Katie Meadow

I do the same: put whole tomatillos under the broiler, then peel them. I find a straight tomatillo sauce too acidic, so that's why I like to make my guacamole with a few of them.

So sketchy! My husband braved our usual farmers' market last week. No tomatoes at all. Very very good bicolor corn. Excellent Santa Rosa plums. Lousy underripe apricots. Delicious strawberries. Of course you couldn't pick the produce yourself, just had to rely on a pre-packed bag, and you couldn't peel back the corn husks to get a peek, either. But early corn is usually very sweet and worm-free from our favorite vendor. One of the largest vendors was absent, and that's where we get tomatoes and herbs. Surprising about the lack tomatoes, since some of our regular markets have been stocking decent heirlooms for the last few weeks. Ah well, it is what it is. These days it is best not to count on anything.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I think I know what you are talking about. My husband has a tendency to "half-screw" the lid just enough so that I am going to grab said lid, a recipe for accidents. Now I ask him to simply leave the lid off and I'll put the jar away.

If there's one thing you can rely on in the Bay Area it's that if you plan to make gazpacho the fog will roll in and the temperature will drop. I love gazpacho, but in order to enjoy it fully I need to eat it outside in warm weather. After many years of this predictable annoyance I've just given up on it. If I've got the ingredients I usually end up deconstructing the soup. In other words, I make a Greek Salad. Good tomatoes, cukes and olive oil is 75% of the way to gazpacho, right?

I believe those recipes are for intravenous application.

Then you think I should withdraw my patent application? Geez, but really, no surprise lots of people figured this one out before I did. Like long, long before Cheeto dust rained down on Earth. A fork would so not work.

Mostly I don't snack when on line. Maybe I just get absorbed and don't think about it. Another reason is that I don't want my greasy fingers on my keyboard. But recently I tried something new with one of my preferred snacks. I have a weakness for Cheetos, especially when drinking a bloody mary. But picture this: Cheetos has a new best friend-- a pair of chopsticks. No greasy fingers, no orange dust spoiling a cloth napkin. The height of elegance.

Perhaps you could call the periodontist and talk to them about the changes they have made. I agree with Ronnie, though, that dentists are taking the most precautions of anyone these days, and are probably more worried about getting the virus from patients and less likely to be spreading it themselves.

That's a strong recommendation. Tell me about the heat levels. Which do you order?

A little char is good, but I personally toss most of the burnt skin. Same goes when i make babaganoush. If I roast the eggplants on the grill I definitely like keep a bit of charred flakes in the final product.

For fresh tomato salsa I like to use roasted long green chiles, hatch, hot poblanos, whatever I can get. Having lived in NM we always had roasted chile available, freshly roasted in season, frozen out of season. I still do that reflexively instead of raw jalapeño. I make it very simply, good tomatoes, chopped and salted and let sit a bit. Then add a little minced red onion, cilantro, lime juice and the chile to taste. Great for tacos or burritos. It's a little sloppy for dipping chips, but still works. Roasted chiles also go into my guacamole, but lately I've added a few roasted mashed tomatillos to thin it out, along with the usual suspects like garlic, cilantro, lime juice, whatever. It's more tart than using all avocado, but is also useful if you have second-rate avocados. I used to buy a cooked red salsa made in house by Mi Pueblo super store--they sold about four different kinds--but sadly they went out of business last year. It was delicious, and available all year round. No idea how they made it. Nothing bottled seems worth buying, at least that I've tried.

I'm with SE and vote for the latte option. Do most of those espresso makers w/steamed milk make enough milk for a latte? I don't have an espresso maker, but if I want foamy milk in my coffee I have to heat the milk in the microwave and then use my little hand-held frother. It works fairly well, but it's all about technique and the quantity is limited. A bother to be sure, so usually I just don't.

Fascinating! Not totally relevant, but whose writing is on the card? Doesn't look like grammy writing to me. Just curious.

Sometimes mangoes remain stringy, so the texture of the ice cream might be different than you expect.

I've never been able to discern the difference between the Gray's hot dog and the Papaya King hot dog. By the time the sauerkraut and mustard get layered on they taste the same to me. However I will defend the Papaya King juice over the Gray's juice to the death. @weinoo your dog looks perfect.

I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a really good dirty water dog. However there might be a very dirty water dog, which would be one you buy in the late afternoon.

Wouldn't it be useful to define barbecue before trying to figure out where it came from?. If you believe it means long cooking over smoke rather than simply grilling over a fire,, then look to places that had plenty of wood to burn. Just a guess here.

Agreed. First there will be the cut on your finger. The there will be an oil spill, colored red. @JoNorvelleWalker don't even think about it.

That bottle is a blast from the past. Is it readily available? The price I pay for letting my husband do the shopping. Oh, wait, still worth it.

The snails look small. Do you just suck them out of the shell or do you have special snail forks?

@Kim Shook I always have saltines on hand, but try the sardines on triscuits, a la Gabrielle Hamilton. Here are her instructions, hilariously fussy as always: Canned Sardines with Triscuits, Dijon Mustard, and Cornchons Ingredients 1 can sardines in oil 1 dollop Dijon mustard small handful cornichons small handful Triscuit crackers 1 parsley bunch Directions Buckle the can after you open it to make it easier to lift the sardines out of the oil without breaking them. Stack the sardines on the plate the same way they looked in the can – more or less. Don’t crisscross or zigzag or otherwise make “restauranty.” Commit to the full stem of parsley, not just the leaf. Chewing the stems freshens the breath.Reprinted with permission from Prune. Since you already have sardines in mustard sauce you are halfway there. Since almost choking to death on a triscuit sixty years ago I don't have a long history of keeping them around, but I have to admit that they are very good with sardines. Direction #1 sounds dubious. Buckling a can of open sardines has a high disaster rate, don't you think? I guess if you are charging $12 for a sardine appetizer you want them looking pristine and whole. Rest in Peace, Prune.

Fruited rice and sprigged anything deserves a round of quiet applause.

That was nice the cook went to special effort to make poached eggs. I'm just surprised there was rye toast available.

Use of heavy cream in large quantities is a splurge no matter how you look at it. Might as well get what makes you swoon and.... enjoy!

Not to rain on your parade, but this doesn't sound like a very high use for shrimp. It's hard to imagine the texture of the shrimp being very good by the time the bread is cooked. If the shrimp is good quality I would simply make a shrimp cocktail to go with warm cornbread, or a spicy peel & eat shrimp in the shell. Then it's only a hop and a skip to hold the cornbread and make shrimp 'n' grits instead! Any great NJ tomatoes yet? Sauce for that is awfully yummy made with ripe fresh tomatoes. Then stick some birthday candles in a lemon ice box pie.