Through it all, food provided a distraction from the news cycle. Cooking was our nourishment and comfort, our entertainment and delight. These are the 12 food stories that resonated most with readers this year.
Just about everyone eats frozen pizza, even if they won’t admit it. Our staffers Julia Moskin, Cathy Lo, Vaughn Vreeland and Eric Kim sampled 11 frozen pies to arrive on a favorite. Readers were quick to share their frozen pizza hacks.
Don’t laugh, but I like the store brand pizzas. I just add a little extra cheese on top and cook them on my pizza stone, which I have had for years. Where I shop, the store brand cheese and spinach pizza is literally only $5. It doesn’t get any less expensive than that! Lyn Robins, Southeast
Many of us went back to the office more frequently this year and needed some breakfast inspiration. Krysten Chambrot came through with these New York Times Cooking favorites, like Eric Kim’s microwave-steamed eggs and a perennial favorite, Jordan Marsh’s blueberry muffins.
I make a weeks worth of steel cut oats in my instant pot. (1 cup oats to 4 cups water and I use the multigrain setting). You can add a cinnamon stick and a cardamom pod. If it’s for a family you can use the same recipe nightly and set it on the timer so it’s ready in the morning. Or make it in higher proportions. I microwave a portion of the saved oats each day with frozen wild blueberries and then add ground flaxseed and butter and brown sugar. It’s ready in 3 minutes. It’s delicious. PW, DC
This fall, Julia Moskin traveled to Colorado to meet with the food blogger Tieghan Gerard, who has cultivated a massive following through her blog, Half Baked Harvest. But she has also been “entangled in issues that have galvanized the food world in the last decade: cultural appropriation, intellectual property, body shaming, privilege and racism.”
Julia Child never would have survived today’s social media critics … kmr, nj
We’re all trying to save money. These smart tips from Margaux Laskey help stretch your pantry staples (freeze that butter and cheese!).
When stocking up in bulk, one should also have the discipline not to throw edible food in the garbage, no matter how bored they get with it. Peter, USA
With two dozen recipes and so many styles (creamy, thick and chunky, and brothy), Krysten Chambrot’s story was a veritable stone soup of ideas for combating the chill of winter and the dinnertime boredom that often comes with it.
Making a pot of happiness from homemade stock and freshly sautéed veggies/meat, followed by a slow reduction, is not just something hearty for your appetite … it’s something soothing for your soul. So, so good. \o/ Independent Observer, Texas
One of the best ways to treat your friend or neighbor with kindness is with a meal. Margaux Laskey compiled this list of New York Times Cooking recipes that will soothe the soul when it’s in desperate need of a hug.
These days, every day is an emergency. I’m cooking these for myself! Daniel Kim, Las Cruces, N.M.
Psyllium husks have long been a digestive aid, but, as Priya Krishna wrote in August, the supplement is finding new fans with gluten-free bakers and those looking for an appetite suppressant.
A few years ago, when I gave up flour, I started using psyllium as a thickener in cooking. I thought it up myself, had no idea other people were doing it too. It gives the right creamy texture without adding any distracting flavor, and it definitely doesn’t hurt digestion:) FWIW, Portland, Ore.
Our staff’s third annual list of the 50 places in the United States that we’re most excited about right now, from In Bocca al Lupo in Juneau, Alaska, to Birch in Milwaukee.
Completely ignored the District of Columbia, eh? Well, we’ll get our revenge. We’ll raise your taxes. Richard Armstrong, Washington, D.C.
In April, Pete Wells ranked his favorites “into a pattern that captures the diversity and character of dining in New York. This was the fun part because it gave me a chance to see the dining landscape differently.” And of course, readers weighed in, too.
Before anyone gets angry about their favorite restaurant that was not included, I think it’s important to remember that no list can fully capture the culinary treasure trove that is N.Y.C. and that any such list should merely be treated as suggestions for places to try! Sam Kwak, Queens
In January, Julia Moskin broke the news that René Redzepi will close Noma, in Copenhagen, at the end of 2024. “We have to completely rethink the industry,” he said. “This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way.”
Unfortunately, while it’s easy to criticize the rich for being entitled, exploitative and/or clueless, those of us who eat like “regular” folks aren’t doing much better. The migrant workers picking our fruits and vegetables and the meatpacking plant employees whose low wages and hard labor keep our food cheap at Walmart and Safeway create the same business model these elite restaurants use. Seattle, Seattle
