Books, Boxes, Bread, and Babies

November 18, 2016November 18, 201624 Comments

You know what’s not easy?

Dealing with mortgage lenders. Also, finding contractors who actually show up when they say they will to give you an estimate. And most of all, staying off Facebook when you have 101 opinions about the recent election that need expressing, but also a dozen different deadlines that need meeting.

You know what else isn’t easy? Blogging and moving houses at the same time. It’s kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly. Only harder.

Regardless, now that Facebook is moving on from the “Trump versus Clinton” debate to the Gilmore Girls’ “Dean versus Jess versus Logan” debate (I’m an ABD girl: Anyone But Dean), the publishers and I have decided that maybe it’s time for us to start talking about the little project that kept me hopping all last spring…

The Catholic Table: Finding Joy Where Food and Faith Meet is here It’s bee-yoo-tee-ful! And it makes the perfect Christmas gift for anyone you know who likes to cook…or eat…or support the Help Emily and Chris Put Heat and Electricity in the Attic Where They’ll Be Living for the Next Four Months Fund. Continue reading →

Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes

November 20, 2015November 20, 201514 Comments

I am currently persona non grata in my corner of Steubenville. Not because of any advice I’ve been dishing out as of late, but rather because of what I won’t be dishing out next week: Thanksgiving Dinner.

For years, mostly because of the hassle of traveling 1280 miles, roundtrip, on Thanksgiving weekend, I’ve stayed in Steubenville for the holiday and opened my home to whomever didn’t have one that day. One year, that number was as large as 25. Another year, it was as small as four.

A few special friends, however, have always been around the table, and those are the ones less than pleased about Chris and I going to my parents this Thanksgiving. (His family gets us for Christmas).

I’m looking forward to being with all my nieces and nephews next week, but I have to admit, I’m a little sad too. There’s no holiday I like better than Thanksgiving, and (in all humility) there’s also no meal I cook better than Thanksgiving Dinner. People have flown across the country for my mashed potatoes and stuffing. Some of those people also are under the impression that my gravy is a beverage. (“Just because something has brandy in it,” I tell them, “doesn’t mean you can drink it.” They never listen.)

It’s not only the company or food that makes Thanksgiving special for me, though. It’s also the chance to pull out all the decorating stops and set the most elegant table I can muster. In grad school, that wasn’t much. But here’s what we did last year.

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Creamy Polenta

February 5, 2015February 5, 20155 Comments

It’s February, which means I’m in the middle of most every self-employed writer’s personal hell—a.k.a. “tax season”—drowning in receipts and kicking myself for not being more organized. It’s an annual ritual. Accordingly, until I get all my little spreadsheets neatly filled out and sent off to the accountant, there won’t be much cooking going on around here. Right now, the roommates and I are mostly subsisting on roasted vegetables and polenta.

Polenta is my go-to “I have no time to cook but my body insists on eating” dish. It’s also a handy staple for when all those gluten-free eating friends I mentioned on Tuesday come over for dinner. It goes with just about anything, costs little more than a box of pasta, and takes just over 15 minutes to make. That is to say, it takes just over 15 minutes to make when you do it my way.

Note: All Italian cooking purists should stop reading now. You won’t like what’s coming next.