In mid-January, Tim came home from work and said, “A young person at work is deploying in April, and she might need a place to stay for two months. I told her that Zoe and Talia’s bedroom was empty, and if she needed to use us as a last resort, we’d be happy to help.”…

I recently proofread a cookbook, which was an experience in and of itself. Making sure all the measurements corresponded, that the hours and minutes and servings were consistent—a perfectionist’s nightmare, actually. On the other hand, the task appealed to that organizational side of mine so much, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. (And I’m…

This past summer, we had a bag of overripe plums to get rid of. In my quest to use up all the food we buy, I scoured the internet and found an amazing plum crumble recipe. I copied it down and made it (several times over, and with modifications, of course), and I’m glad I…

I have no idea where this recipe actually came from, but it’s one that Tim found after eating something similar at a restaurant back in Ann Arbor. “We can’t share our recipe,” the owner said, “but I can tell you that if you search for XYZ, you’ll find something similar.” I don’t remember what XYZ…

In all my years of baking, I have not once baked real gingerbread nor made any gingerbread people. But my children love most of the gingerbread man book variations out there. So this year when Melina said, “Can we make some real gingerbread people?” I said yes. I would have scoured the internet for a…