I have been completely overwhelmed by news of the pandemic lately. Anyone else? It probably doesn’t help that I actually work in journalism, but still, I needed a break. So teaching a class on how to make gnocchi online seemed like a way to blow off steam. I called it “Cooking with Kes” and wow, what a blast we had.
Cooking for one (or two) seems impossible when all of the recipes online are typically for four servings or more. Want to know my little secret? Any meal can be made a meal for one—you just don’t have to cook as many meals for yourself. So when prepping a meal, say like this cottage cheese lasagna, you bake a pan of it and eat it for dinners throughout the week. Easy, peasy.
Things are pretty scary right now, I get it. I know the news can be tiring and Twitter is relentless (hot tip, just stay off Twitter right now), and I want to virtually comfort you with some chicken. I know, emotions shouldn’t be attached to food, I’m aware of that. But a good meal can be comforting in a way that words can’t, and this three-ingredient baked pesto chicken will soothe your soul.
It was a long weekend up in the mountains, and I admit, not exactly a relaxing one. I spent 36 hours with teenagers—who are awesome—up in the snowy Catskills. With no cell phone service to distract us, we spent our weekend hiking, throwing snowballs, and eating lots of junk food. Needless to say, I was utterly exhausted coming back home and I did not feel like cooking something complicated. So a simple flatbread pizza will do.
When you’re a kid, having a birthday in the winter is kind of the pits. All of your friends (or brothers) with summer birthdays get to have these awesome parties at the pool, at the beach, or even in your backyard. But when the weather is cold and you really can only do something inside, having a February birthday really isn’t that fun. Knowing this, my mom always did her best to try to make my birthday special. She started “birthday week” where she gifted me one present every single day of the week before my actual birthday—which she still does to this day. She also asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner, and if I wasn’t forcing my family to take me to Pizza Works to look at all the toy trains, I would ask Dad to make London Broil.