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The website says sodium saccharine. I don't drink enough (actually it has been several years) to worry ETA: that would be from Schweppes

Maybe once a year, on a super hot day, an ice cold diet Pepsi calls to me. In the past I've enjoyed tonic water (diet!) with a few drops of A-bitters and a squeeze of lime.

They are only annual in colder zones though they do go bit dormant even here. I've grown them up for sale in gallon pots and they transplnt well.

Farmed trout is surprisingly perhaps one of the most sustainable man-made fisheries http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/groups/trout

I imagine the labeling should denote farm/color added or wild

@ElsieDJust a caution the trout Dejah cooked was beautiful steelhead - the Costco ones I've seen are farm raised white guys and much leaner.

@blue_dolphin I get the Cacique brand and smooch it out on a parchment lined pan and bake at 350 until crumbly and then keep in freezer as a nice add in

@blue_dolphin I like soy chorizo with bens and lentils. Do you prefer a prticular brand? I find some of chipotles en adobo also mix in well.

Like a CSA (community shared agriculture) but you get local fish- jealous

@Darienne Yes much like Kim Severson's writing bout the special cake of her childhood. After honing her palate and writing about food for impressive publications like the New York Times: "My mother used to make a chocolate cake for my birthday that had pieces of broken Hershey bars suspended in whipped cream for frosting. I love that cake, and I have tried to recreate it with fancy-pants chocolate. It's never as good."

Oh goodness, my repressed cake memories are pushing forth! Two birthday cakes of note: - My son's first birthday - I made a chocolate sheet cake with fluffy white icing for the adults and a smaller cake just for the birthday boy with lots of colorful sprinkles and other decorations. We set it in front of him and just let him have at it. Hilarious, messy, joyful moment. - Another son birthday - maybe around age 5. For the neighborhood kid party I made a yellow cake with white frosting and lots of colorful bits. The attendees were all girls slightly older than him because our neighborhood was "Y sparse". It was a backyard affair. I left to get something from kitchen and.....came back to "cake chaos". The oldest ones (a trio of twins and older sibling) went bonkers. They had long blond hair. Getting the canned greasy frosting out of their hair before they went home to their single parent dad was challenging. Fun day though Duncan Hines and canned frosting can be delightful with a side of ice cream

I was gifted some back issues of Sunset magazine an spied these two sites that may be helpful and interesting https://www.dirtygourmet.com/ https://www.sunset.com/travel/outdoor-adventure/backpacking-stove#backpacking-cookset

I unearthed my mom's Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook the other day to find the cake recipe I posted about here https://forums.egullet.org/topic/156715-cake-memories/ It brought back happy memories of my introduction to structured recipes. It is dated 1956. She received it at my sister's baby shower from her co-workers in 1961. It has plenty of room in the binder to let you add your own recipe cards and notes. As you can see the index is very detailed. It has tabs starting with meal planning and then categories like appetizers, vegetables, and so forth. Also lots of narrative and "tips" along with conversion charts. I was the kid who knew the origin of Toll House cookies cuz I devoured the book cover to cover repeatedly. Also love the quotes on the inside of front & back cover: "Home is where the heart is" and "Life's riches other rooms adorn, But in a kitchen home is born"

Another good resource here on eG can be found in torakris's foodblogs from Japan as she shows lots of bentos for her kids and spouse as well as typical food presentation https://forums.egullet.org/topic/52858-eg-foodblog-torakris-a-week-of-fun-in-japan/ https://forums.egullet.org/topic/65014-eg-foodblog-torakris-pocky-and-the-geisha/

I've always loved the concept of radishes , butter and bread as extolled in the Provincial Cooking of France Time Life series. However in practice it has fallen short. I did have a wonderful year where I grew them just for the greens, harvested early, and was very happy. Our erratic climate change weather has not enabled a repeat...

So I did make an orange olive oil cake a few hours ago. My baking challenged stepmom was so confused - "What you just make a cake with what is here?". So simple and fragrant and good. Magic. Better if I'd had tangerine zest but one makes do. Some A bitters added a bit and I should have tried some warm spice, but simple was nice.

I listened to Ed Levine's Serious Eats podcast interview today with Maira Kalman and Barbara Scott-Goodman discussing their new book Cake. https://soundcloud.com/user-306003081/special-sauce-artist-and My initial reaction was that though they are interesting people "Cake? - really?". But knowing how I can be dismissive without giving things a chance, I listened and reflected, and realized I had a deep history with cakes though my cultural sweets experience is Austro-Hungarian pastries. I'll share my memories and would love to hear yours. My first significant cake baking experience was at around age 10 when I was driven to make the Enchanted Castle cake from the Betty Crocker Boys & Girls Cookbook for my sister's birthday. Scroll past the bunny salad https://popgoesthepage.princeton.edu/tag/betty-crockers-new-boys-and-girls-cookbook/ I used a box mix and improvised on the decorating but it was essentially as shown. Suprisingly I was not pained when the first cut was made; just delighted that she and others were delighted. The next wow cake was when my mom made a tunnel cake with dark cherry mousse for a dinner party. It seemed magical. This was in th 60's before they were a "thing". (see attached image of recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine found in mom's recipe binder) I'd started baking in general and became the designated cake baker for the sweet my dad took to work for lunch. This was the era of bundt cakes and pudding cakes. I unearthed some of the recipe cards and came upon: the poppy seed cake from the olo can, carrot cake from Blue Ribbon Recipes, apple cake with orange juice, pistachio pudding cake, sauerkraut chocolte cake & mashed potato chocolate cake, Maid Heatter's Royal Viennese Walnut Torte- list goes on One Christmas Austrian friends sent us a Sacher Torte complete in its adorable wooden box from the Hotel Sacher. Anticipation was high; disppointment was deep. Dry/boring! - though I did like the apricot jam under the chocolate glaze. In the 80's a Vietnamese friend introduced me to the less sweet style of Asian cakes with light fruitiness and a whipped cream & crushed fruit filling.. Around that time I also became enamored of a roulade cake flavored with pandan from the big Chinese market (99 Ranch). There was a big "cake lull" until I recently baked an olive oil cake with tangerine zest when the pantry was bare. In fact I think I'll make it again tomorrow

@blue_dolphin I like that turnip dish. Saw some little turnips with lively greens at Farmers Market on Sunday - so think I'll try to replicate. They were those little very white ones that Vivian Howard was touting. Plus I like sweet/sour/savory.....and the perfect egg!

Well it was at least fodder for their later conversation - better than rehashing old episdes of Raymond.....

Stopped briefly at farmers market this morning. A plethora of greens and really good cherries. I got white nectarines, apricots, cherries, lacinto kale, red amaranth, fresh sweet onions with tops, young zuke, tiny super juicy Persian cukes, and a few teeny brussels sprouts.

Yes I think a sort of Middle Eastern mezze table with "Israeli salad", olives, fresh cheeses, good bread, pickly things, and fresh cheeses could be a lovely leisurely summer meal incorporating herby grilled shrimp. Along the lines of what member Shain often posts.

Here in Los Angeles the seafood of the Nayarit region of Mexico has a cult following and there is cheese involved. See for example Jonathan Gold's reviewn of Coni's. http://www.laweekly.com/retaurants/jonathan-gold-reviews-coniseafood-2173283

@Smithy We grew lovage briefly for sale at our Botanic Garden. We gave it the nickname "Bloody Mary plant" as the thick hollow stems add a celery flavor to the drink when used as the sipping straw. I used it in salads and as a finishing herb in dishes that benefit from that celery flavor.

@Shelby Great bench! Oh my Ruffles & onion dip - please tell me it was made with sour cream and Lipton onion soup mix?!?

@Shelby Quite a plot you tend! Your soil looks kinda sandy? At least the weeds are easily pullable? How do you water all that?