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

I begin this post by deleting the “weekly” portion of the title because intentions don’t always match reality. But that’s okay. Even having the lens of gratitude and joy in my daily thinking has been a morale booster and paradigm shift. So I return, a month after my first post, with a few joys and gratitudes. My first gratitude is for the Saint Ignatius College Prep Hockey programhttps://www.saintignatiushockey.com. We had Jack’s senior night last weekend and it was such a celebration. This program welcomed my son when he was a scrawny 5’4″ freshman and kept him on the straight and narrow for ..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

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

Two of my favorite topics are the end of society as we know it and the Amish. So when I heard about an apocalyptic fiction novel told from the viewpoint of the Amish, I couldn’t wait to read it. When the English Fall by David Williams did not disappoint. The novel is made up of the diary entries of Jacob, an Amish man leaving in the countryside outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Although the novel begins quietly, with daily entries about the farm and Jacob’s worries about his daughter’s seizures, the first sentence is filled with the potential for violence, and it set me on edge right away ..read more

For years I have harbored a great guilt over my kids’ hatred of fish. Yes. Hatred. It was that bad. Shrimp was highly suspect. Even fish sticks were a no-go. Salmon and tuna? Those pink colored proteins seemed like poison to them. I kept trying, only to be met with pursed lips and often tears. All of those omega-3s, all of that vitamin D went uneaten by everyone except for Steve, me, and of course, our dog Wilson. The salmon breakthrough came randomly, at a Sunday night barbecue. The kids were going through the buffet line, filling their plates, when a platter of salmon kebabs caught Juju’s e ..read more

If I had to distill my personal philosophy to one single sentence, it would be this: A bowl of soup can cure anything, absolutely anything. Whether I’m feeling blue or have sinuses ready to burst, the moment I take out my soup post and start sweating the onions, a weight shifts off my shoulders. The seasons don’t change the power of soup, they just change the type of soup I crave. This spring, I’ve been roasting vegetables and giving them some sweet heat with curry, ginger and coconut milk. I’m calling it Roasted Vegetable Coconut Milk Bisque. My kids are calling it lunch, snack, and double ..read more

Diets are not my thing. Never have been and never will be, no matter how tight my jeans get. So this winter, rather than eliminating and limiting, I’m adding lots of exciting new vegetable dishes to my dinner repertoire. Good for you dishes that zing with flavor. I asked for vegetarian cookbooks for Christmas and have found tons of inspiration. I merged two tweaked Mark Bittman recipes to come up with my favorite new vegetable dish: roasted green beans with cashew miso sauce. Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian has been the greatest of all the veggie cookbooks I received. With alm ..read more