Jenn Hall Writes

Growing up, Ashley Lyons Putman’s lunchbox wasn’t quite like the other kids. When you’re the daughter of organic farmers Jim and Kathy Lyons of Blue Moon Acres, Lunchables don’t make the cut. “So I’d take out this big, black orb,” Ashley says with a laugh. Brown rice balls filled with pickled plum paste were common. While she fared poorly in lunchroom trades, Putman learned about healthy food early on. That made her and her brothers adventurous and mindful eaters. Read more… […]

Categories: Food

Last St. Patrick’s Day, my holiday started with a gift. With a knock and a smile, my Irish-American neighbor, Ellen Hannan, bestowed me with the most Philly of St. Paddy’s treats: a box of Irish potatoes. In part, I believe, it was to correct an error that I had made a few days prior. When she had asked me if I liked them as we chatted on the porch, I’d stammered something about enjoying potatoes with my corned beef. “It’s lovely […]

Categories: Food

In Neilly Robinson’s sunlit Asbury Park kitchen, the sourdough starter is ever hungry. Fridays through Sundays, Robinson, the founder of Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge, bakes bread for the cooking school’s new weekend chef ’s table and supper club. Much of Robinson’s fresh bread goes with her to work. But she keeps some aside for sourdough French toast breakfasts with her husband and business partner Jason Robinson. The breakfasts are a nod to tradition: Growing up a bit north of here, […]

Categories: Food

As the sun climbs up toward the windows of chef Dennis Foy’s Lawrenceville art studio, it fills the space with a honeyed light. Brush in hand, the chef mixes colors and then turns his attention to the line between land and sky. When he is not at d’floret, the 24-seat Lambertville restaurant he owns with wife and business partner Estella Quiñones-Foy, you can often find him here. Writers like to draw neat lines between every aspect of a chef ’s life […]

Categories: Food