Katie Meadow

After watching two hours of the ex-royals last night I've had enough cold toast. I hope Harry and Meghan have a good toaster within walking distance in their new digs in warm sunny southern CA.

And I should take advice from the people who invented the toast rack, a way to make sure that toast is stone cold before anything spreadable ever gets near it?

Mine is the same standard popover pan. My MIL inherited it from someone and didn't have any idea what it was, never used it and then gave it to me. But I knew what it was for.

Our microwave is now 33 years old. We got it when our baby was born, thinking it might be useful in case we needed to heat up milk or whatever. Its main use has remained heating up a cup or coffee or tea or a leftover bowl of soup or beans or grits. I use it once in a great while if I need to defrost frozen spinach or melt some butter. We used to make microwave popcorn but I really couldn't stand the smell or the product, so we always do stovetop. I find defrosting stock or sauce really annoying, so only do that in an emergency, preferring to just take stuff out of the freezer the night before. I don't believe I've ever actually "cooked" anything in it and it remains in a corner of the kitchen that's a bit dark and blends into the shelving. I'm hoping to never have to buy another. It isn't very fast, but neither am I.

Sounds intriguing. More like a snail than a bivalve. With a mythology that's made them cling to the edge of extinction.

Our solution, when our daughter was young, was to have roasted hot green chiles in the freezer in small packages that could be added to the finished meal, whether a curry or a pot of beans, upon serving as desired. I know it isn't exactly the same as a blend of hot spices, or as subtle, but at least we had some tasty heat when really needed.

Perhaps the beans were the Frijol Negrol Santanero from Oaxaca? I have one package, and they are quite small. I actually forgot I had them, so I am due for some black bean soup.

I like eel, in Japanese restaurants and fresh caught sautéed in butter. I read that New Yorker article when it came out, and decided that I didn't want to read the book. That article was just enough to get the....flavor.

A quote from the article cited by @Tropicalsenior: "The salty, fatty mass that is spaghetti carbonara is a dish that’s about exploring the outer limits of salty and creamy indulgence within a pasta framework. " Gag me with a spoon. If that's supposed to be an appealing description of carbonara, well, maybe a tomato wouldn't be such a bad thing. Those three chefs from the Roman kitchen? I don't need proof that they sit around drinking expensive wine and making fun of their own staff. The truth is I've never even eaten Spaghetti Carbonara; it just isn't something I would order or make. I have no doubt that if a talented person made it with farm fresh eggs and good guanciale and pecorino and freshly ground black pepper and put it down in from of me I would happily eat it.

The height of elegance: the dining car seduction scene in North by Northwest. He's having a glittering martini. She recommends the brook trout..... she's playing with a full deck....and so on.....oh, they are SO pretty!

@liuzhou, just out of perverse curiosity I search Amazon and there are indeed several "Chinese Mustards" or "Oriental Mustards" for sale. The comments are hilarious. Most people don't like these products because they don't taste like "real Chinese Mustard!" Here is just one example: https://www.amazon.com/Ty-Ling-Mustard-Chinese-Hot/dp/B008VSYACW/ref=sr_1_13?

As far as I know flour tortillas are not pressed. They are stretched or patted or rolled. I like the old fashioned heavy duty metal press for corn tortillas. I think mine is an eight inch; a larger corn tortilla might be unmanageable for tacos or enchiladas, or for dishes that require the tortillas to be crunchy (fried) or dipped in sauce as for enchiladas. Flour tortillas, if used for burritos, can be larger if desired, and a large comal can accommodate any size.

Well, there must be plenty of ice on a shrimp boat, no? So keeping the butter cold might not be an issue. But I agree about the butter/shrimp ratio. I've made some version of the BBQ shrimp many times but never with a cow's worth of butter like that.

Maybe apocryphal, but I was told that LA BBQ shrimp originated as a quick one-pan dish on the shrimp boats.

I'm a Fallot fan. The basic original is always within reach. Today for our main meal we are having a wacky hybrid which only gets made if we have leftover flour tortillas. A hot dog gets the blistered grill treatment and then is swaddled in a warm tortilla along with a very mustardy (heavy on the Fallot!) slaw and a few pickled jalapeños tossed in for good measure. Yes, it is kinda weird. Baja State Fair addictive weird.

Clearly I need to get off the couch but it's 11 pm here, so my exploration will have to wait. Are you like my close friend Naomi who is a fountain of information but who also, if she doesn't know the answer makes up something? She's very convincing, and often on the right track. I trust you both, regardless!

I'll have to look more closely, but the ones I usually see don't look exactly like the ones you picture. I have a recipe for Chinese pickled mustard greens that specifies Chinese mustard greens and I want to try it, so I'm curious. These days I've not been shopping in Oakland Chinatown like I used to before the pandemic, so haven't had a chance to see what's what.

I never heard of spring rolls until I started eating Vietnamese food. Our favorite local Viet place has both spring rolls and egg rolls, but they certainly aren't served with a side of hot mustard; typically in the Bay Area they come with nuoc mam for dipping, although spring rolls sometimes come with a chunky gloopy peanut sauce, which I don't much care for. Growing up in NY all our local Chinese (i.e. Chinese-American) restaurants served egg rolls, with two dips, mustard and duck sauce. All this talk about them is giving me a terrible craving for exactly that retro combo.

Are Chinese mustard greens a different plant from the mustard greens we usually see here in the markets?

I've made Andrea's pickled daikon and carrots many times and not found the smell very intense. The watermelon radishes were far worse for some reason.

The one time I pickled watermelon radishes that odor was strong when the jar was first opened, but it dissipated and was a non-issue.

Using the French green lentils, Lentilles de Puy, goes a long way to making a better soup. Tastier, smaller than brown lentils, hold their shape. Elegant little things.

Already tried the recharging type. Pathetic, I agree.

My counters are dark blue. So true about seeing dark items. Some of my spice jar tops are black and if turned upside down are virtually invisible. My cheap solution is to use a white label on the top and remember to to put the tops right side up on the counter. Yes, a light colored counter might have been a good choice, especially given that I am lacking under-cabinet lighting.

A dark chocolate Easter Bunny would work for me. I like my chocolate unadulterated. No raisins, no chile powder, no strawberries, no rabbit.