The other day I whipped out a container of homemade soup in the break room, ready to microwave my bowl and tuck into a piping hot, comforting dose of rejuvenating broth.  My co-worker looked at me quizzically, “you make your own soup?” she asked, as if this was something quaint she’d read about, but never actually seen.  While homemade soup is far from unusual in my kitchen at least, her comment reminded me of the culinary context surrounding our generation’s early years.   Many Gen X and Baby Boomers like my friend and I grew up amidst stacks of Campbell’s and other familiar tins lining our pantry shelves – these were the go to vehicles for quick meals and rounding out many a PB&J-driven childhood lunch.  No surprise that as adults, that’s how many of us still think of soup, except maybe Grandma’s.

Continue reading →

A standout dressing can elevate salad from a mundane side dish to the astonishing show-stopper that has diners coveting every last morsel. Pictured here, a melange composed during the waning days of summer.

Recently a friend of mine requested a column devoted to the basics of salad dressing. I consider this wise, practical advice, grounded in everyday kitchen reality. It reminded me that lots of folks don’t get how quick and easy it is to throw together delicious homemade salad dressing or that a standout dressing can elevate salad from a mundane side dish to the astonishing show-stopper that has diners coveting every last tasty morsel.
I grew up in an era that took advantage of newly available convenience foods like Stouffer’s frozen casseroles and Campbell’s canned soup – it followed logically that our salad dressing came from a bottle. Not that I’m averse to some amount of convenience in the pantry – we’ve got a few cartons of Trader Joe’s Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup nestled beside the canned beans and breakfast cereal. There are a considerable number of packaged items I deem truly essential to a well-stocked larder like the aforementioned TJ’s soup, canned tomatoes and beans, tortillas and frozen samosas, just to name a few. I have to point out that breakfast cereal is not on my list – just my husband’s – but I digress.

Continue reading →

It’s been more than a month since our family’s last real holiday celebration.   Given the continuous stream that begins in October with Diwali and Halloween, by early January we’re tuckered out after virtually two months of on-and-off revelry.  It’s time for a short respite – to focus on resurrecting the house, finally toting all the holiday decorations back to the garage, and generally getting back into a “normal” routine.  By early February though, we’re bored with tidying up and organizing, and ready for an excuse to party.  Luckily, we’re just in time for Chinese New Year 2011, year of the rabbit.  With a household half full of rabbits, in the astrological sense, this marks an auspicious year, and one in which two of us will reach ages measured in multiples of 12, the Chinese Zodiac repeating as it does, every dozen years.   We won’t mention which multiples.

Continue reading →

After writing about my cookbook fascination last Wednesday, this week I feel the need for further confession.  Besides the book thing, I’ve also got a New York Times Dining section habit.  The two kind of go hand in hand, and in fact, many of the cookbook authors I enjoy most have columns or occasional writing gigs at the newspaper.  My timing, it turns out, is sadly coincidental with the recent news that one of my favorite Dining writers, Mark Bittman, has retired his fantastic column, The Minimalist.  Dining section junkies across the nation are feeling a bit wistful this week, so please go easy on us.

Continue reading →

I suffer from a chronic condition – one that afflicts me, each and every day.   Possibly there’s a clinical name in some diagnostic guide, for all I know, but I refer to it simply as “cookbookitis”.  You get the idea, I think.

Continue reading →