The best eight bucks I’ve spent lately is the OXO’s Good Grips Jar Spatula, a silicone spatula meant for reaching into jars. It’s so curiously-perfect I find myself using it daily for all sorts of kitchen endeavors.
Read MoreJulia Child’s Life Lessons with Potato Pancake
Periodically I revisit this short clip of Julia Child flipping a potato pancake, “a daring thing to do” on her ’70s television show where flubs and mess-ups were left as-is. Child ad libs essential wisdom that applies to any daring endeavor, and life itself.
Read MoreApple Time Recipes: Crumbles and Freeform Tarts
We’re seeing apples everywhere and FEELING the yearly hunger for warm apple desserts…so we pulled out our most potent recipes…
Read MoreAn Astonishing Poem of Instructions for Eating Persimmons and of Course, Way More (Reprise)
Yi-Young Lee’s astonishly beautiful poem Persimmons tells a number of tiny stories, and lovely very precise instruction about choosing and eating persimmons, which are in season now. What could be better: stories, poetry, something exquisite to eat..?
Read MoreLucia LoPresti’s Secret to Perfect Tomato Sauce
I mark the day I started making great tomato sauce when I spent an afternoon in Lucia Lo Presti’s kitchen. The secret she taught me is simple and yields an astonishingly rich, silky sauce. With it came a glimpse of a unique way of life —Sicily in New Jersey— that her wine writer son-in-law Anthony Giglio first introduced me to…
Read MoreSandro’s Lemon Pasta Is Fast and Comforting
When I am feeling low, I often make NYC chef Sandro Fioriti’s lovely Pasta al Limone, It take no time or odd ingredients to make and is both comforting and divine.
Read MoreWays to Eat Cherries, With a W.S. Merwin Poem
Fruit eaten in its season is even better eaten with a poem. When we stumbled on this W.S. Merwin poem, we realized we were in the last moments of cherry season. It’s a perfect accompaniment to our favorite cherry feasts.
Read MoreHow to Eat an Apricot
Diane Ackerman’s poem “The Consolation of Apricots” gives a sense of just how far an apricot can launch you into reverie. It also gives instructions for how to eat one. I’ve added my own two-cents about how to find great apricots, and what to do if you can’t, along with a recipe for the effect of summer apricots all year long.
Read MoreMagic Trick: Divine Ice Cream Made In a Plastic Bag
At a dinner party New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield attended last summer, one of the hosts served ice cream that had the mind-blowing effect of a magic trick. Here’s how, with a recipe.
Read MoreRecipe for Desperate Times: Pasta with a Fried Egg + Parmigiano (Reprise)
These tumultuous days, my hunger is for starchy things with deep savor that don’t take much work. And by necessity, simple ingredients. I turn frequently to a transformative formula.
Read MoreKey Lime or Lemon Hand Pies for Desperate Times
Wondering how could I quickly create the effect of great key lime (or lemon) pie without actually making a whole pie, I devised this delectable stripped-down hand pie, made of a few readily-available ingredients. Fast comfort for desperate times.
Read MoreA Healer’s Simple, Powerful Immune System Boost
Years ago, I learned a simple recipe for boosting my immune system from a legendary homeopathic doctor. He swore by it, and I’ve come to too. I’ve been drinking it twice daily since the fierce virus scare started and each time, feel its strengthening effect.
Read MoreOilcloth (Not PVC) Makes a Surprisingly Cool, Wipe-Clean Tablecloth that Protects Your Wood Table
When the mid-century wood table I set up for dining and work took a hit from a spilled glass of water, I cast about for a protective everyday solution that wouldn’t look like plastic. I found it in old-fashioned oilcloth…
Read MoreRoasted Lemons: 3 Ingredients Yield Mighty Dazzle
As my cooking gets simpler and simpler, I rely on easily-created hits of flavor to dazzle. A favorite of late is roasted lemons, which I often throw into the oven as I’m making the rest of the meal. They liven up ANYTHING. They are totally addictive.
Read MoreLi Ziqi’s Soothing, Addictive Videos Portrays Living ‘in the Flow’
On Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi’s mesmerizing YouTube channel. she doesn’t speak and there are no how tos or manic hosts,. Instead she evokes a quiet, very pastoral, very ancient way of life whose effect is deeply soothing.
Read MoreThe Lights: A Father and Son’s Luminous Monument to Creative Obsession
Every December in a village in northern Argentina, Jorge Gervasi and his son transform their modest family home into an elaborate display of blinking lights. This sweet, slightly Fellini-esque short film captures the hard work, missteps and dreams that go into it their remarkable Christmas monument.
Read MoreCopy This: Pamela Hovland’s Holiday Wreath
Spotted on the instagram of designer Pamela Hovland, who masterminded Improvised Life’s first iteration ten years ago: her holiday wreath in an imaginative, uniquely festive application…
Read MoreWines to Drink with Junk Food from Chitos to Pork Rinds (Anthony Giglio)
Wine writer Anthony Giglio was the first to really consider what wines to drink with the junk food so many secretly love. So we compiled a list of “the best of” his solid pairings, and the illuminating thinking behind them.
Read MoreTiny Blossoms Knocked Off a Flower Make Unexpected Arrangements
Blossoms that might in one way seem broken or damaged can transform into something of startling beauty…
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