilla Bean, and Orange Blossom Honey. I grabbed a few and became an instan ..read more

My word for 2022 will be NEWNESS. I want to greet this year, wide eyed and awake like a baby duck, ready to learn and grow. When I look back on the chaos and fear that was 2021, the times that stand out for me were the times that I was learning, that I was fully immersed in taking on a new skill. When I fell over and over again, teaching myself to cross country ski. When I wobbled thirty feet above the ground on a tight rope at Miramar. When I learned how to navigate the website or design creative in Canva and promote them on Facebook Business Center for my new job at Wonder Works. During tho ..read more

When I was in my 20s and really beginning to cook for myself, vegetarian meals felt incomplete. I needed a nice steak or a caramelized piece of fish to truly feel full. Now that I’m firmly in my 40s, I crave vegetables with a growing passion. A dinner of two or even three vegetable dishes leaves me feeling happy and energized. But my family… not so much. So when I come up with a vegetable dish that excites more than just me, I have to write it down, share it, and shout it from the rooftops. The leaves are still green here in Chicago, but fall is in the air. A friend of mine started a new job a ..read more

At the beginning of our joint COVID nightmare, I read a novel that was as oddly prescient. I recommended it to anyone who would listen, but most people’s response was that it was too much for them at that point in time. Now that zoom cocktail parties are becoming just a painful memory, I’m back to recommend it to anyone who will listen. Sarah Pinsker published a Song for a New Day in 2019. The book is set in the near future, after a series of pandemics and subsequent social violence have made the government forbid public gatherings. Rosemary Laws was raised in this world of fear and doesn’t re ..read more

When I’m on vacation, beyond just breathing deep and relaxing, I’m always looking for new recipe inspiration. I come home and try to recreate the dishes we enjoyed. It’s a great way to get a push to try new spices and to keep the memories of vacation alive. During spring break, we escaped to the Tulemar Resort near Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica, our first trip since before the pandemic. We were nervous to leave the country but we were so hungry for an escape to a place we love that the risk seemed worth it. We rented a villa with a beautiful pool, got tested for COVID before, during and af ..read more

Right around the time of the last post on this blog, I went back to work. It wasn’t my dream job, doing marketing part-time for some small but meaningful company, but it was for a wonderful organization surrounded by great people. Juggling the new schedule just sucked all the creativity right out of me. I didn’t want to cook. I didn’t want to blog. I worked. I exercised. I was a loving mom. I snuggled with my dogs. And that was my limit. All of my hunger to create just about anything dried up. Western Night at Home During Shelter in Place Then last March, the world ground to a halt, for me, fo ..read more

My mom died in May. It was a good death, which sounds like a strange thing to say, almost an oxymoron. But a peaceful death, at home, far from scary rhythms of hospitals, in her bed, surrounded by her family, her dogs, her horse and her cat. I believe that she felt all the love the room when she finally let go, and the pain lines etched on her face eased at last. The funeral was lovely too, in a tiny white country church, filled with friends and family who traveled from far to celebrate her life. We cried, we laughed, we drank and ate a lot. My mom would have loved the dinners we had in her ho ..read more

When comfort food is made of mostly vegetables, life is good. This sheet pan of roasted Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and pancetta bits is a beautiful rainbow that tastes great. I could have it as my entire dinner and be happy, not missing a main course in the least. To make this dish, I like to make life as easy as possible with pre-chopped vegetables from Trader Joe’s or the local supermarket. Bags of shaved Brussels Sprouts, butternut squash cut in cute zig zags, and pancetta diced small. If I can’t find that, then I do my own cutting, doing as thin slices of Brussels sprouts as possi ..read more

I have such a love/hate relationship with those Facebook cooking videos. I hate them because I’m too lazy to make them to promote my recipes, but I can’t help loving how they inspire me. Time after time, they suck me in, with their oozy cheese shots and their rapid veggie chops. Spinach and artichoke ravioli bakes by Delish.com was the latest video to grab me and demand to be made. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful marriage of spinach artichoke dip and ravioli! When I sat down to compose my shopping list and watch the video, I found dozens of copy cat recipes. Some used ricotta ..read more