springing forward, stubbornly
plus: an interview with anna hezel
Monday, March 9, 2026
Good morning!
Notes on baking at the South Pole [New Yorker]
As a pan pizza enthusiast, I like this news. [NYT, gift link]
I know we’re supposed to be springing forward, I know we’re supposed to be delighting in the later sunsets and the promise of summer evenings outside, and I vow to be very soon, but when my alarmed buzzed at the still-dark hour of the morning that only days ago was light, all I could think was that an hour of sleep was stolen from me and I want it back. I’ve been singing “stop making clocks hard” to the tune of “stop making doors hard.” I’ve been wondering why we can just let the sun run at the schedule it has for the last 4.5 billion years without Congress meddling with it. If you, too, are yawning your way into the week, welcome, pull up a chair. Today we’ve got a stack of recipe suggestions for quick dinners on a week when evenings feel an hour shorter, and two easy treats that are going to make this week brighter.
But that’s not all! Today we’re chatting with Anna Hezel, whose really fun cookbook, Party Tricks: Easy, Elegant Recipes for Snacking and Hosting, is out tomorrow, 3/10. It, too, feels perfect for right now.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and one audiobook and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Not sure which one to check out first? Take a look at the recipe index and see which collection jumps out at you most.
extra-billowy dutch baby pancake
I did away with the blender, the stove, and the need for an ovenproof skillet with a tweaked formula that makes the most reliably billowy and dramatic Dutch baby pancake yet. It’s so easy we can -- and often feel like we do -- make it in our sleep.
carrot soup with miso and sesame
I promise, I hadn’t *intended* to make a soup all gluten/meat/dairy- and mostly fat-free. That would have been boring. This accidentally healthy soup -- carrot soup meets miso soup meets toasted sesame nirvana -- is not.
crispy cabbage and cauliflower salad
A crispy cabbage and cauliflower salad with a sharp tahini dressing that is fully inhale-able; we’ve never had leftovers. Don’t skimp on the charring; the best moment is when the vegetables just begin to soften against the dressing — each bite is both crackly and tender.
scrambled egg toast
Everyone has an opinion on how to make perfectly scrambled eggs and this is mine: I like a ribbony heap that comes from a push-pause motion in the pan, forming small and larger bites that are never, ever overcooked or rubbery. Heap it on a thick piece of toast with soft cheese and chives and enjoy it with an exceedingly strong cup of coffee on the side. Shall we?
baked feta with tomatoes and chickpeas
Remember this? Feta, tomatoes, garlic, and chickpeas roast in olive oil until the tomatoes blister and soften, the feta becomes creamy, and the whole mixture is a dream to scoop onto flatbread. It’s almost endlessly tweakable. Weeknight meals should always be this easy.
one-pan ditalini and peas
Meet the pasta dish I can’t stop making. It’s cozy and quick, and because everything happens in one pot, there’s almost no mess to clean up. The sauce is silky and unheavy but tastes complex and fussed-over. The peas add perfectly cooked pops of sweetness and they’re an ideal forkful match for the ditalini. Come, make it an embarrassing amount of times with me. [Video below!]
quick pasta and chickpeas
A 20-minute, 5-ingredient (I bet all 5 are in your kitchen right now), abundantly flavorful dish that I cannot resist adding one slightly crispy and dramatically sizzling finish to. Have you made it yet? Few dishes make me feel as rewarded for waiting until the last minute to figure out dinner.
one-pan farro with tomatoes
Dinner tonight? I think you should make my One-Pan Farro, the recipe that converts all of the farro skeptics. It’s easy (everything cooks at once, all together, with ingredients you probably already have around), quick, vegetarian, and yet tastes anything but austere.
soy-glazed chicken
A quick skillet chicken with a soy sauce reduction that gives the cutlets a lacquered glaze. This is such a family favorite that it’s gone in the regular rotation. We serve it with rice and a quick vegetable slaw.
my favorite brownies
My favorite brownies are intense, fudgy, and a little chewy and fantastically easy too: 7 ingredients, 1 bowl, and you could be eating them 40 minutes from now.
ridiculously easy butterscotch sauce
Did you know that deadly good butterscotch, butterscotch so transcendent it might bring tears to your eyes, is ridiculously easy to make? Five ingredients + five minutes on the stove = eating ice cream for dinner has never tasted so good.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA HEZEL
My shelves are full of wonderful cookbooks I don’t get to talk about enough, so I’ve added this section so you can get to know the cool people behind them. Today we’re chatting with Anna Hezel. Her cookbook, Party Tricks: Easy, Elegant Recipes for Snacking and Hosting, is out tomorrow, 3/10.
1. What inspired your cookbook?
I collect vintage books about entertaining, and I love when I come across a piece of hosting advice that’s so utterly of its era (like Dorothy Draper telling me how to artfully arrange cigarettes for guests in 1941, or Martha Stewart telling me how to stuff snow peas with St. Andre cheese in 1982). I felt that we needed a book about having parties that fit our current era of casual entertaining — and the types of incredible pantry ingredients we have access to now.
2. What recipe are you the most proud of in the book, or felt the most triumphant when you got it right?
I tried so many versions of a pistachio chocolate chip cookie, but often, the pistachios just didn’t turn out crunchy enough when I incorporated them into the dough. The trick I landed on for my Freezer Reserve Pistachio-Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies was to coat the balls of dough in crushed pistachios and black sesame seeds. The result is a cookie that’s gooey and melty in the middle, and the exterior is perfectly crunchy and nutty. And you can prep the balls of dough ahead of time and just have them ready to go in your freezer for guests (or your own everyday warm cookie needs).
3. What recipe is so low-effort, high-reward that it’s worth cooking for dinner tonight, even if we’re tired and don’t want to cook?
At this particular moment in late winter, I’m tempted to make a batch of the Tomato Chili Butter, which feels like a burst of sunshine, even though the ingredients (butter, tomato paste, chili flakes, and garlic) are all standard winter fare. In Party Tricks, I slather this butter on baguettes for quick tartines topped with anchovies or pickled peppers, but you could use extra butter on breakfast sandwiches or toss it with spaghetti.
4. What’s something you wish more people knew about your book?
Even though this is a book of party-friendly recipes, a lot of these would be lovely for quiet nights at home, too, when you’re in the mood to craft yourself a modest snack spread from nice cheeses, charcuterie, or tinned seafood. You don’t need a party as an excuse to open a really good tin of anchovies and give them a quick glow-up with some olive oil, herbs, and fresh citrus.
Thank you, Anna! You can preorder Party Tricks right here.
one-pan ditalini and peas
The Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser is a lower-walled enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that works as well as a deep sauté pan as it does a soup pot, roasting pan, or even casserole dish that perfectly fits a pasta bake. It’s the ideal size and usability (dishwasher safe!) for everyday cooking. Not a week has gone by in the 14 years I’ve had mine when I don’t cook in it at least three times, so when it was no longer sold in U.S. stores, I asked Staub — a French cast-iron manufacturer originally from Alsace; you can watch me tour the forge/factory here! — if they would partner with me to bring it back, because I knew you’ll fall in love with the pan too. We launched the Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser in spring 2024. The Braiser is now sold exclusively at Williams-Sonoma and available in eight gorgeous new colors! The newest two — a classy off-white (pardon, French Crème) and a soft pink (Pink Peony, which you know I sing to the tune of Pink Peony Club) — launched just last month.
Cranberry (bright red)
Grenadine (deep red)
Sage (light green)
Basil (dark green)
La Mer (dark blue-green)
Sapphire (dark blue)
(New!) French Crème (off-white) ✨
(New!) Pink Peony (soft pink) ✨
The Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser Recipe Starter Pack: Oh, you did get a new braiser? I’m so happy for you. Here are a few recipes you can kick off your cooking with!
Braiser: An entire category of recipes on smittenkitchen.com
My “I Dream Of Paris” Menu for the French Crème launch: Dijon Roast Chicken, French Onion Soup for a Crowd, and a Perfect Apple Tarte Tatin
Baked Ziti with Meatballs and Ricotta (Williams-Sonoma, Video)
Apple Butterscotch Crisp (Zwilling, Video)
Braised Chickpeas with Kale and Burrata (Zwilling)
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more that you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. This isn’t just an Amazon storefront. For each item, I attempt to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
