Aaaaaaand we're back! Thanks, folks, for being so kind while I took some time off. We had a lovely week in Austria, near Salzburg, Sound of Music country, where it really does look like Maria is going to come bounding around the corner in her Tracht any minute now, and Hugo and I spent a…

One little housekeeping note: for reasons too boring to get into (involving my truly pitiful computer skills), I deleted my old Wednesday Chef Facebook account a few weeks ago. There were several thousands of you who were following my updates there, though – I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Anyway, I now have a brand-new…

  It's been a little quiet here this week as I've adjusted back to daily life without my husband or my mother around or a huge garden for Hugo to get lost in. I keep staring at my very tan feet on the white tiled floors of my kitchen here and thinking they should still…

  A few housekeeping points on this fine Friday morning! First of all, I wanted to let you know that the Recipe Index has been updated for the first time, errr, in over two years. (Ridiculous, I know.) I'm so sorry for having been such a recipe-indexing delinquent. Bringing it up to date made me…

Earlier this week, I had a totally glamorous day. A makeup artist came to my apartment, set up shop in the kitchen and made me look all dewy-cheeked and beachy-waved and well-rested before we sped across town to do a photo shoot for an article that will be appearing in the August issue of a…

Last Wednesday, my nutritional reset came to an end. I spent thirty days without eating grains of any kind, as well as eschewing dairy and soy and sugar and legumes (and alcohol and caffeine, which I rarely drink anyway) and, finally, it was over. Not five days earlier, I'd been crowing about the pizza topped…

We've had a run of gorgeous days here – the lilac bushes are heavy with blossoms, the night air is gentle and warm. My father is in town all week and Hugo's been having the time of his life with Grandpa – every day they head to the zoo, the park or the playground. When…

It was brought to my attention that mentioning the hard week Hugo and I had was a little alarming to some of you. I should have given more detail, perhaps, or not made it sound just so terribly awful. I'm sorry if what I wrote was upsetting to some – it never occurred to me…

This week started out so well! I distinctly remember feeling all aglow on Monday evening. Hugo and I had had the loveliest day. Nothing special happened, but everything just flowed and felt good and right. But, sadly, as the week progressed, things went sharply downhill, ending today in what might have possibly been one of…

The huge news in our little household this week is that Max, my hero, got a job near Berlin and is moving back home this summer! It's all terribly exciting. Tomorrow we're dressing up for the first time since our wedding and going to the wedding celebration of our dear friend who married us –…