Katie Meadow

Years ago, shortly after La Boîte opened and I was visiting NY I stopped by. I imagine it's grown since then. . I bought a little tin of Smoked Cinnamon. Just smelling it was transporting. The only thing I figured out to do with it was use it in a steak rub.

I'm weeping in my beer. The supplier of TJ's "Home made tortillas" are no longer making them. They've been a staple for us for years. Compared to any other store bought flour tortillas they were great. The ones now being stocked are more of the cardboard variety. When my husband asked about it a couple of store workers agreed it was very disappointing. I need a replacement in the bay area, Or we will have to start making our own.

Cold greasy fries and a nearly raw hamburger doesn't sound very appetizing, I agree. My experience fattening up someone comes from having an anorexic teen. (It was many years ago and she's now a healthy mother of twins.) Whole grains, avocado, fruit shakes made with some ice cream. A BLT on wheat toast. Real full fat ricotta if you have a good source. I can eat that plain, right out of the container. Also ricotta is great with cantaloupe and a sprinkle of cinnamon! Cheese omelettes! Since it's hot I've recently been making Farro salads of various kinds, although you may be in a place where cooking is a chore. After a bout of illness last year I lost a fair amount of weight. I know it isn't particularly healthy, but I put back on weight by indulging, among other things, in root beer floats, especially when the weather was hot.How about a cocktail with nuts and cheese? Cheers to you!

I agree that the straight-sided ones are nicer. Mine came from flea markets in years past, but eBay is your best bet now.

And you say you don't like corn.

Thanks. My husband does all the shopping these days and he hates shopping at WF. He'd walk a mile for a deal on beer, but not for that and not from there!

My husband just came back from TJs with a quart of Coffee Bean Blast ice cream. It's good! Not too eggy or custardy. A little bit more intense coffee flavor than HD, which is what I'm used to. A quart, not a pint, for $4.99. A lot of artisan (or not) pints are approaching $10 around here. Next up I'm going to try McConnell's Turkish Coffee. Has anyone compared the two? Of course that will cost about 4 x as much.

I miss them too. Great price and usually only one or two were broken. Another brand can be ordered on Amazon but, in my experience--only once--they were expensive and lots were broken. They are such fun crackers.

One of my favorite pans is a dedicated carbon steel omelette pan. I've had it as long as I can remember. I don't use it for anything else, although I suppose you could make crepes in it. It's best for a 2-egg omelette but can accommodate 3. My preferred is a really simple one, with chives and melty cheese; these days we often use Oaxaca, since it behaves so well and we typically have it on hand. I'm not partial to overstuffed affairs. I find that a lot of ingredients takes longer to cook and therefore overcooks the eggs, browning them. I never order omelettes when I'm out for brunch. They just end up clunky and tough. Brunch is a tough sell for me under most any circumstances, though. Could be I've already said this but I don't remember.

I'm sorry, but the title of this thread is just begging for it. Now what? Use it once. Then pack it up in the box you so cleverly saved and put it on a shelf in the garage. That way, one day when your children or grandchildren have the job of cleaning out your house, they will say, "Wasn't there an easier way to make a grilled cheese in those days?"

I have a small mouth and need my salad bite size. My husband, on the other hand, could eat a whole romaine leaf no problem. I gave up asking him to make smaller pieces in a Caesar salad, but now I just ask him for a knife.

For a classic contemporary Caesar I'm wedded to the Zuni Cafe version. Maybe in Tijuana Worcestershire sauce was easily available and anchovies were not on the local radar yet. The question is, who was the genius who first switched in the anchovies? I'm not so concerned with presentation, so our romaine gets cut or torn and the salad gets tossed. It was so hot here yesterday evening that we had a Caesar salad and baguette and nothing else for dinner.

I rely on Bob's medium grind corn meal for almost everything. Especially corn bread. If you ground it a bit further you might get closer to fine grind. But do specify what you want the fine grind for.

In a stir-fry they sound great. Or it would be a clever way to make fried green tomatoes as finger food. Heavenly if you used a light tempura batter.

Since I would never have those two ingredients in the house I couldn't call it a desperation dessert. It would take advance planning, a trip to TJ's and a spark of @rotuts inspiration. But it's in the dinner thread, so that elevates it to a main. Add milk and it would be breakfast. Or, in my case, lunch. Okay, sold.

This reference brought back strong memories. I remember the American version really well. They were made with raisins and I disliked them. The original UK Garibaldi Biscuits were made with currants and were nicknamed "Squashed Flies." Despite that awful phrase, currants would be more appealing to me than raisins, Maybe.

That's lovely. Can you share the recipe for pistachio cake? Is it made with pistachio flour or pistachio cream?

Cat's Ears is a good name, though. Too bad if you were expecting Fortt's Bath Oliver crackers and Stilton to have with your beer.

If you eat toast every morning like I do, "acceptable" is a far cry from just right. Toast shouldn't take forever, but relatively slow is better than fast. Beware of toast makers that advertise fast cooking; the outside gets browned and the inside is under-toasted. I have a Smeg toaster, and I like it. The perfect toaster doesn't exist. My daughter in Atlanta has an air fryer, which produces pretty good toast but does take a very long time. I don't have an air-fryer or smart oven., but I admit to being impressed by how fast the air-fryer made "roast" potatoes. When you have hungry and impatient 3-yr olds that is definitely an advantage.

This is really sad. State legislators that seem intent on limiting human experience and freedom, and scarily there are many of them, reflect a trend that's incredibly depressing. Best wishes to you, Rob, you have been doing great work.

My best guess? it's a weapon to prevent cats from jumping up on the table. My next best guess? Something used to grab corn that accidentally finds its way into the kitchen so that you don't have to touch the corn itself. In that case either you invented it or you are the only customer.

Always good advice to avoid green, interior or exterior. Although if you glance at Houzz these days you see that green in kitchens is gaining fans. But it's not for me. Benjamin Moore Arugula, no thanks.

Do you mean the color of decaying food or the exterior paint color? It's a light grey now, and we're bored of it!

I wanted the chocolates, but he felt it was def time to paint the exterior. I lost the first challenge, but the real struggle is yet to come: what color? So far I am a little bit ahead in this one. Prep work should take three weeks or so. That means we still have plenty of time to strategize and undermine each others' ideas. We don't fight about money. We don't fight about chores. We don't fight about where to go on vacation. We fight about color. Needless to say he has some terrible ideas, however my positions are weakened by the fact that I no longer can distinguish pastels at all and am not reliable on hues of darker shades, either. This is not to say that we never argue about food. When it comes to anchovies, he uses too much. We also disagree about at what point rotting food needs to be be tossed.I prefer when it's green. He likes black. I thought I was getting back on topic, but no.

I really hope it isn't something I need.