Separate Eggs, Join Rectangles

I know it sounds like bragging, but in the 1980s my business partner Liz Porter and I set the standard for clear, concise, step-by-step quiltmaking instructions. We weren’t trained technical writers, but we had degrees in English and a knack for organizing instructional steps in a sensible way. That knack was the foundation for all of Fons & Porter’s future success.

I point out my expertise in this area as a prelude to criticizing the New York Times.

Deep in the pandemic, when hitting the grocery store felt risky, “The Morning,” a Times newsletter to which I subscribe, offered, for free, a recipe for a scrumptious-looking onion tart.

The pastry involves gruyere and butter, among other ingredients. The recipe is by Sue Li. The photo is by David Malosh for The New York Times, food stylist, Simon Andrews.

We had moved in October, and our brand new kitchen had not one but two beautiful ovens.

The global pandemic, my new kitchen, and the success of my first NY Times attempt revived my interest in cooking.

I have made Caramelized Onion Galette as an appetizer many, many times since 2020, and it’s always a hit. (Amateur photography and food styling by Marianne Fons.)

Instructions, whether for a quilt or an entree, involve a list of ingredients and a series of steps.

For quilts, the ingredients are yardage amounts, followed by detailed cutting instructions, then sewing steps.

Quilters are not happy if you make them buy too much fabric, but furious if you haven’t estimated enough. (Photo of cutting instructions from Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine.)

The Times recipe for Caramelized Onion Galette calls for a cup and a third of grated Gruyere. The first time I made it, I dumped all of the cheese into the crust mixture, realizing later 1/3 C. goes on top in the final five minutes of baking. Not a big deal, but that’s why I started copying recipes that became keepers into my own Word documents.

I reorganize the ingredients list to suit myself and revise the step order if it feels illogical. For example, among our favorite go-to entrees is Sheet-Pan Crispy Pork Schnitzel. Fourth on the ingredients list, after olive oil, flour, and eggs, is garlic.

2 teaspoons minced garlic (from about 2 cloves)

No problem—I can chop garlic with my chef’s knife in no time at all. Seventh on the list (after the mayonnaise and the bread crumbs) are the pork chops.

2 (1-inch-thick) boneless pork loin chops (about 1¼ pounds total), halved crosswise and pounded to ⅛-inch thickness

HALVING AND POUNDING IS A STEP, not an ingredient! my instruction-writing brain cried out, but Step 1 for Sheet-Pan Crispy Pork Schnitzel is preheating the oven. (Believe me, after placing flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls, beating the eggs, whisking oil and mayonnaise in a third shallow bowl, and of course halving and pounding, my oven, like me, was plenty hot.

My revision addresses the pork in Step 1. Here’s an excerpt:

1. Slice chops in half crosswise. Place pieces between plastic wrap and pound with mallet to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into serving size pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Mince the garlic and reserve.

3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray.

You’ll have to pay New York Times Cooking to access Kay Chun’s fantastic recipe for pork schnitzel, but it’s worth it. (Photography by David Malosh for The New York Times.)

Younger foodies, I have observed, access their recipes on their laptop, maybe a tablet, or even (horrors!) their smart phone, refreshing their screen and slopping up the surface as they cook.

Not me.

I print my hard copy, punch holes on the left-hand side with my trusty three-hole punch, and organize my recipes according to genre in a three-ring binder, with tabs. When cooking, my instructions are on the countertop, resting on a special, slanted wooden rack designed for easy-reference.

Not my primary binder, but a supplemental one for vacations. Not a NYT recipe, because I know better than that.

I can’t prove it, but I remember frustration during the honeymoon phase of my relationship with NY Times Cooking. I’d hit Print on a dish I wanted to try, and my printer would spit out the pages without the professionally-styled photo that attracted me to the recipe in the first place.

Maybe it was operator error, but I wrote a stern letter. Maybe other subscribers complained, too. Nowadays, Print Options appear this way:

Here’s a link to New York Times Cooking. A subscription is $50 per year,

Publishing Love of Quilting magazine involved professional photographers, stylists for beauty shots of quilts, skilled instruction writers, website maintenance, and all the other costs of producing quality content, so I don’t mind paying .14 cents per day.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.

As fellow Collaborative writer Sarah Scull says, “if you like your news sharp and your commentary sharper, check out the Weekly Roundup, where some of Iowa’s top political voices break down what’s happening in the state and beyond.”

“If you're more interested in arts, culture, food, travel, poetry, music, and all things Iowa,” Sarah says, the Iowa Writers’ Flipside is where stories go to breathe. That’s where you’ll find the heart and soul behind the headlines.”

Quoting Sarah further, “paid subscribers to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative — or to any of its writers — are invited to hang out in our virtual office lounge at noon CST on the last Friday of each month. [Find the link here.]

If you want to keep up with Sarah, subscribe to Piecemaker, artist, quilter, curious human, click here.