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.
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Recent Recipes
What’s in Season? June
It’s June 1, even though it doesn’t feel like it in the Bay Area where yesterday it was 58 degrees and raining. (Today is only marginally better, but at least the temperatures have hit the 60s. Barely.) We seem to have misplaced Spring this year. I’m hoping for a rapid jump to summer because my […] Read More
Cold Lunch
In mid-June, the Tiny Kitchen Assistant will be starting a new child care program, one that’s based on the campus of his soon-to-be kindergarten. This presents a new set of lunch challenges. There are no microwaves. For the first time in his life, we won’t be able to heat up last night’s leftovers. Nuts are […] Read More
Try Something New: Toaster Oven S’mores
S’mores are yummy, but it’s a rare day where we’ve actually cooked something over the coals. I decided to work with what I had, wing it, and see if I could do an indoor version. Turns out that the answer is yes! I tried it a few different ways, including adding the chocolate during the […] Read More
Cherry Crisp
When the Tiny Kitchen Assistant was just 20 months old, we took him to Brentwood to pick cherries. I have no idea why I thought that would be a good idea, but somehow it worked. Even at that young age, he loved the fact that we could come home with pounds upon pounds of cherries […] Read More
Try Something New: Masoor Pulao
I had already been planning to make tandoori chicken for dinner, so when I was given Yogini’s recipe and several key ingredients for masoor pulao (or lentil pulao) at my belated Mother’s Day brunch, it seemed like a sign. I had to make it immediately. The original calls for 1-2 green chiles, thinly sliced. I’ve […] Read More
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