Bits and pieces

Five things I'm loving right now:

1. I am not much of a cook or a foodie, but I'm loving the website Food52. Have you seen it or, even better, do you get it as a daily email? I love the clean, stark photography and its simple presentation. To be honest, I have yet to buy any of the kitchen items for sale or try a recipe, but I look forward to reading it every day.

2. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. A good beach reach while it's still very much winter here.

3. My current Facebook obsession is Susie's Senior Dogs, spotlighting elderly dogs around the country that have been abandoned and desperately need homes. Thousands of people are seeing this page and, best of all, adopting these sweet, gray-faced pups.

4. An opinion piece in Sunday's New York Times about what people learn in their 40s. My very favorite: "There are no grown-ups. We suspect this when we are younger, but can confirm it only once we are the ones writing books and attending parent-teacher conferences. Everyone is winging it, some just do it more confidently."

5. Ellen DeGeneres as Oscar host. She may have gotten some mixed reviews, but I loved everything about her performance, from her opening monologue to her Glenda the Good Witch costume change to ordering pizza without money to pay the delivery guy. She made me stay up hours later than I had planned.

(All photos from Food52.)

Good things online

Two new-to-me Web sites I'm loving, plus one not-as-new but always good:

A group of bloggers - writers, photographers, stylists - recently got together and started Clementine Daily. I love it for its name but also because it's like getting a favorite magazines in the mail - or email - every day. House tours, interviews, fashion, food, and a daily quote that I like most of all.

Have you heard of Tradesy? It's a site where you can sell clothing items - jackets, handbags, sweaters, etc. - you no longer need or want, and Tradesy will do all the work, including sending you a pre-paid shipping box once an item sells. You can go there to shop, too, of course, and I just spent more time than I should have looking through an assortment of size 10 shoes.

I've been reading Sweet Paul Magazine for some time now but always get excited when a new issue comes out - and a new issue just came out. The photography is gorgeous, and there's always something good - from recipes (salmon stir-fry for dogs!) to travel (Stockholm) to interesting kitchen finds. I think you'll enjoy.

Cook

I was walking dogs the other day with two friends, and one of them was telling us about the dinner she made the night before. She talked a bit about her menu and where she likes to buy fish. But then she said something I've been thinking about ever since. "Cooking relaxes me," she said.

It struck me that cooking most definitely does not relax me. I cook because I want my family to enjoy good meals, and I pay a fair amount of attention to the kinds of food I buy. Oddly, I like to read cookbooks and cooking blogs (this is one of my favorites). I enjoy baking. But as for cooking meals, I do it because I have to, and I've always found it to be a little stressful, both the planning and the preparing.

So hearing my friend say that cooking relaxes her was something of a revelation. Reading relaxes me. I even find cleaning relaxing. So why not cooking? Maybe it's as simple as telling myself to relax while I'm cooking. Music might help. Not racing the clock would be good. Non-grumpy children would be wonderful.

I'd love to be not necessarily a better cook but a happier cook. To say, like my friend, that cooking relaxes me. I'm working on that.

(Photo by The Kitchn)