Grilled Summer Vegetable Ciabatta Sandwiches

A few weeks ago, I took a look at the amount of food I had for dinner and decided I needed some guests. I walked over to my neighbor’s house and asked if Kerry, her sister, Chris, and their kids would like to join us for dinner. “Wonderful! What’s for dinner?” Kerry asked.

“Roasted Summer Vegetable Ciabatta Sandwiches with hummus and basil,” I replied cheerily, spinning on my heel and racing for the door. “See ya in a few.”

You see, I know Kerry well enough to know that menu was going to make her nervous. She’s the Midwestern sort who likes predictable food. I knew this meal would sound a little exotic to her. Read more

The Gift of Foodlove

Have you ever considered the importance of food in the experience of life’s great moments? Wedding banquets, holiday meals and church picnics draw people together, symbolize abundance and express gratitude. Last night’s episode of Little House on the Prairie (we’re going through the series with the kids) ended with a teenaged Laura Ingalls radiating womanly pride in the privilege of cooking dinner for “Pa” and the object of her yet unrequited affections, “Manly.”

Similarly, food is a universal method of outreach to people in crisis- either good or bad. The receivers may have just become parents of quadruplets, be experiencing a health crisis or be coping with the loss of a loved one. As members of their proverbial “village,” one of the first questions we ask is, “Can we bring you some meals?” Read more

Love-ya Lasagna

 

I’m not sure that I’ve ever ordered it in a restaurant- or that I ever would- but lasagna is one of my favorite foods. It isn’t about the sweet/savory taste and cacophony of textures, though a bite of great lasagna is incomparably satisfying. It is a love thing. I’ve yet to discover another food that captures affection on a fork the way that lasagna does.

Lasagna is my go-to food as an offering to other people. They may have just had a baby, lost a loved one or be experiencing health issues. When I need to say “I love you and want the best for you,” I forgo cheesy cards in favor of a cheesy lasagna. Read more

Shades of Green

My dear friend and neighbor, Marija, was reunited with her beloved father in heaven last Saturday after an auto accident. She was my age. Her adoring husband and two young children are bereft. I am too.

Marija was an interior designer. She loved beauty. For her, beauty was a way to give, to honor, to share- especially with her family. It was also a passion. It was her gift. She honored that gift by using it and enjoying it. She did lots of work for her extended family, in the process sharing her gift for making peaceful spaces with the people she loved. Read more

Eating for You: Guidelines for a great foodlife during the first months with a new addition to your family

 

 

 

 

okay Jill! time to call in the experts…you! HOW DO I HANDLE TWO CHILDREN AND COOK SUPPER…HELP!

This message was posted on my Facebook wall a few weeks ago by my friend Holly, who lives in South Carolina. She just had her second baby. So I’m donning my super-hero spandex body-suit and I’m here to help! Read more

The Modern Nomads

That’s right. We’re relocating.

Again.

For those of you who know me only through this website, I should elaborate. This will be our fourth move in 10 years. It’ll be our third relo since starting our family. The sequence goes like this: New York City to San Francisco to Connecticut to Chicago to New York City- or maybe a suburb, but I’m cheering for the city this time. Read more

Life is like a bowl of berries

 

We had the most decadent breakfast Monday morning.  All it really involved was washing some fruit and serving it in a bowl.  But it was indulgent.

The next two weeks are the apex of berry season.  Strawberries are on the outs.  Raspberries and blueberries are debuting.  For just a brief period of time, they’re all appearing together.  This is the time to eat berries with abandon. Read more

Buttermilk Pancakes

 

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated’s “Best Buttermilk Pancakes” recipe

My mom and I have an ongoing rivalry about simple vs. good food.  I’ve won her over on the superiority of homemade chicken stock and grass-fed beef.  She’s still been pushing back on the breakfast foods.  She routinely treks to Williams-Sonoma for their crepe mix.  She swears by it.  It makes me laugh because, seriously, the ingredients for a great crepe are just flour, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla.  One year for her birthday, I gave her a mason jar filled with flour that I’d labeled “Jill’s Homemade Crepe Mix.”  The instructions specified “Add 3 eggs, 1 C milk, 2 T melted butter and 1t vanilla to ¾ C mix.”

She’s also busted on me about making homemade pancakes.  You know the argument: “Why make them from scratch when the mix is so easy?” I insisted on making these when we were all up at the Lake House for Memorial Day weekend.  Everyone was amazed:  “They’re so light.  They taste so great.  That didn’t take long.”

I TOLD you! Read more

Country Seasoning: Frying Pans Into the Fire

There’s a summer flea market only ¼ mile away from my parent’s lakeside cottage in Michigan.  I’m drawn to its characters and culture.  It’s a sweaty, gritty, oddball lot.  There’s facial hair in lengths I never see elsewhere.  There are a lot of hairy, tattooed, sunburned bare chests.  Few places remain where folks are in less of a hurry.  No one is checking his iphone while you talk about the provenance of a 1970s lamp.  There is a genuine quality to the smiles and conversation that is uniquely endearing. Read more

Cast Iron Pans



Have you ever known a bubbie?  I’m talking about one of those Eastern European grandmotherly types.  Her face reveals the days of joy and sorrow she has lived in its lines and folds.  Her body is sturdy though her movements are deliberate.  Her hands are knowing and confident in all that she does.  Her eyes still twinkle.  She understands so many things you don’t.  She knows you can’t yet understand them.

Cast iron pans are like bubbies.  They’re reliable, versatile, functional.  They’re absolutely beautiful with their dark sheen, dings, and the patina qualities that only come with age and use.  I can’t imagine buying a new cast iron pan from a store.  There are so many floating around garage sales and flea markets.  The older they are the smoother their surfaces and deeper their seasoning.  There’s also a sense of being a part of history- continuing a culinary tradition that someone else began in that pan 50 or 75 years ago. Read more

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