Katie Meadow

I wish I liked bell peppers. Pepperonata sounds so good slopped on bread. But I just don't. I love long hot chile peppers. I love various kinds of pickled peppers. Once upon a time when I was younger I think I liked bell peppers-- like on pizza, or grilled as a sausage topper or in ratatouille. But now, without reason, they don't appeal. I make one exception, and that is when I cook up a big pot of red beans and rice. One green bell goes into the trinity or it seems like heresy. And after two hours or more of cooking I really can't distinguish the flavor of the GBP.

Yes, I can see that. It doesn't appeal to me, though. I rarely eat beef and I like my oysters small and delicate, raw on the half shell. I've never really liked grilled oysters or oyster chowder or oyster po'boys or hangtown fry. For me the brine is half the pleasure. But I do understand how one might be inclined to throw a large stray oyster into a pot of stew rather than waste it. And I assume you might develop a taste for it if it was common in your neck of the woods.

One more rabbit hole for me! My mother, who was, to put it mildly, not much of a cook, did have a thing for bone marrow. The circumstances under which she would actually have bone marrow at home are murky, but once in a while she would share. We're talking beef bone marrow. I have no idea if she roasted the bones or if she had a few marrow bones in some soup that she scraped out. Anyway, her preferred treat was hot bone marrow spread on fresh rye bread, lightly salted. Extremely delicious. After a brief search I discover that the Germans are famous for bone marrow dumplings. These would be dumplings that are more like matzo balls in my mind. You might mix challah or soft bread with briefly sautéed bone marrow, form it into dumplings, boil them, then pour chicken soup or beef broth over them. Sounds. yummy. But now, @liuzhou, I'm wondering if the Chinese ever make soup dumplings or noodle dumplings stuffed with some bone marrow mix? Do they ever? From what you say it would be pork marrow. I would do it with beef marrow, which I prefer. I hardly ever eat beef anymore, but I will say this would tempt me. I can easily imagine wontons stuffed with a dab of marrow, vi with some version of vinegary hot chile sauce. @Duvel don't hesitate to weigh in on MARKKLÖSSCHENSUPPE!

I would agree that sauce oysters must be oysters that you wouldn't want to eat otherwise, big ones most likely, like the biggest sized quahogs used for chowder. I still don't understand why you would want oysters in a stewed lamb and lamb kidney dish though. But in my dotage my imagination isn't what it used to be, nor are my tastebuds as inclusive.

I already know far more than I did ten minutes ago.

I too dislike bell peppers, but if I'm making something like red beans and rice, and the beans have to cook for two hours or more after the trinity has been sautéed, I wouldn't have a clue what happened to the green bell pepper. I assume it's done its job contributing to the flavor of the final dish. Any situation in which the green bells retains their shape and distinct flavor I'd rather avoid them entirely.

Okay, no purchases lately. Our liquor cabinet looks increasingly like a cabinet of curiosities. My tastes have simplified. But I do have a question for those of you who frequent liquor stores and are into making cocktails with varieties of interesting ingredients. There's a product called Tippleman's Burnt Sugar Syrup. I had one with no idea where it came from and, sadly, it's all used up. I had no idea it was something one might use as a cocktail mixer. I have been using it to make delicious sautéed apples, totally non-alcoholic. So I'm curious, is this something readily found in well stocked liquor stores? From going down a rabbit hole on line I'm learning that a bottle of this syrup can be had at half the price that Amazon charges, if you know where to look.

Fabulous fabulous fabulous! I want dumplings AND one of those black and white stripy jobs that I could repurpose as loungewear after the celebration. So great!

That's why oxtails are nice too for long cooking: great flavor stock, tender meat.

I'm not planning to eat haggis any time soon, and possibly never. If I find myself in Scotland I would most likely stick to drinking scotch and eating smoked salmon and whatever seafood was handy. It strikes me as very weird though that haggis would have any beef, rather than lamb. And also, as a complete no-nothing, do you eat the stomach that haggis is packed in or just the stuffing?

Thumbs up, fingers crossed!

My husband is the only person I know who is fine with fake lime flavor. Green lifesavers, probably jello, although jello isn't something we ever buy. He would happily eat green jello on a plane or in a hospital. I think he sees these things as "free," which of course is absurd.

@weinoo, how do the Matiz clams compare to the Snow BB clams? I've made your white clams recipe a couple of times with the Snow's. No cockles, though.

Those poor minks can't win for losing.

Okay, now I'm curious. I know carrot cake (and often other root vegetable and zucchini cakes) almost always call for oil rather than butter. Is there a reason? Is it moisture? Fresh carrots have plenty of moisture themselves. I'm a very amateur baker, so I usually just follow the instructions when it comes to oil vs butter. I've seen a few chocolate cake recipes that also use oil, but never was tempted to make one. I don't eat enough cake to worry about the health benefits, but I admit to being pretty generous with butter in general. I've probably eaten my weight in butter ten times over in my life on toast alone. Not that I want to do the math.

Not unlike my most recent discovery. The hood over our range/oven has four lights, which I need lately as my sight in dark corners isn't what it used to be. After several compromised years of wishing the lights were brighter I finally asked my husband if the bulbs could be changed to provide more wattage. He informed me that the hood has three stops for the lights and I was only pushing the button for the the lowest one. We've had this range and hood for over thirty five years. Who knew? Clearly my husband doesn't need more light.

I love pork neck bones. I throw one or two into chicken stock. What I love even more are smoked pork neck bones. They are a great addition to smoked ham shanks for making a ham stock. I have found two sources for smoked neck bones and they are by no means equal. One source is a under smoked and bland. The other, a small local butcher, has fantastic very smoky and meaty ones. The meat you can pick off is more delicious than the meat from either smoked hocks or shanks.

My husband, who has great eyesight for teeny things, spent his working life as a book designer and newspaper designer. He looked at it and agreed that the type for the recipes seemed to be black, but not a true black. I don't know what that means, but he agreed that for a cookbook the design lacked common sense.

Update and some comments on Yossy Arefi's Snacking Cakes. Last week I found the recipe for the Simple Sesame Loaf from the book somewhere on line. It was delicious; good warmed, good toasted. At first I was amazed at how strong the tahini/sesame flavor was, but the more I ate the more I loved it. That was additional incentive to order the book. I just received my copy. So many of the recipes sound great, but I have one big criticism: the book is poorly designed. The type is tiny and pale, in addition to being a thin font. The remarks preceding the recipes are even paler. Right away I noticed some repeated paragraphs. Also the binding could have been upgraded to something that was more likely to stay flat, although that's a common problem with cookbooks, as it cost money to make a well-bound book. I admit my eyesight isn't what it used to be, but good grief, cookbooks should be easily readable when sitting open on a counter. The design is also space-wasting, so there is room to have upped the size of the type. Okay, hopefully this won't frustrate me so much that I can't make some of the recipes, but doing so will be a chore that could have been predicted by the publisher.

I've always heard that if you are subbing oil for butter, you use about 3/4 the amount. So a recipe calling for 1 cup of butter would be replaced by 3/4 cup of veg oil. Since I usually use whichever a recipe calls for I can't speak from experience, so more research might be warranted.

My trip to London, at least fifteen years ago, resulted in a fistful of candy bars stuffed into my suitcase. I was over the moon at how hilarilous these two were: 'Cranky," which I gave to my favorite sister in law. The plan was to carry a bar around in your purse, and if anyone was having a meltdown you simply held forth the candy bar and said "Cranky?' The other was the infamous Yorkie with the words of caution on the wrapper: "Yorkie: it's not for girls." The maker removed the phrase from the wrappers several years later, but I thought it was a great marketing gimmick. What girl wouldn't buy that? I bought several as gifts. I can't remember anything about the taste, since I only bought them for the wrapper.

Thanks! That' operation is my idea of a dangerous sinkhole.

I really like this pistachio paste, but haven't seen it anywhere except on Amazon. Unfortunately it is currently out of stock, which is very sad for me, since my jar has only a few teaspoons left. I can't attest to cooking with it, since mostly I either put it on toast or just spoon it from the jar and get transported. Very very good. And not cheap, of course. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0763T4QWS/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_6?smid=&psc=1 Pistachio isn't really on topic, though. As for chestnuts I've always loved them roasted from a cart on the street, but strangely I don't like chestnut desserts.

Adding cooked cauliflower has the same benefit. And with respect to ricers I never found that made a significant difference in the glue department. With the addition of cauliflower the stick blender is easy and effective in achieving a nice light whip. I think I had rutabaga once, that someone put into a soup. I should try it.

Wholeheartedly agree. Especially if someone else is willing to make them exactly the way I like them.