It’s laborious to imagine I’m saying this, however right now marks the final time I’m formally writing this food column for Cup of Jo. I say “formally” as a result of I plan to nonetheless contribute every now and then, I’m simply pulling again with the intention to give attention to some upcoming private initiatives, so I gained’t be chiming in each Wednesday, the best way I’ve been for nearly seven straight years. SEVEN YEARS! How fortunate I’m to have been a constant a part of this glorious group for that lengthy — I’m so grateful to all of you for studying, for educating me a lot, for reminding me that each single individual on earth appears to have a robust opinion about Trader Joe’s. To mark the event, I needed to spherical up my most memorable moments…
1. Most Satisfying Factor In Normal: Giving Different Meals Writers a Platform
This has been the perfect a part of the job by far — discovering and introducing you to meals writers and cookbook authors. The Cup of Jo group is highly effective and fascinating and meals writers are at all times thrilled to be a part of it via their recipes. To call only a few memorable cameos: Yasmin Fahr’s Sausage Meatballs with Halloumi and Tomatoes (above; Bee Wilson’s Magic One-Pan Pasta; Sohla El-Waylly’s Chickpea and Chard Stew, Hetty McKinnon’s Cabbage Carbonara, Leah Koenig’s Chicken Soup; Odette Williams’s Pasta with Vodka Sauce; Dan Pelosi’s Pastina for a Bad Day. The quantity of expertise on the market won’t ever not amaze me.
2. Most Visited Recipes, Personally Talking
I don’t simply write this column, I use it. Like continually. There are some recipes I return to greater than others, although: Brooks Reitz’s Lazy Man’s Ratatouille, Priya Krishna’s crowd-pleasing Matar Paneer, Andrea Nguyen’s Tofu Bánh Mì. If I hadn’t already memorized my Smashed Pea Toasts with Ricotta (above), Roast Chicken and Pan-Fried Fish Sandwich, they’d be on this checklist, too. And each time a dinner-party host asks “Are you able to carry dessert?” I head to the feedback part on this post for inspiration.
3. Most Visited Recipe, Most Lately: Sara Forte’s Blackened Salmon with Tropical Pico
Have you ever made this but? I imply, it’s a excellent recipe. I solely simply wrote about it in Could, but it’s graced my desk not less than a half dozen instances since, together with this previous weekend. Tip: I usually choose up pre-made mango salsa to fast-track the pico.
4. Most Visited Recipes, by the Numbers
However overlook what my favorites are, listed here are three posts that have been vastly common strictly by the numbers: Taste Test: What’s the Best Vanilla Ice Cream (that stunned me), Ali Stafford’s Same-Day Peasant Bread (I keep in mind this one blowing up the web), and Five Recipes Worth Memorizing, together with my go-to tofu prep and all-purpose salad dressing.
5. Most Controversial Second: How to be a Good Guest
I had no concept I’d be poking such a bear with the subject of “modern lateness.” Lesson realized: Most of you do not need dinner friends displaying up quarter-hour late, even when they textual content forward to let the host know.
6. Second Most Controversial Second: The #1 Thing I’d Tell New Parents About Family Dinner
I stand by it to this present day: If in case you have a child below age three, don’t hassle.
7. Most Enjoyable to Write: The Fundamentals
In pursuit of the brand new and the novel, it’s simple to lose sight of the truth that individuals don’t essentially have to know methods to de-bone a sea trout — most cooks simply need to make an excellent dinner each night time and have a nice time doing it. Writing about fundamental, actual recipes has at all times been my wheelhouse, so it is sensible that they’ve been probably the most enjoyable posts to put in writing. I’m pondering: The Only 5 Salad Dressings You Need; 9 Easy Family Meals We’ve Loved to Death (that was hilariously enjoyable); How to Upgrade a Regular Green Salad; an ode to Frozen Vegetables and one to a humble head of cabbage. Within the sweets division, it was my Old-School Chocolate Mousse (above), plus my Crisp for All Seasons and Dorie Greenspan’s Everything Cake, each of which might be categorized as a “one recipe suits all.” I additionally suppose I have to make that mousse this weekend.
8. Most Viral: A Potato Salad Trick
I’ve at all times believed that if I can provide readers even the tiniest option to make their lives higher or happier, then I’ve executed my job. There was by no means a extra clear (or tiny) instance of this than the time I informed individuals “When making potato salad, toss your potatoes within the dressing whereas the potatoes are nonetheless heat and subsequently optimally absorbent.” It’s the most well-liked put up I’ve written on Cup of Jo.
9. Most Impactful Remark: “Eat much less meat,” as an alternative of “Eat no meat”
Extra particularly, in response to my e book The Weekday Vegetarians, a Cup of Jo reader wrote one thing like “It’s a greater strategy to persuade extra individuals to eat much less meat, than to persuade fewer individuals to eat zero meat.” I want I may discover the remark and the reader who stated this (is it you?) so I may thank them for each one of many 100 instances I repeated it at a e book occasion or in an interview. So effectively stated, and so true.
10. Most Emotional: Secrets for Stress-Free Family Dinners
I keep in mind when Joanna requested me to put in writing this story — an evergreen subject — and I believed, I’ve written about household dinner for a dozen years now, how am I going to give you one thing new? However I had by no means written concerning the subject as an empty nester trying again, and it stunned me how simply the phrases got here, and the way emotional it was to put in writing the story and understand I used to be the “Perspective Particular person” now. Eras finish. Youngsters develop up. And I’m so fortunate I’ve been capable of write about all of it right here on Cup of Jo.
Did I miss something? Thanks for studying, everybody. You possibly can at all times discover me on my publication, Dinner: A Love Story. And I can say with nice confidence that you’re in wonderful fingers with my successors: Alex Beggs, Christina Chaey, Kelsey Miller, and lots of different gifted writers Joanna has lined up for 2025. I, for one, can not wait.
P.S. An ode to rituals (the primary time my byline ever appeared on Cup of Jo) and how to get your kids to talk at dinner.
(Pictures: Chocolate mousse, Yossy Arefi; Bread, Alexandra Stafford; Household dinner: Chelsea Cavanaugh)
