Who wants chicken for dinner? It turns out I do. At least if it’s crispy and rubbed with a spicy garlicky cashew sauce. I was a vegetarian for a long time, and most of what I eat is still plant-based, but it’s meals like this that make me appreciate my carnivorous side. This recipe comes …

Fall has always been my favorite season. Lately, I’ve been focusing on the particular pleasures of the autumnal shift. The apples and the sweaters and the foliage and pictures of my friends’ with their baby on her first visit to a pumpkin patch. Stuff that makes me feel good. Like new socks. My dog’s tentative …

A Mezcal Mule, beaded with condensation, is a beautiful thing. Especially when the weather is oppressive. It’s been so hot and humid these last few weeks that when I step outside it feels like the air around me is sweating. My naturally wavy hair, which I straighten these days, has developed a persistent swoop that …

I’ve been doing battle with the ants who invaded my kitchen for the last couple of months, and it’s made me reluctant to take on big cooking projects lately for fear of finding something I’ve labored over swarmed with so many tiny hexapods. Uggh. But I couldn’t stay away forever. So I headed into the …

Let’s talk about shaking and stirring for a minute. What’s the difference? Shaking is a better way of emulsifying different kinds of liquids. Usually, cocktails that include citrus or muddled herbs or fruit or pretty much any non-alcoholic ingredients are shaken. (Exceptions to that include carbonated ingredients like ginger ale which are usually poured on …

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Summer arrived in full sunny, sweaty force. I’ve been immersed in my annual Tour de France viewing (tomorrow’s penultimate stage features the iconic climb of Alpe d’Huez). The Tour always brings me back to the summer after college when I was mostly unemployed except for a few odd …