I’m Jenny Rosenstrakh, Creator of Dinner: a Love Story and It’s Like I’m a Parent.
Jenny Rosenstrakh wants to help other parents answer this constant pesky question: What’s for dinner? And for the past eight years, a mom of two has been sharing this, sharing recipes and delicious personal reflections on her Dinner: A Love Story website. (For the intro, check your posts on Dinner Prep Strategy , Picky Eater Decisions, and Fast Eating – Hello Pizza Salad and Baked Mustard Chicken Panko!) She has written three books: Lunch: A Love Story , Dinner: The Playbook , and How to Celebrate Everything . That’s how her parents are.
Name: Jenny Rosenstrach Location: Westchester, NY Job: Creator, Dinner: A Love Story , Family Dinner Blog. Author of three books. Family: husband Andy Ward, daughters Phoebe (16) and Abby (14), and Boston Terriers Iris (9) and Bean (3 months).
Tell us a little about your career. Was life mostly according to plan or were there any surprises?
If you told me in college that I would end up making a career in cooking, I would laugh so hard. (I still can’t believe it.) I was the editor of a magazine for 15 years before I lost my job and decided to start Dinner: A Love Story on my own. I didn’t plan it this way, obviously, but I would never have the confidence to do it without so many years of publishing, relentlessly punching content, and never having the guts to leave the fun behind. , creative work. So the forced departure was a happy surprise for me. It got me thinking about what I really want to do and how I want to live.
Tell us about your morning routine. What are your best tricks to get out the door?
When my kids were younger and needed to catch the bus, every morning it felt like we were taking the bus for the first time. I think I had to scream in panic “brush-your-teeth-put-on-shoes-don’t-forget-lunch” every day for eight years in a row. (And every morning I asked myself: “How did you not guess yet ???”). We raced to the bus stop while tying our shoes and signing permits. It was crazy. One of the things that made our morning life a little easier was the decision to pack our dinners and snacks the night before. (We alternated nights because we were so afraid of it.) But it became one less thing for us. It’s much easier with teenagers these days. They eat their own breakfast and pack their meals (or, if they don’t, they choose their own options). They often sleep later than me and go to school. I am much more attentive to my dogs and my first cup of coffee than to my children. I also take a few minutes to think about what I can do to make my life easier later in the day. Even if you’re just taking chicken out of the freezer so it can be thawed for dinner.
What gadgets, apps, charts, or tools do you rely on?
New York Times Cooking for Dinner, Instagram to keep up with the lives of my children, nephews and nieces, and Happy Feed , the app that my kids got involved with. You should write down three things that you are grateful for every day, even if it is just “Pork Carnitas for Sunday Dinner” or “Caught Leah.” It is surprisingly effective in repelling toxic substances, so you do not forget about all the good and beautiful that is right in front of you.
Has the way you work changed the way you become a parent?
When I first returned to work after maternity leave, I couldn’t believe how much more efficient I had become. I made it very clear that I was leaving at a certain time every day (around 5:30 or 6:00), so not only did I work like crazy to meet this voluntary deadline, but my colleagues knew that they should get early in the morning if they need me. I’m sure it didn’t make me super popular, but a year later, another woman at work gave birth to her first child and told me that a large part of her decision was to keep track of how I stick to my weapon on this deadline. I will never forget this.
What are some of your best eating habits for kids and families?
I don’t know what I would do without grilled chicken. I’ll chop one, toast some good bread, sprinkle with chicken, caramelized onions, and “special sauce .” I sauté onions, peppers, tomato paste, pour in chicken broth, add chopped grilled chicken and lime juice, chips, avocado and in 15 minutes I have the best tortilla soup in the world . I also have an arsenal of quick lunches that aren’t necessarily tricks, but are so easy that I feel like I’m cheating.
What does your evening routine look like?
I either watch the series on Netflix (recent favorites: Fauda, The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, Rick & Morty ) or read in bed (recent favorites: You Think It I’m Say It , Power of Moments , Educated ; on deck: When it was good , the book by Philip Roth I always wanted to read. RIP.)
How do you unpack?
One word: sandwiches .
What do you want your children to learn from your example?
It’s a little funny because when I first started working from home I was obsessed with turning off my laptop as soon as the kids got back from school so that I could be “present.” (Although just because I was obsessed with being that parent doesn’t mean I was terribly good at it.) But now that the kids are older, I’m obsessed with the opposite: the fact that most of the time when they look , I take them somewhere, or I feed them lunch. Maybe it’s because I have daughters, but now I want them to see how I work, I want them to see that I have a professional life outside my home, and that I have found some kind of balance that I hope they understand. for myself someday. Of course, this is all completely gibberish, because whether I work or cook, they lock themselves in their bedrooms, study, correspond with friends, or listen to Drake and don’t really notice what I am doing.
What are your favorite funny / weird / special family rituals?
When the girls had braces, I made them mashed potatoes for dinner on the days they had to pull them up. When there is a major sporting event like the Olympics or the World Series, we try to eat nacho for dinner in front of the TV. At least a few times in the summer, we all go to the farmers’ market to buy ingredients for a tomato sandwich. There are a lot of mixed holidays in my house because I am half Jewish, half Presbyterian – the Passover ham is stuck on the Passover table and I always cook latke when we trim the Christmas tree. When we go on vacation, the first thing we do is buy Pop Tarts, because that’s not what we eat in our “normal” life, and it feels like festive. We have a lot more.
What’s the hardest part about being a parent?
I was a little late to the party about this, but I only recently learned the phrase lawnmower parent, a parent who clears a beautiful smooth path in front of her child, removing any obstacles and difficulties she may have. (I assume this is Helicopter Parent 2.0.) When kids were young, it seemed like their problems were so easy to solve – probably because many of their problems could indeed be solved – but now it’s a different ball game. They have to learn to fix things themselves, and it was very difficult for me not to mow this lawn. I’m not the first to say how hard it is to watch your child struggle – socially, academically, emotionally, physically. But the older they get, and the more stories I hear of children suffering from serious anxiety because they never learned to fail, the more I understand how important it is to let them fight. It’s damn hard to do, I can’t believe it.
What’s your favorite part of the day?
Family dinner. This is really the only time during the day that we all look into each other’s eyes and communicate with meaning.