Why the Kitchen?

I’m so glad you’re here.

The comforts of the kitchen are what I live for. All week long, I live in the world of books, libraries, and schools, and I love my work. But by Thursday evening, I’m thinking about which bread to bake for the next week, if we need cookie dough in the freezer, what season is it in the farmers’ markets! Cooking is meditation. The kitchen offers answers to life, whether it’s adding more salt, or starting over. It’s where we share information, collaborate, and tastes.

Welcome to The Little New York Kitchen. It’s not Podunk Tea Room, where most of you first found me. The world of food, the conversation swirling around new restaurants and new food gurus and James Beard chefs, all that has gotten so big that Podunk would not have the chance it had in 2002 when we first opened. Elspeth (me!) would have to run Seamless and Grub Hub, and buy her delivery people charming custom helmets that say “speedy delivery” but also “not soggy tea sandwiches” and “we hope warm scones” and “possibly puddled Devonshire cream.”  

You can read about the Elspeth/Kimberly story, or you can go look for the chocolate chip cookie recipe. Okay, okay, the scone recipe is also in these pages. I wanted you to have the recipes you asked for back then. 

Have you read this far? Excellent! I am not promoting anything except the conversation that happens among cooks in the kitchen. I’m not designing a better wooden spoon that costs more than the ones at the dollar store (I’m looking at you, Food52). I don’t have a five-part video series about boiling water (Oh, Martha. I adore you. But we don’t have to break it down that much).

I have 500 cookbooks and collections of essays and I want to talk about those. My daughter has asked me to cover all the little things millennials might need to know about throwing a dinner party (my first one used an ironing board as a buffet) or getting out a brown spot from a white button-down, or whether it’s water first in a simple sauce or tomato paste, sauteed, then the water (check). I’ll keep answering her questions, and yours.

Make yourself at home, and thanks for stopping by. It’s lovely to see you again.

I am variously known as Elspeth, Kimberly, or Mom. You can find my professional life on LinkedIn, what catches my eye on Instagram, and most of my sarcasm on Twitter. Kindred spirits, you know where to find me. Come into the kitchen, where we'll talk a little treason, and share some recipes. That works for me.

Richmond, London, 2017