Katie Meadow

Way less meat, more fish. Most meals now are vegetarian or include only small amounts of animal protein. My diet has changed from wheat-centric to rice-entric. Less butter, more olive oil. Almost no cheese. Way more soup. I have a taste now for salads that have fruit in them, and mix up fruits with veggies, such as tomatoes and watermelon or tomatoes and peaches, oranges and fennel, kohlrabi and apple, etc. I no longer can stand broccoli, but I eat a lot more cabbage--cole slaw and also in stir-fry. Less wine, more brown liquor. Some of these changes are for health reasons, but many are just a matter of what tastes good now. No more scones or sweet bread things. Lots more straight dark chocolate. And not for health reasons. The bigger change in my eating habits is that I eat a bigger breakfast than I used to and my husband and I get around to lunch so late that we often don't eat dinner--we just have linner, and then maybe a late cocktail hour with popcorn. Weird? Maybe, but it works.

Thanks for the many suggestions. I will make it again, with some adjustments and increased seasoning. I believe I took the recipe from Sweet Amandine's blog. She does not note that it is too wet, nor does she comment on lack of flavor, but she does note--and I agree-- that it is indeed better after a day or two. We are still eating it. There seems to be endless amounts of it, but of course I think that's because it is less than perfect. She warns that the recipe makes more that will fit into a deep dish 10" pie plate, which I also found to be true. I would say it would easily feed 8, maybe 10, depending upon how central to the meal it will be. I don't know if DL's original recipe calls for a sprinkle of parmesan on the top, but Amandine does. It could be that some added to the puree would help boost flavor as well. I did use a generous grating of nutmeg. Yes, what looks like a crust is a thin layer of egg that forms on the bottom. I'm after a fairly simple vegetarian pie (I have a lot of vegetarian relatives, so I'm always looking for stuff I can feed them) so I wouldn't add pork to it. I suppose I eat lot more chard than I do spinach; the flavor of fresh baby spinach is pretty delicate and might get overwhelmed by meat or smoky flavor, but once the kinks are worked out, it could be a very nice side dish. It is an incredibly lovely color, and does hold its shape well, and appears flexible when it comes to serving temp--always useful.

It isn't that I've never eaten terrible food cooked in a home kitchen--we all have. But this thread is kinda mean. Agreed, it is sad that so many people have never had the opportunity to pick up basic cooking techniques, but frankly I don't think most of the cooking or food shows that have multiplied like mice on the food network or elsewhere are even really trying to help anyone learn anything. You have to assume that those people who are poor cooks and yet still invite friends over are either very brave or really so used to their own cooking that making changes is simply not on the horizon and they are comfortable with what they know. So it goes. You just hope that if you invite them over to your place they enjoy the food and have a good time.

Yep, that's totally the recipe.

Remember Stouffer's Spinach Souffle? Good, right, in its processed and salty way. And then there's the southern classic Spinach Madeleine which was more homemade and easy, because all recipes called for frozen spinach, but not very healthy for those of us trying to limit our butter and cheese. So now I've been trying the David Lebovitz spinach cake recipe that's all over the place; food bloggers must really like it because an awful lot of them have a verbatim or slightly adapted version. It is healthy, and looks beautiful on the plate cut in emerald wedges. I've made it twice now, once from the original and once from an adapted source, and both times found it rather bland and watery. I want to really like this recipe. Does anyone have success with it and love it? I'm going to try one more time, perhaps not use so much of the cooking juices or make sure the spinach is totally dry after washing or add some tasty herbs. Has anyone tried it using chard or other greens? Maybe spinach just has a lot of moisture?

Ah, the arrogance of right handed people! Including my husband. Although secretly he is in awe of us lefties. I rarely have kitchen accidents of any kind and I do all the cooking in the house. My husband can bake bread like nobody's business but his knife skills are pretty bad. Left handed people have a long history of learning to adapt to less than perfect tools and that is a plus when it comes to solving kitchen problems of all kinds. I use left handed scissors, which make a big difference. The single most important left handed utensil I own is a ladle, with the lip on the correct side. A right handed soup ladle is a worthless piece of crap! It occurs to me that my husband, when he dishes up his own portion of soup, has never complained about the ladle, so he earns my admiration for either a brilliant adjustment or being silent in the face of adversity. I don't remember seeing an ambi soup ladle, with two lips instead of one, but they must exist for mixed hand couples. But the worst decision we ever made (he convinced me it was a great idea, and I never imagined how inconvenient it would be) was a right handed FAUCET arrangement. The stem of the faucet was actually left of center at the back. Just think about that for a minute. I was always having to work AROUND the stream of water and my left sleeve was often soaked as a result. Such a great day when we got rid of that thing.

I make fruit and nut bars adapted from the Alice Medrich recipe, using mainly dates, but also a mix of apricots and cherries. I add just a little cocoa powder to the mix, but basically it is a pretty healthy grab-and-go kind of snack--great for air travel or long drives. And best of all, you can slice it up and freeze it in packets and it doesn't seem to suffer at all for being frozen. Am I late to the party? Every restaurant in Portland offers bacon-wrapped dates, some more celestial than others. Pitted dates get stuffed with an almond (marcona in some cases) and a dab of either goat cheese or blue cheese. Then each date gets wrapped in one slice of bacon and either grilled or roasted or broiled in some fashion. Fabulous for a party, very dangerous if you are alone.

Thanks Dan. At my next opportunity I will try another Fernet, but perhaps the subtlety of Jelinek is what keeps me drinking it; you take one more sip just to figure out what it tastes like. There's a mysterious medicinal quality to it, but the menthol isn't dominant, at least to my tongue.

In Portland I had a rye cocktail made with Fernet Jelinek. I liked it so much they gave me a freebie of straight Fernet Jelinek as an after dinner drink. I can see how people could love or hate this stuff. I'm crazy about it, and just located a bottle of FJ here at home. I've never tasted Fernet Branca.....can anyone compare these two Fernets?

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.