Cooking

I have a kid. That means that every recipe I make either comes with a helper (known as the Tiny Kitchen Assistant) or his alter ego, Captain Distracto, who wants me to play baseball or Legos or do anything other than cook as dinnertime approaches.

Most of the meals are kid-friendly and easy enough to make in 30-45 minutes on a weeknight. The rare, time-consuming “weekend recipes” will be noted accordingly. Believe me, if I can make dinner six nights a week, you can, too.

Where do my recipes come from? Many are things that I’ve made for ages. Some are modifications of a single recipe; I link to or reference the original recipe wherever possible. Others are a strange hybrid of recipes that I find online; if I want to find a good stew recipe, for example, I’ll look at half a dozen and pick and choose the elements and techniques that work best for us.

Ready to cook?

Recent Recipes

What Would Betty Do Logo Ricotta Gnocchi

Homemade Gnocchi I can’t believe that it’s taken me so long to post this. Months ago, I made the homemade ricotta gnocchi from Bryn at Writes4Food. When I first made it, I was certain that the recipe was a complete failure. The mixture was more soup than dough! I was texting with a colleague in […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Clean-Out-the-Fridge Pasta

Chicken Apple Sausage Pasta We were heading out for our trip to Hong Kong and I needed to purge the fridge and pantry. I had a mishmash of things that didn’t really go together, and lacked a few key ingredients for regular family favorites. I had chicken apple sausages in the freezer, my go-to meat […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Blueberry Pies

Mini Blueberry Pies I had a free afternoon and picked up The Assistant earlier than usual. “Let’s make blueberry pies!” he shouted in a tone that implied that he had been thinking about this for some time. It’s not exactly blueberry season, but we always have an extensive supply of frozen blueberries on hand for […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Eating in Asia

Feeding a 7-Year-Old in Asia I have to admit, I was nervous about traveling to Hong Kong and Macau with a 7-year-old boy. The Assistant is a good eater, but it’s one thing to eat something unfamiliar for one meal, and something entirely different to eat unfamiliar foods for all meals. Fortunately, our hotel in […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Homemade Yellow Curry Paste

Making Yellow Curry at Home A few years ago, we were out to dinner with The Husband’s coworker and new wife, both Indian. He mentioned that I had been trying to learn how to cook Indian food, and had bought a crazy number of spices to make this happen. She looked at me quizzically, and […] Read More