Chili Hot Chocolate

The streets of NYC are hushed, blanketed, pristine and personal. Outside, the snow is chaotic, pelting the face as you step onto a sidewalk that has no end. No traffic, only the sound of the wind, snow plows and shovels. People walking in the middle of the road, an easy camaraderie. Inside, a pot of steaming, spiced chocolate on…

Beef Curry with Beets

Chukandar Gosht We lived in Muscat in early childhood. The summers were bone-dry and scorching. To escape, we would travel to the equally scorching but more smoldering heat of Karachi where my aunt and grandmother lived. Their house was an updated version of a traditional South Asian home. The rooms wrapped around a courtyard that…

Thoughts for You

  We emerged onto FDR from the traffic snarl of First Avenue. I looked out at the sunshine dancing, glinting on the river across to the Brooklyn shoreline and let out a sigh of relief to finally be out of the doctor’s office. I relaxed into the moment. Nael had dozed off into an exhausted…

Learning to See Again: Journeys with my Blind Son

We adopted our boy, Nael, at birth in 2011. My husband and I had led our lives until then in a carefree, almost irreverent disregard for the traditional. Nevertheless, I had a very strong maternal instinct, and he a nurturing nature, and we knew that we wanted a big family, eventually. Once we decided to…

Ajvar

Red pepper relish from Serbia

Broth of Happiness

Cool weather comes around and I start craving warm liquids of all kinds. Growing up, the part of being sick that I looked forward to was the chicken broth, laden with warming spices, administered as medicine and a cure-all. Now, I love broth in every form and at any time. Broth for breakfast, broth for dinner…