Jael McHenry
Jael McHenry is a talented and enthusiastic amateur cook who grew up in Michigan and Iowa before moving from city to city along the East Coast: Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and now New York, where she blogs about food and cooking at the Simmer blog, http://simmerblog.typepad.com. She is a monthly pop culture columnist and Editor-in-Chief of Intrepid Media, online at intrepidmedia.com. Her work has appeared in publications such as the North American Review, Indiana Review, and the Graduate Review at American University, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing.
“We all have our own patterns, I guess ... And whether we like it or not, they persist.”
Jael McHenry
“there is something intriguing about knowing how things are going to turn out, but being constantly surprised about how they'll get there.”
Jael McHenry
“I find the title How to Be Good. Curious, I open it up. I'm disappointed to find it's fiction.”
Jael McHenry
“There is no normal. There's only what's right for you and being honest.”
Jael McHenry
“Food has power. Nonna knew that. Ma did too. I know it now. And though it can't save me, it might help me, in some way. All I have besides food is grief.”
Jael McHenry
“Panic, panic, can't panic. Think of food. Think of sugar. I am a sugar cube in cold water. I won't dissolve. Precise edges. Made up of tiny, regular, secure parts. If the water were hotter I would worry, but it's cold. I stay together. Precise. Clean. Surrounded, but whole.”
Jael McHenry
“Her hand is close to my arm. My options are limited. I can't run away. I can't handle this.I lose myself in food.The rich, wet texture of melting chocolate. The way good aged goat cheese coats your tongue. The silky feel of pasta dough when it's been pressed and rested just enough. How the scent of onions changes, over an hour, from raw to mellow, sharp to sweet, and all that even without tasting. The simplest magic: how heat transforms.”
Jael McHenry
“I want them to bite into a cookie, and think of me, and smile. Food is love. Food has a power.”
Jael McHenry
“In my life I've had good days and bad days. Miserable days. Painful days. And no matter how bad the bad ones get, there's a mercy in them. Every single one of them ends.”
Jael McHenry