In Jennie's Kitchen

How to Make Thanksgiving Delicious & Stress-Free

Jennie — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 18:24:10 +0000

Thanksgivings of my childhood are something I long for now as an adult. That’s something I never imagined I’d say. They were long, and filled with a lot of food I didn’t appreciate since I was a picky eater. My favorite part was the first course—baked ziti, not kidding, and the last course dessert. Everything in between was just a distraction, and obstacle between me and a cannoli.

How to Make French Apple Galettes {super easy apple tarts}

Jennie — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 17:54:44 +0000

After my pie baking marathon last week, I slept 14 hours. In one evening. Once the clock neared 8pm (7:55pm to be exact), it felt acceptable to tuck in last Tuesday. I proceeded to stay there until 10 am on Wednesday morning.

Last night was the complete opposite. I went to bed around 9:30pm. My eyes heavy as I struggled through an episode of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. As an aside, I want to love this series. I’ve watched three of them, and yet to feel hooked. Samin is a lovely host, but there’s an energy an excitement I can’t harness watching it.

Easy One-Skillet Oat & Apricot Dutch Baby with Rose-Scented Whipped Cream

Jennie — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 11:37:31 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve written here, and thought this would be a good moment to reintroduce readers to my new site launched almost a year ago, called Simmering. The recipe above for my Oat & Apricot Dutch Baby with Rose Scented Whipped Cream is a new recipe, published there earlier this week. Simmering is where all of my new recipes will now be published.

What is a Simmering? Well, in short, think about when you make a pot of soup. In goes a lot of ingredients, and then a long, slow cook on low heat all the ingredients come together in a harmonious, nourishing way. That’s why I decided to call my newsletter Simmering–it’s reminiscent of life. I publish a newsletter there twice a week, generally Sundays and Thursdays, but the days sometimes vary based on how busy life is at the moment.

(psst: there’s a special discount offer for readers of In Jennie’s Kitchen at the end of this post!)

The Giving Calendar 12 Simple Acts to Spread Kindness, Joy & Empathy

Jennie — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 14:41:50 +0000

The vegetable stock is done for the gravy. The pie crusts have been prepared & rolled but not a pie has been baked yet. Yes, I am incredibly behind for today’s Thanksgiving meal according to the standards I set for myself. But you know what? When I woke up this morning the first thing that came to mind is that I was waking up with both my children sleeping under the same roof, and right then and there I realized my Thanksgiving was already perfect with nary a dish cooked.

8 Best Easy Pumpkin Recipes That Aren’t Pie

Jennie — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 11:45:06 +0000

Okay, so I’m cheating a little with the recipe in the photo above because it doesn’t contain pumpkin but it does have everyone’s favorite flavor pumpkin spice. Some of you may be rolling your eyes, thinking “I don’t like pumpkin spice”. I promise you probably do, just not when it’s called that—don’t forget pumpkin spice refers to more than just lattes (although you will find a recipe for homemade pumpkin spice syrup below if you want to make them at home).

I mean, it’s cinnamon, cloves, ginger and allspice—what’s not to like about that combination? Throw in a cozy sweater, some Christmas movies and I’ll meet you on the sofa with fuzzy slippers. Incidentally, yesterday’s torrential downpour really had me aching for November, so I’m excited it’s just a few days away, and not just because it’s my birth month. I’m eager for the time to change, and recapture some early morning light even if it comes at the sacrifice of light at the end of the day.

Best Soup Recipes for Fall

Jennie — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 08:45:45 +0000

I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite when it comes to soups. I love them all, and any time of year, too. Surely I can’t be the only person who’d gladly slurp a bowl on a hot summer day? So, while for most of you the cooler temperatures signal soup season, for me it’s a year-round affair.

Recently, I made a creamy white bean soup and took a different approach to adding greens to the soup. Instead of just sauteeing them which is fine enough, I coaxed some depth from a bunch of kale by roasting it into crispy chips, and then stirring generous handfuls of the chips into the soup. The kale wilts within seconds of hitting the bowl but retaining its crispness wasn’t the point.

David Lebovitz’s Bay Leaf Poundcake + Best Way to Clean A Messy Oven

Jennie — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 11:02:21 +0000

While adding bay leaf to a cake recipe might sound odd, or the list of ingredients might seem too lengthy, I encourage you to cast both those assumptions aside. For starters, this recipe uses melted butter, a bonus which means no need for an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar. All you need are two bowls, a whisk and a loaf tin to make this cake.

The combination of bay leaves, lemon zest and local honey, result in a whisper of herbaceous, citrusy, floral flavor. It feels like summer in every bite yet all the ingredients are readily available to bake this cake year-round. This cake was inspired by David Lebovitz’s bay leaf pound cake from My Paris Kitchen with a few tweaks.

Weeknight Pasta with Chickpeas {Pasta e Ceci}

Jennie — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 03:07:22 +0000

{recipe: pasta e ceci}

Fall is finally here, at least according to the calendar. Am I the only one who felt this summer was never-ending, and not in a good way? Perhaps it’s because we had a lot of family changes happening. I knew it would be right around this time that things might find a new groove to settle into. Isabella is adjusting to college life (I think), and I guess I’m adjusting to the fact that she’s adjusting to college life (I think). Virginia is getting used to her new school, as well.

These last few months of the year have always been my favorite. I love the way rhythms begin to slow down. Much as I miss daylight, slowly being stolen by later sun rises and earlier sunsets, it’s also a natural cue to slow down, providing more opportunities for mental hibernation.

Last week was Yom Kippur, and while many people focus on the fast as an arduous task, I find so much clarity and beauty in it. The combination of fasting and refraining from technology for the day leaves me with a lighter, freer feeling.

I hadn’t given too much thought to my last meal before beginning my fast and logging on for services but I had been diligent about drinking a ton of water in the days leading up to it, so I wasn’t too worried about not having a proper meal planned. I’d worked later than expected, and was pressed for time but also had the idea of making pasta tucked in the back of my mind all day.

When it was time to step away from my work laptop, I scampered into the kitchen and surveyed what pasta was in need of finishing up. Michael used to get so annoyed when I mixed pasta shapes, and so does Bella, but with neither of them there, and Virginia being amenable to the idea, I settled on a mix of farfalle and rigatoni. It goes without saying, should you mix pasta shapes, be sure they’re of similar sizes so they cook evenly.

Best Recipe for Homemade Soft Pretzels

Jennie — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 15:55:32 +0000

Who doesn’t love a warm soft pretzel? I know someone out there is reading this, thinking “um, me, Jennie”. That’s fine—to each their own, right? As for me, I have a weakness for them, so making homemade soft pretzels is one of my favorite weekend baking projects. Although, I must say they’re easy enough to even make on weekdays. I’ve been known to start the week making a batch on Monday mornings, a great way to chase away the post-weekend blues.

Best Strawberry Recipes for Spring

Jennie — Mon, 31 May 2021 17:41:08 +0000

Time is a thief. Someone commented this recently on an Instagram post, and wow is it so true. A thief with rewards, perhaps? As time takes from us, it also gives back in the form of memories and lived experiences, which of course can be a double-edged sword. Parenthood teaches you that. Each happy memory leading you one step closer to the moment your children are ready to take flight.

Time also gives the gift of repetition. If one can be patient enough, that gift can be felt with the seasons, and so here we are again, greeting another spell of strawberries surfacing at farm stands. I should mention I’ve not yet secured any of these said berries but have seen them in my Instagram feed ever so slowly. Some are commanding a ransom-like price of $8 a pint (crazy, I know). That cost annoys me greatly not because I think the farmers don’t deserve it but because they know the city folk who’ve inundated our area the last 15 months can afford to, and will, pay that price.