Nancy in Pátzcuaro

My deepest sympathy, Smithy. I didn't realize you'd lost your husband. That would definitely put me off cooking, so I understand how your mojo is gone.

Boy, do I sympathize with you, Smithy. I went through something like that earlier this fall. No interest in food (much less cooking), weight loss--the whole deal. I suspect it had something to do with depression, which has never been a problem for me, and after trying some medication that didn't agree with me I decided to just "snap out of it!" Seems to have worked, though the interest in cooking has taken longer to return. I am, however, happy with my new weight. (Gives me a chance to buy new clothes!) My spouse keeps bugging me to eat more because he doesn't want me to lose more weight, but I think that won't be a problem since I'm eating more normally (i.e., meals rather than snacking). I've also become interested in sourdough, both the bread and all the wonderful things you can make from the discard. Tortillas, English muffins, crumpets, crackers, pancakes (the best)--I'm having a grand old time. So there's that, at least. I'm confident the rest will return, eventually.

We're looking at that but for other reasons--we want to use a heat pump for our badly-installed in-floor heat. But getting rid of the CFE bills would be the cherry on top.

My new LG gas stove has a central burner like that. I don't think it's measurably higher than the others, but it has 2 rings for flames. If you turn on both of them it sounds like a jet engine, so I rarely turn it all the way up. I used it for wok cooking and for quickly heating my canning kettle. Supposedly it can be used with a comal but I prefer putting that on 2 burners for more even heating. By the way, all the talk about eliminating gas stoves will work only in the US and other countries with relatively low electrical rates. Electricity is much too expensive in Mexico for anything electric--portable heaters, stoves--so everyone uses gas (or wood) for cooking. It's a 3-rate system: the lowest usage gets the lowest rate, much of which is government subsidized, and at the upper rate it's eye-wateringly high. And if you dip into the highest rate in one month you're stuck with that rate for 12 months regardless of whether your normal usage is lower. We spend a lot of time turning off lights even though we've converted to LEDs.

Found them! Good old King Arthur--https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/golden-raisin-biscuit-cookies-recipe Now, of course, in lieu of buying them I'll have to make them myself.

Reading this topic, I was reminded of an old fave of mine. I think they were called raisin bars or wafers or something like that. Thin, with raisin puree (?) between two thin layers of cookie. I haven't had one in decades but now I want one.

When we bought our house 13 years ago, I was delighted to find 2 tall cabinets (95cm x 32cm) with removable glass shelves on either side of the stove. The shelves are 2 jars deep, which makes it easy to find what I need. (Would someone please give a medal to the person who realized that square jars are better than round ones!) Baking items and larger jars for things like caraway seeds are stored in one cabinet and savory herbs, etc., are in the other. The doors keep out light, but probably it is a little warmer than desirable because of the location near the stove. The only problem was that whoever drilled the holes for the pegs that hold the shelves drilled them just a teensy bit too big. So once I decided on the spacing, we glued them in place. I buy much of my herbs and spices from Penzeys, of course, but locally there's a bulk store in nearby Morelia that has an impressive amount of herbs/spices. Unfortunately they only sell them in 100gr. amounts. So the overflow goes into the freezer. I'm still working my way through the thyme--just hope it doesn't get lost in the freezer. I grow my own basil so that's one I don't have to buy.

Long ago I bought a Kamerstein digital scale (n Costco, I think) on a whim and then discovered just how useful it is. Takes a standard 9-volt battery, is compact (fits in a drawer), has all the right functions, measures to 0.1 grams (pounds, ounces, kilograms and grams), and is of course indispensable when baking. I also use it for a lot of other purposes, such as when a recipe calls for 8 oz. of pasta, but the bag/box contains 16 oz. I never imagined, in those old days making cookies, that I would be annoyed when the recipe is in volume measurements instead of weight. How long will it take before the people who write and publish these recipes finally consider using both volume and weight measurements? More and more do, I admit, but it's not universal.

You would think that all tacos are the same. Well, turns out there are mediocre tacos out there. Kudos to these guys for making a great taco, and how nice it was for them to be recognized. We all have our favorite taquerias. My personal favorite is tacos al pastor (pork).

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I am grateful that my procedure went smoothly and that I was able to leave the hospital on schedule. Now it remains to me to do the work of rehab, including doing something for my back so that I can resume my normal life. If that's the only thing I have to do to fully recover, I will feel doubly blessed.

Just returned from a cardiac ablation in Guadalajara at a quite nice hospital. Nursing and support staff were excellent--the food less so. The best was the dinner on the night I was admitted before I had to fast for the surgery. 3 nice meatballs with lots of vegetables in a tasty broth. In Mexico they're called "albondigas," and they're my husband's favorite meal. Some sort of unidentifiable juice, the requisite jello, some fresh fruit and a cookie. The rest of the meals went downhill, and pretty rapidly, after that. The low point was 2 halved zucchinis filled with unseasoned ground meat and then topped with melted cheese. I took a couple of bites and couldn't eat the rest. Red rice (which I dislike) and jello (of course) and chopped apple, with horchata to drink. Not sure why white rice is so often served since it tends to stop you up. And the bed killed my back. I'm still recovering from that horrid mattress. And then there was the interminable delay to check out. Our insurance evidently went through the bill with tweezers to pluck out the most minor expense. I was really glad to get home, though it was a 4-hour drive.

I was just about to start a topic called "Where's Smithy?" I'm sorry your spouse ended up in the hospital but I'm happy he's on the mend. Having just had a couple of nights in a hospital, and will have another one coming up, I can vouch for the quality (or lack of same) of hospital food. Calling it boring and tasteless is generous. I don't know how they expect people to get better when they are confronted with such terrible food. (Many years ago my mom was in a Seventh Day Adventist hospital in Boulder, CO, and complained that there was no meat on the menu. I've subsequently heard that their food was highly regarded as being delicious. Vegetarian, of course.) Will you have to delay your usual time of return? Hope it's not too long and that the weather in your neck of the woods is pleasant, and warm enough! It sure has been a weird winter, weather-wise. In any case, safe travels whenever you pack up and head north.

Crosby Stills Nash and Young on the Pandora station. Sometimes Creedence. Or Lila Downs for an education in the great Mexican women singers. Chavela Vargas, anyone?

Our local chile, chile peron, is reliably hot but probably not available in your area. It's yellow, sometimes bright red, with black seeds. Those of us in the know make sure to exclude the central veins, which is the hottest part. Another name is chile manzana, apple chile, because that's kinda what it looks like--round and squat. It's popular among thrill seekers to drink mezcal from a hollowed chile peron (seeds and central vein removed) for a real kick. Often it's something that one does only once, unwilling to repeat the experience. For the most part we use serranos because they're reliably hot, but we use chiles peron for guacamole. I've never found poblanos to be mild and/or tasteless. I use them routinely for chiles rellenos or other applications like a poblano-cheese-egg breakfast dish I often make.

Eat shaggy mane mushrooms quickly--they "autodigest" which means they almost immediately begin to turn black and drippy. Hence the name "inky cap." The ones Luizhou posted look very fresh indeed. But I still don't care for them because they make my throat itch and close up, plus they're not the tastiest mushroom in the forest. IMO.