Katie Meadow

What years did you live in Bath? Do you remember a restaurant called "The Hole in the Wall?" Last year there was an obit in the NYT of a woman who worked there for many years. I had never heard of her and did not know she was somewhat of a legend. Anyway she cooked at that restaurant during the time my family was stuck in Bath and we went there several times because it was so good. How my father ever learned about it is a mystery wrapped in a fog. We were stuck in Bath because my brother, twelve or thirteen at the time, had appendicitis and ended up in hospital for a week or more. My memory of Bath is of the otherworldly curved streets, that restaurant which was hidden away behind an small unidentified door, and of playing hearts in the hospital room. It took my brother five minutes to get the game down and I hated it and haven't played since. I was fifteen.

One clown short of a circus. One step short of the attic. And my very fave: one beak short of a lark.

@weinoo, thanks for the pix. My late FIL used to go to Marshall to buy oysters in a jar. In those days, the early eighties, Hog Island was just starting their farm. The Marshall Store was a funky general-store/ shack. When I came on the scene, the oysters-in-a-jar thing pretty much ended; the allure of shucked oysters stuffed into a cloudy jar escaped me entirely.If you wanted fresh oysters you went to the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. Farm, their family business, close by the Store. When Hog Island was up and running it was closer to our beach place (not by much) and I really loved their oysters. In the early days you could sit at a wobbly wooden table, buy oysters, and shuck them yourself. It's not like that any more! I discovered at some point that my young nephews actually loved fresh oysters on the half shell. They would pour hot sauce all over them. I realized that it was pointless to buy oysters when they were around, because they scarfed them up before anyone else got a chance. Plus it didn't occur to them to learn how to shuck them. Why bother, if Aunt Katie was willing to do it? For what seemed like years the Marshall Store was in a prolonged legal battle over parking. I haven't been there in ages.

Cooked oysters, no thanks, no matter how they are cooked. Love my oysters raw. Briny. Small (easier for me to open and appreciate in one bite). A little squirt of lemon, since I don't really know how to make a mignonette. @weinoo's wet martini w/ gin is my idea of a martini. In warm weather I would be happy with a G&T. And I've been known to have a bloody mary with my oysters. Since I live on the west coast I'm more familiar with those. I very much like the oysters from Hog Island, an oyster farm in Tomales Bay. They are just right all the way round. Olympia oysters native to WA are a real treat. They are tiny and delicious and not easy to come by, at least outside of WA state. My least favorite is the Kumamoto; too sweet, milky and well, spermy. I like the brininess of east coast oysters, and really like Malpeques, although I haven't had them in years. Belons. yum, if not too big. I introduced my nephew to raw oysters when I threw myself a 70th birthday party at Dillon Beach, a stone's throw from the Hog Island Co. He was so enamored he shucked and ate the few leftover stragglers for breakfast the next morning. And that was after we polished off the best lime tart on the planet.

I'd try them on your recommendation but I've never seen them around these parts. But why can't you sleep at night? Did they start putting puppy-uppers in them?

Yeah, I just love defrosting. I'm on my way.

@blue_dolphinthe ones I buy are also TJ brand and have the same type of envelope but the graphics are different. They don't say "de Comal" or "flame cooked." None are in my fridge currently or I would be able to tell you what the do say. I don't recall ever seeing any options, but since you are in SoCal maybe the market for them is bigger. Anyway, after living in New Mexico for several years and taking fresh hand-made ones for granted, it took me a while to find local flour tortillas I could accept.

We heat them medium-high on a cast iron comal with no oil.

Speaking of marmalade, this, of course is the season, at least in northern CA when Sevilles are available during February and March. Used to be several dedicated marmalade freaks here. Where are you all? We made five batches this year, which resulted in about 33 half pint jars. We had a deficit last year and had to struggle through December and January without marmalade. Sad! We seem to need at least 2 jars per month for the two of us. David Lebovitz has an interesting post about the difference between meyer lemons and bergamots and the confusion between the two, at least for Americans in Paris. Bergamots have at best a month or two season here in Bay Area stores, and it isn't reliable. They used to be available during the time sevilles were available and we used to add two or three bergamots to each batch of 6 or 7 jars. But these last two years bergamot season has been sketchy. Sometimes they are in the store, other times not. So now we are trying adding meyer lemons instead. One batch used our usual ratio of bergamots to sevilles. But today we made a batch that is 50/50. Seriously you can taste the lemon. Delicious. Some of the lemons came from the market, some from our neighbor's tree. Our neighbor's lemons are extremely floral and delicate. The bergamots we get ate also very floral, but taste very different from meyer lemons, . Meyers still taste like lemons, but bergamots are in a category of their own, at least to my tastebuds.

You bake cookies?

By no stretch do I think of a hot dog burrito with mustardy coleslaw as a nostalgia experience. I think of it as a fusion food that I invented! However, it does work for me without trying to be a proper dog and doesn't set me up for the disappointments of a second rate hot dog since it includes neither cart, papaya nor sauerkraut.

So sad to hear this. With her recollections of Campbell's Scotch Broth, my mother's favorite, she inspired me to make my own from scratch RIP Maggie.

Not a trick! Really just a burrito with the dog, some rice, coleslaw heavy on the mustard, and if I have them, pickled jalapeño or other pickled veg, either inside or on the side, like you would get at any Mexican place worth its salt. I make a really basic pickle, like red onion, carrot, radish, jalapeños if I have fresh ones on hand. I do a similar burrito with grilled fish or shrimp and a slaw with crema, or the equivalent, and no mustard in the slaw.

No, just missing the giant whale, the bird hall and what's left of childhood's end.

I totally agree with everything you are saying! But my mixed up burrito was really good!

Just because I craved a proper cart-grilled NY hot dog does not mean I can get one. The buns suck, as noted above. No time to make sauerkraut, as if I ever would. And yo! Trying hard has never been my idea of grabbing a hot dog. In fact yesterday was the opposite of trying hard. Between sleeping in late as a result of DST and all the NYT puzzles and sections I was far too lazy. But, Mitch, you're so right.

We needed TJ's flour tortillas, which we buy regularly, and we also needed hot dogs. Never before tried their dogs, but my husband googled hot dog reviews and these came up high on the list. They were very good: juicy, not horrendously salty, puffed up nicely on the grill. Also a first, TJ's sweet and hot pickled jalapeños. We were out of pickled at home, so my husband came back with a jar. They are surprisingly hot, hotter than the ones I've made myself. That's good or bad, depending on what you want them for.

And so I did. Instead of a hot dog bun we made burritos, with rice, very mustardy slaw, pickled jalapeños, flour tortillas and, of course, dogs charred on the grill. Always good. Too hard to find decent hot dog buns.

More difficult to zest if you are using a zester or microplane, but easier if you are scraping away the pith from the inside for marmalade and then cutting in fine strips. Once in a while something works in my favor!

I've had delicious meyer lemon marmalade. I make orange marmalade with sevilles and often add either bergamot or a few meyer lemons to the mix for a change of pace. Since meyer lemons are less acidic than regular lemons they may need a similar amount of sugar as sevilles in a marmalade. I I love meyer lemon lemonade and I love a generous squeeze in my iced tea, also lovely on fish. But I think if you making something that calls for lemons in bulk, as in custards, pie or other lemon desserts the sugar level might need adjustment.

Yes!! Now I pretty much need a grilled hot dog tonight. Rain or no rain.

Okay, this is going way out on a limb. Since it might be considered recent memory, which may have more in common with short-term memory, it's possible that I am completely mistaken. Maybe 8 or 10 years ago I was in NY for a visit and remember stopping for a hot dog at a cart on the block of the Museum of Natural History. It was the best hot dog ever, although I'm no expert. But I remember at the time noticing that it was not a dirty water dog, but rather grilled. Are there any carts that grill, now or in the past? Am I crazy? Between the slices and the dogs I'm swamped in primordial ooze. I miss that museum, a lot just now.

I have no idea, but if memory serves, which it doesn't always, it was on or close to the southwest corner of the intersection of Lex and 86th, entrance on 86th. I don't remember ever sitting down to eat my slice, so maybe no tables? Then again, that was a long time ago. Super traditional foldable NY pizza. Good and drippy, minimal options. Wasn't this supposed to be about Chicago Pizza? I went to Uno's once and wasn't impressed.

The planned demise of Papaya King makes me totally sad. I liked it way better than Gray's Papaya, which was much closer to where I grew up on West 86th St. I had no complaints about the hot dog but found the papaya drink distinguishing. On Saturdays, weather permitting, my brother and I spent the day with our dad in Central Park. We would play catch, or rock climb or hang out at the boat pond. Then we would make our way over to the East Side for lunch, which would either be Papaya King on 3rd Avenue or a pizza place on 86th and Lexington which my dad seemed to favor. Then we would take a bus back to the West Side. Weather not permitting we would go bowling on the West Side and and then to a deli for pastrami sandwiches and Cel-ray tonic . It never occurred to me to ask my mother what she did on her day off from us.

Dental issues are the worst. After a 73 year hiatus I've rediscovered cream of wheat cereal. Really good. I must have been two the last time I ate it. Slathered with butter, half n half and, what else....sorghum, my new love. Another good soft treat is home made applesauce cooked with something alcoholic and eaten warm with a glop of butter and anything else that melts and is within arm's reach. In other words sorghum. Feel better soon.