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Crescent Dragonwagon

8 ACTUALLY HELPFUL WAYS TO BE WITH SOMEONE WHO’S GRIEVING (WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW)

8 ACTUALLY HELPFUL WAYS TO BE WITH SOMEONE WHO’S GRIEVING (WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW)

By Crescent Dragonwagon

HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOUR WIDOWED FRIEND WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW. SHE’D TELL YOU IF SHE COULD. BUT SHE CAN’T. THAT’S PART OF THE PROBLEM.  1. Please understand that right now your widowed friend is not herself.  Literally not herself. Most of the constructs of self she had have vanished, some temporarily, some permanently. Everything — her role in life,… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, grief, widowhood

BUT WHY ARE THESE FOODS LUCKY?

BUT WHY ARE THESE FOODS LUCKY?

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Janus, the Roman god who gave January its name, was two-faced. Not in the saying-mean-things-behind-someone’s back way: rather, he had two faces on either side of his handsome head. Thus, he could look forward, into the future, and backwards, into the past. Notice, though, he had no face for “now”, which is — moment to moment, second by second —… Read More

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon

Ronni’s Appalachian-Style Cornbread (Gluten-Free)

Ronni’s Appalachian-Style Cornbread (Gluten-Free)

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Ronni’s Appalachian-Style Cornbread (Gluten-Free) This is my favorite traditional-style Southern cornbread,  and the one my friend Ronni Lundy  grew up eating in Corbin, Kentucky. And to which she pledges allegiance!  No sugar, no flour, amen.  Ronni says, “If God had meant  cornbread to have sugar in it, he’d have called it  cake.” Here we have the apocryphal luckiness given by… Read More

Filed Under: recipes

Extra-Moist Cheese and Black Pepper Cornbread

Extra-Moist Cheese and Black Pepper Cornbread

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Extra-Moist Cheese and Black Pepper Cornbread Makes 2 8-X 8 pans You might want to double this; most people will want at least two pieces. The batter will fill the pans only about halfway up; it’s so moist that otherwise (if, for instance, you tried to make it one big pan). the middle part won’t be done. This way, you… Read More

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cornbread, Crescent Dragonwagon's cornbread, Extra-Moist Cheese and Black Pepper Cornbread

Four-Citrus Golden Pico de Gallo with Mint

Four-Citrus Golden Pico de Gallo with Mint

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Four-Citrus Golden Pico de Gallo with Mint Instead of  the typical tomatoes, this pico uses citrus fruits – oranges, blood oranges, and pink grapefruit – to provide the juicy acidic component necessary in this dish, which is almost as much salad as it is condiment.  It provides a nice, light, refreshing balance to the other foods on the plate, and,… Read More

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: citrus salsa, Crescent Dragonwagon's Citrus Salsa, fruit salsa, pico de gallo, salsa

CITRUS GOLDEN RING CAKE

CITRUS GOLDEN RING CAKE

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Citrus Golden Ring Cake I this cake lucky for New Years? Why yes: round foods represent for the cycles of the year and the roundness of a full life; yellow and orange because, they’re signifiers of wealth. But the inherent goodness of this rich, lemony cake, dense and moist, makes anyone who takes a bite feel lucky indeed, on the… Read More

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: Citrus Ring Cake, foods for New Years

BRAZILIAN STYLE COLLARD GREEN SALAD

BRAZILIAN STYLE COLLARD GREEN SALAD

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Brazilian Style Collard Green Salad Raw collard greens? A  a few brief years ago it would have hardly been  comprehensible to most Americans,  especially Southerners.  But times have changed with the advent of kale salads. While many find the texture of kale objectionable –  its curliness, if it is not cut finely enough, can get caught in the throat – … Read More

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: collard green salad

It’s your lucky day

It’s your lucky day

By Crescent Dragonwagon

To jump straight to the featured recipes, use these links: Spicy-Smoky East-West Black-Eyed Peas Brazilian-Style Collard Green Salad Extra-Moist Cheese-Black Pepper Cornbread Ronni’s Southern-Style Gluten-Free Cornbread Four-Citrus Pico de Gallo Golden Orange-Pecan Cake with a Citrus Glaze Otherwise, stay put on this page and join me for an exploration of easygoing New Years entertaining and how and why certain foods… Read More

Filed Under: Deep Feast, recipes Tagged With: Crescent dragonwagon, Crescent Dragonwagon cornbread, Crescent Dragonwagon's New Year recipes, Deep Feast for New Year's, New Years Day Brunch, Recipes, Vegetarian recipes for New Year's

ANGELS, ARRIVING IN SNOW: A NON-CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS STORY

ANGELS, ARRIVING IN SNOW: A NON-CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS STORY

By Crescent Dragonwagon

I NEVER BELIEVED IN SANTA CLAUS. NOT EVEN AS A KID, FOR REASONS I’LL MAKE CLEAR. BUT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON ANGELS. If you want an inspirational, heartwarming story about Christmas, look elsewhere. I grew up the child of adamantly non-practicing Jews, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, then predominantly Irish-,  Polish-, and Italian-Catholic. My mother, Charlotte Zolotow, used to… Read More

Filed Under: Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

TIDINGS OF DISCOMFORT

TIDINGS OF DISCOMFORT

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Our beloved partner is no longer on earth. And now it’s the holidays. Sometimes other people, not realizing they’re doing it, ask us to dress grief up in party clothes. We may even ask it of ourselves. But we don’t have to do it. In the fall of 2004,  Richard, my friend Kay’s husband and the love of her life,… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Living, widowhood Tagged With: grief, grieving, holiday depression, holiday grieving, holiday pressure, holidays, widow, widowhood

AN ABUNDANCE OF RECIPES FOR FALL

AN ABUNDANCE OF RECIPES FOR FALL

By Crescent Dragonwagon

This, harvest-time, is my favorite time of year to go to the farmer’s market and garden-stands. It’s a cornucopia! Now, harvesting technically begins in spring, when the first asparagus tips poke up boldly through the still-cold soil. And harvesting  goes wild in the summer, when cukes and zukes overwhelm us with their fecundity, when the okra, its pods pointing happily… Read More

Filed Under: #DinnerwithDragonwagon, Deep Feast

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY CHANGED ME, BUT THEY DID

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEY CHANGED ME, BUT THEY DID

By Crescent Dragonwagon

Sometime in the mid-80’s, Joe Head and I were sitting together  in the Western District Carroll County courthouse, watching our City Council get sued for violating the Freedom of Information Act. And Joe said something so funny, endearing, smart, exasperating, and lovely, something which so encapsulated the loving dynamic tension that frequently animates my funky, quirky little former home-town, Eureka… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

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Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

Bean By Bean Cookbooks

#DeepFeast Recipes

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Dinner with Dragonwagon

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"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


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Until Just Moistened

Until Just Moistened

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