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It\u2019s hard to believe I\u2019m saying this, but today marks the last time I am officially writing this food column<\/a> for Cup of Jo. I say \u201cofficially\u201d because I plan to still contribute now and again, I\u2019m just pulling back in order to focus on some upcoming personal projects, so I won\u2019t be chiming in every<\/em> Wednesday, the way I have been for almost seven straight years. SEVEN YEARS<\/a>! How lucky I am to have been a consistent part of this wonderful community for that long \u2014 I\u2019m so grateful to all of you for reading, for teaching me so much, for reminding me that every single person on earth seems to have a strong opinion about Trader Joe\u2019s<\/a>. To mark the occasion, I wanted to round up my most memorable moments\u2026<\/p>\n 1. Most Satisfying Thing In General: Giving Other Food Writers a Platform<\/strong> 2. Most Visited Recipes, Personally Speaking<\/strong> 3. Most Visited Recipe, Most Recently: Sara Forte\u2019s Blackened Salmon with Tropical Pico<\/a><\/strong> 4. Most Visited Recipes, by the Numbers 5. Most Controversial Moment: How to be a Good Guest<\/a><\/strong> 6. Second Most Controversial Moment: The #1 Thing I\u2019d Tell New Parents About Family Dinner<\/a> 7. Most Fun to Write: The Basics<\/strong> 8. Most Viral: A Potato Salad Trick<\/a><\/strong> 9. Most Impactful Comment: \u201cEat less meat,\u201d instead of \u00a0\u201cEat no meat\u201d<\/strong> 10. Most Emotional: Secrets for Stress-Free Family Dinners<\/a><\/strong> Did I miss anything? Thank you for reading, everyone.<\/strong> You can always find me on my newsletter, Dinner: A Love Story<\/a>. And I can say with great confidence that you are in excellent hands with my successors: Alex Beggs<\/a>, Christina Chaey<\/a>, Kelsey Miller<\/a>, and many other talented writers Joanna has lined up for 2025. I, for one, cannot wait.<\/p>\n P.S. An ode to rituals<\/a> (the first time my byline ever appeared on Cup of Jo) and how to get your kids to talk at dinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Photos: Chocolate mousse, Yossy Arefi; Bread, Alexandra Stafford; Family dinner: Chelsea Cavanaugh)<\/p>\n![\"sausage](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/jenny-one.jpg\")
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This has been the best part of the job by far \u2014 finding and introducing you to food writers and cookbook authors. The Cup of Jo community is powerful and engaging and food writers are always thrilled to be part of it through their recipes. To name just a few memorable cameos: Yasmin Fahr\u2019s Sausage Meatballs with Halloumi and Tomatoes<\/a> (above; Bee Wilson\u2019s Magic One-Pan Pasta<\/a>; Sohla El-Waylly\u2019s Chickpea and Chard Stew<\/a>, Hetty McKinnon\u2019s Cabbage Carbonara<\/a>, Leah Koenig\u2019s Chicken Soup<\/a>; Odette Williams\u2019s Pasta with Vodka Sauce<\/a>; Dan Pelosi\u2019s Pastina for a Bad Day<\/a>. The amount of talent out there will never not amaze me.<\/p>\n![\"Smashed](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_2924-scaled-1.jpeg\")
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I don\u2019t just write this column, I use<\/em> it. Like constantly. There are some recipes I return to more than others, though: Brooks Reitz\u2019s Lazy Man\u2019s Ratatouille<\/a>, Priya Krishna\u2019s crowd-pleasing Matar Paneer<\/a>, Andrea Nguyen\u2019s Tofu B\u00e1nh M\u00ec<\/a>. If I hadn\u2019t already memorized my Smashed Pea Toasts with Ricotta<\/a> (above), Roast Chicken<\/a> and Pan-Fried Fish Sandwich<\/a>, they\u2019d be on this list, too. And every time a dinner-party host asks \u201cCan you bring dessert?\u201d I head to the comments section on this post<\/a> for inspiration.<\/p>\n
Have you made this yet? I mean, it\u2019s a perfect<\/em> recipe. I only just wrote about it in May, yet it\u2019s graced my table at least a half dozen times since, including this past weekend. Tip: I often pick up pre-made mango salsa to fast-track the pico.<\/p>\n![\"Same-Day](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/justbakedloaf.jpg\")
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<\/strong>But forget what my<\/em> favorites are, here are three posts that were hugely popular strictly by the numbers: Taste Test: What\u2019s the Best Vanilla Ice Cream<\/a> (that surprised me), Ali Stafford\u2019s Same-Day Peasant Bread<\/a> (I remember this one blowing up the internet), and Five Recipes Worth Memorizing<\/a>, including my go-to tofu prep and all-purpose salad dressing.<\/p>\n
I had no idea I\u2019d be poking such a bear with the topic of \u201cfashionable lateness.\u201d Lesson learned: Most of you do not<\/em> want dinner guests showing up 15 minutes late, even if they text ahead to let the host know.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>I stand by it to this day: If you have a kid under age three, don\u2019t bother.<\/p>\n![\"mousse\"](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/jenny-two.jpg\")
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In pursuit of the new and the novel, it\u2019s easy to lose sight of the fact that people don\u2019t necessarily need to know how to de-bone a sea trout \u2014 most cooks just want to make a good dinner every night and have a pleasant time doing it. Writing about basic, real<\/em> recipes has always been my wheelhouse, so it makes sense that they\u2019ve been the most fun posts to write. I\u2019m thinking: The Only 5 Salad Dressings You Need<\/a>; 9 Easy Family Meals We\u2019ve Loved to Death<\/a> (that was hilariously fun); How to Upgrade a Regular Green Salad<\/a>; an ode to Frozen Vegetables<\/a> and one to a humble head of cabbage<\/a>. In the sweets department, it was my Old-School Chocolate Mousse<\/a> (above), plus my Crisp for All Seasons<\/a> and Dorie Greenspan\u2019s Everything Cake<\/a>, both of which could be categorized as a \u201cone recipe fits all.\u201d I also think I need to make that mousse this weekend.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always believed that if I can give readers even the tiniest way to make their lives better or happier, then I\u2019ve done my job. There was never a more clear (or tiny) example of this than the time I told people \u201cWhen making potato salad, toss your potatoes in the dressing while the potatoes are still warm and therefore optimally absorbent.\u201d It\u2019s the most popular post I\u2019ve written on Cup of Jo.<\/p>\n
More specifically, in response to my book The Weekday Vegetarians<\/em><\/a>, a Cup of Jo reader wrote something like \u201cIt\u2019s a better approach to convince more<\/em> people to eat less<\/em> meat, than to convince fewer people to eat zero meat.\u201d I wish I could find the comment and the reader who said this (is it you?) so I could thank them for every one of the 100 times I repeated it at a book event or in an interview. So well said, and so true.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/jenny-three.jpg\")
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I remember when Joanna asked me to write this story \u2014 an evergreen topic \u2014 and I thought, I\u2019ve written about family dinner for a dozen years now, how am I going to come up with something new?<\/em> But I had never written about the topic as an empty nester looking back, and it surprised me how easily the words came, and how emotional it was to write the story and realize I was the \u201cPerspective Person\u201d now. Eras end. Kids grow up. And I\u2019m so lucky I\u2019ve been able to write about all of it here on Cup of Jo.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_7184-2-scaled.jpeg\")
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