I think about this topic a lot: courage and creativity. In terms of courage, I wonder why some people have it, the ability to be courageous, while others seem to have none. I wonder if it’s like a muscle you have to build, strengthen and exercise it or if it’s more like eye color; we’re given what we are given through genes. Courage has been something I have had since I was young, for as long as I can remember. I have a lot of fear, the same as everyone else, but for whatever reason I am courageous regardless of my fears. And trust me, my fears are probably way bigger than yours. I’m afraid of everything and everybody.
Mint
July 7, 2021
Spring is my favorite season. It always feels full of potential—the kind of potential that must make its way into the world. This sentiment feels reminiscent of my essence. All of that which is inside me must eventually come to be. Sometimes it sprouts and sometimes it blossoms. (It’s also been known to burst out even though I try to coax it to unfold and emerge more slowly.) Spring is the season for new things to be born. I was born in spring and my spirit gets giddy at the thought of reemergence and newness in my life and in my cooking.
March 29, 2021
I am deeply obsessed with all things spring. Perhaps my enthusiasm for fresh herbs was born in spring, when we get to witness herbs shoot up from the cold ground of winter with expeditious vigor and vibrancy. Mint, parsley, chives and chive blossoms are the first to appear in our gardens ready for us to toss their tender leaves into salads, soups, pesto, and sauces. Today I want to place a special focus on mint (specifically spearmint) and chive blossoms and, in particular, how beautifully they relate to asparagus – another of spring’s powerful popups. (I’ve more recently spent some time ruminating on the joys of parsley, so you can check out those posts for more.)
April 23, 2020
For now, my thoughts land on a precise moment where change took hold. A time when I was left by the side of the road outside Tel Aviv by an at the time business partner and also long time “friend” and ate my first sabich. That sabich reflected back my own strength and the moment when I came eye to eye with my hunger to be seen for my own accomplishments and power. It’s a moment when I learned that to be a woman in business meant that I had to make bold moves. It’s also the moment I would come to prove that I could be honest, tender, and show emotion in business and still be successful and powerful.
January 1, 2020
This time of year, with the onset of colder wetter days, my garden seems to burst with tender shoots of mint. This vibrant bumper crop, as they call it, always feels unexpected and yet deeply appreciated. With it, I start to see the full potential of mints warming and comforting qualities within my own cooking, especially as fall pulls and seemingly forces me into eating warmer, heavier and more comforting foods. Mint’s hidden talent of encouraging the fresh and healthy in any dish draws me in further.
October 22, 2019
I haven’t always had a garden. In fact, a good portion of my adult life (the part where I lived in Brooklyn for 13 years) didn’t include one at all. Those times I did have a garden, many creative and good ideas sprung forth from it. Making seasonal fresh herb salt-and-peppers was one of those ideas, and they are by far one of my most versatile and useful herbal endeavors
April 9, 2019
Back in Brooklyn someone writing a magazine article once asked me - along with about 10 other food folks - “what is the one ingredient you can’t live without?” Most gave answers like Sriracha, salt, fish sauce, mustard, and good quality extra virgin olive oil. I said parsley. It is the one thing that I never run out of in my kitchen, and, in my mind, parsley is both versatile and one of the best fresh flavor enhancers I know.
April 9, 2019
@2019 Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center
Mint | My Herbal Roots