Cake

A Double-Dip Worthy Weekday Lunch

June  6, 2013

Every week we take a peek inside the lunches of the luckiest kids in Brooklyn. Read on, suppress your jealousy, and get a little brown bag inspiration.


A perfectly dip-friendly lunch, with an artistic touch by Addie, Amanda's daughter. 

Kids love dipping things and I need to work on my dip-based lunches. Tara O'Brady came to the rescue with her addictive buttermilk ranch dressing. I poured some into containers, and then filled larger containers with sliced Israeli cucumbers, radishes, pea shoots, and asparagus for dipping, and a few slices of Serrano ham for eating however my kids want to. Over the weekend, I baked the Sunday Night Cake from Baked Explorations -- a cinnamon-scented sour cream cake with chocolate icing. That went in, too. 

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Amanda Hesser

Written by: Amanda Hesser

Before starting Food52 with Merrill, I was a food writer and editor at the New York Times. I've written several books, including "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook." I played myself in "Julie & Julia" -- hope you didn't blink, or you may have missed the scene! I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Tad, and twins, Walker and Addison.

11 Comments

jane.colton3 June 10, 2013
Even though my children have long-since left home and I no longer pack lunches- I love this feature! I wish I had been so creative when I had the opportunity and I would gladly eat any of these lunches myself- Thanks for the great ideas!
 
Amanda H. June 10, 2013
Thanks so much!
 
omarz June 8, 2013
it wouldn't work if I used Palestinian cucumbers?
 
Amanda H. June 8, 2013
You can use any kind of cucumber.
 
omarz June 8, 2013
ok so why do you feel compelled to mention the nationality of the vegetable?
 
Amanda H. June 8, 2013
Because this is how it is often labeled in grocery stores. I believe it's also sometimes called a Persian cucumber. Similarly the long hothouse cucumbers are also called English cucumbers. And there's a type of kale that goes by name Russian red kale.
 
Krissy C. June 6, 2013
Thank you for sharing these, it takes me back to opening up my lunch bag every day when I was a little girl to discover what wonderful thing my mom made just for me. No matter how old I get I still miss those perfectly imperfect (leftover filled!) delicious lunches.
 
Amanda H. June 6, 2013
How nice -- I hope my kids feel the same way when they grow up!
 
Yessica August 28, 2013
Krissy Cipolla...you just made me tear up an remember how incredibly creative my Mom was and had to be with our lunch boxes. Thank you. I am calling her tonight to thank her :)
 
ReneeL June 6, 2013
Amanda, I think I'd like to pack this lunch for myself! What kind of containers are those?
 
Amanda H. June 6, 2013
They're called WeanGreen: http://www.amazon.com/Wean-Green-Garden-Lunch-Containers/dp/B005OK1H8K