Friday Round-up

When I have a bag of pre-mixed cobbler topping ready to go, I am always a half hour away from the best summer dessert. (Also nice if you're traveling somewhere and don't want to buy or schlep all your baking supplies.)

Is it November 4 yet? Just pre-ordered what is sure to be the cookbook of fall 2014.

Super-cool trick for cutting small tomatoes.

The Lost Art of Conversation. The link is old, but the topic will never be.

Beastie-fans-turned-parents will freaking love this.

Hooray! Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurant nominees are out.

I've always been impressed by Times reporter C.J. Chivers, but I think I'm more impressed with his 12-year-old, striped-bass-filleting son.

Speaking of kids in the kitchen: I had a quart of buttermilk in danger of going bad, so yesterday I handed my girls two recipes: Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins (winner; bookmark it!) and Buttermilk Ranch salad dressing. (We'll get to striped bass ceviche some day.)

This might be one of Roz Chast's all-time greatest cartoons. Maybe because it describes the exact the way I get things done.

Still a few weeks of summer left to squeeze in a seafood boil.

Why sales of packaged, processed foods are declining.

In my fantasy of fantasies, my walk-in pantry will one day look like this. (But first: a house with a walk-in pantry!)

Book Update. Look what landed on my doorstep this week! Publication is two weeks away, but I have a few readings/events lined up that I wanted you to know about: September 9: Spoken Interludes (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY); September 13 Powerhouse on 8th (Brooklyn); September 21 "A Barn Raising Brunch" (Great Barrington, MA); October date TBD: Mom2Mom (Chicago). Hope to see you on the road!

You can pre-order Dinner: The Playbook from all the usual suspects: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Indiebound.

Have a great weekend.