Curry Grilled Cheese
The summer before I was set to start kindergarten, my dad came home from work one day looking alarmed. “The school is on fire!” Someone – a student, I think – had set the kindergarten building on fire. And I was absolutely DEVASTATED – I thought that meant I wasn’t going to get to go
Jalapeño poppers
I was 18 when I discovered I was lactose intolerant. It was New Year’s Eve, and I was at my parents’ house, and the guy I was dating at the time was there with me. We had been eating appetizers all evening long – especially my mom’s spinach dip, which is my favorite thing ever.
Savory crispy kugel cups
When I was a child, I vowed that I was going to read every single book in my little local library. Unsurprisingly I never quite managed that, but this library was my absolute favorite place. I come from a family of readers. Every weekend from when we were little, we’d go to their weekly reading
Treet and Eggs
What is something that seemed like the absolute height of luxury when you were younger? For me, it was owning a house with stairs. My grandparents on my dad’s side had a big house with citrus trees and a pool, and potpurri in the guest bedrooms, but most importantly, they had stairs. These stairs were
Lemon Dill Salmon
As unrealistic as it may be, I never really gave up on my dream of dancing professionally. It’s just… evolved over the years. As a teen, I wanted to dance in a major ballet company. ABT, LINES Ballet, here I come! By college, I had realized that I would never be that good (and was
Do Chua (Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot Pickles)
The first time I went to Vietnam with Son, was a decade ago, and I was still terribly picky. I hated cilantro, which was in EVERYTHING, and so I spent the majority of the trip trying to sneakily pick the cilantro out of my food. I always have a finicky stomach, and the stress of
Chilaquiles
Someone asked recently if I played any sports when I was growing up. And at first, my initial reaction was no – ballet and dance were pretty much my entire life. But then I realized, I actually did, although I never played any team sports or played anything competitively. My mom and all her siblings
Cranberry Bliss Danishes
On Christmas morning, when I was six years old, there was my very first bike, white and pink with training wheels and all, sitting in front of the Christmas tree! My little sister, who was three at the time, also got her first bike. And let me tell you, I was SO excited to finally
Cheesy egg bake with sausage and squash
Throughout my childhood, we had very specific traditions for Christmas morning if we were celebrating Christmas at home. If we were up before our parents – which, of course we were, it was Christmas after all – we were allowed to get into our stockings. Couldn’t touch any presents, but stockings were fair game. There