essay

Weeks before Ramadan begins, my friends and I talk Ramadan strategy. We obsess over the details in texts and voice notes, sometimes a phone call—though those are trickier with our different time zones. My community is scattered across the…

Eight years ago I tried to cook my way out of another impossible situation. My dad had been diagnosed with cancer and was struggling with chemo-induced nausea. His voracious appetite, once a thing of family lore, had vanished. With naive…

At 25 years old I thought I could teach myself how to ride a bicycle. My first attempt: scooting up and down a dead-end Brooklyn street on a Citi Bike one late August morning. With the exception of a few delivery trucks, the streets were…

On my 25th birthday, I declared a second adolescence. I ate to be a boy again: half a banana for breakfast, a mini bag of Doritos for lunch, one slice of American cheese for dinner. Whenever I felt faint, I’d chew a piece of candy-flavored…

Last summer I returned to my rural Massachusetts hometown on a mission: to make my own natural wine, with “nothing added, nothing taken away.” For months I’d watched friends embrace ambitious new hobbies to keep busy during the pandemic…

Every other week, Bon Appétit associate editor Christina Chaey writes about what she’s cooking right now. Pro tip: If you sign up for the Healthyish newsletter, you’ll get the scoop before everyone else.When I started working on our “What’s…

For most avid home cooks, Julia Turshen needs no introduction. When she’s not in her Hudson Valley kitchen making food, the writer, podcast host, and bestselling author is talking about it. In this essay, slightly adapted from her new (and…

The weekend before the world shut down, I was told to prepare for judgment. It was Friday, March 13. By Monday, New York City schools would close, bars would shutter, theaters would go dark. But on Friday there was relative normalcy…

In Here We Are, artist Martine Thompson explores what it means to care for oneself in a world that doesn’t make it so easy. Up next, a guide to building a joy toolbox to give yourself a midwinter boost. Read on, but don’t forget to check…

You're averaging fewer steps a day than last year.On average, last week's steps were less than the week before.Since the start of the pandemic, the alerts from the Health app on my iPhone have felt more pointed than usual. I know it's…