Katie Meadow

Maybe flour tortillas are more forgiving. Maybe corn tortillas need to be eaten hot off the press!

@Smithy, I wondered where you were. So sorry to hear about your darling. Hope he is recovering, and that you have a safe trip home. When I was in the hospital in February with a broken hip I really resisted going into rehab and was allowed to go home after I proved I could grope my way up stairs and reassured them that my husband was up to the task. If I had suspected rehab had edible food I might have reconsidered. But the hospital food was so dreadful I assumed rehab would be the same. As it is, my husband has made more progress learning to cook in the last couple of months than he has in 40 or so years of living with me. It's so very humbling to be incapacitated.and to rely on someone else to do everything for you. Wish him well. And kudos to you. Being a caretaker is one crazy job.

Update on my NM chiles. The mysterious bag of peppers labeled Anaheim made it back to CA in excellent health. They don't look like CA anaheims, although I don't think I've bought any anaheims here for decades. The were meaty, dark green and flat like a poblano, but longer and less triangular. We roasted them on the grill, peeled them, etc. Generally they were mild but a couple of them had more heat. The flavor is nice. I froze them in small bags. I think the best benefits will be gained by mixing them with the frozen very hot Hatch chile. My plans for the next week include making a green chile stew: pork shoulder, potatoes, light chicken broth and chiles to taste. Very traditional. If only I had some fresh warm sopaipillas and some pueblo honey to go with. Note to @Shel_B: Our Airbnb was in Velarde, north of Santa Fe. The Ohkay Owingeh pueblo is just down the road. Our host gave us a jar of Ohkay raw honey from the pueblo called RZ's Bees. It was thick and delicious. That's local honey for you. .

For a while we tried making corn tortillas. The presses are inexpensive, so it's worth the experiment. I too have not found a source for good ones. Even making them ourselves, the best ones used fresh masa from a Mexican market rather than the powdered Masa Marina that's easy to come by. So more often we make hybrid fish burritos, since I can get packaged flour tortillas that are pretty good. The topping is pretty much standard: a slaw of regular cabbage with the addition of cilantro and lime juice and my version of crema, which consists of creme fraiche mixed with a little Siggi's yogurt. We used to have a large Mexican supermercado that made their own crema and you could opt for salty or plain. For heat sometimes if I'm lazy I just use Tapatia in it or on the side, but in summer when there are good tomatoes I make a simple fresh salsa for a topping. In New Orleans I was blown away by the Cajun-Viet crossovers. So for my fish or shrimp burritos I sometimes use a hot cajun blackening seasoning before frying. Or if I'm feeling more like Mexican I marinate the fish in achiote paste before sautéing in butter or oil. I like deep fried fish but I'm too lazy to bother, and now I'm happy with my version.

You and @blue_dolphin make the most complex and healthy breakfasts I could ever imagine. I never cease to be amazed. Most of my breakfasts are just toast, buttered, often with our marmalade. If it weren't for my husband that would be it, with maybe some fruit. But he makes great pancakes and great biscuits and great bread, But now I'm back from NM and the frozen green chile we brought back actually managed to stay frozen. It's a pint container, certified Hatch chile and nothing else in the ingredients. And it's hot! So breakfasts have been scrambled eggs with green chile. God, I miss NM. It was so beautiful.

Thanks, @Shel_B for that. I grew up on the upper west side and my parents never ventured any further for Chinese food, so Tang is unknown to me. But the recipe sounds strange, to mix peanut butter with sesame paste. I've always had one or the other: sesame noodles or noodles with peanut sauce. Regular old American peanut butter shows up in all sorts of ersatz recipes for Americanized Chinese noodle dishes. And they never specify using natural peanut butter, so I have always assumed that people used Jif or Skippy, which have lots of sugar. Maybe @liuzhou has something to say about the use of peanut butter in Chinese food. There's a man who is never at a loss for words!

If you like spicy peanut noodles you should try using Jade All Natural Sichuan Peanut Sauce. It's delicious! I make peanut noodles with it and also use it in stir-fry with chicken. It is indeed spicy. You can pick it up at the Bowl.

We're on the road home. Today is our 37th anniversary. For lunch we stopped in Seligman AZ. Little did I know there's a stretch of road leading off the main highway that is dedicated to preserving some of the places or at least the vibe of old Route 66, parts of which run parallel to I 40. We ate at The Roadkill Cafe/OK Saloon. Another discovery: Arizona isn't noted for rest stops, so really the idea was to order something small and use the bathroom. But it was quirky and everyone was so nice we decided to have an early lunch. My husband very much liked his burger (we rarely eat beef) and for a celebratory dessert we had Key Lime Pie. There was a mile high of whipped cream on top, which I scraped off most of, and wonder of wonders the pie itself was excellent. And I'm a harsh critic when it comes to pie. There was a dazzling round glass tower displaying the pies, and there were at least ten different kinds. So, a great anniversary lunch. Oh, and of course the motto of the Roadkill Cafe is "You kill it we grill it." There was an elk burger on the menu (and the menu itself is a hilarious work of literature) but we passed on that.

Yeah. I grew up with hot green chiles from Hatch, NY.

The Chinese grocery store one is kinda cute. I could see losing that little detachable thing in short order. I agree that garlic presses are very annoying. Sometimes I just use the box grater instead. That's annoying too, but easier to clean.

Time to eat humble pie, but not chile rellenos casserole. So after eating possibly the worst chile rellenos ever in Texas--the batter was more like fried chicken--and then testing chile rellenos in New Mexico at every opportunity I've learned a few things. For a splurge night we stayed in the famous hotel in Marfa, where the cast of "Giant" stayed. It's lovely, built in the thirties, beautiful tile floors, etc. They have restaurant and bar. The bar snacks were excellent. Then came the terrible chile rellenos. Texas, sit down. In Las Cruces I had rellenos at a little place called El Jacalito. Very nice, good red sauce, hot chile, light batter. When I asked what kind of chile they used he said it was Anaheim. No CA anaheim chile tastes even remotely like that. the second NM try was better, but not fantastic, and I didn't ask what the chiles were. In Taos, in a lovely outdoor patio of La Cueva Cafe I ordered them again. My husband agreed these were the best of all the ones we tasted. The waiter said they were Hatch chiles. They were not like the Hatch chiles of my NM youth. These were sturdier and hot but not blisteringly so. He agreed with me that Hatch chiles seem milder than they used to be. I know the Hatch Valley is growing Big Jims, which are mild. Maybe the plants are getting hybridized? We went to a couple of grocery stores. There were no poblanos anywhere, but there was a big of very fresh looking chiles labeled anaheim, although the market said they couldn't swear to that. We bough a bagful to take home. At another grocery store we found pint containers of Hatch chiles, roasted and frozen. At our last Airbnb we cooked up scrambled eggs with some of those. They were quite hot and tasty. So go figure. Mystery of mysteries.

After using Le Creuset cookware for fifty years all I can say is that it doesn't stay pristine white, the way it looks on cooking shows. It definitely stains over time. Unlike seasoned cast iron, which can be handed down to the next generation, enamel coated cast iron gets pretty ugly after years of constant use. We have a couple of old darkened ones that are now dedicated for bread baking or marmalade. Over the years I have bought cheaper brands than Le Creuset and find them adequate for many years use. A 5.5 qt. capacity Le Creuset does make a wonderful gift, though! Over the years I've found this size to be the most useful of all. I don't really think that enamel coated cast iron that's dark or stained cooks any differently than perfect looking ones. Loaf pans and cookie sheets are another story. Dark cooks faster that light, but I think that's more related to the material than to darkness caused by use.

Definitions of grits vs polenta are ofter murky or confusing, or just wrong. I'm still not totally clear. Some say that grits are made from dent corn while polenta is made from flint corn. In my experience polenta is typically made from yellow corn and is usually a fine grind, making it smoother. Corn for grits can be white or yellow and is usually a coarser grind, giving the dish a more toothy bite. White grits are a little more delicate in taste, I think. That said I prefer the white, but my husband prefers the yellow. Actually I love them both. Get grits milled fresh as possible; my source is Marsh Hen Mill, on Edista Island on the low country. The couple who owns it inherited or acquired an old mill and ship quickly. You could certainly buy traditionally coarser grits and grind them further if you prefer a fine grind. My unverified thought is that polenta from Italy has been longer on the shelf. I wouldn't hesitate to use grits in place of an Italian dish that calls for polenta, but that's really because grits is what I stock at home. Can be kept frozen. I buy several bags and keep one in the fridge, but I don't think it hurts to be used straight from the freezer.

Another vote for Marsh Hen Mill (aka Geechie Boy) grits. Both yellow and white are equally good; the white is a little more delicate in taste. Here's how I make my grits, and I have no idea where I got the recipe from, although I know I've tweaked it. Bring 4.5 cups of water to a boil. Add a big pat of butter and a tsp or salt. Then incorporate one cup of grits, gradually, letting it sift through your fingers. Stir well and cook very low for about fifteen minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't clump or stick to the bottom. Heat up a. cup of milk meanwhile. After the first fifteen minutes add 1/2 cup of the milk. Continue to cook, stirring, on very low heat, ten minutes. Then add the rest of the milk and continue cooking very slowly about 20 or 25 minutes, stirring, especially toward the end.. When done add in a knob of butter and some dairy of your choice. I like to add a dollop of creme fraiche. For cheesy grits add Oaxaca or cheddar or cheese of your choice, amount also to taste. Eat it right away, adding more butter and salt as desired. Or pour into a mold so the grits are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick and smooth the surface best as you can. This will keep refrigerated and can then be cut into slabs and sautéed in oil, butter or whatever you like.

Yes, the last post was over four years ago. Chile Rellenos is one of my favorite foods, BUT it isn't an easy dish to make well. Until this past week the only place I ever had them was New Mexico; when they were good they were great. But here I am in southern Texas. I've never been to Texas before and really have no idea what Tex-Mex food is really like when it's good. Sadly all the so-called Mexican restaurants in Texas have been mediocre or worse, whether inexpensive or pricey, such as we had at the fancy hotel in Marfa. The batter was practically a half inch thick, crunchy, with rubbery cheese. The inexpensive one was like wet cardboard, drowned in a red sauce that tasted like it came out of a can. Every meal we have had that might be considered Tex-Mex has been bland at best. What passes for salsa tastes like Pace's or something else out of a jar. Nothing has any heat. Have we just been unlucky? I've had great Mexican food in Mexico, New Mexico, southern CA and Tucson. But Texas has been a mystery to me all my life. Now that I've been in one small corner of it, I'm still clueless.

Charge extra for looking under the bed.

What kind of pressure cooker takes up more than 2000 sq feet?

Try it before you decide to open that tin of beluga caviar.

I buy scallions, garlic and chives every shopping trip. I've only had ramps once, but I would buy them routinely if they were available. Of course here in CA they don't exist, seasonally or otherwise. There's another seasonal treat you have in the northeast: fresh apple cider and apple cider doughnuts.

Road food is always iffy. But here's a shoutout to a tiny hole in the wall in Douglas AZ called El Rinconcito del Sabor. Lovely people and very good huevos rancheros with perfect fried eggs. We were the only customers except for a group of eight older men who meet there every Friday morning. I wanted iced tea and they had no black tea, but offered me an iced ginger tea that was really unusual and very good. Tortillas all made in house. Red sauce and green sauce in large unmarked bottles on the table: both very very hot and tasty. Also the best refried beans I've ever eaten. Mostly I'm not a fan, but these were smooth and almost soupy and delicious. I rarely seek out doughnuts, but we left Borrego Springs early for a long day of driving and didn't want to dawdle. We stopped at Donut Avenue in Brawley CA. Best unglazed buttermilk I've ever had! You never know.

Yes, the late greatTownes was such an upbeat guy.

I like the cardboard once a year. After all, you wouldn't want to eat charoset and horseradish on a rice cracker, would you? Our friend who hosts the seder always sends us home with xtra matzoh and I make matzoh brei which I do like. Best if it uses egg and onion matzoh, though.

I was never a huge fan of downstairs at Chez P but always had great celebrations upstairs in the cafe. Lunch pizzas are great, and one of my favorite desserts in summer is the fruit sorbets. .Also the seating is so sweet. My most memorable downstairs dinner (not in a good way) was one where the soup course, served in a large graceful bowl, was about 1/8 inch deep. One of those occasions where you say "it wasn't very good and there wasn't enough of it."

No idea why I never went to Brandy Ho's. Did you ever eat at Barbara Tropp's China Moon? That was lovely. I went to camp with her when we were teenagers, and she was always kind and generous.

When the original Hunan opened in SF in 1974 I was living a few blocks up the hill on the edge of Chinatown on Powell St. This little hole in the wall was magical. We just couldn't believe how good it was.