Cubby Archive

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. The air hung hazy and filled the kitchen with the smells of caramelized onions and potatoes frying on the stove. We caught the whiff of caraway seed in the sausage links under foil keeping warm. My dad loved making brunch on Sunday.

I enjoy baking with my 4-year-old, but as most parents know it’s not exactly a relaxing endeavor. Kids need a lot of supervision, and things can get unbelievably chaotic. It’s the real definition of stress baking. Then, I discovered food markers, which have become such a great way to work on baking projects with my 4-year-old.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. The little milestones in our kids’ lives — like hitting their first baseball, reciting a poem on stage, providing a random act of kindness, or conquering a fear — are moments that deserve to be celebrated.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. We all know the drill: We should be having dinner with our families. That time together, we’re told, is key to unlocking everything from healthy family relationships to, well, health. As a childfree, busy food-and-spirits writer who made a big family change during the pandemic, I’ve thought a lot about this lately.

The wonderful thing about tacos is that they require more inspiration than actual recipe. Because when it comes down to what to stuff inside tortillas, the sky’s the limit, and you can put as much or little effort in as you like. If you’ve got time, pulled pork, roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes, or spiced chicken thighs are all good choices for a taco filling.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. When I asked my daughters if they would be interested in testing some products from Trader Joe’s, the answer was a resounding yes. After a year of ordering groceries online, the idea of perusing shelves in-person — and picking up something other than the same-old — appealed to us quite a bit.

Feeding a family is no joke. From newborn feedings at midnight, to toddler tantrums over crackers, to the voracious appetites of growing teens, it often seems to come down to the perpetual parent-to-kid question: “What do you want?” So when I find those dishes that everyone loves, I know they’re the real winners. The miracle meals. The unicorn dishes.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Even before having kids, I knew I wanted them to grow up knowing how to speak Japanese. What I underestimated was the sheer difficulty of teaching Japanese at home. As you can imagine, it’s a huge commitment to teach a second language. My husband is Filipino, so we mainly speak English together.

When I was growing up, eating out usually meant going to an Asian restaurant or an American fast food joint. Our very rare visits to sit-down, non-Asian restaurant were big deals, and we mostly went to chain restaurants. One favorite was the Macaroni Grill, and I always ordered the exact same dish: salmon with a side of sun-dried tomato orzo pasta. I ordered it not because I loved the salmon, but because that orzo was just so delicious.

Busy weeknights seem like the norm these days, which means fast and easy dinners are more important than ever. Pasta is always a good option since it boils up quickly, but not all pasta recipes fit the bill (we’re looking at you, seven-layer lasagna). These 10 recipes are as speedy as it gets. Keep them handy and you’ll have something delicious to turn to no matter how busy your night is.

One of the smartest strategies for serving homemade meals all week long is already in your kitchen: It’s using your freezer. The trick is to stock your freezer with make-ahead meals that taste just as good upon reheating as they did the day they were made. The meals all freeze wonderfully, so take your pick between eating them all this week or popping one (or all of them) into the freezer for future dinners.

This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Whenever I ask my kids if they have any dinner requests before I make our weekly menu, at least one of them will shout for “pesto pasta!” It’s one of those family recipes that has become a household staple, the kind of dish that I imagine they’ll always remember from their childhood.

There have been many points when I felt totally tired of cooking this year. But now, with the weather warming up and plenty of outdoor memories to make, I’m feeling the cooking fatigue more than ever. And since I can’t totally quit cooking for the week, I’m opting for the next best thing: stacking my meal plan with the easiest and most comforting recipes I know.This week’s dinners require minimal effort (and minimal cleanup!

Have you ever had a pizza roll? It’s everything you love about a piping-hot slice, rolled up into a pinwheel and devoured in one or two bites. They’re often made for kids or as a snack, but we love them so much we wanted a dinner-worthy version — which is where these warm and gooey caprese rolls come into play.

Leftovers are the best part of any holiday celebration. For Easter, that means lots and lots of hard-boiled eggs (and ham or lamb). Coming up with easy, delicious ways to eat leftover hard-boiled eggs feels as much a part of the tradition as dyeing the eggs beforehand — or, at least, that’s how it goes most years. This year, for some, eggs are in short supply.