Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, IT WILL GET THICK! It’s a sure thing! It’s a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles.—Nora Ephron, Heartburn, 1983

[Excerpt from Life Begins When The Kids Leave Home and the Dog Dies]

It was only a matter of time.

After planning 11,680 dinners over the years, I stood in front of the refrigerator and admitted the ugly truth. “I’ve tried, I’ve really tried. But I just can’t think of a thing to make for dinner tonight.”

[image credit: Jena Marbles]

My real problem with menu-planning is that my family is…