Katie Meadow

@Kim Shooksorry to hear about your knee. But definitely considering some kind of debility that would give my husband a long awaited chance to WAIT ON ME.

I grew up eating Chinese, probably once a week. We had several places to chose from, walking distance on the upper West Side. My big revelation: when I was about eight or ten I went to Mexico with my dad. He had a craving for Chinese and I remember him making a bee-line for a particular place in Mexico City. I couldn't believe that the Chinese waiters were speaking Spanish. I assumed they all must have been fluent in three languages until I finally got that oh, wow, they lived in Mexico, not New York! I'm sure my dad ordered my faves for me. No way can I guarantee my memory on this but I think this Chinese restaurant specialized in chicken soup of some kind.

Stroke that beard, Dr. Weinoo.

@ambra Fun is one way to put it. The package of dry pasta looks like it should be called "Little Condoms!" Those Italians, what a sense of, well, humor, to call it Vesuvius. Okay, it's been a long time since I examined a condom up close. As for Rustichella D'Abruzzo, I buy the penne in bulk. Last time it was on sale for $2.99 per lb, which seems like an awfully good deal. I use a lot of that shape.

Vivian has a twist on this recipe called Fresh Corn with Chicken Drippings. I'm not sure whether it's in DRR or not, but I have a copy and made it once. Very good. Labor intensive, like many of her recipes. And probably best made with high season corn. Chicken on croutons is a year-round proposition.

I ordered the smaller packet of this pork bone broth back in January and promptly forgot about it. A few days ago a light bulb went on when supplies were running low and I didn't feel like cooking, and we had our first chilly day after a long hot summer. Very good for a packaged concentrate. Salty but porky. A huge improvement on most of the powder packets. Husband agreed. However after twenty minutes I started to feel like I'd mainlined MSG. There must be a lot of it in those packets, and the ingredients are not in English. My husband didn't detect it, but I would warn that anyone sensitive to MSG (like me) to be cautious when trying it. Too bad, because before the dizziness hit me I though I had discovered a great new emergency soup.

Unless my memory fails, my mother used to shop during the fifties/sixties at a Daitch on the West Side, around B'way and 86th

Yeah, mine is similar, but a little more primitive in a sort of old lady green, if you know what I mean. No offense! Depending on the day and how the mirror reacts to me, I could easily pass for an old lady. But I still dress like I did in pics of when I was about six: jeans rolled up, tee shirt, flannel shirt, Keds. Silver hair now, so way more modern look.

A little doohickey has been floating around my kitchen since forever and I have no idea where it came from. Flea market maybe? It is a small green plastic square with a pass-through. You load one green bean at a time I guess and pull it the through from the bottom to split it. Cute, right? Not growing up with green bean casseroles, of course I've never used it. Not sure I can find it in 2020. If I can, it's yours, @Shelby. If not maybe @andiesenjican post pix of six different types of bean splitters!. "Post pix of six splitters:" say that six times, fast.

@Kerry Bealyou are the best friend ever. Won't you be my neighbor? Oh wait, on Saturday I decided not to move to Canada just yet.

Lost me at doilies.

I find this whole discussion about the LGD fascinating. Vivian Howard has a lot of recipes that sound great and a lot that don't. She combines flavors and ingredients in unexpected ways, and sometimes I think her recipes are over complex or just plain bizarre, with ingredients that fight each other. Soon maybe I will get up the energy to make some LGD, just because you all have me so curious, but I have to say that the combo of mint and anchovy doesn't make me want to run to the market. No complaints about Castelvetrano olives (aka Nocellara) though. I'm lucky they are available in bulk in these parts and I love them. There are a few of her recipes I have in regular rotation, and others that I've saved and can never decide to commit to making. Vivian herself is sort of hypnotic with her cornfed beauty, her cheerfulness and her wonderful accent; a perfect blend of appealing and annoying all at once.

https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/the-condiment-that-vivian-howard-would-save-in-a-fire/

@Shelbyplease let me know how you like the pickled shrimp. I've made pickled shrimp and eaten it a few times elsewhere but the real challenge seems to be how to make it NOT rubbery. If Vivian can manage that I'm all in.

I think nowadays it's pretty common to give babies rice cereal and not wheat at first, no?

I certainly classify grits as porridge. Or polenta, although medium grind white grits is my favorite kind of porridgy corn thing. But I'm really beyond lazy at this point and can't imagine stirring a pot for an hour before being able to sit and eat breakfast. If I make grits for dinner I like to put half the pot into a flat form and refrigerate it until morning so I can fry squares in butter, which only takes a few minutes. I don't technically think of that as porridge, but I suppose you could call it "fried porridge." Right out of the pot or fried I'm more likely to want it with hot sauce than a sweet syrup. The house porridge of choice when I was little was Wheatena. I don't think either of my parents liked oatmeal. I still like the taste and texture of Wheatena but haven't had it for several years. Definitely a nostalgia breakfast. And then there's Cream of Wheat. Also excellent! I'm sure it was my first cereal. Those were the days before we were scared of wheat.

When my daughter was little and she basically went through a "white food" phase I tried hard to make my own Mac n Cheese from scratch to steer her away from Kraft. Those efforts were met with mild distaste. In desperation my technique with the boxed product was to toss half the orange packet and simply make it less toxic. I noticed some other moms going for "organic" Annie's and tried that. Once. If it is possible to cram in more salt than Kraft, Annie's succeeded. I couldn't choke it down. Back to Kraft. And I ate the leftovers. And the dog didn't discriminate, as long as it was served off the floor.

Although I haven't made bucatini in several years I really don't remember it being problematic, either in the cooking or the eating, although I was probably more coordinated in times past. It was always the favorite pasta shape of my nephew, who since starting a hospitality business favored everything Italian. He learned to speak Italian, cultivated a Bed-Stuy soap opera accent (he grew up in CT) and dressed like a natty mobster. He never sprayed a drop of sauce from his bucatini on his beautiful suits. Hard times for that line of work these days; he's the sweetest, kindest guy on earth and is just torn up about all the people he has had to lay off. So grateful I am retired with very few obligations or reasons to leave home or get dressed up. And so so glad I don't own my own business in these pandemic times. Now I'm curious to make some bucatini and see just how much wrangling it demands. Not tomorrow.

I love this thread. I'm getting close to actually making congee. Keep it coming. These next few days call for strong medicine. And comfort food.

Looks like a perfect plate. All that's needed is Dr. Brown's Cel-ray tonic or an egg cream. And some half-sours.

I confess that my objection to bowties is not about taste or texture, just shape. It looks stupid. Same for wagon wheels, whatever they are called in Italy. I used to buy lots of interesting shapes, but so often I would end up with a scoopful of various kinds taking up room in the cabinet and without a good purpose. What I always have on hand: DeCecco linguini fini and Rustichella d'Abruzzo penne, which I can buy in bulk. The penne is not too thick and cooks up with excellent texture. Oh, one more dislike: those fat ripple-edge lasagne noodles. I prefer using the thinner plain sheets. Dried is fine, but I discovered I can buy fresh sheets and that's really easy and quick to cook, plus I can cut them to fit my lasagne pan before boiling. And the edges crisp up after baking in the most appealing way.

Bowties and orzo. Don't like either.

I don't know what the Indiana state motto is, but they missed the boat: "The show you state." Or "The I'll show YOU state!"

@David RossI found the recipe for Toast Water particularly hilarious. You've got to be seriously ill to benefit from that. Like deathbed ill. At that point just spoon-feed me coffee ice cream. It doesn't matter if I can't keep it down.

Maybe you butt-dialed the timer? I make a lot of iced tea. I steep the hot tea for five minutes and have learned to set the timer every time and never leave the room. And yet when it goes off I'm still surprised about half the time.