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 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…]
by paige on August 11, 2009
Joe Forte's artwork just about sums me up.
A FEW DAYS BACK, my (internet/have never met her in person, yet feel like she’s a part of my dysfunctional family) friend, lovely Marilyn of Simmer Till Done, asked me to chime in with a guest post on her blog. The assignment was simple: food & memory. I pinged her back (this whole convo, of course, was over Twitter) and said I’d LOVE to be a part of her blog (it rocks) but that my initial, stream-of-consciousness response to the assignment was pretty dark. “I’m cool with dark,” was her reply (or something like that) and so I was off to the memory races. [click to continue…]
by paige on August 4, 2009
MY INTENTIONS WERE pure, I swear. My mother is one of the two best pie makers I have ever known. Ruth Reichl is the other one, so Mom is in plenty fancy foodie company. (I’m not picking favorites here. That would be stupid, and probably reduce the amount of world’s-two-best-pies in my future.) Since Ruth was in Brazil, and therefore not available for stalking for pie tips (and I suspect she’s more likely to put them on her own site, anyway) I turned to Mom. “I have a great idea!” I began. She looked suspicious. My “great ideas” and “suggestions” can be as annoying to her as hers are to me. “I want to film you making pie, and put it up on The Sister Project this week!” Her face seemed to pale, and the corners of her mouth plummeted. [click to continue…]
by paige on August 1, 2009
Our virtual sister Marilyn, of SimmerTillDone
AS YOU KNOW, if you’ve been following along with our recent contest here at TSP, we’re big believers in blogging as a kind of digital sisterhood. The connections we make through bits and bytes bring us laughter, solace and that beautiful feeling that we’re not alone in our struggles, our tastes, our dark or ridiculous secrets. I’ve been lucky to find a kindred (foodie, unruly haired) spirit in Marilyn Naron of SimmerTillDone, a fabulous food blog, that like all my favorite food blogs is as much about the cook as the cooking. Here’s how Marilyn’s and my sisterhood evolved (with a big twist this last week): [click to continue…]
DOES POTATO SALAD make you stand on your tippy-toes, your head, your…shoulders, and…neck and…um, other places that aren’t meant to be stood upon? We love potato salad, though maybe not quite as much as the unbelievable dancing sisters Aggie, Maggie and Elmira Ross. (Their real names were Vicki, Dixie and Betsy Ross–perfect for an Independence Day salute.) Watch the 1944 clip of the contorting triplets above and you’ll get the connection, we promise! And then, with July 4th fast approaching, join us as we dust off our vintage recipe stash for fresh takes on the ultimate summer barbecue and picnic staple: [click to continue…]
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