For the last couple weeks in Boston, we’ve been having unseasonably cool weather.  This is how I know that I’ve become a more-or-less “real” Bostonian: I am not happy about this.  Yes, it makes my bicycle commute a bit more pleasant, and yes, it makes it slightly easier to sleep comfortably in a non-air conditioned bedroom.  But these days, the first hints of fall in the air remind me less of leaf peeping, pumpkin pie, and Sam Octoberfest, and more of 4:30pm sunsets and the retirement of my sundresses and sandals. But hey, it’s still August.  I’m sure we have…

Sometimes when I’m faced with a chore I don’t want to do, or a task I’d rather avoid, I can convince myself to do it by looking at it as a gift to my future self.  For instance, Thursday night me definitely does not want to do the dishes, but I know that Friday morning me will hate it if she wakes up to a messy kitchen.  So, as an act of kindness to Friday me, I clean up the mess, and if I’m in a really benevolent mood, I’ll go ahead and set up the coffee pot, too, so the following…

Last week, I hinted that this post would probably involve bran.  I know you’re so disappointed to have these lettuce cups staring you in the face instead. The fact is, when temperatures are in the 90s, even with an air conditioner, I feel less like baking and more like throwing together a little bit of pork and a ton of veggies in a pan and calling it dinner– preferably with cold wine on the side.  I’ve been making these lettuce cups for several years, and they never fail to satisfy.  And even though there are lots of steps in the…

Things that will sort out a flustered soul: 1) puppy snuggles. 2) spontaneous road trips. 3) spontaneous road trips with your puppy. 4)  spontaneous road trips to pick up your husband who has been away for a week. 5) chocolate chip cookies. On Saturday, I woke up believing that Alex would be returning home the next day, late in the afternoon.  By 10am on Saturday, I had a Zipcar reserved, I had cut my shift at work short, and I was making preparations to go fetch him that evening.  I had been longing to take a quick trip in a…

Without question, one of the greatest lines ever uttered on film was delivered by Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in the early-90s Christmas classic Home Alone.  As he stands on a balcony in his fantastic house, feeling oppressed and ignored by his enormous family, Kevin yells down at them, “When I grow up and get married, I’m living alone!  Did you hear me?  I’M LIVING ALONE!  I’M LIVING ALONE!”  I still giggle at that one every time.  And I used to think old Kevin was on to something; I once had some very romantic ideas about what it would be like to…

A little over a week ago, Alex and I got to meet Garrison Keillor at a lecture and book signing.  Even though I’m a good bit younger than his target audience, I grew up listening to him on the weekly radio show A Prairie Home Companion, especially in the back seat on the way home from beach trips.  The show happened to come on at about the time we usually hit the road, so I associate the show, and Mr. Keillor’s voice, with freshly sunburned skin and the satisfying kind of fatigue that only comes from a day of swimming….

When I first moved to Boston, I was a very committed sight-seer.  It was mid-summer, I had no job, and grad school, my reason for moving, didn’t start for nearly two months.  The only reason I came up so early was that our lease began in July, and as long as I was going to be paying for an apartment, I figured I might as well go ahead and live in it.  So, for the first several weeks of my Boston life, I’d wake up in the morning, go to a café around the corner and bum their internet for a…

I’ve noticed a trend on my blog over the last few weeks: a general absence of sweets.  It’s weird, but I just haven’t been in the mood for dessert much over the last month or so (except for the few days surrounding my birthday, when I wanted all the cake and all the ice cream).  I’m not too worried about it, though, because it’s summer (finally!), and that means summer produce.  It’s still a bit early for good local tomatoes and corn, but I couldn’t wait to break out this recipe again, which I’ve been making regularly since I first…

You may be looking at these photos, and the recipe title, and saying, “Wait a second.  You’re making oven-roasted veggies… in June?  Haven’t you spent the last three summers complaining about the difficulty of cooking in the heat?”  And to that, I would respond: yes, I know.  And you’re right—I have been insufferably whiny about summer cooking conditions ever since I started this blog.  However, I’m in a new apartment now, and while we still don’t have central air (that probably won’t happen unless we move out of the city or suddenly strike it rich), we do have a small…

I’ve heard a rumor that the next big food trend, which will join the ranks of cupcakes, macarons, and anything served from a truck, is gourmet toast.  I can feel your eyes rolling from here, but I have this information on good authority– I heard it first on Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, and then in this month’s issue of Bon Appetit.  In the second half of the magazine, there was a profile of a breakfast-and-lunch cafe in Los Angeles whose specialty is toast slathered with ricotta and jam, a slice of which will cost you a cool $7. When…

Do you guys (or gals, I suppose) remember American Girl Magazine?  I assume it still exists, but presumably the format and content have changed since I last read it, oh, about 17 years ago.  I was an avid reader back in the day– AGM had craft tutorials, advice columns (for all those pressing pre-tween problems), exclusive, magazine-only American Girl stories (ooooooh!), and my favorite, pull-out paper dolls modeled after actual readers.  In retrospect, one of the magazine’s most interesting features was its pen pal program.  Back in the old days before magazine readers could connect with each other via the…

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about jobs, hasn’t it?  Let’s talk about them again for a minute. A couple months ago, I applied for a job that I really wanted.  Like, really wanted.  I wanted it enough that I was willing to give up my cheesemonger’s life to take it, and you all know how much I love being a cheesemonger.  The application process lasted quite a long time, and last week, I finally learned that I did not get the job.  Enough time had elapsed between my most recent interview and the final decision that I had…

I can’t even begin to explain why, a few weeks ago, I suddenly decided that I needed a bundt cake in my life, and immediately.  I know I’m a person who craves a lot of things, but usually they’re things that make sense– a particular type of cookie, hot wings, cream cheese frosting.  But a bundt cake?  That one’s just weird.  After all, “bundt” specifies nothing about the flavor, texture, or aroma of a cake– just the look.  And why on Earth should I be hankering after a cake of a particular shape? Well, after trying to talk myself out…

After five years in Boston, I still can’t get over the fact that spring doesn’t arrive until May.  In my Deep South childhood, we were already going to pool parties and sunbathing in our backyards by spring break, but here, you can’t even put away your winter clothes until June; even though things start warming up in mid-April, there will always be one more cold snap, one more morning when you sorely regret wearing flats without socks.  I know this good and well, and yet, every year, there’s at least one day when I throw caution to the wind and…

They say that when something is bothering you, it’s best to get it off your chest.  Tell a friend, put it down on paper– somehow, some way, just let it out.  It’s a great idea, but I can tell you with certainty that it’s totally ineffective when it comes to food cravings.  As I mentioned last week, I have been longing for hot wings for months now, and putting it in writing only served to intensify the need.  Clearly, the only thing for it was to cook up a batch and eat my feelings. Honestly, I don’t know why I…