The thing that no one talks about when introducing solids to babies is how much work it is. We did baby led weaning which is definitely less work than starting with purees, namely because after a month or so the baby can eat whatever you eat so you don’t have to go out of your way to prepare anything special. But it’s still a lot. Not only do you have to make sure that all food is cooked and prepared in a way such that baby is less likely to choke on it, but you also want to make sure that they are exposed to a good variety of fruits and vegetables, introduced to as many allergens as possible ..read more

A rich and saucy tomato and barley risotto topped with marinated feta from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook. It’s kind of hysterical when you think about it, but the “me” before kids actually found the process of making risotto relaxing. All the casual stirring, glass of wine in one hand and wooden spoon in the other, mood music playing in the background. Who cared if we ate dinner at 9PM? There were no bedtimes, no rules – it was adulting at its finest. Now it’s more like an extreme sport where I try to get in as many stirs as possible while running back and forth from the kitchen to the ..read more

Better-than-takeout creamy tomato chickpea and cauliflower masala from Smitten Kitchen Keepers – a richly spiced curry that’s easy to make at home even on busy nights. In today’s edition of The Winter That Never Ends, it is March 14th and we are getting our FIRST snow of the year. As I say (literally) daily: I quit. (Usually screamed in a fit of rage after one or both of my children has done something so egregious that resigning as a parent feels like the only logical option.) But then I’ll do what I always do, which is pick myself back up by my bootstraps and make dinner. Curry is a favorit ..read more

A luscious lemon raspberry layer cake – a light white cake brushed with tart lemon syrup and filled with layers of lemony buttercream and homemade lemon curd – a lemon lover’s dream! It was my birthday last weekend so I did what any totally sane newly 36 year old with a 10.5 month and a 6-going-on-16 year old would do – took on a multi-day, four component layer cake baking project for my birthday cake! Normal, right? And even better than that, I chose the cake that *I* wanted, which – in case you couldn’t tell – was basically the lemoniest lemon cake that I could find. Never mind that Remy o ..read more

Sweet and spicy harissa roasted carrots served with stewy dill-infused white beans – a hearty and comforting meal. Just over here, waxing poetic about a plate of beans, AS ONE DOES. #thisisonedayuntil36 (I’m really fun to be around, I swear.) In all seriousness, I really really love beans. During the early days of the pandemic when everyone was freaking out about food availability, I was like “we have like eight pounds of dried beans in the house, so we’re good for at least a month”. There is just so much you can do with a pound of beans! My husband thought I was certifiable but I was right ..read more

A zucchini kofta curry made with savory zucchini and chickpea flour dumplings that are served over rice with a richly spiced tomato and fenugreek sauce. When life gives you a picky eater for your first child, you react totally appropriately and make curry every week to ensure your second child eats all the things (but especially the spicy, boldly flavored food that your first child rejects on sight). That’s the saying, right? In all seriousness, I know that so much of picky eating is a combination of normal development with influence from an individual child’s temperament and has absolutely n ..read more

Soy-braised tofu and vegetable udon noodle stir fry for a savory and simple weeknight meal. Welcome to this week’s edition of the infinite weeknight dinner saga.  I KNOW, the audacity of these family members who keep needing to be fed every night. Even Nico is in on it now and to say that I feel betrayed is an understatement.  Et tu, Brute? Well, thank goodness for stir fries – the ultimate meal for those nights when cooking just feels unreasonable. While they can feel like a lot of work when you’re in the trenches with the chopping and the mixing, once everything is ready to go di ..read more

A sheet pan side dish of roasted sweet potatoes and spinach tossed with a pickled jalapeno dressing and feta cheese. Now that I have two very mobile children, neither of whom seems to have any sense of fear or danger or impending doom, meal prep has become a bit of a nightmare. Gone are the days when I could plop Nico down in the kitchen next to me or strapped into his little chair and trust that I could turn around and he would still be where I’d left him. Oh, no. Now if I look away for five seconds he is already well on his way to another room, undoubtedly plotting his next attempt to remov ..read more

A plush and luscious funfetti layer cake that is brimming with rainbow sprinkles and filled with a cream cheese frosting – nostalgia at its most delicious! Just before the holidays my husband, for reasons I can’t possibly fathom, decided to weigh himself for the first time since Nico was born.  I don’t know exactly what he saw that day, but ever since then he looks at every plate I put in front of him with a whole lot of skepticism and asks “Does this fit with my diet?”. I don’t even know that that means, so I just smile and nod regardless of what it is.  Could be salad. A plate of ..read more

The thing that no one talks about when introducing solids to babies is how much work it is. We did baby led weaning which is definitely less work than starting with purees, namely because after a month or so the baby can eat whatever you eat so you don’t have to go out of your way to prepare anything special. But it’s still a lot. Not only do you have to make sure that all food is cooked and prepared in a way such that baby is less likely to choke on it, but you also want to make sure that they are exposed to a good variety of fruits and vegetables, introduced to as many allergens as possible ..read more