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Report: Chinese Third-Graders Falling Behind U.S. High School Students in Math, Science: Full Story

Warm chocolate challah bread pudding

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Recipe from Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners, p. 80

The hardest thing about working from home for me seems to be having to restrain myself from spending the whole day in the kitchen. Because I’m traveling most weeks and only home Thurs-Sun, grocery shopping is a bit trickier these days and I’m leaning even more toward freezer-friendly meals to minimize food waste. Plus, it’s the New Year, and I, along with everyone else I see at my gym, am trying to watch it with the calories lately. Soup fulfills both of those needs.

[Make it]*

*Instead of using Canadian bacon, I used regular bacon, sauteeing it first and removing it from the dutch oven before cooking the celery in the rendered fat. I then deglazed with a splash of vermouth, and added the celery into the food processor. The result is a smooth, completely pureed soup (topped with bacon of course).

The tradition continues. Holiday biscotti with pistachios and cranberries. Usually I put a white chocolate glaze on these (see previous years here), but this year, everyone’s on a diet. I guess.

Kind of like washing down a piece of chocolate cake with a diet coke, in my opinion. But I gives ya what ya like, family. 

Homemade hostess cupcakes!

Zucchini stuffed with lamb and mint

[Make it]

Time for funfetti #twolittleredhens #vanillasprinklecupcake #nyc

Black sesame ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Because it’s always a good day to enjoy some “so-called iced cream.”

Chicken tikka masala

[Make it]*

*With some changes: I added one tsp. of garam masala and a 1/2 tsp. of ground coriander to the garlic and pepper. Also, I would hold back on the cayenne pepper in the yogurt marinade. 1 tsp should more than suffice.