Katie Meadow

I no longer have veg duty, but when I did, I often made a warm mixed vegetable plate: very simple, vegetables steamed until crunchy-tender and dressed with a basic garlicky, mustardy oil and vinegar or oil and lemon, parsley, etc. For the starchy part I like waxy potatoes. String beans, cauliflower, carrots etc all work well. Roast a bunch of scallions and garnish and you are good to go. I prefer the veggies not mixed, just organized next to each other. That way if people hate cauliflower or something they can avoid it. The bonus is that this can be served warm or room temp.

Yes to the Pane Guttiau, very addictive. They are very salty, in my opinion, but that's part of the attraction. I love salt but I've cut back in the last few years. Anyone watching their salt intake should be careful to read the label before scarfing them down with abandon. I don't leave TJs without them these days, along with my Valrhona, Bulleit Rye and Puffins.

Usually I make Bittman's recipe which is a very traditional simple hummus, but last week I came across a recipe for artichoke hummus and was intrigued. This one called for draining and rinsing jarred marinated chokes and just tossing them into the processor along with the other ingredients. It was good! I suppose you could use as much of the marinating oil as you like if that flavor appeals, or you could probably use plain canned or frozen. I considered using fresh artichokes but once I have taken the trouble to peel, dechoke etc. I would rather sauté them or do something to them that doesn't dilute the flavor. Besides, the great thing about hummus, from my perspective, is that it is super easy and by the time you add lots of lemon and olive oil and garlic using garbanzos from a jar results in almost as good a dip as going to the trouble of cooking dried beans. One thing I find that makes a small difference: using the jarred garbanzos rather than canned. They really taste better, at least to me. Same goes for chokes: I am not fond of canned, and prefer them in a jar. I admit to never having tried frozen. I find that hummus keeps at least several days, but that doing a couple things before serving it helps improve the final result if it has been refrigerated: taste for lemon and possible add more to brighten, take the chill off in the microwave, add a drizzle of oil.

I'm a heavy consumer of the 71% Valrhona that sells at TJ's for about $2.99. Seems like a great chocolate bar for the price.

Slaw, of course--I eat a LOT of coleslaw. But it's also very good in Chinese stir fry with other veggies and in fried rice. Also in Okonomiyaki, which are Japanese Pancakes: http://food52.com/recipes/12352-okonomiyaki

Right! Loulou's is the bomb! Try the Plum Lavender some time, it's really a treat. Also her lime marmalade is great. Definitely a splurge, but at least you will be supporting a very nice enterprise.

Cost and lack of reasonably priced good product drove me and my husband to start making our own marmalade, so I get your frustration. I second June Taylor's jams, but there are also several very good jam makers who sell at various east bay farmers markets that you might want to try, although this time of year apricot may not be an option. And of course you will pay more for artisanal jam than you will for commercial. There are some really great preserves out there. I'm especially fond of Lulu's Garden jams and marmalade, although I'm not sure which markets she frequent these days. Robert somebody sells his at the Saturday Oakland Lakeshore market. Sorry I can't recall his last name!

It might be worth checking out Golden Gate Donuts and Doughnut Dolly. They are within several blocks of each other on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland. GG is traditional and well liked. DD is completely different--artisanal doughnuts are hand-pumped with filling to order. I'm not a doughnut person, but the doughnuts are fresh and the fillings are exotic; I wanted bergamot lemon cream, but it was seasonal and I just missed it. Over the top and pricey, but a new way of looking at doughnuts. Although maybe the point of doughnuts is that they are the old way.

At my new favorite bar I had something called a Downward Spiral: Rittenhouse rye, amaro ciociaro, framboise and orange bitters. I was worried it might be too sweet with the framboise, but was assured that the framboise was very minimal. It was, and the drink was delicious and in no way sweet. It was served with a twist which I suspect was orange (this bar is very dark!) Actually my drink looked exactly like the drink above. Lacking framboise, perhaps a fine drink could be made by just tossing in a couple of bruised fresh raspberries.

Okay, I am about to embark on a starter version of kimchi for wimps, but right out of the gate I trip over the salting / soaking step. Some recipes call for just salting and layering the napa cabbage and weighing it down. Others call for soaking in salted water weighted down. David Leibovitz has two recipes, one for each method. Also the timing for this initial process seems to vary anywhere from two hours to two days. I am going for what I hope will be a crunchy bright kimchi, not overly fermented. Any thoughts about soaking or not soaking in water?

Must have cracker: La Panzanella Croccantini. The plain original is great for any kind of cheese or spread or pate. With various cheeses and spreads I like to serve a mix of baguette slices and these crackers. If no fresh baguette is available, like it's a holiday or something, these are indispensable. The fennel is great too, but I don't usually snack on crackers if I can help it. I am also very fond of various Italian olive oil puffy crackers, but they are a splurge and dangerous if they are in the house. If I was big on cracker snacking croccantini would get pricey.

I like Manhattan bagels, which can be purchased at their store down on Fourth St. Agree that Noah's and Posh are lacking. I don't eat bagels much any more, but if I did I would check out Beauty's Bagels: http://www.beautysbagelshop.com on Telegraph in Oakland. They are advertised as Montreal style wood fired bagels. No doubt pricey. Check out the list of bagel places in Yelp; it's getting to be a crowded field.

That sounds fantastic. I have had Blvd coffee ale and swooned over it, but can't get any Blvd products here in the bay area. So sad!

I often add some bergamot to orange marmalade. Keep in mind that it is a very intense flavor, and straight bergamot curd might be no one's cup of tea. You might try a lemon or meyer lemon curd and add some bergamot juice to it. A little goes a long way, so start out carefully and if you want your next batch more bergamot-y add judiciously.

Either very few eGers live in Portland, or they want to keep their secrets, or visitors from out of town stay with friends and don't go out much. We had terrific food in Portland, and not expensive food, either. We skipped the tony places like Beast and Little Bird and Genoa, although they all looked appealing, but my feeling is that mid-price and lower priced places in Portland are fantastic value. Maybe this sounds weird, but I found the food more fun and way better priced than here in the bay area, although I don't go out all that much. A surprise snowmageddon stopped us from too much activity in the SW, although we did get over there twice, before it became really crazy. Anyway here's a rundown: Lunch day one: Nong's Khao Man Gai SE store. Chicken and rice very good, bottomless gingery tea cup excellent. Fun, crowded, but we got a seat. My vote for tenderest nicest chicken breast ever. Dinner day one. Not overly hungry, decided on drinks and small plates near our guest house, so opted for the Sapphire Hotel. Lovely cozy place, wonderful waitstaff, great drinks. Although I didn't have either, I appreciate that the names of the drinks are funny without being impossibly stupid, such as "Not Your Real Dad" and "Winter isn't Coming." Both our cocktails were outstanding. Then I had my first taste of Bacon Wrapped Dates. In case you have never had them, Portland seems to be ground zero, and almost every place we went offered them. Pitted date is stuffed with an almond, some type of cheese and wrapped in bacon and either grilled or broiled or something. Sapphire's had blue cheese-but not too much, and rated very high. We also had salmon cakes that were delicious. Best of all was our dessert drink: Fernet Jelinek, straight up. Most interesting and addictive aperitif I ever tasted. This a well stocked bar, with generous pours. They seemed to have about 3 different types of Fernet. Day two. Light breakfast of toast provided by the hotel. Worked up an appetite walking in a circle around the river and ended up at Zell's for lunch. Dutch pancake with hot rhubarb, very nice. But my husband and I are not really big on breakfast foods. Dinner day two: Not too hungry, so we ate small plates at Tasty & Sons. I was practically frostbit so I ordered a hot applejack drink which was fantastic. I had two of them. House bresaola with blood oranges, port pate with fantastic toast, smoked trout with pickles, aioli that comes with a shot of aquavit. Really fun. Dessert was unbelievable: chocolate potato dumplings with creme anglaise, crispy on the outside, dense inside, and big enough so that all we needed was two of them for a total of $3. Day three. Over to the SW. No lunch, just an early dinner at Veritable Quandary. Outstanding food! Bacon wrapped dates pretty much scored a ten, although I really don't have a lot of experience here. They were stuffed with almond and chèvre and grilled so they were dark and very crisp on the outside. Heaven. Another hot drink (by this time I was hopelessly chilled), also very good, something with bourbon. Had the rabbit pate and then split a burger. Best burger I have ever eaten, not that I eat a lot of them. In fact the only ones I've eaten have been high quality meat cooked on our own grill, and that's not typical of how we eat anyway. Day four. Bone chilling cold (16 degrees, wind chill -3) and snow predicted, but my husband insisted on a trip to downtown Portland for museums. The snow was sticking, so we decided we needed to get back over to the east side before rush hour traffic, but it was very slow going. I was dead set on a trip to Jade Pearl teas, so we headed to the NE. Bought some terrific teas, including some mini puerh cakes. They brew you a sample of anything you want to try in unlimited numbers, and they are so very nice. By then it was mid afternoon and we hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we decided to have linner and went back to Tasty & Sons, because they have a very nice bar menu from 2:30-5. Had another great hot drink, can't remember what. The Bacon wrapped dates came in third: no cheese and an addition of maple syrup, so they were a little sweet for my taste. Potatoes braves w/aioli very good, radicchio salad excellent and then we split a burger. Also excellent. For dessert we tried a vanilla panna cotta with caramelized blood orange. Not typically my favorite dessert but sinfully good. Harrowing slow ride back to the SE quadrant since the snow was really falling and we aren't used to driving in it and nor are Portlanders. Day five, our last one. Woke to five inches of snow. Wasn't hungry so I skipped breakfast, had to pack and make our way to the airport for an afternoon flight, so we planned our lunch accordingly. Stopped near the airport and a Viet place called Mekha Noodles. My Pho was great, as good as my favorite place in Oakland. We decided that dessert was in order and we didn't think we would be eating until we got back home, so three snowy blocks and we hunkered down at Annie's doughnuts. Bad but familiar coffee, good plain doughnuts. Would have been very good if they were fresh baked and warm, but by then it was 2pm and almost everyone in Portland tucked away at home, except for a glamorous couple with a mama and baby husky who all looked ready for the Iditarod. Our flight to OAK was cancelled and we spent a total of ten boring hours at the airport and finally managed to get onto the last flight to SFO, also delayed four hours. If I could move all my friends with me, I would go live in Portland. Everyone is super polite and friendly and the food is amazing. The bridges are beautiful, the coffee shops are as numerous as the stars and everyone was blown away by the snow, which never happens. Not only is the food great, but many restaurants don't close down completely between lunch and dinner or at least are open with limited bar menus, which suits my weird habits totally.

My typical chicken stock starts with about 3 or 4 lbs necks and backs (or whatever) and 1 lb of feet. I'd rather get a root canal than clip the nails. And it seems ghoulish to skin them, to say nothing of...wasteful. It's a safe bet that anyone on earth with ancestors who owned chickens comes from people that used chicken feet for something.

Never having heard of this cake, the name alone caused me to do a little research. An alternate spelling "medovnik" turns up at least as many recipes, so if you are looking for fillings there are plenty of options, all of them more complicated than just swiping with either creme fraiche or sour cream. None of the recipes I looked at used creme fraiche; about half used sour cream mixed with other ingredients and half used condensed milk, also mixed with a variety of ingredients. But back to the name. As much as anyone in my family agrees (and at this point there are no old olds left) our name used to be Medovnik. True or not, I couldn't be happier thinking my name means Russian Honey Cake. Far more appealing than "Runs With Sabre," though not quite as funny as "Pass the Samovar." Regardless, the cake looks delicious, and I've got to make a field trip to the city and check out that bakery.

Yes, I know the frustration. Getting unique types of beans as fresh as Rancho Gordo's means limited supply; my daughter gave me some of their Yellow Indian beans for xmas, and I was hooked, but they are sold out. For certain beans they don't carry, or when they are out of my favorites, I order from Purcell Mountain Farms. The selection is huge, and they offer a number of organics as well. They have terrific rattlesnake beans (just about impossible to find anywhere else) and the best dark red kidney beans I ever tasted.

Any new ideas? We will be in Portland 4 nights. I've checked out the above recs and it appears you have the high-end dining covered. I know Portland has a ton of food carts and "cart pods" so suggestions for those are welcome. Also mid-priced restaurants. We will be staying in the SE near Division St), and will also spend some time in the SW/ downtown, maybe the Pearl. Also recs for cozy appealing bars, especially in the SE. Not looking for glitz!

I don't see why you can't sub any protein you favor--altho tofu sounds pretty weird for this soup. Since Caldo Verde is mainly potatoes and kale, you could use chicken; in that case I would probably use chicken broth for the soup. If you are wanting that smoky taste, perhaps cook a smoked turkey wing to make the broth. I like that smoky pork taste in a variety of bean soups but I don't like the fattiness of sausage or some other kinds of pork. What I do is make a ham broth, using smoked ham shanks. My husband loves to pick away at the meat after the stock is made, and I can eliminate all the fat in the stock before using. It makes a terrific pot of beans. Smoked paprika might jazz up a totally vegetarian soup, if that's what you are going for.

I just did this yesterday! (I was avoiding a huge pile of filing.) I started with the "junk" drawer and then found myself moving on to the rest, taking everything out, cleaning the crumbs out of the drawers (!), and putting only about half of the stuff back in. Then I moved on to the cabinets. Each object went through the "Have I used this in the last year?" test, and if it failed, out it went. (Now if I could only force myself to do this with my closet!) Then, "Do I really need three of these? Which is the one (or maybe two - I'm only human) that I actually use?" and out went the extras. Some lucky Value Village shopper in Seattle is going to be very happy soon. K Chuck it if you haven't used it in a year? That's brutal. Unfortunately I have a basement, which is really not a good solution in the long run.

My goal is to simplify and declutter. My cabinets are bursting with too many pots and pans and casserole dishes, too many specialty cooking items. I'll never use an egg poacher insert, since I don't even like poached eggs. I have a very nice pudding steamer but I've used it once and that was 20 years ago. My recipe collection needs weeding. Who am I kidding? I'll never make tempura at home. Or home made doughnuts. My kitchen is big, with lots of great storage space, but it's embarrassing I have so much crap I don't use. As it is every year, my one vow is to learn how to make great tamales (hold the lard.) Hope springs eternal.

Growing up on the upper west side--and around the corner from Barney Greengrass--the lox and bagels on Sunday morning was a no-brainer. As for dinner on Sunday, it was likely the only night my family ate out, and yes, usually it was Chinese. There must be a myriad of reasons for this tradition. First of all there were a million Chinese restaurants within walking distance. And they were open on Sunday. Now most restaurants that close one night a week chose Monday, but I think it was very common in the 50's and 60's for Italian restaurants to close on Sunday. Another reason why Chinese might have been appealing to extended Jewish families is that cheese and dairy was not a major part of the diet, so anyone who ate semi-Kosher would have a wide array of beef and chicken dishes that were dairy free. And if, like my family, you were into pork and shellfish but didn't typically cook them during the week, this was a big opportunity. Plus, all children eat Chicken Sizzling Rice soup, right? Oh, and don't forget the value of sharing: no one gets stuck with a plate of food they don't like, since Chinese food is the equivalent of eating off each other's plates, only much more civilized.

For the record I tried this SF Chron recipe last summer when that article appeared. It is very eggy, and I prefer my popovers less so. I don't know if it would have been better with just 2 eggs instead of 3, but I didn't try it again.

Me, for most stuff that isn't baked goods. My husband makes fantastic bread. My SIL's (husband's side) pies and cakes are supreme. My parents were very limited: my dad made great chopped chicken liver and lox scramble, but nothing else. My mother was pretty hopeless, although she did teach me to spread bone marrow on rye bread. I have no idea where she got the bone marrow, but she must have cooked something. She did make a variety of things no one could even eat but I do give her credit for some likes and dislikes that made a lasting impression: Manhattan clam chowder and HoJo's peppermint ice cream for dessert. My grandmother is remembered (by me only) for her gribenes; if she had any other cooking skills they died with her when I was young. I taught myself to cook during a very strange period during my twenties when I spent a fair amount of time alone.