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 You Can Make Yogurt At Home

I have to tell you, I hadn’t given any thought to making yogurt at home. There are supermarkets on every corner, and did I really need yet another project? It appears that the answer was yes. We go through a lot of yogurt. The Tiny Kitchen Assistant eats it with fruit and honey. The adults […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Fish Tacos (Yes, I Actually Cooked Fish)

Maybe you haven’t noticed, but in the two years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve posted precisely one recipe that involves fish (and considering that it was for tuna salad, I’m not entirely sure that it even counts). This is a real recipe with real fish, the kind that didn’t come in a can. […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Cuban Black Beans with Beer

Frijoles Negros I’ve tried a lot of recipes for black beans, and while they’re all tasty, it turns out that this one — prepared on a whim — is the most flavorful that I’ve come across. It’s loosely based on the frijoles negros recipe from 3 Guys From Miami. Their cookbook is one of my […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Lasagna Roll-Ups

So there we were, on a Saturday night. It was already 5:00 and I’d given zero thought to dinner. So I polled the boys. The Tiny Kitchen Assistant requested pasta. My husband groaned. “It’s Saturday night,” he said. “I don’t want a quickie, throwaway dinner.” I was more than a little bit annoyed because maybe, […] Read More

What Would Betty Do Logo Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper Pasta)

There was a time when I believed that Cooking (with a capital C) required two dozen ingredients, preferably ingredients that were difficult for mere mortals to find. Over time, I came to understand that simpler combinations of ingredients often merged to create more satisfying results. This pasta came about when the Tiny Kitchen Assistant requested, […] Read More