by paige on November 18, 2009
from 'Seasonal Surprises', compiled by The Junior League of the Lehigh Valley
CAN YOU BELIEVE that Thanksgiving is next week? I can’t, not least because if Thanksgiving is next week, Christmas is less than six weeks away, and that’s terrifying. But rather than panic, I’m going to drown my sorrows in cookbooks––specifically, my old standbys, the Ladies’ Auxiliary collection that seems to be breeding like rabbits (or maybe turkeys) on my bookshelves. This week, in preparation for, uh, next week, it’s time to consider the cranberry. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 10, 2009
My Favorite Ladies Auxiliary Sweet Potato Recipe: Basic
WITH THE BEGINNING of the winter holiday juggernaut breathing down my neck, meaning multiple menus to plan, this is the ideal time to revisit favorite recipe sources in search of the perfect (or, sometimes, perfectly frightening?) side dishes from sisters past and present. Whether it’s creamed onions or green-bean casserole that you love (or loathe), our TSP collection of Ladies Auxiliary cookbooks has something for everyone. And let’s be honest––we all need a little humor and perspective in order to survive the next seven weeks. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 3, 2009
IT’S THAT TIME again. School is in full swing, I’m driving back and forth and trying in between commutes to squeeze in work, play and the nitty business of life. All this leaves little time for cooking, at least during the week, and so as I did last year, I’m forcing myself to pull out my slow cooker and try to make sense of using it to make something decent that all five members of my household will eat. This week’s experiment fared better than some. [click to continue…]
by paige on October 21, 2009
I WAS IN MY LOCAL bookstore last week, when a gorgeous green tome caught my grieving eye: the new Gourmet Today cookbook. Despite my snarky reaction to the “Free offer inside!” sticker on the cover (the offer is a free subscription to Gourmet magazine–don’t get me started, Condé Nast) I had to buy it. [click to continue…]
by paige on October 14, 2009
image from the new thankyougourmet.com
YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW I FEEL about the end of Gourmet. But let me be clear: Unlike many mainstream media outlets that covered this story, I don’t blame food bloggers. I love food blogs, and what I glean from their shiny digital pages is totally different than what I sought in Gourmet’s glossy ones. So with my favorite food mag now history, I find myself seeking comfort from fellow foodies and passionate cooks. If you, too, need some emotional sustenance during these dark days, be sure to check out these sites, which are full of the vibrant joy of cooking well for yourself and others. [click to continue…]
by paige on October 6, 2009
IHAD TO BREAK the news to my mother last night. A huge player in our shared history was gone. Her face went white, and she looked like she might cry. As we sat down to dinner (a dish I re-christened Cold Comfort Chicken Potpie) she looked down. “I just can’t believe it’s gone.” She was talking, of course, about Gourmet magazine. [click to continue…]
by paige on September 28, 2009
AS A WAY TO BRING the happiness back into our family’s world of pie, I suggested that my mother and I do a joint project: enter a local pie-baking contest. I’m competitive when it comes to board games, but not so much to contests with judges and juries; I kind of assumed she’d beat me, and the world of pie would be returned to its axis. Best-laid plans… [click to continue…]
by paige on August 31, 2009
THIS WEEK, SADLY, the only thing I’m away from is my computer: instead of concocting cocktails or laughing my way through my treasured collection of vintage Ladies’ Auxiliary cookbooks, I’m labeling clothing, disinfecting lunchboxes and wondering how the hell I’m going to get four people dressed and out the door by 7:30 Wednesday morning, when, yes, the school year officially begins for the Rock and the River and by extension, the Husband and me. [click to continue…]
by paige on August 24, 2009
I WAS SPOILED LAST week: Not one, but two of my dearest BFF sister-friends came visiting, each for two days of sheer girly bliss. My husband was away on a business trip, so the estrogen could flow down like water, or, perhaps more accurately, wine. [click to continue…]
by paige on August 18, 2009
"Mom! These are DEFINITELY POTATOES."
ARE WE ADDLED YET? Has the heat cooked your brain, softened your resolve, wilted your garden? Why yes, I say, to all three, which is perhaps why, when the Rock and I were washing our slender haul of assorted love apples from the garden yesterday, I didn’t bother to correct her when she insisted the tomatoes were potatoes and ate more carrots than she washed. It’s too hot to argue. It’s too hot to do much of anything, which is why I say: Make soup. (Does this seem proof positive that I’m not thinking clearly? No, no, I promise, this is good advice–read on.) [click to continue…]
First time here? Here's the idea: 
No surprise, really, that sisterhood, often life’s longest relationship and always one of its most important, has been the Muse for so much creative self-expression by women, and also by men. 
As the suffix of its name suggests, 
