food

  • columbia,  food,  the kids

    july.

    I reread Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series in its entirety this summer, and decided to go out to breakfast to celebrate. You were invited if you’ve also read the entire series, which is no small feat considering there are 17 books (with one due out this fall, hooray!). Linda, Cheryl, Beth and I met at Small Sugar for cafe au lait and croissants and spent a solid hour and a half talking about the series. It was blissful.   Nina’s Retirement Party My Mom (known to her grandkids as Nina) retired this month from working at CIU for 24 years. She started out in Residence Life then spent the bulk…

  • food,  gluten freedom

    food reset.

    If you’ve followed our blog for several years, you know I’m one for New Year’s resolutions. I love making them. I love talking about them with anyone who will listen. I love keeping my resolutions for a few weeks. I love attempting to regroup sometime around April when I realize that I’ve totally back-slidden. I love trying again. A big resolution for me at the end of December was to take back control of my eating habits. We tried to be as healthy as possible during our kitchen renovation, which lasted from end of May through the end of September, but we still ate a good many snack foods that…

  • food,  kitchen renovation,  the kids

    snickerdoodles and kitchen news.

    Amelie has been on a baking kick this spring. She really wants to be able to make a batch of cookies completely by herself, so I told her to pick one recipe and we’ll make it over and over and over. That’s the best way to start, I think. Her choice is Snickerdoodles, which are pretty much a universal crowd-pleaser.     Amie is a born servant. If I had to guess her Enneagram number, I’d say it’s a 2 (Helper), although I’m doing my very best not to peg my kids. She’s kind-hearted, generous, and loves to serve people. And so it’s perfect that her growing love of baking…

  • food

    december projects.

    Happy Monday, friends! Today I thought I’d tell you about my November/December projects. It took pretty much the entire month of October to recover from our Road Trip, and then I was ready to take on two new hobbies: sourdough bread and kombucha. First, bread. I baked bread with a sourdough starter several years ago, and have always wanted to get back in the rhythm. Thankfully my friend Beth offered to share her starter and recipe with me. I love baking bread. There’s something soothing about it. Working with my hands quiets my mind, and homemade bread feels like the most basic and nurturing of comfort foods.     This…

  • food

    dinner ideas.

    Let’s talk about food! I’m having lots of fun with it right now due to the challenge of eating seasonal produce from our garden and the CSA we joined. Right now my recipes reflect that and I plan our dinners around what’s harvested that week. I think I’ll share a few of our current meals throughout the summer, because it’s fun! In the meantime, I thought I’d give you some tried and true ideas and recipes that we always come back to. I know I’ve mentioned many of them here and there on the blog, so I hope this isn’t too repetitive. I guess the good news is that means…

  • columbia,  food,  our family hobbies

    the veggie box.

    One of our favorite things to do together, both as a couple and as a family, is to cook and bake. For several years now, we’ve been trying to move in the direction of a healthy, whole-foods based diet. This doesn’t mean we’re health nuts, and it doesn’t even mean we buy everything organic. You’ll find cereal and store-bought bread in the pantry, and the kids have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch most days. David’s good at helping me be inspired to make and eat healthy food but not let it take over my life. I had a friend once advise me, “Instead of obsessing about what to…

  • food

    two-week dinner plan (warm weather).

    Many of you have been asking for help with dinner ideas. It seems “What’s for dinner?” is the dreaded question we all share. Because I love you all, here’s a two-week rotating meal plan. My family doesn’t mind eating the same dinner twice a month; I don’t think yours will either. Also, preparing five full meals each week is a bit ambitious, I know. Typically I plan and shop for four, which gives us two nights of leftovers and one for eating out/take-out. Click on the title for a link to recipe. Please don’t let my added notes overwhelm you: just think of them as a boost if you need it. The best thing about…

  • food,  travel

    delancey.

    In 2007, the year Judah was born, I was sitting in our little book-lined office in our condo in Lititz, PA, surfing the internet, clicking away on our giant Dell desktop computer, and I stumbled upon a blog called Orangette. I’d never read a food blog before, but I knew immediately this blog was special. I loved the quiet, crisp photos. I loved the descriptions of food. I was instantly compelled to jump up and try one of the recipes: stove top black beans with onion and cumin. That began my love affair with food blogs and also sparked a desire to learn how to cook simple, tasty food from scratch,…