by paige on March 11, 2010
MY FAVORITE CITY IN THE WORLD IS PARIS. I went there for the first time when I was 13, and fell in love. I’ve visited there intermittently over the years, and every single time, I leave more charmed. I haven’t had much chance for travel much of anywhere lately, so my Francophilia has mostly been fulfilled, you guessed it, by blogs. Mostly, you’ll be shocked to learn, food blogs. Would you like to join my armchair voyages? Read on. [click to continue…]
by paige on February 10, 2010
THIS HAS BEEN the winter of flu-filled discontent in my house, and as a result, I’ve had innumerable requests for Jell–O. For a foodie like me, this presents quandaries. [click to continue…]
by paige on February 4, 2010
BRRR. BLECCH. IT’S FEBRUARY. In college, this meant something called “Feb Club,” an organized party every single night of the year’s bleakest, longest-feeling month. In real life, this means a search for escape–virtual, if not real. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 29, 2010

THIS IS IT, dear sisters. It’s now or never. Do or die. What’s so urgent? Read on. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 20, 2010
SNOW DAYS AND CABIN FEVER have set in at my house, along with, I fear, the flu. Instead of feeling trapped, I am determined to embrace my short-term life as a shut-in…and clean out the basement. What, you may be wondering, does this have to do with you? Or that pretty cookbook up above? Read on, dear sisters, read on. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 11, 2010
READING MICHAEL POLLAN’S The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which argues convincingly for eating food grown and produced locally, while simultaneously trying to pare down your family’s food budget, is a frustrating (to say the least) endeavor. Such has been my lot of late. [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 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…]