My friend Joanie celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago the way she does every year, gathering friends and family under a big oak tree in a park on the border between Berlin and Potsdam. It's a potluck thing and the spread each year boggles the mind. In fact, I'd go so far as to…

We are gripped in the throes of World Cup fever around these parts. The German team are my guys, but it's been great to see Italy and the USA doing so well so far. (SO FAR, ragazzi.) Hugo even has his very own soccer ball now (he turned two last week and the ball was…

One of the most frequently asked questions I get, whether it's in my inbox or at a reading or at a random intersection of social circles, is how I got into cookbook publishing. I've long promised to lay it all out in a post. But each time I wanted to get started, I got overwhelmed…

I have big, happy news today: I'm writing a cookbook! After I wrote My Berlin Kitchen and tested 42 recipes, I sort of swore, like almost blood oath, that I'd never write a cookbook, but then I birthed that sweet baby of mine and then a couple years passed and Ten Speed Press came a-calling…

I don't have a recipe for you today. I hope that's okay. The days pass by so quickly lately. Life is good and full, but nonetheless, or maybe precisely because of that, I've felt death lurking. The other day, though – it was a Sunday, I know, because Max was home and playing music on…

Dearest readers and bidders, Woah. WOAH. It is my profound honor to announce that we raised a whopping $3,565 for the Invisible Child Trust at the Legal Aid Society. $3,565! (!!!!!!!!) Thank you for all your bids and your tweets and your spreading the news. A big, big thanks also to Ruth Reichl and Russ…

Last week, hurrying about my errands and to-do lists, in between work and answering emails, I clicked on a link on Twitter that led me to this article, this epic piece really, a 5-part series about a homeless family in New York City. The article focused on one of the family's daughters, a little girl…

On November 20, I had the great pleasure of hosting Jamie Oliver at the Apple Store in Berlin for a conversation about Jamie's Food Revolution Day, a worldwide event encouraging individuals to take action against obesity and other diet-related illnesses by bringing healthy food and home cooking back into their communities. It was an incredibly…

I know a lot of you are probably up to your eyeballs with Thanksgiving preparations, but I thought you might appreciate a little headstart on your holiday gift-buying. I really loved putting together the gift guide again. Each year, discovering so many talented people making incredible things all across the world inspires me anew. I…

It's 6:08 pm, Hugo's asleep and I'm nursing a bottle of beer and Googling "how do you know if you have a spirited child". It's been that kind of week. Deep breath. But it's Friday and in a few hours my husband will be here and tomorrow we're giving Max the tour of Hugo's future…