Katie Meadow

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.

Last year I discovered The Aprium--that's 60% apricot and 40% plum. (As opposed to the plumcot, which is 50/50 and the pluot which is 60% plum--as far as I know.) Saturday morning at the Berkeley Farmers' market I bought something I've never seen before: the vendor was calling it a nectaplum. I don't know what the percentage of nectarine to plum is but it was delicious. I grew up thinking the nectarine was a cross between a peach and a plum, but according to Wiki, that's not true. The nectarine is some adaptation of a fuzzless peach. They don't taste like peaches to me, though.

http://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/avocado-varieties Here's another site describing varieties. Will's sells avocados at the Berkeley Farmers Market and other Bay Area venues. For a couple of weeks they had an avocado called a Gillogly, which I had never seen before. It is large, with a very long gourd-like neck. It's fabulous, so if you see one grab it. Here's some info: http://avocadotrees.com/discover.htm Will's classifies avocados as Mexican and Guatemalan styles. The Mexican style is less fatty, and includes the Fuerte, Bacon and Zutano. The Fuertes has always seemed watery to me, but maybe I've never had a good one. The Bacon avocados have good flavor, but they aren't creamy and wouldn't work well for guac, I shouldn't think. I've never seen a Zutano. What they classify as Guatemalan style are the higher fat avocados such as Hass, Gwen, Reed and Pinkerton. I especially love the Gwens, but they are all great.

What can we call this? Last night we made a cocktail of 2 parts gin, 1 part Bonal Gentiane, and a dash of rhubarb bitters. It was delicious. I totally love Bonal. Basically I was trying to make a Martinez, but we don't have maraschino anything. I subbed the rhubarb for angostura, since it's pretty sweet, tastes like cherries to me, and I can't figure out what to do with it anyway. So gimme a name for my drink if it isn't a Martinez.

Steven, you make a great case for simply cutting back on animal protein--at least to start with. Maybe eating it only two or three times a week, max? If a vegetarian diet can make a person feel healthier, as your friends say, then it stands to reason that eating mostly veg will make you feel mostly better. Fewer critters will die to grace your table, and being choosy about sources can at least go some distance toward a more environmentally friendly diet. Your body might adjust over time and start to like it. Cold turkey may not be the best way to change a diet that your body is used to. For me, having strict rules just promotes anxiety. Sometimes I find that just knowing I'm allowed to eat something is enough to make me not crave it.

Steven, I would echo Simon. In your original post you identified health, ethical and environmental reasons as all contributing to your desire to try eating a veg diet, and you promised to elaborate, so I would like to know more about what is compelling you to do something that your body seems to be resisting. For me, I find that cravings for various foods can say a lot about those foods and a lot about what your body really needs. I had to give up certain foods/drinks for a number of years, and discovered that I tolerated and grew not to miss some of them, but others I desperately desired. For instance: chocolate, coffee, red wine, citrus, tomatoes. I discovered that my desire for chocolate and red wine lessened as time went by, but my desire for tomatoes and sour fruits simply skyrocketed, to the point that I would look at my husband's pyramid of grapefruits and burst into tears. I was a vegetarian for a number of years, but when I hit menopause my body clearly wasn't happy with that, and I started eating modest amounts of beef, chicken and fish. When it comes to animal protein I have mostly environmental concerns, and ethical to a certain degree. But I find that my general feeling of health decreases with long periods of no animal protein. When it comes to health, I have definite proof in my cholesterol numbers that eating foods high in animal fat like ice cream, cheese, fatty meats etc have a negative impact. I understand that just as consuming less salt lowers blood pressure in some individuals and not for others, I know there are genetic factors that affect cholesterol levels. That could easily be true when it comes to eating meat and fish. Some of us may need those types of protein more than others. The only way I am comfortable with this is to acknowledge my own health needs, and try to eat environmentally sustainable foods. I'm of the camp that believes animals feel pain (and that includes lobsters) so I know that there are ethical issues which I must sacrifice for health ones. If I were like my two brothers in law, who both eat a strict veg diet which includes mountains of dairy fat and tofu, I might be happy eating no meat, but frankly that doesn't seem like a sensible idea, given my particular issues.

The weather or season is usually not right for this breakfast, so when there is a cold-spell here in July or August (last week) I jump at the chance to have this treat: steel cut oats with a fresh ripe peach as a topper. The last half of the bowl is best: by that time the remaining peaches have settled in and become warm and melty. Nice with plums or pluots, too.

Spoiled, I am. My husband is getting better and better at cocktails, so if I am alone I'm likely to drink something straight up. Like rye, these days. If the weather is really hot I might pour Martini & Rossi Red over ice; it reminds me of my week in Venice.

I always think of green tomatoes as a late fall harvest, when there are still unripe fruits on the vine, but the weather is threatening a frost and you want to salvage them. Faced with that problem, you need to come up with inventive ways of cooking them, since they aren't worth much raw. Hence fried, pickled, green tomato pie, etc. At least that's when we ate green tomatoes when I lived on a farm. But I suppose if you love fried green tomatoes there's no reason not to pick them that way on purpose.