Katie Meadow

The goal of dining with the king was to keep your head at all times....attached.

I kinda think that cake is hideous, but I'm not totally sure. And I wouldn't have done well at Henry's table either, for so many reasons.

The last time we were in Atlanta my daughter asked us to organize her pantry. I have a hard time imagining that anyone who really cook would be happy with someone else doing the organizing, but in the case of my daughter, who is a haphazard cook and super busy with work and toddler twins I figure anything would help. Container store prices are high, I agree. For many dry goods the most efficient way to store them is to just buy canning jars by the dozen, in multiple sizes. Most useful tool? a label-maker. If you don't want to use the metal canning lids (and I don't) you can easily buy colorful plastic screw tops that are made to fit them from Amazon and probably other sources. This is a simple way to get misc messy, leaky bags out of your cabinets.

I have Snacking Cakes but not Bakes. My favorite recipe from that book is the Simple Sesame Cake.I just love it. And it is fabulous toasted the next morning for breakfast. I agree that the Mostly Apple cake was not great. The Coconut lime cake was good, but you have to really love coconut, since the flavor is intense. I made the doughnut cake and it was good but not outstanding. I've tried a lot of doughnut cakes and finally admit that none have been as good as a good donut. The jam swirl cake was meh.

I want a hot apple pie for breakfast. We have no cider and no Tuaca. But I do have Calvados. Maybe just throw some of that or some apple brandy into a cup of coffee and top it with whipped cream, which I also don't have. So maybe just foamed half and half. Seems like a good reason to get out of bed and stop eGulleting.

Me neither. I just assume seed numbers are just the luck of the draw. As for charred skin, when we make babaganouj we cook the eggplants outdoors on the grill until very well charred. If some flakes of blackened smoky skin get into the final mix, so much the better.

From what I can gather the shortage is due to multiple issues. In some states Avian Flu has decimated flocks. Also as the previous poster noted, rules about caged egg hens have tightened in various states. And to make matters worse, Costco had a huge recall due to Salmonella. The disparity in prices throughout the country and even in very specific locations is amazing. Trader Joe's only sells pasture-raised eggs. My local TJ's has NO eggs at all. As for what @Laurentius refers to as an obsession, that strikes me as a bit harsh. Some people rely on eggs more than others (for whatever reasons) , so their concern isn't trivial.

@Smithy, it's Israeli street food, essentially, a great sandwich. Eggplant slices get sautéed in batter as for Eggplant Parm. The slices get layered, warm, into a split pita with a cucumber-tomato chopped salad, a tahini dressing, zhoug (hot green chile sauce) and amba, which is a mango pickle. Also often added to taste: Israeli pickles and chopped hard boiled egg. Yes I make it once in a while but pulling together all the ingredients is a project. So, it's a pita and a PITA. Really delicious, though.

My favorite ways to eat eggplant: eggplant parm, eggplant tempura. eggplant in a sabich sandwich and babaganouj. I really should think about using it in Chinese stir-fries.

We lunched at a friend's house and for apps she served cheeses, walnuts and dried persimmons. She sent us home with several of the persimmons. Her daughter has a Hachiya persimmon tree and our friend dried a bunch of them buy tying them to a string and hanging them inside the house in a sunny window. When dried they are incredibly beautiful. Cut into thin slices they are fantastic; moist, easily sliced. My friend's other daughter is married to a native of Lyon, France and he came up with this method. I'm smitten. This is off-topic, so forgive me. For lunch she served Chicken Marbella! That's the dish we all learned to make from The Silver Palate cookbook. It was often the first grown-up entertainment dish of a generation. And it's having a comeback!

I don't have any instaInt cooker, so I don't have a clue about that. I use an approx 6 qt Creuset start to finish, The top is on with a small crack open for the full simmering time. The thickness of your bean broth will depend on how much liquid you start with. Beans vary as to how much liquid they drink. One option is to cover the beans with an inch or so of liquid to start with and add water as needed. I suppose if you end up with more broth than you like you could simply take the lid off during the last part of cooking. I follow three rules: I soak my beans for several hours, I don't salt until very close to the end, and acidic ingredients such as coffee or tomatoes are added about 2/3 of the way through. Clearly there are a lot of opinions about when to salt. I always cook one full bag of RG beans at a time. The Domingo Rojo beans that I usually use take about 2 - 2.5 hours total.

If you are new to cooking dried beans I suggest practicing with your Le Creuset before you throw more money at equipment. Delicious beans can be easily made in enamel coated cast iron.

As a previously employed proof reader, congrats, that must have been a major job. As for the cookbook itself, well, la di da.

I'm assuming those pork bones from Ranch 99 are not smoked. That looks like a good deal. Just curious, did you happen to see if they had smoked ones? I haven't been there in several years, but now that crab season is open a field trip may be in my near future.

@Shel_B When I was able to get smoked ham shanks I used to routinely make ham broth to freeze in quarts. I would use that broth to cook my beans in. The shanks were not very fatty and they had a lot of meat on them. Then Berkeley Bowl stopped carrying the shanks. After I discovered smoked pork necks at Waylon's I simplified my life. After boiling the beans for the requisite ten minutes (as per RG) I drop in a couple of the necks, whatever spices and herbs I chose and then simmer the pot until the beans are done. My bean of choice so far has been Domingo Rojo for a southern red beans and rice meal, and also when I make a New Mexico style pot of beans.