Katie Meadow

See "I will never again..." for details.

Okay this is really funny because my husband uses it for stove-top popcorn as well! And he treats this dopey pot like royalty, as if it could never be replaced. It's the kitchen equivalent of a Timex watch.

Do I detect a buffalo theme? Vegan Buffalo Dip strikes me as pretty funny.

Not counting any lids, several of which do double duty. Also not counting baking pieces, no sheet pans, no designated roasting pans, casseroles, bread pans or pie pans. No electrical appliances like rice cookers (yes I have one), slow cookers or instant pots (I have neither.) I don't have any pot and pan obsessions or addictions and I try hard not to acquire more stuff. I have replaced two dutch overs and the the two older ones do heavy lifting, one as a marmalade pot and the other for bread baking. The newer ones get regular use for soups and stews, etc. Another pan was a thrift store find in very good condition. It is Le Creuset and I think they call it a paella pan. It is big and doesn't see heavy use, but comes in very handy for several things, none of which is paella.. So I have a total of five enamel coated cast iron dutch ovens. 5 I have three cast iron fry pans. One is large and square and is in beautiful condition. It got a fair amount of use for bacon, but I hardly ever use it anymore. The next one is also in good shape and can fit two medium size grilled sandwiches. The third one is tiny and cute and gets used for toasting spices or little jobs. Two other saute pans include a 12 inch stainless steel and a 10 inch cheap non stick job that has been replaced once. Handy for eggs or delicate fish cakes, etc. Then I have one dedicated french omelet pan that is a relatively heavy carbon steel workhorse. I've had it forever and it's magic. 6 I have two copper pots. One is perfect for several portions of risotto, grits, rice pudding, stewed rhubarb, etc. It is at least 30 years old and gets frequent use. The other is a shallow slope sided pan that is perfect for making a tarte tatin. Limited use, but a great Good Will find a million years ago. 2 Two pots for miscellaneous use. An ancient trashy Rivere Ware that is big enough to steam five eggs on a steamer rack. And a nice sturdy little stainless steel one for making two portions of rice or bulgur or sauces. 2 Two other stainless steel pots include a high sided spaghetti pot, potato boiling pot, whatever and very sturdy. The other is a relatively lightweight stainless steel pot that is quite big and used for primarily for making stock. 2 So that makes a total of 17, to the best of my knowledge. It's beyond me why I spent the time to count my pans for this thread. I could have made lunch instead. Oh wait! I forgot the wok. At least 35 years old, carbon steel, used at least once a week, and I couldn't live without it.

If memory serves (and note I said IF) the traditional corned beef or pastrami sandwich at a deli in NY was typically an unbalanced Everest of juicy thin-sliced meat with mustard on rye. So, nothing but meat. I really can't imagine eating that much meat now.

Love love love Hamachi collar.

Exactly!

Yes, the references I'm alluding to are from the newer revised edition. Thanks for the help! When it comes to fresh green chiles my default is roasted poblanos, which I usually have in my freezer; I don't typically use those for Chinese cooking.I have one reliable source for hot poblanos in the summer and fall, so I roast and freeze enough to hopefully last me the rest of the year. The fresh jalapeños around here are mostly bland and boring, so for fresh or pickled peppers I often use serranos. I'm pretty sure the Viet restaurant we frequent uses fresh serranos as well. The shops I haunt in Oakland Chinatown don't carry other varieties of fresh green chiles.

In her book on Sichuan cooking Fuchsia Dunlop freqentlly lists Turkish peppers or long green Turkish peppers in her ingredients, but these are not mentioned in her discussion of peppers or in her index. What are they? and what is a substitute? And if she simply refers to Turkish pepper does she mean a dried product? My only association for Turkish pepper is Aleppo, which is only available in dried red crushed form as far as I know. Thanks for enlightening me, ( @liuzhou!)

Very elegant solution. But what I love is the Kutztown utensil holder. I went to camp outside Kutztown for several years!

That's when I say to my husband "Sit down and don't get up."

"Not homemade" is a murky criterion. My favorite cookie was always a Florentine. Lacy, crunchy, a little chewy, with a thin dip of chocolate on one side. But like the black and white cookies, these were bakery items and some were great, many were ho-hum. No one I knew, especially not my mother, ever baked one at home. I think of "not homemade" as being a cookie that's a brand name, and therefore consistent wherever you buy them. These days, for a snacking cookie, I like Effie's. My favorites are the oatcakes, which is what I can buy here. Effie's also makes a chocolate cookie. We were able to buy them in two places in Asheville, but no one sells them around here that I know of. They were really delicious.

A friend has a mulberry tree here in Oakland. The berries are nice. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think silkworms only eat the leaves.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but until last June we racked up a lot of pandemic miles on our Alaska Air card. They partner now with American, so when we flew last month we found a nonstop American flight from SFO to Charlotte and we used miles to fly first class. Coming and going the meals served to us were inedible. Not worth taking off my mask for. But the seats were comfy, everyone was friendly (okay, the bar is low for that, since my definition of friendly is really "lunatic free"), both flights left on time and I wore my N95 despite new regulations taking effect on the return flight. I made it home Covid free, which is really my goal every time I leave my house.

I just received an order from these folks who sell on eBay. They are advertised as Madagascar grade A late 2021 harvest. They are as described, very moist and fresh. I've seen fatter beans, but these are pretty good, considering the price at less than two dollars a bean. I use a half a bean, scraped out, plus some of the scraped pod for a pot of rhubarb w/ strawbs compote, or for a batch of rice pudding. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325149509480?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648

I love edamame and I love boiled peanuts. One would never sub for the other, but either one makes an excellent app with a Blloody Mary or a G &T. In the summer whenever fresh edamame appears at the farmers' market I go for it. Most of the time I'm happy with the frozen kind that takes about 5 minutes to cook. As for the boiled peanuts, I've tasted them once in the south and find that the ones I make at home in the Bay Area are good or better. @kaybmentions opportunities to buy them at roadside stands recently. I thought they were seasonal, since you wanted nice fresh peanuts for boiling, which are available in the autumn when the harvest happens. The first time I bought raw peanuts was in Atlanta; they were plump and fresh and came in a giant barrel and had lots of takers. We didn't have time to cook them as it turned out, and our next stop was my mother's in NY. We took them on the plane, shoved them in her fridge, and then a couple of days later we boiled them. My mother was horrified and thought we were insane. But keep in mind my mother had some great street food available in her neighborhood but never tried any of it.

Best start packing asap then.

North to south leaf-peeper tours have undoubtedly been mapped. Start in Maine and work your way down into the Carolinas.

Bedouin tuna noodle casserole uses camel milk. Where did you get the camel? Also my recipe, inherited from my twelfth great grandmother calls for a cup of sand. Did some pink Arizona sand come along for the ride home?

Fascinating list, beautiful labels. The scary one is described as a "chili dusted watermelon Jolly Rancher." Remember that weird thread where members suggested the most awful three ingredient combos? Just the idea of a cocktail that involves Jolly Ranchers makes me want to run for the hills. But I'm also a person who thinks cereal milk ice cream is pathetic. The easiest grown up NA drink for me would be a Virgin Mary. Lots of flavor distractions, addictive heat, goes great with almost all cocktail food. Using good tomato juice is a must, though. I like Knudson's. Also, no pre-made mixes!

NO white chocolate.Ever. I believe that chemically white chocolate is only a few molecules away from a bar of Dove soap. And I agree about frosting, less is more with all that almond. If you feel the need I like Heidi's idea for a light lemon glaze. Also, rather than marzipan I think almond paste is better in baked goods. Marzipan has added sugar and doesn't blend as well.

@heidih, that sounds amazing. My husband is the baker, not me. He's tried rye bread a few times but I think there's a steep learning curve with a mind set all its own. We actually have the book called "The Rye Baker by Ginsberg, which is very interesting. After this experience with Owl Bakery he may have extra motivation.

That's why god made clogs.

Dinner was unremarkable except for one thing. A strawberry onion. We are winding down our days in Asheville, both of us sick from a cold we caught in Atlanta. I had forgotten those days, when a child is less than a year old and chalks up one rhinovirus after another. We are getting very tired of eating out, so we decided to cook. We had a box of thin spaghetti (DiCecco, a size we don't see often in the Bay Area) We had butter, chives, the remains of some delicious goat cheese, all things we needed to use up before we leave. And then there were the onions. A couple of days ago running errands we went to an Asheville farmers' market, a huge barn where vendors set up shop. This time of year isn't the best for produce. There were endless shelves stocked with every imaginable kind of local pickle or jam. But there were these onions, labeled "strawberry onions." They were small to medium size and lovely. It was dark in that corner, but I was sure I saw a faint crimson cast on the onions but it was, as I said, dark. They were advertised as "sweeter than Vidalias." So I used one as the basis for a sauce for the spaghetti, with chives, goat cheese and butter. Indeed they were sweet. We caramelized them and threw everything together for a sauce. It was served with grated local cheese called Meadow (yep that's true.) It really wasn't at all bad, though not something I would typically make at home. Later we googled them. Strawberry onions are so called because they are grown surrounding a strawberry field to keep varmints from smelling the berries. Believable, right? My husband tells me I was just imagining the beautiful rosy tinge. I've had Walla Wallas when visiting my daughter in the Pacific Northwest and loved them. But these Strawberry Onions were in a class by themselves. I have no idea why they are so sweet but there must be some special dirt around Asheville. So you see, our home-cooked meal away from home was better than I might have expected. Cooking in an AirBnB with limited pots, pans and resources always has me on edge. Our Asheville kitchen is lacking a few things. For instance the bread knife is thin and so flexible you could probably tie a knot in it.

Not to be missed if you need some good bread in Asheville: Owl Bakery. It's conveniently close to Hole Doughnuts. Need I say more? The morning we went it was chilly, and no one was sitting on the patio, which is a pretty sweet friendly looking place. The bakery is in a ramshackle house with a window around the side where you order. What knocked me out was their 100 percent dark rye bread. It is dense and beautiful and sour and it's the rye of my Lithuanian dreams, so dark it's almost black.. A good bread knife is advised; the one we have in Asheville is pretty inadequate, but ultimately it slices up fine and toasts slowly (be patient, remember it's rye bread and has lots of moisture.) Anyway I haven't had bread like that in a million years. And I mean absolutely the highest of complements when I say it's the doorstop to end all doorstops. No bakery in Oakland or Berkeley has anything like it, and after forty years living there I'm pretty sure I would know about it if they did.