Katie Meadow

Personally I like a mix of approx 2 eggs to 3/4c milk, with a dash of vanilla or other extract. My experience is that the type of bread you use has a major impact on soaking time, so that is one of the variables that matters. I like to cut my bread about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick. My current favorite bread to use is a sweet rustic batard-like bread. For some reason I find it crisps up on the exterior more readily than challah. The more you soak the bread, and the higher the heat, the more chance of sogginess I think. I saute my slices over a medium to medium-low flame in a modest amount of butter. For some reason I find that challah is prone to curling, thus creating areas that don't brown well. I don't seem to have that problem with a sweet batard, but I have no idea what really causes some breads to stay flat and get evenly crispy and other breads not. Using this type of bread I would say I get about 6 slices of french toast from the amount of custard above. Perhaps the sweet batards I buy don't require as much liquid for absorption as some other breads might.

You might ask your friend what dietary restrictions his surgeon has suggested, if any. You don't want to waste time cooking something your friend shouldn't be eating.

Right you are, and I apologize. I would still be curious to know where this pizza-dipping habit originated, as it's a new one on me. Clearly I don't hang out anywhere that it's practiced.

Is this still a pizza thread? Did I take a wrong turn down to Hades? Who dunks pizza in anything, let alone salad dressing? At first I thought the posters were kidding, but now I'm not so sure. Pizza with ranch, russian or any kind of dressing is one of the weirdest things I can imagine. I'm not a big fan of cold pizza (yes, there are those times in life when it is unavoidable or preferable to nothing at all) but even cold pizza deserves better than dunking. I grew up in New York. I lived in New Mexico for a few years, and then moved to CA. I have never seen or heard of anyone in these three places dunking a slice of pizza. If this means I've lived a sheltered existence I admit I'm glad. Where in America is this custom practiced? And as for eating the middle of the pizza but not the edges, eating only the middle of anything is kinda creepy, whether it be pizza or a sandwich. And wasteful. If you don't appreciate the crust, you must be eating lousy pizza. In which case I'm guessing it isn't so great in the middle, either.

About to make my first visit to Atlanta, and it will be a short one. (In fact it will be my first visit to the Southeast.) The only thing I'm sure of about Atlanta is that it's bigger than I think. We will rent a car for our two night stay, but I don't really want to spend all my time driving around and probably getting lost. I've read over some of the Atlanta threads and I'm guessing the food at Empire State South, JCT or Eugene would please me totally, but the three strikes against them are: price, location and my daughter's contempt for destination dining and consumer excess. We will be staying near Emory, about halfway between the school and downtown Decatur, and I would be fine with some places that are located in East Atlanta/Decatur area. I'm expecting a trip to the Brick Store, since my daughter has become a beer lover recently and has already checked that out, along with some other bars in Decatur. Some places that at least sound promising in the area are: Taqueria del Sol (not that I need to go to Atl for Mexican food), Leon's Full Service, Fox Bros BBQ, Fat Matt's. Any other suggestions for mid price dining or funky neighborhood joints that have good food and fun atmosphere? Local gems? Southern style? Fresh vegetables? Nor do I want to eat Vietnamese or Ethiopian food away from home, but my daughter might appreciate recommendations, as she is missing Berkeley a bit.

EN, fascinating blog, I'm really enjoying it. A question about Oliver's markets: do all three have grills and serve up cooked ribs and corn? I've never been. When we go to Dillon Beach (as we will be this month) we usually take our own food up but use Petaluma for supplemental shopping; by default that means Petaluma market, partly because we can pop in on my SIL, who works two doors down. But Oliver's sounds intriguing, and Cotati isn't too far out of the way. Could you elaborate on the elote preparado? Do you make your own with takeaway grilled corn or does Oliver's do the whole number to go? One more question: do you make your own cajeta or do you buy the stuff in the plastic bottle? If you can get your hands on fresh corn ice cream, cajeta and a bit of salt makes an amazing topping! And of course, happy anniv.

The second interview today, "The Tube Burger," with Michael Specter (after the banana guy) had my husband and me in stitches. Every time Specter opens his mouth to defend the potential upside of growing meat in a test tube he digs his hole a little deeper. By the end of the interview you are utterly convinced that this is an exceptionally bad idea. And Terry asks some of the funniest questions I've ever heard. The description of how to get the baby blob of meat to exercise a muscle on its petri dish is priceless.

Of course it's Italian food, Norm. You are making pizza from traditional ingredients: tomato, flour for a crust, mozz. If I pick up lemongrass, cilantro, little hot red peppers, thai basil and fresh rice noodles I believe I am making a Thai noodle dish. None of the ingredients come from Thailand. Okay, so what's the pizza I made last week? The crust was a basic flour crust. Then went a thin layer of sauce that I made from DOP SM canned imported Italian tomatoes. Over that was a modest amount of good quality cow milk mozz, not imported. The topping was sliced locally grown heirloom tomatoes drained of excessive juice, chunks of fresh Dole pineapple and the finish was a scatter of Thai basil, most likely grown within 50 miles of my house. Given the combination of ingredients (tomato, pineapple and Thai basil) I would say this a sort of Thai pizza. But some might take a quick glance and call it a Hawaiian pizza. The technique was invented in Italy. The ingredients were easily purchased without going too far from home; clearly the canned tomatoes and the pineapple were anything but local and neither was the KA flour. It tasted great. It was pizza. Presumably home cooking is about making yummy food using the best ingredients you can find--given time and budget and location. Surely Italians were growing tomatoes and making pizza before canning was invented, and surely they were making tomato sauce from whatever local tomatoes they grew best, San Marzano or not. I have a friend who is buying locally grown San Marzanos and she is making sauce from them. More power to her if she has the time and enjoys the process. I'm pretty happy with the canned ones. Prices of fresh tomatoes at the farmers' markets around here are anything but a deal; it's possible that her sauce will cost about as much as the sauce I make from the imported DOP. Oh, one more thing. SLK, what is the definition of a trade name? Maybe I don't quite understand what you were saying. Having some first-hand experience with Walla Walla onions, I can tell you that any onion that calls itself a Walla Walla (as some farmers' market vendors in Berkeley call their sweet onions) but which is grown here in northern CA doesn't taste the same as one that comes out the dirt in eastern WA. It may be good and it may be organic, but it isn't a WW onion. And the so-called Vidalia onions that I have bought here in CA don't taste like a fresh WW either. I'm looking forward to trying a real GA Vidalia now that my daughter has moved from WW to Atlanta.

Considering the price of food generally, quality ingredients in particular, the fact that many of us don't have a back yard garden bursting with Italian tomatoes, an average price of about $7 for pizza for two to three people--the bonus being that it's made to order just the way you like it--is a pretty good deal, no? If every home-cooked dinner for two cost that modest amount my food budget would be a lot lower than it is. That pizza oven looks fab, Raoul. Clearly you need to get your own buffalo to really bring down the cost per pie.

We make pizza using KA flour (mostly AP, sometimes a mix of AP and bread flour), a little corn meal, mid-level mozz (not buffalo) and sauce we make at home using San Marzano canned tomatoes. Agreed, those tomatoes are pricey, and the sauce gets cooked down, but I'm guessing that I make enough sauce to do about seven or eight 13-inch pizzas with two 28oz cans. I can't say I figure in the cost of the flour, since flour is just a part of life and we always have it, but a bag of KA flour can make a lot of pizzas. Toppings range from caramelized onions, fresh tomatoes, artichokes, chard, radicchio and yes (go ahead, snicker) pineapple. No meat, we just prefer vegetarian pizza. I'm thinking one large pizza costs us between $6 and $8, depending on toppings. And with only two of us, we end up with a couple of slices left over for lunch the next day.

I'm bumping this up because I've never had much success with frittate and I've not liked most of the ones I've eaten, whether I made them or not. The op presented the question (wow, 10 years ago!) that's always been a stumbling block for me: that is baking vs broiling for the finish. I'm usually turned off by the rubbery quality of frittate. Plus I prefer more stuff and less egg. And I'm not partial to cold eggs, and most people seem to serve these things either room temp or cold, as if there is some tacit understanding that a frittata is the perfect dish for a potluck and benefits from sitting around for a few hours before serving. It's one of those things that I never touch at a potluck. Today I needed to use up some interesting dried pasta that's been sitting around too long because it isn't really enough for two regular portions, a bunch of sweet walla walla onions with a short shelf life, a large bunch of chives, and plenty of eggs. I looked in a variety of books and wasn't too happy with any of the recipes. Then I found Amanda Hesser's pick in her latest NYT doorstop. That doorstop has actually been very useful as a cookbook. In it she has a Lidia recipe for a frittata that includes a new twist. Half the egg gets put in the pan on top of the stove to start it setting, and then the rest gets mixed with the cooked ingredients/veggies etc. and added on top. It continues to cook on top of the stove for a few minutes and then gets placed in the oven to finish. No stirring was involved at any point during cooking. Lidia says 350 degrees and everyone else who does the oven method instead of the broiler says 400. I compromised and set it at 375 and the frittata went in for about 12-15 minutes, until just set, but not golden on the top. I removed it from the oven, flipped it over onto a plate and we ate it hot. It was great. The egg was cooked through but not hard or rubbery, still delicate. I don't know if this extra step is important, or if the oven method is simply better than the broiler, but this was the best frittata I ever ate.

My preferred places to shop in the East Bay are a 20 minute drive from home. We now have one car for the two of us and try to be as efficient as possible. The Berkeley Bowl and the Berkeley Farmers' market are within blocks of each other, so we do that combined shopping once a week. In summer I admit we go to a second farmers' market a different day; the quantity of tomatoes, corn and fresh fruit we consume wouldn't last a week. Besides, ripe tomatoes and peaches and avocados can't sit around for more than a few days before they melt into the counter. I infill as needed for fish or meats, or a change of plans. I'm kind of neurotic about keeping meat in the fridge for any length of time. And there are a couple of specialty shops I go to once a week on average for my cheeses and my ethnic supplies. But it would drive me nuts to shop every day. I've gotten pretty good at long-term menu planning, and even like the challenge of a practically empty fridge for "kitchen sink" night and using up weird left-overs.

Okay, Scotty, being generous and never having met your dad, who otherwise might be quite a sensible person, I'll venture to say that drinking Dr. Pepper that has been thickened by a sludge of white bread and mayo must be an acquired taste.

Without fail I used to request ice cream cake for my birthday. I have no idea where my mother bought it on the upper west side. Never disappointing. Of course I haven't had it in about forty or fifty years.

Mjx, Zoey's is probably the one you remember. I don't know of any other big ice cream parlor on the main drag. It's always busy. One place not worth the hype in Ashland for breakfast: Morning Glory. Waffles were soggy, food uninspired. Popular with theater-goers, it looked like, corny cottage decor. But then, breakfast has to be pretty outstanding for me to be into it. Last month we drove through and had dinner at Thai Pepper, knowing nothing about it. It was late, we needed to eat, and it was crowded. The outdoor space is downstairs by the creek, very pleasant and out of the wind, if there is any. Food was pretty good, a couple of dishes excellent. Cocktails are generous but tend toward the too-sweet and silly.

We made what may be our last visit to WW at the end of July. We were rushed and busy packing up our daughter, so there were not too many opportunities to try new places, and one of our two nights there was a Monday; note that just about everything is closed on Monday in WW. You can, however, go to Jimgermanbar in Waitsburg on Monday night. Last time we did that though Jim and Claire took the day off and the food wasn't as good. For our last celebratory night we went with several of our daughter's friends to the Green Lantern. I'm totally sorry we didn't discover it before. It's a terrific pub, and perfect for a warm evening. They have what is really just a very large back yard with picnic tables, umbrellas and a ping pong table in the middle. The beers on tap are excellent and interesting. And they have a dynamite hard cider. Food was just okay, but the crowd was a great mix of local people, including a couple of business sponsored baseball teams, and there was a rousing game of beer pong going on. Friendly and happy, great send-off.

Check out the WW food thread and the two or three WW wine threads!

Good Umeboshi plums will last for years. How do you tell a good one from a bad one?

I'm sure this is amazing, but it's a lot of work. Might be worth just pouring stout over ice cream first to see what that's like before attempting the following recipe from Alice Medrich. If you omit the ice cream I believe you would have a Stout Egg Cream. STOUT FLOATS WITH COCOA SYRUP Bon Appétit | February 2011 Slightly bitter beer, ice cream, and bittersweet cocoa syrup make for the perfect adult treat. Any leftover syrup will keep in the fridge for up to one month. Yield: Makes 6 servings Cocoa syrup: 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled) 2/3 cup boiling water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Floats: 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur Chocolate ice cream 3 12-ounce bottles or 2 pints (about) chilled stout Special equipment: 6 iced-teaspoons, 6 straws For cocoa syrup: Whisk sugar, cocoa powder, and pinch of salt in small saucepan. Pour 2/3 cup boiling water into heat-resistant measuring cup. Whisk just enough boiling water from cup into cocoa mixture in saucepan to form smooth paste (about 3 tablespoons), then whisk in remaining water. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer syrup 1 1/2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Cover; chill. For floats: Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in medium bowl until peaks form. Cover; chill. Pour 1 tablespoon Kahlúa and 1 tablespoon cocoa syrup into each of six 10-ounce glasses. Place 1 scoop of ice cream in each glass. Add stout, pouring gently down side of tilted glass to prevent too much head from forming. Spoon dollop of whipped cream into each glass. Drizzle with cocoa syrup, place spoon and straw in each, and serve immediately.

Your favorite vanilla ice cream and the best root beer you can buy. I like my ice cream and my root beer not too sweet. I try to find artisanal root beers made with cane sugar and as few preservatives as possible, and I'm pretty used to HD vanilla (not the vanilla bean flavor). Ice cream first, then pour over beer. I'm not a soda drinker, but a root beer float is a gift from the gods.

Generally I don't buy many snack foods, salty or sweet. I do have a fondness for cheetos and Maui sweet onion potato chips, but for the most part I have to curb my salt intake so only eat them as a rare treat. If I want a salty snack I usually make stove-top popcorn, so I can avoid the oversalted processed stuff, and just add sea salt and maybe some grated pecorino to taste. At cocktail hour we go through the Trader Joe's unsalted blistered peanuts at a fair clip, which I also salt to taste. However, my skinny daughter is home for a couple of weeks and she is bringing in a variety of weird packaged products. Among them are pretzel pillow thingies filled with peanut butter. I never would have bought them myself, but they're not half bad; salty but with a sweet kick. Jaz, I see you are in Atlanta, which is where said daughter is heading for grad school at Emory SPH. I may hit you up soon for some recs for cheap ethnic food stops, if you have any favorites in east Atlanta/Decatur. She likes falafel, viet, thai, etc. and will be your typical frugal impoverished student. She also is fond of brew pubs and trivia nights.

I suppose I'm a "too hot" member as well. Really, I always thought that if you put a large hot object in the fridge or freezer it raises the temp inside and then the result is that the fridge has to use more energy to get back down to temp... In cool weather I've not seen a problem with letting stocks sit out overnight, but in warm weather it doesn't seem like a good idea.

My mother liked salt on watermelon and she also paired saltines with chocolate ice cream. So I grew up salting my watermelon. Seems wrong without. My husband and daughter think I'm nuts. I would salt cantaloupe as well, but don't eat that very often.

If you do end up going through Ashland I second New Sammy's. It isn't cheap and you are probably in for a rather slow evening, so be prepared. I had a delicious meal there last year. Check yelp for the nights they are open, and note that if it is the middle of Shakespeare season you need a reservation there. Not sure if you will need one otherwise. And if you happen to be driving through Ashland but it isn't dinner hour, I highly recommend stopping on the main drag at the big ice cream parlor (Zoey's I think) for an espresso shake. Can't be beat on a very hot day.

I too made my first batch of bacon jam! Two days ago I came back from Walla Walla with a precious 10# bag of sweets, so I used two of those to 1 lb bacon. And yes, bourbon. Percy, did you use balsamic vinegar in addition to apple cider vinegar, or just balsamic? My dinner last night included bacon jam & black prince tomato sandwiches on a rustic baguette. Tonight's dinner will be home made pizza topped with caramelized Walla Walla sweets. I should have gotten the 20# bag. They're going fast.