Dana Burland

Some nice cooking-related pros to come out of this wild situation are that my meal planning is more dialed in than ever and my food waste is much lower. Also, the baking. I, along with most of America, have been bread baking. And while I’m typically not a fan of no-knead bread (what’s the point if I can’t pound my feelings out into a poor ball of dough?) this no-knead rosemary bread recipe is, well, damn delicious. Worth noting I’ve made it both with fresh and dried rosemary and either work. I also didn’t have the size pan the recipe noted but I think any circle pan close to a 10” diameter would do. In the sweets category I’ve made these amazing almost-all-pantry-staple brownies and this week I’m trying chocolate chip sour cream coffee cake . If a slice of cozy, buttery coffee cake with hot coffee while we keep getting slammed with rainy days is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Along with these treats, here’s my line-up of meals for the next few days: Merk chicken Sausa...

Hello and welcome to my new series nobody asked for: Cooking In Quarantine. It goes without saying (though I said it anyway ) what a unique time it is right now. It’s also a unique time to be cooking. Suddenly all meals for everyone in my household come out of my kitchen. I have extra time to think and meal plan, but less opportunities to shop and with two young kids at home less time to cook. I want comfort and excitement from food and I also want to feel like I’m taking good care of my family by making healthy fueling meals. Here’s what I’m looking forward to this week: Tomato & white bean soup with lots of garlic + grilled cheese I can't remember what sparked the search, but I got it in my mind I could find a recipe for tomato soup with beans blended in that would amp up the protein. This NYT recipe stood out and I'm excited to test it out. Could this become a new staple soup? Stay tuned. Burgers on the grill + kale chips Crockpot turkey meatballs + roasted p...

Sometimes as I rock you to sleep in your bedroom the door will fling open, setting your peaceful dark room on fire with light and noise. “MAMA!? CAN I HAVE A GRANOLA BAR?” You’ve learned to not startle at the constant whirl of your 2.5 year old brother. I’ve learned how to multitask between the two of you, and how to best explain when my hands are tied. He’s learned to (mostly) respect how my time is split and asks if I want the door closed “jus’ a liddul” or all the way on his way out. And so I rock you even longer. Even though you’re asleep. Even though you’ll do that partial wake up thing when I lay you in your crib anyway. As “liddul” brother you’ll never have the luxury of all our attention. I can relate as a little sister. Because of that I pour so much out of my cup to you, until it’s bone dry, and then I try to pour out a bit more. You certainly haven’t gotten as much tummy time. Often you have to nap on the fly while we’re on family outings. Your toys get confiscat...

Last Sunday, in the beautiful warm sunshine, we took the boys to a nearby baseball diamond to run around. Cam kicked a soccer ball all around the field. He gawked and waved at motorcycles that drove by. I bounced Adrian in my baby carrier and tried to shield the sun from his eyes. Next to the baseball diamond is a covered bridge that crosses a river into a small downtown area. We ran through the bridge and listened to our voices echo. We walked the empty sidewalks and talked about what we saw in shop windows. We got take-out pizza on the way home and had a picnic dinner on the deck. Not only did it feel normal, it felt happy, full and memorable. It took almost 3 weeks for Cam to catch on. That’s when he started asking why all the stores are closed. There’s one of many gut-punches from this virus and stay-at-home order. And I’m worn down from the gut punches. So instead we’re focusing on what’s not closed. Kicking a soccer ball all the way around a baseball diamond is not...

A couple days ago Cam climbed up on the rocking chair in Adrian’s room with a book. Ben held Adrian next to him and Cam began to memory-read “ Goodnight Moon ”. You saw this if you follow the boys’ Instagram account. I captured a quick video of the moment, which was impressive because while filming my heart was actively oozing out of my body. In the video Adrian is doing his squirmy, squacky 3-month-old thing while Cam reads “...and the cow jumping over the moon”. When Adrian squacks again Cam comforts him saying “I’m here, I’m here”, soon followed up with “you don’t like this page?” It’s so endearing and funny all at the same time. And it reminds me how I feel three days in to our Governor mandated “Stay At Home” policy. “I’m here, I’m here” everyday for my boys. I’m keeping their world turning as close to the same as it was a few weeks ago, even though the world feels so far from where it was then. And I very much “don’t like this page”. Which is to say I’m trying to...

Today is my first day back to work from maternity leave, and A's first day at daycare. I posted this on my company's intranet as a way to share what their awesome maternity leave afforded me, and thought I'd share it here too: Now might not seem like the right time to share a return-from-maternity-leave story, or maybe it’s exactly the right time. Either way, today is my first day back to work from a 12-week leave. It’s a weird time to be “back”, as I’m working from home for the foreseeable future, but I’m back nonetheless. In the spirit of my return, here’s a look at what the last 12 weeks have been like for my family. My second son, Adrian, surprised us when he arrived almost four weeks ahead of his due date on December 21. Thankfully he was healthy and strong, and when we were discharged from the hospital the only lingering health concern for him was a touch of jaundice. For the first two weeks we juggled family visiting for the holidays with daily doctor app...

Some day, in the closer-than-I’d-like-to-imagine future, will you be writing a school paper where you have to interview us on living through the Coronavirus? You might shrug your shoulders and say “Coro-what?”, as you learn for the first time about something you’ll think was NBD. You, my two boys, are blissfully, wonderfully, completely unaware of why we’re spending so much extra time at home right now. “Social distancing” for a two-and-a-half year old life looks like learning the board game “Feed The Woozle”, laughing hysterically as I dropkick a soccer ball in the backyard and finger painting in the bathtub. “Self quarantine” for a two-month old is gummy smiles, spit-ups and cuddling the stuffed dinosaur attached to your pacifier. Swim lessons have been canceled. The library is closed for weeks. While schools are closed for a month, daycare is still open with precautions that keep adults to common spaces and out of individual classrooms. Your pediatrician recommends no u...