Personal History

This Vietnamese Chicken Salad Is One of My Favorite Easy Summer SuppersRecipes
Gỏi gà is fresh and tangy and everything I want to eat right now.
Thao Thai
Jun 8, 2023
How I Made the Most of “Bland” Food When My Iron Stomach Betrayed MePeople
The night I made the pork shoulder pasta was the night I lost the ability to brag about my iron stomach.
Stacey Lastoe
Dec 2, 2022
Growing Up on 30-Minute Meals with Rachael Ray in the SuburbsPeople
My mother didn’t have the same privileges that my brother and I were accustomed to growing up, but she did have my Nana. My grandmother made sure that all seven of her children were clothed, fed, and educated. My mother always says that my Nana could not only turn lemons into lemonade, but she also planted the seeds that turned into lemon trees in her own backyard. She was the Martha Stewart of Westbury.
Allanah Dykes
May 11, 2022
The Mashed Potato Recipe I’ve Loved Since I Was a Kid (They’re Impossibly Easy to Make)
Kitchn Love Letters
They come from my favorite childhood cookbook.
Sophia F. Gottfried
Nov 18, 2021
Chef Widza Gustin on Honoring, Supporting, and Celebrating the Haitian Community
At the Table
She's dedicated her career to putting Haitian flavors, techniques, and ingredients at the forefront.
Kayla Hoang
Sep 30, 2021
I Bought Part of Julia Child’s Pegboard Wall — And It’s the Best Thing I OwnKitchen
"My favorite part about the pegboard is that it’s a love story."
Rochelle Bilow
Sep 7, 2021
My Orthodox Easter Isn’t Complete Without This Vintage Egg HolderTools
The lucky egg sits in it until next year.
Ashley Bardhan
Apr 26, 2021
This Lush and Creamy Rice Pudding Is My Forever Favorite Comfort Food
Kitchn Love Letters
It's always there for me in times of need.
Arlyn Osborne
Apr 28, 2021
I’m a Child of a Hoarder — And I’m Trying to Do Better for My Own FamilyKitchen
"When I see my children step over clothes or the dishes pile up, I feel the anxiety rise."
Allaya Cooks-Campbell
Mar 30, 2021
I Tracked Every Penny My Family Spent on Food During the Pandemic in 2020Groceries
"Our total grocery spend was 50.2 percent higher than in 2019."
Jen Sherman
Mar 26, 2021
This Kitchen Tool Traveled 10,000 Miles with My Mom — And Now It’s One of My Most Cherished PossessionsTools
She didn't always use it a lot. And neither do I, honestly.
Pat Tanumihardja
Mar 18, 2021
Learning to See the Beauty in My Mother’s Chore ListKitchen
"Having a clean home, and especially a clean kitchen, wasn’t about being the perfect mother, wife, or even hostess. It was about maintaining peace and order for when the outside world brought in chaos."
K. Alexandra Mills
Mar 12, 2021
In My Family, Love Smells Like French Fries
Personal Essay
I wouldn’t change my greasy childhood for anything — not even a vacation to Disney World every year.
Vanessa Nirode
Oct 10, 2020
Rosh Hashanah Dinner, Redeemed in the Time of a PandemicRecipes
I’ll have more time to cook (and eat!) a special meal than I’ve had in a decade, even if I’m only officially cooking for two.
Liz Alpern
Sep 18, 2020
The Global Quilt of My Iftar TableKitchen
Today Islam is no longer a religion that is just in the Middle East or Arabia. Generations have moved north, south, west, and further east. There are converts around the world; my husband being one of them, and with each person choosing Islam as their faith, another layer of culture and customs is added to the religious holiday, bringing more vibrancy, diversity, and color. Ramadan for me has changed so much from when I was younger and celebrated the month with my parents and siblings in London.
Nazneen Hamilton
Jan 21, 2020
Eid and the Scent of Toasted VermicelliPeople
The buildup to Eid, the celebratory holiday that marks the end of Ramazan (the Urdu pronunciation), begins past the 15th fast. The streets come alive with open-air markets, ablaze with colorful glass bangles, henna tattoo stalls, and festive outfits hanging in window displays. The food bazaars heave with the sweet, spiced aromas of fresh nuts, raisins, and savory snacks.
Sumayya Usmani
Jan 21, 2020
Remembering My Mother’s Table with Fresh Roti in AmericaPeople
My daughter is mad at me again. The ground beef I’ve cooked is too spicy for her, and what on earth are the green things in it? I tell her that’s cilantro and I only put a pinch of red chili powder. She’s not pacified; she’d rather have chicken nuggets or a grilled cheese sandwich. Anything but Pakistani food. “Too bad,” I tell her, echoing my own mother from 30-some years ago. “This is what you’re eating tonight.
Saadia Faruqi
Jan 21, 2020
Why Apple Cake Is Better than Apple PiePeople
My lack of very essential American food experiences is something of a running joke around the office. I don’t own a microwave or a slow cooker; I have never eaten meatloaf or, until recently, spaghetti squash (it’s delicious, it turns out, especially when it’s dressed with a creamy, tomatoey sauce); I have been to Trader Joe’s probably once in my life, which is also the number of times I have eaten a Big Mac; and I have yet to try an Egg McMuffin.
Geraldine Campbell
Dec 17, 2019
I Only Use My Freezer for Ice Cream. Is That OK?People
The original title of this post was “The Only Thing I Have in My Freezer Is Ice Cream, and That’s Okay.” But the truth is, I’m not so sure that it is. That is not to say that I am passing any judgment on whatever you may (or may not) have in your freezer. And ice cream is great! It’s my opinion that you should always, always have ice cream in your freezer. But, is it the only thing? I’m not so sure anymore.
Geraldine Campbell
Dec 17, 2019
You’ll Never Guess the Secret Ingredient to My No-Cook Tomato SauceSkills
Before I get to that secret ingredient (or even to the no-cook tomato sauce that will change your life, I promise you), let me set something straight, for the record: This isn’t actually my no-cook tomato sauce. It belongs to my friend’s mom Peg, or Mrs. Schultz, as I still call her some 30 years later. Amelia and I were friends and so were our moms, something I never quite understood. It was an unlikely pairing. Mrs. Schultz was everything my German mom was not.
Geraldine Campbell
Dec 17, 2019
This Story of a Cast Iron Skillet Rescued from a Burned-Down House Will Give You All the FeelsTools
"The look on her face when her grandson tells her where the skillet came from and how it was restored will fill your cup right up to overflowing."
Ashley Poskin
Dec 12, 2019
What Making a Sweet Potato Pie with My Grandma Taught Me About Being Black in the SouthPeople
Sweet potato pie is a classic Thanksgiving dish, and for one writer it helped reshape a complicated relationship with the South.
Ryan Shepard
Nov 26, 2019
The Old-School Secret to My Grandma’s Thanksgiving Mashed PotatoesSkills
It’s the sort of cooking tip that is sometimes frowned upon amid today’s predominant fresh-is-best philosophy.
Chris Shott
Nov 20, 2019
How My New Dish-Washing Routine Changed My Relationship with My Son
Family
"Now at the end of each day, my moody preteen is nowhere to be found. Instead, a 12-year old boy towers over me, wielding a clean drying towel and a grin."
Meleyna Nomura
Nov 20, 2019
I Worked with Alton Brown for 10 Years. Here Are 5 Things I Learned.Skills
Number one? Question *everything.*
Meghan Splawn
Oct 4, 2019
Meal Planning Helped Save My Marriage
Family
"The job I did, day in and out, was too much for any one person to handle, even with 'help.'"
Melissa Petro
Sep 5, 2019
The Never-Ending Math Magic You Do in the Kitchen as a Type 1 Diabetic
Wellness
"While the whirring of numbers in my brain can be exhausting, it's also the familiar hum that accompanies me every time I step into the kitchen."
Bonnie Horgos
Jul 31, 2019
I Changed the Way I Think About Dining Out — And It’s Helping More than Just My Budget
Budget Tips
It's just a little shift in mentality.
Shifrah Combiths
Jul 26, 2019
This Cheesy Potato Casserole Is the Purest Expression of My Big Pansexual HeartRecipes
Like queerness, love lies at the core of these potatoes.
KT Hawbaker
Jun 28, 2019
I Physically Can't Go Home, So I Cook My Way Through the Homesickness
Life in the Kitchen
"When a panic attack strikes, I’m constantly seeking shelter; sometimes I’ll pace my house, looking for a place where the air isn’t so thin."
Bonnie Horgos
Jun 19, 2019
My Complicated Relationship with The Great British Baking ShowPeople
It's complicated, but Philip Larkin has the last word.
Luke Dempsey
Jun 11, 2019
Why a Food Budget Changed How I Ate — PermanentlyPeople
Watching your grocery bill can help save money, but sometimes the changes go deeper. Here's my story.
Stacy Brooks
May 30, 2019
PSA: “Self-Care” Does Not Mean Sitting on Your Couch with a Pile of French Fries (All the Time)People
Hi, my name is Arie and I am an anxious person. In my never-ending pursuit to quiet my mind and — you know — try to relax or something, I’ve thought a lot about self-care. I always thought I “took care” of myself, until I realized sometime last year that I was definitely doing no such thing. I still had anxiety, I still felt like crap, and I still wasn’t treating myself very well. So what was I actually doing when I thought I was practicing self-care?
Ariel Knutson
May 30, 2019
When Food Is Just Numbers, I Never WinPeople
Our Personal History series invites cooks and eaters to tell the stories of their lives through food. Arianna’s journey is one of learning (and relearning) food through the lens of numbers. I know there was a time in my life when food was simply food and not just a bunch of numbers, but getting there requires some memory mining. I’d just turned 13, and was starting a new school in the fall.
Arianna Rebolini
May 30, 2019
It Changed My Life: How an Elimination Diet Made Me More Connected to My BodyPeople
It was New Year’s Day 2015, the most frightful day of the year for this fat girl. Slumped in front of the television overeating absolutely nothing memorable, I was about to become the very first cliché of yet another new year. For the thousandth time, I committed to figuring out my health situation, whispering it to myself aloud, “I will prioritize my health, and I will lose weight.” I commit to losing weight on the first day of every New Year. You know the drill.
Maggie Battista
May 30, 2019
How Meal Kits Help Me Manage My AnxietyPeople
It’s 7 p.m. and I’m heading home after a particularly long day at the office. It was more stressful than usual; I skipped lunch to meet a deadline, my coworkers had a million questions for me, and my head is throbbing from a lack of energy. The thought of ordering takeout makes me feel nauseous — I don’t want to wait 40 minutes for a $20 salad, or a greasy carton of noodles.
Katka Lapelosová
May 30, 2019
The 100-Calorie Trap I Embraced (Then Escaped)People
I was a teenager when the 100-calorie snack pack trend took off around 2006. I was working as a cashier at Wegmans, and I watched as more and more customers (mostly women) loaded the 100-calorie boxes into their carts and onto my conveyer belts. The boxes were filled with small, colorful packets with familiar brand-name snacks like Oreos, Wheat Thins, and Doritos.
Shelby Vittek
May 30, 2019
How “Dinner for Breakfast” Revolutionized School Mornings for My FamilySkills
Breakfast for dinner is one of our favorite easy weeknight meals, but what about dinner for breakfast? Believe it or not, this upside-down idea has revolutionized school-day breakfasts at my house. “Dinner for breakfast” was actually inspired by my daughter’s request for quesadillas one morning before school. It was fast and easy to toast up a tortilla filled with cheese, and I was happy she was getting protein from the cheese and a side of leftover black beans.
Meghan Splawn
May 30, 2019
The Best Travel Bag Every Food-Lover Should OwnPeople
As a frequent traveler, I pass hundreds of suitcases a month, and I’ll often ask a fellow nomad what makes her bag perfect. Of course, no such unicorn exists — one traveler’s Tumi Continental, after all, is another’s albatross. Personally, I find the boxiness of a hardshell irksome, with its inability to conform both to bulky contents and to the curves of my body.
Dakota Kim
May 24, 2019
How a Trip to Spain Changed the Way I Eat ForeverPeople
To me the concept of grazing is irresistible: consuming less of more. It’s also liberating; it frees us as cooks from the pressure of a main course, alleviates the expectations of what comes first, second, and what goes on the side. It’s about consciously eating small portions of multiple dishes made with thought and intent, embracing the notion of the seasons, and being inspired what’s ripe and most flavorful at the moment.
Suzanne Lenzer
May 24, 2019
In My Search for Korean Identity, the Sweet Potato Was My GuidePeople
After university, I moved by myself to Korea to teach English, leaving behind the mild-mannered Midwest to begin a new life in a foreign country. Only that, to me, this country wasn’t completely foreign. It was where I was born. Then abandoned. Then adopted from. And, ultimately, it was where I wanted to return to take my first real stab at adulthood.
Ann Babe
May 24, 2019
Why One Cookbook Author Uprooted Her City Life & Moved to MainePeople
It was December 1982. I had a dream job: Culinary Editor of Food & Wine magazine. I was 26 years old and in love with a man who grew up in New York City. I also happened to be in love with New York (as a suburban girl, I had always dreamed of living in the city). There was no way I was going to give up my job or my zip code. I landed an assignment to write about the best restaurants along the New England coast.
Kathy Gunst
May 24, 2019
The Upside-Down Dinners of My Taiwanese-American FamilyPeople
My family and I live in Brooklyn, where we are, in many ways, utterly stereotypical yuppie eaters. I shop at farmers markets, our local butcher, and Whole Foods. Coffee and cereal and toast are in our breakfast rotation, while dinner, my main duty, might be simple steaks or braised chicken thighs.
Matt Gross
May 24, 2019
How France — Yes, France! — Introduced Me to ThanksgivingKitchen
Growing up in the United States, my family’s Thanksgiving tradition looked nothing like the holiday my friends and classmates celebrated. That’s largely because everyone in my immediate family was vegetarian and therefore ill-equipped to handle or cook meat. So while I was exposed to turkey talk and aware of the traditional feast, I didn’t realize how much there was to love about Thanksgiving — until I moved to Paris.
Lindsey Tramuta
May 24, 2019
I Quit Being a Vegetarian for a Trip to FrancePeople
It started with a tweet. Kate Hill, who ran Kitchen at Camont in Gascony, was taking applicants for a culinary writing residency at her 300-year-old farmhouse retreat in rural southwest France. She wanted someone to come stay in a little blue room, join in Camp Confit, and write their heart out. Sitting in my dim, windowless office where I worked on websites all day, something clicked in my mind. I had to do this. The only problem was that I was a vegetarian.
Dana McMahan
May 24, 2019
A Jamaican-American Shares the Flavors of Her Childhood with Her DaughterPeople
Growing up in a Jamaican household, cooking flavorful meals was always a very important part of our existence. And when I say flavorful, what I really mean is hot. Curried goat, escovitch fish, jerk chicken — even some drinks were hot. My Cousin MaeMae made the meanest ginger beer, and I do sincerely mean mean. That nasty head cold of yours would pack up and leave town before you could finish a cupful!
Ebonye Gussine Wilkins
May 24, 2019
How Louisville Turned a New Yorker into a Top ChefPeople
When the now-familiar Ed Lee — telegenic presence on several cooking shows (Top Chef season 9, Mind of a Chef) and perennial James Beard Award nominee — landed in Louisville in 2003, he was searching for life outside his native New York and a sense of post-traumatic meaning. “After 9/11, I had to get out of the city and clear my head. I sold my restaurant and started traveling around the country, discovering what America meant to me.
Pableaux Johnson
May 24, 2019
How the Trash Queen Claims Her ThronePeople
I can’t remember taking the trash out as a kid — not even once. Our kitchen trash bin just seemed to mysteriously empty itself out into the World Where Trash Goes every day. In reality, it was my dad and my brother taking out the trash, replete with kimchi juice and putrid Lunchables, to our larger waste containers in the side yard every night. I never even thought about it.
Dakota Kim
May 24, 2019
I Bought Nigella Lawson’s Fancy Dressing Gown, and I Regret NothingPeople
“I want pleasure, I want flavor, and I want ease,” Nigella Lawson says in her mesmerizing, relaxing voice at the beginning of her TV show Nigella: At My Table. “Life can be complicated. Cooking doesn’t have to be.” That combination of indulgence and ease is the fantasy at the heart of Nigella’s show. Her world is a quiet sanctuary that seems like it exists outside of time.
Elizabeth Licata
May 24, 2019
5 Breakfast Lessons I Learned from ScandinaviaPeople
For many of us, breakfast is rarely more than a cup of coffee or a piece of fruit while rushing out the door. That’s if we manage to eat anything at all: Over 31 million Americans regularly skip breakfast. There is research to back up both sides of the “To Eat or Not to Eat Breakfast” argument, but I think most of us share a wistfulness for a proper breakfast.
Anna Brones
May 24, 2019
The One Thing I Never Do When Blueberry PickingPeople
Along with “drink lots of sangria” and “finally admit that I’m abandoning my fantasy baseball team,” picking blueberries is one of the only items on my “Summer Must-Do” list that I actually follow through on every year.
Jennifer Larson
May 24, 2019
What Tea (Yes, Tea!) Taught Me About LovePeople
The average Brit drinks 876 cups of tea a year — but not me. Ever. It has made me quite the anomaly at home in England, as I break tea protocol by turning down the offer of a cuppa at people’s houses or by sitting out on tea breaks at work. When friends come to visit they bring their own teabags because they know I’ll never think to make them a brew. My tea antipathy wasn’t a problem until I moved somewhere I stuck out even more: Turkey.
Nicola Prentis
May 24, 2019
The One Thing I Knew I Would Bake with My DaughterPeople
Meringues may very well be my favorite sweet. As a child, I could inhale entire baking sheets filled with the egg white and sugar confections. When my grandmother made her famous (to us, at least) Heavenly Lemon Pie, I’d sneak the meringue crust with my equally naughty cousin, long before the dessert made it to the table.
Jennifer Fliss
May 24, 2019
How Dinner Changed When I Moved in with My HusbandPeople
My husband had me at “Chinese food.” The first time we met, we discovered that we grew up just blocks away from each other on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. When I asked him if his family liked to order takeout from China Fun, he recited the phone number. I swooned. Clearly, I thought, food was going to play an important role in our relationship. And it did — just not in the way that I expected it to.
Amanda Lauren
May 24, 2019
3 Dinner Lessons Learned from My First Midwestern WinterPeople
I grew up in Santa Cruz, California, a small coastal town known for its killer surf spots and penchant for crunchy hippie eats. My parents maintained an organic garden with leafy greens, fruit trees, and a greenhouse that ruined my ability to eat store-bought tomatoes. On top of our backyard bounty, my stepfather loves to fish; he took his tiny kayak out nearly every weekend to catch salmon, crab, and sardines.
Bonnie Horgos
May 24, 2019
How Halloween Became My Favorite Family TraditionKitchen
I love Halloween. I love the fact that kids of all ages come from other neighborhoods to trick-or-treat. (This is also known as neighborhood hopping and I think it’s great.) I love sitting on the porch and handing out candy and talking to anyone who comes by. And I love that my friends come over to help me celebrate. Every year we host a drop-in Halloween pumpkin chili party; it’s become something of a tradition.
Anne Wolfe Postic
May 24, 2019
I Love Thanksgiving, but My Husband Hates It: The Story of a Holiday DividedPeople
Every November, sometime after my husband’s birthday on the 13th, the same scenario plays out. As we start contemplating our Thanksgiving plans, my husband gets a look on his face and our conversation takes a Seinfeldian turn (remember the Festivus episode?). Michael says something like, “It has to be turkey, right?” I nod, knowing what comes next. “I mean if turkey is so great, why do we only eat it once year? How about we have fish and chips? Or chicken tikka masala?
Maria Speidel
May 24, 2019
Is There Anything Stranger than Going Home for the Holidays?Kitchen
Going home for the holidays is like going to the Upside Down, back in time to when the world still felt strange and new. Welcome to Stranger Thanksgiving, inspired by Netflix’s hit Stranger Things and the Thanksgivings of our childhoods. My mother, a hard-working mom of three, believes in one thing over all else: family. She always expected her kids to show up at the dinner table; to her, every Sunday was an occasion to get together around a meal.
Sadie Trombetta
May 24, 2019
It’s Thanksgiving. Do You Know Where Your Children Are?People
Going home for the holidays is like going to the Upside Down, back in time to when the world still felt strange and new. Welcome to Stranger Thanksgiving, inspired by Netflix’s hit Stranger Things and Thanksgivings of our childhoods. Today Jenni Ferrari-Adler, editor of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, writes about childhood Thanksgivings and how they affect her still. When I was the Girl Cousin, we drove under the Hudson River through the long tunnel to New Jersey once a month.
Jenni Ferrari-Adler
May 24, 2019
Thank You: A Brit’s Love Letter to ThanksgivingPeople
I was born in late November in the late 1960s in England. It is, in many ways, a wonderful place (thank you for Great British Bake Off, Stephen Fry, and The Smiths). But it is a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So, when I met an American woman in an Irish bar in 1994, I didn’t know anything about the holiday.
Luke Dempsey
May 24, 2019
Why I Always Say “Yes” to Cooking with My KidsPeople
My maternal grandmother was the victory garden planting, canning, and scratch-cooking archetype that hearty grandmother characters are built on, but we were never allowed to help in her kitchen. Instead, we were shooed off to the screened-in porch or cellar steps to trim pole beans or shell sweet peas while she cooked. She was famous for her fried cake donuts. Her recipe died with her 10 years ago because no one learned her mixing and frying techniques.
Meghan Splawn
May 24, 2019
Loving and Leaving Behind My Tradition of Spritz Cookie BakingPeople
Christmas is a grapple. We love the theory (feasting, giving, friends and family), even as we worry over the practice of cooking the food, choosing the gifts, and actually being with our families. We long to make the rites something more than rote, even as we wonder if it’s better to be more practical and less traditional. And right there in that grappling, right there between desire and duty, is the literal sweet spot where spritz cookies gnaw at me.
Anne Bramley
May 24, 2019
Why I’ve Done Whole30 Seven TimesSkills
Over the past three-and-a-half years, I have completed seven rounds of the Whole30 program. The Whole30 was created by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, and it has exploded in popularity recently. Most of us would be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t done Whole30 or hasn’t thought about doing Whole30. The program has plenty of supporters boasting life-changing results, and I can say that I am one of the people who has experienced these tremendous results.
Stephanie May
May 24, 2019
The Sweet Story Explaining Why Tastykake Pastries Make Me CryPeople
It should no longer come as a surprise when I see them — the stacks of crinkly plastic-wrapped miniature fruit pies and chocolate pastries, all stamped with a blue logo, piled in a wire rack at pretty much any gas station or convenience store along the Northeast roads on which I grew up driving. I spent my childhood in Pennsylvania and now live in New York, so I have more than a quarter-century’s experience with these stores and their typical merchandise.
Alli Hoff Kosik
May 24, 2019
Everything I Know About Birthday Parties I Learned from My MotherPeople
My mom was the Queen of Birthday Parties. I’m not sure it was ever her intention to secure that title but, as an innately creative and exceptionally loving person, her natural inclination is to honor each of life’s occasions with the flair and fanfare it deserves — sometimes even more than it deserves.
Alli Hoff Kosik
May 24, 2019
This Grocery Store Is Better than a Mall, Movie Theater, or Trader Joe’sGroceries
On the increasingly rare occasion that I meet someone who has never been to or heard of Wegmans, I can’t help but feel a little sad for them. Although it may be hard to believe for those unfamiliar with the grocery store, it was a source of great joy and entertainment where I grew up. In my suburban Pennsylvania hometown, Wegmans was so much more than a supermarket: It was a staple of my teenage social schedule! It was a way of life!
Alli Hoff Kosik
May 24, 2019
How Yoga Transformed My Relationship with FoodPeople
I grew up in a big family of cooks, which means that a passion for food — cooking it and eating it — is automatically in my DNA. I spent a good chunk of my formative years in the kitchen: I learned to make the perfect marinara sauce from my dad, and master the art of cake batters and frostings (and the importance of taste-testing) from mom. I reveled in our weekly friends and family dinners that brought together all of the people I cared about and all of the foods I loved.
Sadie Trombetta
May 24, 2019
Dark Magic: Can a Cup of Coffee Tell Your Future?Skills
When I was little, I was obsessed with knowing my future. What would I become? How tall would I be? Where would I live? Who would I marry? My parents indulged my curiosity by allowing me to go to fortune tellers, buy crystal balls, and borrow books from the library on how to read palms. My father told me that when I was old enough to drink coffee, I could have a Kafedzou read my future. He explained to me that a Kafedzou is a Greek woman who knows how to read your fortune in a coffee cup.
Madina Papadopoulos
May 24, 2019