Socially Distant Cuisine

 We have been watching a lot of cooking shows here in the Distance, and my now-professional opinion is that Jacques Pepin remains a true treasure.  His most recent work, Cooking at Home,  is super cozy and accessible, even more so than when he was in the studio.  Vanilla pudding for the soul, we say! Before you read further, go take five minutes and watch Jacques prepare Chicken with Yams .  That is what we made tonight, with a few small tweaks. Boneless/skinless thighs instead of bone-in; I tossed in some light herbs/spices to the onions before deglazing:  1 tsp of chopped fresh thyme (1/2 tsp if dry)  A small shake of nutmeg  A small shake of dry mustard (a dab of Dijon would also work); Deglazed with chicken broth instead of white wine (about 1 cup altogether); and At the end, I removed the chicken and veggie chunks and thickened the juice into a sauce: Mixed some juice into 2 tsp cornstarch and then put it back in the pan Added a dash of acid to cut through the rich chicken flavor

This time of year is all about reconnecting with food memories.  Today, we are baking sugar cookies! This recipe is from a magazine called Christmas Cookies 1992 , and was faxed to me by my dad on November 29, 2004.  I recall making them in my first apartment after college, and many, many times since.  The sugar cookies of my childhood. If we were home this year, we would bake cookies with my niece and nephew.  Instead, we are decorating via videocall this afternoon to carry on the sweet memory.  The dough is currently chilling in the fridge, and I think we'll just about make it in time! Sugar Cookie Cutouts From Christmas Cookies 1992, weights added by me. 1/3 cup     (76 g)        butter or margarine 1/3 cup     (64 g)        vegetable shortening 2 cups       (250 g)      all-purpose flour 3/4 cup     (150 g)      granulated sugar 1                                   egg 1 Tbsp       (12 g)        milk 1 tsp          (5 g)          baking powder 1 tsp          (4 g

Hi everyone!  It's been awhile, so I thought I would pop in with some highlights from what we've cooked and eaten.   Tomatoes and peaches are a theme, for sure.  I feel like I've had many conversations this summer about how delicious peaches are-- apparently, we aren't the only ones that now have time for the patience required to wait for a perfectly ripe peach.  And we've been mainlining tomatoes.  We get some weekly at the Deep Roots farm stand, but also have had several beauties off of our patio.  With summer produce so beautiful, meals are more about composing than cooking.  Like this porch tomato with burrata that we had for breakfast earlier in the week. We have also upped our basic pantry ingredient game.  I'm convinced that high quality oils are key to a restaurant-quality meal.  As Ina Garten would say, use " good olive oil ."  For that matter, good butter also makes a difference.  Since March, we've tried lots of different butters, becaus

Hi everyone! I'm back to share some delicious things we've cooked recently, featuring fresh fruits and veggies from peak Farmer's Market season.  We even grew some of these ourselves! Time is flying here-- it's hard to believe we're coming up on five months of quarantine.  When I revisit blog posts from early on, it's amazing how much has changed since then.  It turns out, people are very adaptable.  But the feelings still come in waves.  I miss the casual ease of getting together with friends.  And meeting new people.  I've made a renewed effort to connect with folks outside of my routine circle, and it is helping some (If we haven't seen each other in awhile-- please do say hi!). On the other hand, we've already hit our summer average of days over 90 degrees, and we're only at the beginning of August.  It's seriously swampy out there, and not needing to commute means no longer doing the summer "how many layers should I wear?" danc

Hello, all!  I hope this post finds you hanging in as best as you're able.  It feels like we're in a marathon, with no idea about the mile marker we're at, doesn't it?  I kind of can't believe that we're at day 124.  Life has reorganized to make sticking close to home seem more normal, and I am grateful for that. The other day, I took a quick trip to Lowes and it felt like I was driving in an unfamiliar city!  Even close to home, I am still discovering new things, despite the stripped back version of summer life we're living.  Greater appreciation of small pleasures is a decidedly positive side-effect of the pandemic.  We are doing a little  more take out than before-- usually one dinner a week.  That has taken a little pressure off of our kitchen, which is nice!  Over the past month, we had Ethiopian (from the inimitable Zenebech ); Afghan (from my favorite Kabob Palace ); Balkan (from Jeff's neighborhood favorite, Ambar ); and Szechuan (From DC icon Pa

This week was the first in a couple where we turned our attention back to cooking. The world we are living in, with all of the changes it's bringing--and that it desperately needs?  This is a marathon, not a sprint.  Things were up and down this week for a host of reasons, but we channeled some of the self-care into cooking delicious things. Officina is a beautiful restaurant on DC's revamped waterfront plaza, The Wharf.  We don't get down there often because parking is kind of a hassle and it can feel quite touristy.  But the food at Officina is really delicious.  Awhile back, I noticed they were offering a weekly Provisions box, which included vegetables, meats, breads, and snacks.  The ingredients supported two "cook at home" dishes, and the deal also included two ready-made dishes (moussaka and turkey clubs).  As we closed in on three months at home, it was time to try something new.  This week, the box was Greek themed, after a new restaurant they hope to op