weeknight dinner: kale-ricotta pasta

Last week, I hiked up the front steps of my friend Adrienne's house and rang the doorbell. Somehow I was right on time (I always seem to be too on time), in spite of a late train and lugging a ton of stuff. My arms were loaded down with my purse, a tote bag full of cookbooks -- if you're a friend, you're getting cookbooks from me whether you want them or not -- and another bag with wine, a lush bunch of lilacs and various post-work items like a pair of heels and an empty Tupperware container. Living in New York makes you want to grow a third arm.

Although you'd think I was fully prepared for dinner at a friend's house or some sort of cookbook-reading, wine-drinking binge, I did not have my trusty camera on me. So I was not able to take a photo of the lovely dinner she made for us while also managing to keep an eye on the baby, walk two dogs around the block, set out some appetizers and pour us glasses of wine. I pitched in by petting one of the dogs and feeding her little daughter a dinner of applesauce, airplane-style, two things that I was delighted to do after a long day of work.

The photo above was taken at home, where I recreated the dish with my trusty assistant.

what's cooking

Sorry, folks. I have not yet fully come out of dinner party hibernation. I blame my horrible spring allergies. The flowering trees are so pretty but being hit over the head with pollen does not inspire socializing. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been at my stove, sniffling, cooking, and wondering whether it is smart to mix wine and Allegra. Living dangerously!

In the meantime, here are a few recipes that have worked their way into our weeknight rotation:

My friend Casey Barber develops fantastic recipes for me at iVillage, including these terrific white bean and avocado enchiladas. A few tweaks: I replace the white beans with pintos, and swap out the parsley for cilantro. I also add a nice dose of lime juice to the sauce to perk it up. But even if you don’t make those substitutions, the recipe is a tasty and filling (vegetarian!) main dish.

one-pan wonder

I haven't posted much lately because, frankly, there haven't been very many dinner parties to write about. We've been holed up on the couch with the dog, ordering in take out, having friends over for a drink before having dinner out somewhere. And having our usual weeknight eating-in-front-of-the-TV suppers. But warmer weather is here, which always renews my enthusiasm for being social. I'm not sure why -- shrugging off the hibernation mentality that comes with winter, I guess.

I did make something recently that would be perfect for a dinner party. It's chicken but it's not boring, there is minimal clean-up, and it's basically a one dish -- or pan -- meal. It's from a Bon Appetit story on "one-sheet" dinners and it's smart in a "Why didn't I think of that?" kind of way.

past and present

Dan and I were in Florida a few weekends ago visiting family. Whenever we go home there is a family dinner of some kind. Lucky for us, our parents live in the same city -- and even luckier, they get along -- so everyone gets together for a meal at one family's house or the other. This time, my grandparents were in town visiting, so it was a large gathering: parents, grandparents, great uncles and cousins.

These dinners aren't about the food, although the food is always good. They are about sitting around on the patio or porch, talking before dinner. They are about playing dice games around a long table. They are about laughing, and catching up, and being annoyed at one another, and taking lots of photos. Just like any other family.

A few hours before dinner, my parents were setting the table for 14, grabbing chairs from every room in the house. We were short a few chairs, as usual. So they called my grandparents, who were staying at my great uncles' house to ask them to bring chairs and a bag of ice. "What? Isn't dinner tomorrow night?" was the response.

giveaway! win a copy of the 'joy the baker cookbook'

 

Hi all! Today I'm giving away a copy of the brand-new, just-released-today Joy the Baker Cookbook! It's full of delicious-looking photos and even more delicious-looking recipes -- it definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf. Unless you hate butter and sugar. And if that's the case, we can't be friends.

To enter, please leave a comment here. I'll pick a winner by 5 P.M. E.S.T. Good luck!

UPDATE: Gab, you are the winner! Please email me your address. Thanks for playing!

what's for dinner, joy the baker?

Oh, Joy the Baker, how I admire you. You have such a breezy, charming blog, you've got a talent for making anything made with butter and sugar (and other things as well), and you have this great looking, sunshine-filled life in California. At least that's how it seems to this reader, anyway.

If you haven't discovered Joy's blog yet, do yourself a favor and click on over there. And once you've become hooked, like me, you'll probably want to pick up her brand new cookbook, which out this week. (Stay tuned for a giveaway!) Here, she shares all of her dinner party secrets.

1. Name, occupation, and city
Joy Wilson a.k.a. Joy the Baker. Baker, author, butter appreciator. Venice, California

2. When was the last time you threw a dinner party, and who was invited?
I threw a dinner party to celebrate Valentine's Day. It's was super simple: oysters and champagne. Every couple got an oyster shucking glove, an oyster knife, and a lesson in shucking. Shuck, eat, sip, retreat.

3. What is the best menu you've ever made for company?
I'm such a sucker for a solid brunch menu. My favorite brunch involves homemade Bloody Marys and fresh waffles with a sweet and savory waffle topping bar. People just about lose their minds for this brunch.

4. What's your preference: wine, beer, cocktails?
I love a well-crafted cocktail. Right now I love gin with elderflower soda and a few slices of cucumber.

5. What's your favorite dinner party soundtrack?
I'm so immersed in food preparation that music is sometimes the very last thing that crosses my mind. My friends know this and usually come with their iPods to play. Yeah...I'm that bad when it comes to music. Does crackling cooking bacon count as a soundtrack?

6. Some friends are coming over for a last-minute dinner. What do you make?
Easy! Grab a baguette, greek yogurt, cucumber, olives, and lox. You can spice and season the yogurt with whatever you have on hand: ground cumin, smoky paprika, fresh parsley, lemon juice and zest, or a bit of minced garlic. On a big board, arrange sliced bread, sliced cucumber, olives, yogurt spread and lox. Open a nice bottle of white wine and have people arrange little salmon bites for themselves. Throw together a quick salad for a more substantial dinner situation...but above all, keep it simple!

7. Do you usually cook everything yourself, or do you have help?
I usually cook everything. Maybe I'm a bit of a control freak in the kitchen... maybe.

8. Do you ever buy store-bought food, or is everything on your table made from scratch?
I make most everything from scratch, or buy it from places that make it from scratch. Good, quality, real food is super important to me.

9. What do you like to serve for dessert?
Dark chocolate chunks. Coarsely chopped roasted hazelnuts. Soft, sweet whipped cream. Simple and comforting flavors.

10. If you could invite anyone over for dinner (living or dead), who would it be?
Easy... Julia Child.

[Photo credit: Michael Friedman]

a note fromm mabel

  

Mabel heere.

Woh, look at me. I am soo sleepee. Mommee tuk thes peechtur after thes peeple-dog cam to my haus. They colled it a baybee. Wot is this? I thot. It loked like a leetle peeple but crowled on the flor and stol my toys lik a dog. And it beet Mommees fingur with its shorp teth. Wot was this theng theenking? Onlee I can do thees to Mommee!