After school one recent afternoon, I had a craving for cookies. Who, me? I wanted to sit with a glass of milk and have a home baked sweet. It seemed energizing and comforting at the same time. I had just finished watching High on the Hog on Netflix and was reading the book, High on…
Author: Terri
Terri has worked in schools for close to 40 years as an elementary school classroom teacher, a professor of education, and as a district literacy specialist. Most recently, she has served as the founding principal of a public preK to 8 school in New York City where she was tasked with establishing a school culture that centered children and supporting them on their individual learning paths, valued the professional expertise of her staff, and respected parents' voices. She has her Masters and Doctoral degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University.
At the Kitchen Table
Kitchen tables play an important role in our culture. Children do homework and grownups pay bills at them, families gather around them to share meals. Politicians woo voters by discussing “kitchen table” issues. An article in The Counter, an online newsletter about food and culture in the US, explored the history of the politicization of…
Oh, Deer!
There is something very satisfying about planning a meal and then taking the time to attentively and purposefully follow the process of preparing the meal. Making ragú is a time consuming process. It requires planning and getting ingredients. Reading blogs for recipes. Marinating the meat over night. Attending to the ragú simmering on the stove…
Allora! Making pasta by hand in Italy
“Cooking is a troublesome sprite. Often it may drive you to despair. Yet, it is also very rewarding, for when you do succeed, or overcome a difficulty in doing so, you feel the satisfaction of a great triumph.” This is how Pelligrino Artusi opens his book, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. Pelligrino…
Smile and Say “Cheese!”
“What do you do for fun?” Although it seems like a fairly boring conversation starter, it actually made me pause. What do I do for fun? There is a lot of mental health research on the importance of having hobbies. Since hobbies decrease stress, engaging in activities that are absorbing and relaxing is more…
A Trip to Spain
A while back, I read a history book, Crossing the Continent, by Robert Goodwin, about Esteban, an enslaved Black man who was a member of Coronado’s expeditions to the Americas. The expedition shipwrecked in the Gulf of Mexico and the survivors walked for 8 years across the southwest back to Mexico City. The first chapter…
Pistachio Financiers
I am usually in charge of desserts for family gatherings. Because of the kind of recipes I make (chocolate cakes, custards for pies and ice creams), I use a lot of egg yolks which lead to me having a lot of left over egg whites. So I search for recipes that use a lot of…
Los Sabores de Oaxaca
This past summer, my sister Mia and I travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico to learn Spanish. We studied at the Instituto Cultural Oaxaca for two weeks. We had Spanish class in the morning and cooking class in the afternoon. In the evenings, we explored Oaxaca — restaurants, bars, street art, festivals and museums. My favorite museum…
Sour Cherry Jam with Rye Whiskey and Black Pepper
My grandmother had a huge cherry tree. During summer visits, my siblings and I would walk down the lane at any time of day and pick the fruit we could reach. In July, my uncles would get on a ladder to climb up the tree to pick the fruit we couldn’t reach. I especially remember…
Itadakimasu! Let’s eat!
There is a new grocery story in my neighborhood. H-Mart is a chain of Korean grocers that adds an exciting new angle to my repertoire of cooking. I love exploring the sauces, the frozen goods (there are amazing frozen dumplings), and produce (they have an amazing array of mushrooms at reasonable prices!) The labels challenge…
Principal of Cooking 