Dinner Recipes

I was standing in the parking lot of a hardware store last November when the smell hit me. It wasn’t the scent of lumber or … Read more

The office chili cook-off was in twelve hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing their grandmother’s secret recipe, slow-simmered all day, probably … Read more

“Why can’t you just roast the eggplant slices instead of frying them?” My friend Jenna asked me this while I was breading and pan-frying yet … Read more

My neighbor Jen wasn’t trying to impress me. I’d stopped by to return her slow cooker—the one she’d loaned me three weeks prior, embarrassingly—and the … Read more

I was supposed to be making a complicated lemon-herb crusted salmon with a roasted vegetable medley. The plan was ambitious, maybe too ambitious for a … Read more

I was standing in the checkout line at a tiny hardware store—of all places—when the woman behind me, holding a single lightbulb and a bag … Read more

My neighbor Greta watched me wrestling with a sticky, wet dough that was clinging to everything but my counter, and she didn’t say anything at … Read more

There used to be a tiny sandwich shop tucked between a dry cleaner and a hardware store on Main Street that made what I still … Read more

I wasn’t expecting cooking advice from our plumber, but there I was, ankle-deep in a minor kitchen flood, listening to Miguel describe exactly how to … Read more

This was supposed to be a pan-seared pork chop situation. I had the cast iron heating up, the butter ready to foam, and I was … Read more