We dipped into hearty bowls of butternut squash soup garnished with sprigs of fresh parsley. We passed platters of golden roasted turkey, Nana’s green bean casserole, and homemade crescent rolls. My dear friend added a plate of her family’s special Salvadoran pupusas to the mix, while my famous pumpkin tiramisu chilled in the refrigerator for our [...] Keep Reading
food stories
Italian Wedding Soup: Sharing our souls over a hearty bowl of soup
These past several weeks have been marked by tragic headlines - hurricanes whipping coastal cities and neighboring islands, floods devastating Texas, forest fires chasing up the state of California, and a mass shooting in Las Vegas. These natural disasters and national tragedies weigh heavy on my heart. They push those in the eye of the storm into [...] Keep Reading
Freedom Soup: Soup Joumou (Haitian Pumpkin Soup)
My family is flying out to Haiti this evening. We are so excited to see all our friends after two years. I decided to share with you today one of my favorite main dishes they make us in Haiti. It's called Soup Joumou or Pumpkin Soup. It's really more like a stew. Soup Joumou (pronounced joo-moo) is a central part of New Year’s tradition in [...] Keep Reading
Make cooking into a creative competition for kids (with pizza dough recipe)
The smell of garlic mixing with basil wafted to my nose. Laughter filled the room as kids rolled out billowy pizza dough into creative shapes and ran to the "market table" to retrieve ingredients. In the corner, some oil and Italian sausage were sizzling in an electric skillet. "What will help thicken our sauce?" one called out. "How much [...] Keep Reading
Building community in the kitchen: The secret is in the sauce (and three recipes!)
Cooking has always been a place of creativity, community and comfort for me. I grew up in the kitchen stirring sauces with my mama, kneading dough with my Italian Nana, and rolling lumpia egg rolls with my Filipino grandma. As an adult, I have gathered many friends and family members in my kitchen to cook together. When I was a young married [...] Keep Reading
Pressing into the bittersweet {and a love letter to my widow friends}
My love language is food, and I love sharing it with my people. This past Sunday night I hosted a dinner party at my house. In the afternoon, my girls helped me roll meatballs, frost mini bundt cakes and dip chocolate strawberries. We scrubbed toilets and pulled out extra chairs so we could fit all the guests around the table. While my oldest [...] Keep Reading
