The year in grandparents
The best stories from my site and beyond in 2019.
The ‘pasta grannies’ still roll it by hand
To document the dying art of making pasta from scratch, British journalist Vicky Bennison has filmed hundreds of Italian grandmas in their kitchens. The result, she says, is a “Noah’s Ark” of knowledge and skills that might otherwise have been lost.
What do Okinawans know that we don’t?
The five places in the world where people live the longest are also places where elders spend a good deal of their time tending vegetable gardens.
The year in grandparents
In 2018, I wrote about a caravan of grandparents who stormed the Texas-Mexico border to protest Trump’s treatment of migrant children, Gabriel García Márquez’s memories of his grandmother, and many other topics.
The restaurant where grandmas dish up the world
At Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, the menu changes daily, and so do the chefs: they are grandmothers from all over the world.
From grandfather to granddaughter, lessons in cooking and life
Celebrated chef Jacques Pépin and his granddaughter, Shorey, have created a video series and a cookbook together.
Can a grandma’s cooking mend a teenager’s broken heart?
When she was dumped by her boyfriend, Awanthi Vardaraj thought her heart would never heal. Then her grandma coaxed her into the kitchen.
Five generations of blueberry pie
Nancy Schatz is famous in Maine for the blueberry pie she learned how to make from her mother, who learned how to make it from hers. Here’s the recipe, which Nancy’s granddaughters have begun to master, too.
How to cook like an Italian grandma
You’ll need some olive oil, a good butcher, and this recipe for Neapolitan ragù.
The ultimate Easter egg
A retired pastry chef in Texas surprised his great-grandchildren on Easter with this one-of-a-kind confection.
Grandparents matter. Here’s how.
Grandparents matter in profound, enduring, and sometimes unexpected ways. That’s what I learned from these recordings, which were made by three American families for the oral history project StoryCorps.
“Over the river, and through the wood”
The story behind the famous poem about a boy who’s bursting with excitement to see his grandparents on Thanksgiving.
Why stepgrandparents matter
“Standing at one remove from the new partnership, and all the hue and cry the blending of a family can involve, they have the potential to play a unique role for the stepgrandchild—part grandparent, part wise, trusted confidante.”
To nurture your family, nurture yourself
Parents and grandparents need one another. How can they learn to get along?
British grandparents may get a break
Politicians in Britain have realized that grandparents are struggling to balance work and childcare just as parents are.
Do grandparents know the secret to happiness?
Mo Rocca hopes the grandparents on his TV show can teach him how to live.