Monday, May 4, 2026

A Beautiful Free Wok, A Recipe in the Works, A Simple White Bean Salad & More

Friends, hello from Skaneateles, where I am with my daughter for hockey... yes, hockey in May, it's a thing!

This week, I communicated with many of you who joined the Sourdough Starter from Scratch Challenge. Some of you have had smashing success — starters jumping off your counterops! — and some of you are still plugging along, but your fledgling starters are showing promising signs.

If you did not join the challenge and would like to, know that it is a resource available for you at any time, whenever you are ready. Wouldn't it be fun to start the day as such?:

Last week, I shared my Mother's Day Gift Guide, in which I included meal kits from HelloFresh. These kits, I said, would be a great gift for the mother in your life who likes to cook but despises shopping/planning.

But can I tell you the unexpected upshot of having a few of these kits in the fridge each week? Anyone can make them. My kids LOVE making them. Yesterday afternoon, en route to Skaneateles, my husband called to say hi and casually mentioned he had no idea what he was going to do for dinner. To this, Wren, my 12-year-old, chimed in to ask: "Can I make a HelloFresh dinner?"

If you are still looking for a Mother's Day gift for someone, or if you'd like to give yourself the gift of what essentially feels like a night off in the kitchen, I can't recommend them enough. Right now, sign-ups come with 10 free meals + a free Zwilling wok (a $179.99 value) — how? I have no idea. I want to gift everyone I know a HF subscription (and a chainmail scrubber :)) More details here:

Meal Kits + Free Wok

PS: I have been working on a cornbread recipe and nearly posted it this morning, but I need to run one more experiment. I've always found cornbread a little tricky — I don't want it to taste like cake, but I like a touch of sweetness; I don't want it to be dry, but ultra-moist feels wrong, too; I love the idea of sprucing it up with cheese or jalapenos or herbs and spices, but mostly I want a corn flavor to prevail. It must be simple to assemble. It's almost there 🌽

Review of the Week

This recipe hails from my cousin's wife, a proud Southerner who knows her barbecue. I don't make these ribs often, but every time I do, I am astonished by their flavor given the effort.

Cooked ribs lying in tin foil just out of the oven

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Best Oven-Baked Ribs

"I want you to know that I’ve made a lot of ribs in my life. A lot of different ways. All in an attempt to find my husband’s and my favorite way of cooking them. Well, since I found your recipe, I’ve used it exclusively. I LOVE how these turn out! Sometimes I do 3 hours or a little more if they’re extra meaty. I don’t always use your seasoning, but I always use your cooking method!"

— Britta