There’s a Lebanese shop in my town that’s part restaurant and part grocery store, and it’s become a reliable option for lunch these days. If I’m out running errands, I like to stop in for a plate of hummus, warm pita, and a couple of the sides that look good that day, like fattoush salad or stuffed grape leaves. More often than not, I take a walk through the aisles and pick out something to bring home, like salty feta cheese, tender dates, orange blossom water, or pine nuts. They also sell large containers of za’atar, the Middle Eastern spice mix that’s perfect for all sorts of things: meats ..read more

Welcome to Cook the Book, an occasional series where I cook my way through books I love and explore how poetry surfaces in the kitchen. This post contains affiliate links, so if you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission.This blog post could very well be titled Instant Pot: A Love Story, because in the course of a year my adoration of this machine has grown by leaps and bounds. It wasn’t love at first sight though …The first thing we should clear up about the Instant Pot is it will not make your dinner instantly. Yes, you can cook rice in about nine minutes, tortill ..read more

Ever since I read a poem and realized I could make a recipe out of it—back in 2012—I also realized that when they’re used as a literary tool, ingredients go deep. They rustle up memories, make stories relatable, provide beautiful imagery, and stir our appetites. When poets use food masterfully, it tends to serve a purpose beyond our plate, and moves us into emotional territory that might not be comfortable at first, but essential nonetheless. This is that kind of a poem. Betsy Sholl is a former professor of mine, and when I heard her new collection was coming out, I couldn’t wait to read it. I ..read more

Welcome to Cook the Book, an occasional series where I cook my way through books I love and explore how poetry surfaces in the kitchen. This post contains affiliate links, so if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.Since this is a new series, I’ll explain how I landed here. When I started EatThisPoem.com in 2012, it was very structured: here’s a poem, here’s some commentary, here’s a recipe to go with it. I still love the format and will be blogging like this sporadically, but I’ve also felt compelled to talk about food and poetry other ways. Specifically, th ..read more

Something happened. Well, a lot of things, and today I’m going to tell you about them. I’ve been wanting to get back here for a while, always hoping I’d stumble across the words one day and find just the right recipe and poetry pairings to share. I wanted to return to how things used to be. But I can’t go on pretending that will happen. Oh, I’ll be back here alright, but there’s no sense in ignoring that eight months have gone by since my last blog post, and we can just jump right back in without explanation. Some people might be able to work that way, but it’s harder for me. As it turns out ..read more

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up in my parent's house. It was a few weeks before my sophomore year of college started, and I'd spent the summer lifeguarding before moving back to campus. I was tan, well rested, and excited to see my boyfriend again.I remember my mom coming into my room, then words like "New York" and "terrorism" and "planes" hitting my ears. I moved to the couch, curled up with a blanket, and listened to everything Peter Jennings had to say. He was wearing a light blue shirt, I remember. His eyes looked tired but warm, and he was occasionally on the brink of tea ..read more