Stocking, Making, & Cooking From Your Pantry with Dawn Perry
Cooking apart, together.
“Peanut butter and jelly tastes REALLY good when someone else makes it for you.” - Dawn’s Mom
This is so fun for me to share with you this week!
Not only is it the first full TWK interview, but Dawn is a dear friend of mine - and amazing cook, baker, food enthusiast. We were same-block neighbors in Brooklyn and met shortly after we both became mothers. Our shared love of all things: food (butter), navigating new motherhood, drinking chilled wine really fast while appeasing our learning-to-share children, and friendly (love to ask questions!) demeanors, cemented our family friendship quickly. I can’t wait for them to move to Maine (jk Dawn…am I?).
Dawn is also currently busy working in her home kitchen (with two children at her hip/heels) on her forthcoming cookbook all about simple cooking from your home pantry. Perfect! She graciously answered a bunch of my questions about every day meals/mealtimes in her household and shared insight into some of the joys/challenges she has encountered feeding children.
My hope with these interviews is to both inspire new ideas for you and highlight that we’re all navigating what it means to feed a young family.
Thanks, Dawn!! Enjoy!
Dawn’s pasta column in the NYTimes last month, 5 Quick & Easy Pasta Recipes. image: Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Carrie Purcell.
Dawn Perry is a food writer and recipe developer. The former food director at Real Simple, she has worked in the editorial test kitchens of Bon Appétit and Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. She is a contributor to NYT Cooking and is working on her first cookbook all about stocking, making, and cooking from your pantry. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband Matt, and two young children, Ramona & Russell.
Living and raising a family in BK/NYC (current pandemic aside): In your opinion, what are some of the advantages & disadvantages to raising young children in Brooklyn, specifically in relation to food and eating?
Going to the farmers market! I grew up in a pretty rural area and while I had a keen awareness of farming and where food comes from (we saw a lot of cattle, corn, soybeans) we didn’t have a local farmers market. That’s only something I’ve experienced living in cities (I lived in San Francisco in my 20s, Brooklyn now). It’s incredible to see the quantity and variety of produce that’s grown just outside the city and share that with the kiddos. Restaurants are a big part of our lives too--we know how lucky we are to be able to expose our kids to the pleasures of eating out but also the hard work that goes into running those businesses.
How has having children changed your approach to cooking and food?
Faster! More cheese! I still find myself trying to turn every meal into an event. When you’re feeding kids you realize fast and simple is usually best, that’s it’s OK to eat the stuff in parts/on the side, and that not everything needs to be a finished “dish.”
What does an average day of meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner) look like in your house? What foods/dishes do you eat most often as a family?
Breakfast is usually toast, oatmeal, cereal or granola. One of those carbs and some fruit. I’m on the sourdough train so I make waffles with the discard. COFFEE. My toddler is fairly--er--selective so I try to present her with all the things but there are a lot of PBJs and quesadillas in our house, especially at lunch. Usually raw crunchy veggies like carrot sticks, cucumbers or snap peas to go along with. I’m working on my first cookbook so I try to cook through the recipes for dinnertime. Sometimes that works. Big hits include pasta, of course, breakfast tacos (bacon, eggs, frozen hash browns wrapped up in tortillas), slow roasted chicken and potatoes, and some sort of sheet pan sausage situation--those are all in the regular rotation.
Or I should ask, do you eat the same meals as your children and eat meals as a family? Or separate? What works best for you?
Now that we’re all home most of the time we’ve been trying to eat lunch and dinner together. Breakfast is more of a walk around grazing affair. I try to put out some of what we’re eating on plates for exposure’s sake at every meal but it doesn’t always take. As someone who gets super cranky when they have low blood sugar, I’m not OK sending anyone to bed hungry so I’ll make something else if I have too.
What has your experience been introducing real foods and feeding young children? A joy, a struggle, both? If so, what is the biggest struggle you have with your toddler and eating?
I was definitely timid when it came time to introduce solids to my first. Ramona, my 2.5 year old, is not super adventurous. Sometimes I wonder if we didn’t present her with enough variety when she was little but, thinking back on it, I think she’s never had a huge appetite. And she’s not into meat besides bacon (obviously) and the occasional sausage. It definitely stresses me out on some days and other days I think she’ll grow out of it. I was a pretty picky eater as a kid and I like most things now so...Our little guy (he’s actually enormous) baby Russell, 9 months, is an awesome eater and will try--and seems to like—just about everything we put in front of him so that’s been really fun. We also tried not to worry as much about when to get him going on solids. So many of the recommendations say 6 months but neither of my kids were interested or ready to handle solids (as far as their ability to sit up, etc.) until later, more like 8 months.
What are your toddler’s favorite foods, least favorite foods?
Toast, fruit, pasta with butter and cheese, yogurt. Roasted cauliflower and broccoli. She’s really not into meat. There was a time when she would eat beans but that’s not happening so much at the moment. So it’s a lot of cheese, nuts and eggs for protein.
How much did your upbringing and place (Baltimore) influence your eating habits? Has that changed more now that you’re a parent?
I’m ashamed to say I don’t like steamed blue crabs more. It’s supposed to be in my DNA but we never did the crab feast thing at home (a huge summer tradition where I grew up). My mom doesn’t like to cook--something she only admitted after I went to culinary school—and my dad is a pretty picky eater so there were lots of things I didn’t try until I was an adult: mango, cilantro to name a couple. But we almost always ate as a family (which seems impossible because my sisters and I were always doing sports or dance or something but that’s my memory) and that’s something I’d like to try and keep up.
What were some of your favorite foods and meals as a child? Do you still eat them now?
Fancy baked chicken is a thing we ate probably once a week growing up that I still crave. It’s thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts, dipped in a mixture of butter (it was margarine at the time), Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and dried thyme. You scatter fine breadcrumbs over everything and bake until golden brown. Serve with rice and spoon the buttery pan juice over top. Not sure why I don’t make this more. Want so bad right now!
What were some of the first foods for your daughter? Will you follow a similar approach when introducing solid foods to your son? Anything you feel like you learned from feeding your first child, that you’ll do differently with your second?
Ramona was at daycare when she was Russell’s age so we were sending solids. Oatmeal was a big hit for her and I remember making a lot of purees. Russell isn’t interested in taking food from a spoon at all (though he loves to play with it himself) so purees aren't really an option. He’s SUPER into food and mealtime so we’ve really just focused on stuff he can pick up. I guess that’s baby-led weaning? It seems to be going well. While our approach/options have been pretty similar with the two, I really think they are different eaters with different appetites. It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out!
I thought I was going to be a parent who *loved* packing school/daycare lunches, but most mornings I can barely achieve more than a peanut butter sandwich and veg sticks (honestly, it depends on how much coffee I’ve had). What is (was: pre Covid) your toddler’s typical school lunch? Do you like packing lunches and if so, what inspires the menu?
Same re: PBJ! Carrot sticks, fruit, maybe some cheese. I actually really liked packing lunch and kind of miss it. Something about filling those tidy sections of the Bentgo that gave me a sense of satisfaction and completing a task.
I love that your approach to cooking, and your forthcoming cookbook, is all about making weekly meals accessible and delicious for the whole family. What are some of your favorite family meals?
Pasta! Roasted sausages and sweet potatoes, or similar.
You’re obviously a proponent of having a well stocked kitchen/pantry, including everything from really great olive oil to frozen peas, or even tater tots. How do you navigate when to make ‘shortcuts’ in your cooking, shopping, and meal planning? Or when is it really worth it to make sourdough pizza crust or pasta from scratch, for example? I guess I’m asking if there are “rules” to your approach, or is it more based on timing, energy, etc.?
It depends on the thing. I don’t have the patience to shell fresh peas, nor do I think they are SO much better than the frozen product to warrant that kind of prep time. It usually comes down to time: If I have time to make my own marinara, great--it’s good and I like it. But Rao’s jarred marinara is delicious and I’m happy to cook with that. I think when the kids are a little older and they can actually help, we can take on some of those fun and satisfying cooking projects like homemade pasta together.
What items are always (essential) in your pantry? Always in your fridge? Freezer?
Cupboard
Olive oil and vegetable oil
Vinegars
Kosher Salt and pepper
Rice & other grains
Pasta
Canned Tomatoes
Canned or dried beans
Fridge
Unsalted Butter
Large eggs
Hearty vegetables like broccoli, kale, carrots, celery and cabbage
Freezer
Frozen peas
Frozen fruit
Sausages
Shrimp
Sliced bread
As a parent, what feels more important to you: feeding your child healthy food or feeding your children foods they love?
Well, so far, I don’t have a kid who will eat everything so I have to walk the line. She’d be happy to eat cheerios all day. Not that Cheerios are bad, but they’re not broccoli. BUT I think healthy food can be delicious and become foods they love.
Do you have “house rules” around food for your children? If so, what are they and how do you set those expectations? Do you have rules (spoken or unspoken) around sugar/sweets?
I have really mixed feelings about this. I don’t remember my mom having a lot of food rules for me or my sisters. I want my kids to learn to eat when they’re hungry and, I hope, like most things or be willing to try most things. We try to be mindful of sweets and take a “one more bite of broccoli and you can have a treat” kind of approach. Most of the sweets we have around are things I’ve made (for work) so I feel a little better about that, knowing what ingredients are in there, and hoping that the idea that sweets don’t come out of a plastic sleeve sinks in.
Overall, who has influenced and taught you the most about food and how you approach feeding others, your family, etc.?
My mom, of course. Her line, which I repeat often, is “peanut butter and jelly tastes REALLY good when someone else makes it for you.” Most people, myself included, are super psyched when someone else makes something for them--even if it’s just toast or coffee. That takes a lot of the pressure off the cook.
What’s the best advice you’ve received for feeding young children? From who?
It wasn’t advice necessarily, but when it came time to introduce Ramona to solids our pediatrician was like-- “give her everything (except honey), whatever you’re eating, lamb vindaloo!” It was such a random (and spicy!) example but I come back to that all the time. Let ‘em try it all! And don’t be scared of flavor or heat.
All-time favorite cookbook?
So hard! Arabesque by Claudia Roden or Six Seasons, Josh McFadden.
Dawn’s pasta column in the NYTimes last month, 5 Quick & Easy Pasta Recipes. image: Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Carrie Purcell.
And of course, in honor of our current isolated kitchens, here’s what Dawn is buying and cooking in her Quarantine Kitchen.
Dispatches from Quarantine Kitchen: Dawn Perry
Every shopping trip involves buying more: Seltzer
Favorite go-to ingredient: Butter
Keep running out of: Popcorn
Stress-eating: Granola (dry)
A very versatile nut: Almonds
Last minute impulse buy I’m loving: Cocktail peanuts
Endless flavor from: Dijon
Snacking on: Crackers and cheese
Surprising Quarantine ingredient I’m loving: Mayo--not usually a huge mayo person but I guess we’re eating more sandos?
Sick of: Doing the dishes/unloading the dishwasher
Not sick of: Coffee
Favorite stovetop project: Pancakes
Favorite baking project: I love to bake, love it all
Forever in the fridge: Butter
Quarantine Sandwich: Bacon on buttered raisin bread
Stale bread becomes: Croutons!
Eating almost every day: Bread
New tricks: Freezing everything
How I'm getting greens in: Long cooked, (4 bunches yields about a quart) so I can toss into pasta, eat as a side or just stand over the container for a few bites.
Restaurant food/meal I crave the most: Shake shack burger & fries
Favorite food I won’t attempt to make at home: I rarely make cocktails--those are food, right?
Take-out this week: DinerNYC burgers!
Favorite childhood snack: Doritos
Favorite childhood meal: Fancy baked chicken
Favorite thing someone else has made for you in quarantine: Eggs
If you could be quarantined (for a meal) in anyone's kitchen, whose would it be: Dave Gould (former Roman’s chef, Brooklyn)
What would you want them to make for you: Pizza/tortellini en brodo
20 years from now, the one food or ingredient or meal that will forever remind you of this quarantine: Sourdough bread
Frozen Blackberry, Raspberry, Blueberry Peanut Butter Bars. image: Yossy Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling).
For recipe inspiration this week, check out Dawn’s latest posts in the NYTimes:
5 Quick & Easy Pasta recipes (aka Coronavirus Pastas)
Do Chicken Breasts Deserve A Comeback? (Yes!)
3 Summery Sweets You Can Make With Frozen Fruit (“This summer will most likely look different. But we can still cook and bake as if this were the season to savor…Now’s the time to put frozen fruit to work. And reserve your precious fresh fruit for eating out of hand.” Fully agree!)
I’ll regularly be posting recipes and pictures on Instagram. Please follow along! (@thewholekohlrabi) and please feel free to share the newsletter with old friends, new friends, colleagues, family, etc..