The neighborhood potluck was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing those elaborate slow-cooker things they’d prepped since Tuesday or … Read more

There used to be this tiny Italian place tucked away on a side street in Portland called “Luigi’s Little Kitchen.” It wasn’t fancy—plastic tablecloths, wobbly … Read more

I was supposed to be making a completely different dinner that Tuesday night. The plan was a classic turkey chili—you know, the kind with the … Read more

I was elbow-deep in suds at my kitchen sink last November, scrubbing a casserole dish that had seen better days, when my next-door neighbor, a … Read more

My brother-in-law Mark asked why I couldn’t just wrap the whole beef tenderloin in puff pastry like a giant present and call it done. We … Read more