Katie Meadow

I've been eating the standard Matiz sardines for several years, but I've just discovered their wild baby sardines. They are packed in a smaller can, and they cost more, but they are a treat. Packed whole, with skin and teensy bones, with a very few shreds of piquillo peppers. The sardines are very mild. So far I love them split in half on buttered toast or on a fresh baguette. I also think they would be perfect as a garnish for some types of salads, like maybe a panzanella salad or a bean salad. Typically with the bigger cans we split a can and I break the fish up a bit and add lemon juice and a little red onion and eat them open face on toast, but so far I am really liking these babies plain. And because they are less than 4 oz per tin, we really need a whole can for each of us. A thrill, not exactly a cheap one, when it comes to sardines.

The truth is that when I'm on vacation, like you, I really like to NOT cook, since I cook almost every day when at home in CA. This last visit to Asheville / Atlanta provided a new unexpected twist in that my husband and I caught lousy colds from the grand babies in Atlanta and we felt so lousy when we were back in Asheville that we didn't really even want to go out. When in Atlanta we stay at my daughter's house. That's another problem entirely: their kitchen is weirdly stocked and poorly organized and they are too busy to care; they both work and with twins they are very grateful if we to cook a few meals when we are there. Cooking for four people in a cramped kitchen with a lack of good tools and half the counter space being taken up with sterilizing equipment is a definite challenge. We did have some stuff shipped from Amazon to them to fill in some of the gaps, but it was a drop in the bucket. Not only do they need lots better kitchen equipment, but my daughter is stubborn and doesn't see the need! Honestly they are doing great when it comes to the big picture and the twins, who just turned one yr old, are a source of constant hilarity. Both girls are good natured, love to eat everything, and are incredibly happy to hang out at a local brewery and chow down on pub food. Any glass of beer within reach is seriously threatened. Vacations that are driving distance from home are typically at the family beach house. The kitchen is fairly well stocked, but the flip side is that we do have to do most of our own cooking since restaurants are not close by. That's a shopping and planning problem, which is a whole 'nuther mind set in figuring out how to make meals easy, since it is still a vacation and I still don't want to cook. Thanks to me there's a good oyster knife.

And the best part is that it is small enough to stuff in among the cast iron pans and sharp knives that are in the suitcase when I fly to my vacation airbnb in North Carolina.

At the risk of having a pie thrown at me, I'm on team Moe. However I'm very fussy about the fruit: it can't be too ripe or too sweet. And if it's canned fuggetaboutit.

As an all-purpose hot sauce these days I prefer the Huy Fong chili garlic stuff. My husband uses it all the time because he finds my stir-fry dishes not hot enough. He also uses the Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp interchangeably, whatever is handiest.The Sriracha sauce seems a little dull to me now.

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!