Katie Meadow

In high school my daughter developed a fixation with boba tea. She was at Berkeley High and downtown Berkeley was lousy with brand new shops to get the stuff. Not that I had high expectations, but one time she convinced me to try it and it was worse than I ever imagined. I had a similar experience with McDonald's fries. Believe it or not, until about four years ago I had never been inside a McDonalds. We were driving down from the Bay Area to my niece's graduation in southern CA. It was rainy and cold and I got this idea in my head that I wanted some nice hot fries. Despite my spotless record of avoiding McD's for seventy or so years their fries do have reputation. They were terrible.

Crabs on the runway! @liuzhou, where do I order the polka dot tops and blue leggings? One question. I must be dense, but how do you commit fraud with a mitten crab? Give them a matching fuzzy scarf? That would be a give-away, indeed; But if you can pull it off I can see how they would command haute prices.

Kill me now,

Priya's first mistake was not programming the AI recipes to omit the words "pumpkin spice."

Wow, time is speeding up. It seems like you just got back. Happy trails!

@liuzhouso sorry to hear you are back in hospital. Many wishes for a quick recovery.

Our Aebleskiver pan hasn't been used in thirty years and it looks great! My husband's mother came from a long line of Danish aebleskivers and she gave all her kids lovely cast iron pans. We did have a waffle iron that was quite old and well seasoned and we went through a waffle phase. Basically after each use it just got wiped out with a paper towel and a little oil. Eventually, and this is true, it languished in the basement and became a home for small critters. I'm pretty sure we don't have it any more, but you never know what's in a dark basement, especially if you have a husband who is phobic about throwing out anything.

We've been making our marmalade for the last twenty or so years, every year. Sterilized jars, new lids. Once in a while one jar out a typical batch of seven pints won't make a popping sound. We use that one first. I've never had a problem with mold, but then the climate here isn't that damp. The last jar left by December or January always tastes and looks exactly the same as the first batch in February. I'm too lazy to do anything that needs to be given a second bath and I don't have a garden anyway. I used to enjoy taking baths myself, but I don't do that any more either.

Don't Oysters Rockefeller usually include a topping with romano cheese or some such thing? I like my oysters raw with as little fuss as possible. I've never been a fan of cheese with seafood. I don't grate hard cheese over linguini with clams. And when I make shrimp and grits I don't make cheesy grits, just plain. The only exception I make is when we eat crispy shrimp tacos at our favorite place for them. The cheese is minimal compared to the shrimp, salsa and pile of chopped lettuce so I just go with the flow.

Official canning cars with new lids are pretty much required for anything that gets boiled in the jars, no? I don't do any real canning, but I do make a year's supply of orange marmalade during the two months Sevilles are available. For that I do sanitize canning jars by boiling them first before filling, but they don't get an after-bath. We generally don't give away much marmalade, so the pint canning jars are reused every year of course.

I'm trying diligently to weed out any older plastic containers that come from a deli or takeout or whatever. I don't really trust that they are safe to use more than a few times. Of course not really based on science but sort of. I do have some heavier duty plastic reusable containers that I mostly use for frozen stock. I assume they will last longer than the cheaper plastic. The quart and pint size have the same size lids, and they are stackable. The misc. plastic stuff is a PITA also because they may not stack, have peculiar lids, etc and that matching game drives me nuts. But Deb, I have to toss stuff while my husband isn't watching. When being frugal starts edging toward hoarding a line must be drawn!

It makes me happy to have lots of different sized glass jars. Some I collected at flea markets a million years ago, lovely old blue glass Ball jars with metal screw tops. I use them for storage of dry goods. Others are in constant rotation with various pickles, etc. And it's always good to have some standard canning jars for gifts, which may or may not be returned. I usually bring jars of mustarda and escabeche to dear friends the day after Thanksgiving and the next year they fastidiously have them clean and ready for us the next year. It's so sweet of them and I take it as incentive to keep on doing it. They make a fantastic anti-Thanksgiving meal on Black Friday, so I would never go empty handed. and they show their appreciation by opening at least one jar of something right away. It's the Thanksgiving I look forward to most!

I never had mac n cheese at Thanksgiving until a few years ago, when some fresh recruits came to dinner and brought a delicious one. I can't tell you how happy it made me. I'm so bored of the usual suspects my husband's family insist on. And that includes turkey, which my husband and I have made every year for the last thirty years.

I could see a robot being a good foraging companion. Years ago I found the nicest patch of black chanterelles, and nobody else seemed to know about it. Unfortunately they grew very happily among poison oak. I could get a case of chanterelles but paid the price with a case of its bedding. But recipes? It might be hard to distinguish the AI ones from many of the weird ones created by "adventurous" humans whose numbers are legion. As for cookbooks I rarely buy them any more. I fit right in to the demographic who finds maybe two keepers in any given book. Better to get the book from the library and copy those, color and all.

@Ann_Tand @JoNorvelleWalker I haven't eaten chicken cacciatore in years, but now I'm listening. Not that I plan to make it for breakfast, but I'm thinking ahead to when I have family coming over the December holidays. After visiting my daughter, her husband and two toddler twins last spring it really brought home to me how different it is to cook for 4-6 people than for two. At least this time around I'll be in my own kitchen, which will help no end. So point me in the direction of a good Chicken Cacciatore recipe that I can make in a big dutch oven and maybe even get leftovers out of it. My husband and son-in-law are chicken lovers and the twin girls eat more than you would think. Any one-pot dish that has protein and vegetables and can be eaten over spaghetti sounds like a winner.

I totally agree with everyone that an improvement in hospital food would be a very good thing. It's about money. I just don't believe that most hospital budgets have that flexibility. Hospitals have been closing across the country, especially in smaller cities and towns. So getting care itself is hard for many, let alone better food. Perhaps I am unnecessarily pessimistic about this. But I don't see accessible health care for all Americans as being a priority among many of our politicians. And I also agree that many people who spend time in hospitals don't have the luxury of ordering out or of friends and relations bringing in something. I've been there myself, several times when I was younger. I wish it were otherwise, believe me.

Why would anyone expect hospital food to be good? You are lucky if it is edible. First of all, they want you to have lots of reasons to get the hell out of there. And given hospital budgets, would you rather they spend their money on meal service or on good doctors and nurses? I want my surgeon to have steady hands, an up to date license and be well paid for good work. @liuzhoufound an excellent solution with takeout. The next best solution is to have your loved ones bring you food. When my husband had surgery years ago the hospital was a 45 minute drive from home. My daughter and I discovered a pretty nice Viet restaurant near the hospital where we ate lunch most days and then brought back something yummy for him at the hospital. @weinooin the days when you got meals on planes I seem to vaguely remember people saying that you should indicate ahead if you need a special meal, and the general feeling was that specifying a Kosher meal would often result in better food. I did it once, but of course can't remember anything . But then nothing about flying has ever seemed enjoyable to me. Except when we flew during the pandemic we had racked up some miles and splurged on first class seats. Masks were required in those days, the seats were roomy, no stranger to climb over and the bathroom never had a line. I was surprised to find that on a 4.5 hr flight they actually fed you in first class. What they brought us was unidentifiable and inedible.

Yes, I know ham appears in many topics, but I want to know what my options are a far as ordering online. Here's what I want: A half city ham, bone-in, good quality. I want to glaze it myself, because many pre-glazed hams seem too sweet or too much the same and many recipes for glazing sound really interesting. So, my questions are: 1) Which is better tasting meat? the butt end or the shank? My understanding is that the butt end is more flavorful but a little harder to carve. Do purveyors of half hams give you a choice? 2) Is there a down side to spiral cut? I believe we are capable of carving a ham ourselves; picture perfect slices is not essential. 3) Does only the shank end come spiral cut because it has only the one bone? 4) This would be for xmas, so I have time. I assume if you order a fresh ham the purveyor will tell you when to order it. Fresh would be my choice, without knowing much about it. I don't like defrosting meat. 5) What are your favorite places to order a city ham? 6) Price. I'm not looking for budget, but never having done this before I don't want to break the bank, either. We have one local butcher in the East Bay that has very good quality products, but their city hams are $27 per pound. That seems really expensive: a seven pound ham would be almost $200. I've noticed that a few places will ship for free if it is your first order. It would be, since I never order meat on line. So did I forget any important considerations? My daughter, her husband and toddler twins are coming over the holidays. Dad and the girls seems to especially like porky products, and we will be away for several days so it would be nice to have something that will serve us for a few days. Thanks in advance. I have no idea what I'm doing, really!

I've never had Lundberg Jasmine rice, as I'm not a fan generally of Jasmine rice. But I always have Lundberg Basmati on hand. I pretty much use it if I don't want Japanese short grain /sushi rice or Italian Carnaroli. Their organic Basmati was awfully good, but I don't see that around anymore; the non-organic is just called "natural" or some such mystifying term.

Sorry to hear your opinion about spice oil in the Matiz vs Nuri. Just comparing prices on the two spicy sardines on Amazon, the Matiz are selling a 5-pack for about $19. The Nuri are sold in a 2-pack for almost $15. So, a pretty different price point. Can't not try the Matiz, given that. I'll see what I think of the quality of the spicy oil.

Perhaps I should post this in the Stupid Questions topic. But do people actually EAT gingerbread houses? It seems to me by the time you are ready to stop gawking at it, and all your friends and relations have already gawked at it, it's gone on to cardboard heaven. I made one once, when my daughter was little. Never again. And I certainly didn't find it edible.

I've just had Nuri sardines for the first time, but since they are the spicy variety it makes no sense to compare them to the Matiz plain ones which is what I usually eat. The Nuri are very good. They seem a little hotter than the Nuri spicy mackerel, and I like them way better. The mackerel is not as tender and it is far more salty In the past I've always eaten sardines with a little red onion and a squirt of lemon on toast. But now that I'm liking the spicy oil, I'm into them on sushi rice. One can is a bit stingy for two people, as with most sardines, but all the spicy oil gets used on the rice. Next up I'm going to order some Matiz spicy sardines, and see how they compare. My stockpile of sardines in growing. The lemon and tomato varieties don't really appeal to me.

Don't get too excited. It's serviceable and relatively healthy!

@TdeVHere is the recipe. Very flexible. Not sure where it came from but it is heavily adapted by me. ROOT VEGETABLE CAKE This is like a carrot cake but using any combination of beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams or even some butternut squash.You can use slightly more applesauce and cut back on the oil. The recipe makes one 9 inch cake. Double it to make a layer cake or a large bundt cake. I have never frosted this cake, but it certainly could be done to glam it up a bit, like with a cream cheese frosting or whatever you would do to a carrot cake. KM 1 1/2 cup AP flour 1 cup sugar or less 1/2 T baking soda 1/2 tsp or more cinnamon, to taste 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower 2 large eggs 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, or to taste 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 - 2 cups packed coarsely grated carrots, beets, sweet potato, yam, etc. 1/2 cup applesauce or other fruit sauce—I had some stewed rhubarb so I subbed some of that 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, or nut of choice. Preheat the oven to 335 F Spray the pan with nonstick spray or fit in a disk of parchment paper, buttered, and grease the sides. In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a smaller bowl whisk together the oil, eggs, ginger and vanilla. Add that to the flour, alternating with the applesauce and grated veggies. Stir by hand until almost combined. Add in nuts and stir just until batter is blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is starting get springy and the edges are pulling away from the sides. Cool the cake in the pan for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then loosen the edges with a knife and invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Invert again onto a cake plate. If you decide to frost it, make sure it is totally cool. Substitutions and additions: 1/2 cup or so of grated unsweetened coconut 3/4 c applesauce and 1/3 c oil. You can add a tsp or two of unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry mix. You can sub 1/4 cup AP flour with buckwheat or corn meal. You can sub golden or brown sugar for some of the white sugar.