February 2012
7 posts
Listen to this song - I heard it on...
“I made peace with the cruel fact that I’d never be quite the same again, that...”
– Alyssa Shelasky in her excellent forthcoming memoir Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs In and Out of the Kitchen (via rkb)
January 2012
3 posts
Moody Tuesdays
Tried to fit two days into one again. Didn’t work out so well. Lost it on a wretched saleswoman at Barneys who wouldn’t take back a couple untouched sweaters that I bought thirty-fucking-four days ago, instead of “thirty.” People who use the word “store policy” are the absolute worst. I’d out the girl, full name/description right here so everyone could...
December 2011
4 posts
A Two-Second Sunday Read
Here’s the “Best Meals of 2011” story I mentioned.
Photo by: Jen Gotch
sousstyle.com →
Have you started living, breathing ‘n dying for this new food/design/feel-good site yet? Prepare to cheat on me, and every other blog, once you get a taste of SousStyle. Pippa Lord is behind it - she’s like Sienna Miller with an Aussie accent, more heart and less baggage. Raging girl crush!
Question.
What was your best food memory this year? I have to answer that for a magazine article. First thing that comes mind (having nothing to do w/ the photo above/I just like it) is a fresh out-of-the-oven almond croissant from Almondine, with a café au lait, sitting alone by the water, after days of stress, sleep deprivation and a sad, empty stomach. But perhaps that’s too simple. Tell me...
November 2011
2 posts
Where I've Been.
Forgive my slackerly behavior…
The last few months have been the busiest, and I think maybe hardest, of my life! Honestly, the next time the universe shows its sharp edges, remind me that I survived July-October of 2011. But barely!
Finishing the book, combined with starting this torpedo-like job, plus the usual NYC warfare, was collectively so much more lethal than I ever imagined. Weeks...
September 2011
1 post
Wicked Game.
Autumn found us, work started, Irene came, 9/11 stung, edits ended, friends were made, romance was had. I’ve experienced extraordinary meals, sheer exhaustion, a disastrous flood, a naughty night out, a shit-ton of expensive oysters, dirt cheap (and crazy good) Cambodian num pang, and awkward encounters with Alec Baldwin and Owen Wilson. Love working at Grub Street, dream job, but my free...
August 2011
3 posts
A Celebration Over Sopressata and Shock
Last night, a friend took me to Lupa for a congratulatory dinner, celebrating my first week as the New York Editor for New York Magazine’s Grub Street. (Oh yeah, did you hear!?)
We shared sublime salads of summer corn and tomatoes, primis like peppery bavette and lemony linguine, secondis of whole fish and short-ribs, and gelato of melon and mint. The rosé flowed, the chef sent surprises,...
Ireland.
I’m in Ireland, where skin is dewy, hair is horrific, and itchy wool sweaters are the flirty, flowery sundresses - even in August. It’s chilly, rainy and perfectly unglam here. The Irish are the nicest people I’ve ever met (growing up with the Egan family, I already knew this) and the potatoes, every which way imaginable, just don’t get old. When I’m back I have a wee...
July 2011
5 posts
Just Another Day.
Yesterday. Edited fifty recipes for the book, less than half of which will be used…with my mother reminding me, nonstop, to credit grandma for the salad dressing, and not to forget the life-altering lemon cake she served sixteen years ago. Wrote/published three stories for Grub Street on Michael White, Ludu Lefebvre, and the sweaty success that was Meatopia. Some dramatic work stuff...
Flop.
The other day I bumped into an Apron Anxiety reader who said she liked me more when I was a total catastrophe in the kitchen. Well honey, we’re about to get it on.
Today I spent $50 at Whole Foods on fresh swordfish and a couple things to go along with it like lemon, eggplant and tomatoes. Forgot capers, as always. I wanted to make a light fish dish for lunch — that was the original...
June 2011
9 posts
Today I ate well. Maybe, too well. Oh well.
It started with a baguette and cafe au lait from my local saving grace, Almondine. That so-totally-French owner is not one for warm and fuzzies, but holy pastry chef, can he bake bread. With a few slices of creamy brie, my delicious day went off with a bang.
After all the ice cream buzz dripping its way around the food blogs (ahem), I couldn’t...
Nap Thyme.
I am tired. Like, too tired to wash my face, make my bed or pick up the newspaper that’s been sitting at my door tired. My hair has been in a ponytail for so many days that it actually hurt to put it down. Yeah, I made a huge deadline (an extension to another huge deadline— which I obviously missed) and I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, and sat on by the girl who weighed 703...
Veggie Fried Wimp
Boston and back in 24-hours and only one regret.
It has nothing to do with our Longmeadow reunion. That was perfection drenched in Bud Light and mojitos. We got together to remember our friend who died on 9/11, Jean Roger, and in her honor, we laughed our ass off and cried our eyes out. We felt her there, the heart of the party, like she always was and always will be.
My friends from home are...
May 2011
12 posts
McLean McGown: Lady Love and Buddhist Day →
Check out my friend McLean’s blog. She’s all about mental health, physical wellness and (soon to be) motherhood. We met in a guest house behind a mansion in Hancock Park once…longgg story…I just knew she was a magical person. As life takes its twists and turns, I am lightly attracted to new perspectives on spirituality…and the concept of inner-stillness; when I read...
Hey Harvard.
Well…The Harvard Club. Had a thing there tonight. You know, slummin’ it. I will say, however, I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who’s ever walked into those handsome doors with a hot pink copy of Love Junkie in one hand, and a bag of plantain chips in the other…
My hair tells a different story (one of hostility/ slight mental illness), but I’m really...
Reservations at The Popular Table.
I recently emailed a friend to stop including me in her invites of debauchery because I’m on “lockdown” for the book. She responded, “I’d like to see your version of lockdown.”
Okay fine, last night, I did unchain myself from the sexy studio under the bridge to see friends, no strings/assignments attached. While I loved our group - I always do— I’m...
The Dirty Bits of The James Beard Awards.
For the second year, I was lucky enough to be a reporter at The James Beard Awards last night at Lincoln Center. The official scoop is going up on Grub Street, but the unofficial stuff I’ll spill right here, right now. Lucky for you (less lucky for the names below), I’m in that buzzy, fuzzy physical space where I’m too tired to sleep, just hungover enough to become one with a...
Dinner for Two.
Apron Anxiety has a touch of…apron anxiety.
I have a few hours to make a delicious, simple meal for two. It should be fresh, light, and effortless. However, more than anything, it should flicker of magic.
This is not dinner with grandma.
Send menu ideas asap. xx
April 2011
4 posts
Seventeen Hours of Sleep Later.
Yes, thanks to three consecutive nights of sleepless in the city, fueled with too much food, wine, whispers, high-waisted jeans, low waisted thongs, head-aches, heart-aches, adrenaline, warm air, red toes, vintage rap, indie rock, heels, hangovers, dirty dishes, dirty talk, dopamine, DVF, DVR, ADD, and an extra shot of espresso or eight…I crashed last night, HARD, somewhere between French...
On the Corner of Love and La Brea.
Just a few days left in LA, and like always, I can’t find one reason to leave. If Brooklyn is about keeping it real; Los Angeles is about keeping it cool. Having both is the perfect balance. I am genuinely lucky.
This morning I brunched with my favorite ex-boyfriend pal, then went hiking alone and aglow, and soon I’m heading to an off-the-grid play, with my almost-famous aunt...