Katie Meadow

And we haven't even mentioned gin and tonics. Maybe necessary if watching the Warriors.

@Margaret Pilgrim Cucumber water is the drink of choice at spas. Always welcome. Kabuki Hot Springs in Japantown in SF is pretty nice, but def not today. Yes, here in the Bay Area we are all in on the whine festival about the heat. It is supposed to go into the high 90's in Oakland today and into the 100's just ten minutes inland. As those of you who are familiar with our climate are aware, no one here has air conditioning. My solution last night was a root beer float. That's on top of gallons of iced tea consumed all day. But I do have a cucumber hanging around, so maybe a pitcher of that will go into the fridge this morning. Good idea!

Never has celery looked so glamorous. Walk the red carpet @Margaret Pilgrim.

Maybe it is worth noting that stock from raw parts will taste pretty different than stock from roasted carcasses. To get raw parts I would think that the bigger the meat department the better. When a store has butchers and a big clientele they are more likely to have various parts for sale. I agree that wings are expensive, but they do have good flavor. When I make stock from raw chicken I typically use 2-3 lbs of backs to 1 lb of wings to 1 lb of feet. If I want some chicken meat to eat in the soup I will get either a breast or leg-thigh piece, with skin and bones of course. I take them out of the pot when the meat is tender (like about 45 min), cool it a bit, and cut off and reserve the meat, then dump the bony parts back into the pot to continue to cook. I agree that if you don't have a relatively cheap source for parts buying whole birds and cutting them up before simmering is a good idea. And that way you can still retrieve the meatier chunks before they get cooked to death.

@JoNorvelleWalker Since you are in NJ and seem to walk just about everywhere for your shopping, going into NYC to Kalustyans or La Boîte seems unlikely. I assume Kalustyans has a mail order component. For most purposes I find that Indian Tellicherry pepper is the tastiest black pepper. It is supposed to be the same species as Malabar pepper, which is also grown in India, only allowed to grow bigger thus giving it a more complex flavor. I can usually tell the difference between high quality Tellicherry and decent Malabar. Most reputable spice merchants with lots of online business such as Penzey's probably have good quality pepper and high turnover, so it is probably fresh as well. I really don't fine the need or use for specialty black peppers, unless you count Sechuan peppercorns as black pepper. But that's a whole different thing. I went to La Boîte a few years ago and it was a kick. I came away with smoked cinnamon, which was really exotic. I could enjoy it by merely opening the jar and breathing. Turned out be great in a rub for bbq meats, but I don't eat a lot of meat, so it lasted quite a while. A pinch in curry was fun too. Here's something I never thought to do: make campfire cinnamon toast with it. Mainly it was an expensive novelty.

I'm quoting myself because I must untangle my mistake. "Not in an unbad way" is NOT what I meant. I meant, simply, "in an unbad way." As for celery, I'm always surprised how divisive it is. There are plenty of people who just hate it, including my next-door neighbor. I know because she wouldn't eat the potato salad I brought to her pot luck. How can you make potato salad or tuna salad or egg salad without it? Hard to call that a salad. Okay, so you hate it. Celery is extremely useful, especially when it comes to a blue cheese dip, which is otherwise pretty weird. Also good in certain stir fry dishes. And good in the company of apples and walnuts. The only way it is truly NOT unbad is when it is slathered with peanut butter. My mother is turning over in her grave (figure of speech only, as she was cremated) at the very idea. But then I don't think she ever even bought a jar of peanut butter in her life. You would need a lot of celery to make a salad of hearts, no? Sounds yummy, though.

My understanding has been that rice noodles, at least the dried kind, are gluten free. However, I assume that it is possible that some manufacturers of rice noodles also produce wheat noodles in the same facility, so for those who are celiac or very sensitive that could be important. I do best on a limited wheat diet, but I am not allergic to wheat or gluten, so I am not so strict. As @liuzhou points out, it isn't always easy to find soba noodles that are 100 percent buckwheat. Most of them do have some wheat in them, but the Japanese brands all seem to be pretty careful in specifying ingredients if you read the fine print. The do indeed have a different texture than the ones with wheat in them.

I detest raw broccoli, but I also hate it cooked. I like roasted or sautéed cauliflower in various dishes such as curries or with a lot of garlic and tomato sauce, but I don't like it raw. I I don't touch either of them on a crudite platter, or raw peppers, either. I don't eat raw stringbeans but I would eat them with aioli or other dip if they were blanched or steamed first. I don't peel cucumbers but I do wash them. I string celery in a casual manner, except for the very inner ribs which don't seem to need it. It has negative calories only if you don't string it. @JoNorvelleWalker please don't hexapartition any of your body parts. Just in case, I will look out for you on the "I will never again...." thread. Maybe you should do your cucumber prep before you have that Mai Tai. And I believe you are the first person I have ever encountered who used the word "unakin." I like it, but it's a stretch. But not in an unbad way.

I think paper filters (bleached or not) render the coffee less acidic, so it does change the taste. I too prefer the French Press. If you don't have anything but a drip method you could try a gold filter, which lets more flavor/acid to get through. However, my first gold filter was very fine and the coffee dripped through slowly enough. Most of the ones for sale now are coarser and the coffee just flows through too fast. That's useless.

Re the Squirrel Sex Manhattan. Squirrels can't remember where they bury one ingredient, let alone 20, so this drink is wildly improbable. In fact the drink sounds as disgusting as having sex with a squirrel. When I came to the last ingredient and realized that in addition to a squirrel the sex was really a threesome, including a ferret I really felt ill. Oh wait, my mistake.

You had me at husband. Then you lost me when alcohol joined the mix along with knives, grapefruit spoons and lobsters. I'm weighing my options. I could have the beer myself, but that might be trouble if I end up having to drive to the ER.

We pop on the stove top with oil. I don't add butter. Salt and any moderate savory seasoning get added and tossed as soon as the popcorn goes from pot to bowl. Often that seasoning is simply freshly grated hard cheese. An extra step in the microwave would not be a selling point for me personally. Perhaps a portion of dedicated air poppers would want some way to get their seasonings to stick better, but as pastry girl suggests, that's a limited market.

Okay, I'm crazy for artichokes. Of course I love them steamed whole, with something for dipping and that's always easy. Here in CA the artichokes have been very good and not too pricey this season. Gabrielle Hamilton has a relatively novel way to steam artichokes currently, but as with some simple ideas, hers can take a turn for the labyrinthine. I swear she could write several pages on how to butter a slice of bread. Lately I came across a simple technique which is rather clever: cut off the top third and steam them cut side down over lemon water. They cook a little faster that way. But my favorite way to eat them is also the most labor intensive: peeling away a lot of the raw leaves (on large chokes), cutting them, scraping out the fuzzies, putting in acidulated water. Then I dry them briefly with a cloth and sauté them in oil or butter until they are crispy. Prepped like that they are then fabulous whether they are on top of spaghetti, in a lasagne or, my favorite way, as a pizza topping. But that's a lot of work and, sadly, I'm getting kind of lazy. When chokes are not in season or I want an adequate substitute, I'm looking for a short cut. I don't want marinated in oil; I'm not after a salad. I can't stand canned artichokes. I tried the Spanish style roasted chokes from TJ's, and the texture was okay, but they were so heavily seasoned I had to wash them off. Plain frozen artichokes seem like they have more potential, but even thawed and drained they are pretty watery and flabby. How do I get them to dry out a bit without overcooking them? Are all frozen artichokes pre-cooked? Or are there any frozen raw ones? So far any artichoke that isn't fresh seems not very good. I shouldn't be surprised; it isn't as if I eat many frozen vegetables. I suffer through corn withdrawal ten months a year. If anyone has a clever way to deal with this dopey problem let me know. My husband has volunteered to prep fresh artichokes so I don't have to do it, but I'm not sure he knows what a pain it is and to be honest I am worried that he will stab himself with a knife or a leaf tip or a grapefruit spoon when removing the fuzz.

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that some foods or methods of cooking benefit from copper more than others, so it might be wise to research that and perhaps buy one or two pans that have the most use potential before springing for a large set. Plenty of inexpensive materials have far more advantages, such as carbon steel and cast iron. I have two copper pans. One is stainless steel lined, a medium size pot that is wider than it is tall and can make a risotto for three or four or a quart of home made ketchup. More than anything I use it for making slow-cooked grits. I rarely polish it so it looks as you would expect, but it is a great pan. Call the finish a patina, in a good light. I've had it for at least 25 years and can't see any reason why it won't last at least that long, not that I will know the difference by then. I use it maybe three or four times a month. My other copper pan is a saute pan of dubious quality which I purchased at a Good Will many years ago. It is just the right size for a tarte tatin, and that's what it has been used for. I don't think it is tin lined, but it isn't heavy duty. It gets very little use otherwise, but that is justified given the price I paid for it.

Ah, the white food years! Spaghetti with butter. Potatoes with white cheddar. Pick your battles; food is a terrible one. Offer variety and new things and offer choices. Don't push or bargain. If they don't want to eat something that's their right. It doesn't mean you will make them another meal. I've never seen meals that result in anxiety do anyone any good. When it is clear they will eat Kraft mac and cheese but not your homemade, you have no where to go but up. Being picky about food seems to be a natural part of evolution. Four year olds who like broccoli may need watching!

If you have a second beer do you then want a third? I would say that the desire for more alcohol is not the same as the desire for another bowl of chips. Before taking advice from a lot of eGulleters I suggest you talk to someone....more professional. Not that we don't have good intentions here, but.....your question reflects some conflicts about the amount of beer consumption that's good for you.

I like them simply oven roasted. Halved first, mixed with olive oil and salt and a little paprika. Ten minutes on a cookie sheet flat side down, then another 10 to 15 minutes flipped over until partly charred but still with a bit of a bite. Sometimes I finish them lightly in the serving dish with a mix of dijon and maple syrup, but not too sweet. Also fun to roast them in bacon fat and then finish with a little vinegar and Steen's Cane Syrup. The trick to getting a char on them and not letting them get mushy I guess is finding the right heat setting. I think I usually do them around 400F, or maybe a little bit hotter.

My go-to easy refreshing salad is raw fennel and radish, sliced paper thin, spritzed with lemon and olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and fresh pepper, tossed gently. Goes with anything but has some flavor of its own, and there are lots of folks who don't eat fennel, so it ends up being novel. Equally bright is a salad of celery and tart apples with just a handful of walnuts. I like it dressed lightly with a little mustard, lemon and oil and salt. That might be very nice with red meat. Depending on what I'm eating it with I might add just a little honey to the dressing. That's a good trick especially if you already added too much mustard. A simple clean Asian slaw is a good idea, with cilantro and lime and a drizzle of sesame oil or neutral oil. Toss in a handful of shelled cooked, edamame for great texture.

Bubbly and strawberry anything sounds like the perfect meal. And very very proper. Frankly you would be weird if you washed your strawberry shortcake down with anything else. Well okay, maybe a cup of Earl Grey, but that wouldn't be very celebratory...more like comfort food.

For several years my husband and I have hosted a brunch for his mother and his siblings plus whatever nephews and nieces are around. My daughter is never around since she lives in Atlanta. My mother passed away years ago at 94. Now my MIL is 92 and our brunch plans flew out the window when she broke her arm (badly) last week. She's in a rehab center and we are converging on her this afternoon. I made brownies for dessert, a substantial number of which disappeared last night, but no one this year is in a position to cook much of anything and drive it up to Davis so we will order pizza, which will most likely be terrible. The only request my MIL has made is that her cat come to visit her. Maybe someone is working on that, but it isn't me.

Shad is one of my all-time favorite fish. My mother was a shad roe devotee, but she never seemed that interested in the fish. She liked the roe wrapped in bacon and pan fried. Now that's rich, too rich for me. But if you can get the fish deboned it's a treat. It never gets transported out here to the west coast. I've often come to NY during shad season, and I know Citarella will debone it for you.

@rotuts I moved to the bay area in the mid seventies. We used to go to Monterey via Watsonville and in season the chokes were often ten medium size for $1. Those days are not going to come again. I grew up in NY. My mother used to steam them whole and we dipped the leaves in butter. When I moved to CA I was amazed to discover that people liked to dip the leaves in mayo. Oh those kookie Californians.

I tried the artichokes. I used them as a pizza topping and agree, they are just okay. The bath they come in is not only oily but also heavily over-flavored. To use them I decided to drain and rinse them to get rid of the saturated seasoning. They are on the bitter side, which wasn't too much of a problem, and the texture was okay after being in a hot oven, but nothing can compete with sautéed fresh artichoke hearts made from real artichokes; not these, not canned,, not jarred, not TJ's frozen. So labor intensive that I rarely prep artichokes any more.

I always salt watermelon and cantaloupe, something my mother did religiously. And she didn't spend time in the south. I grew up in New York. My husband and daughter always take the opportunity to scoff at me for it, but they don't know anything and both grew up in CA. It never occurred to me to salt strawberries, though. Maybe I will try it this morning, but it just sounds wrong. How do avocados insinuate themselves into everything? Control yourselves, folks.

Your family and my husband's family must be kissing cousins. My husband and his brothers are all well known for leaving "not enough for a human portion" at the bottom of a box or a container. My husband claims that growing up they didn't want to be accused of finishing the last of anything, so a token few bites had to be left. That may be true, but my theory is that in addition, at least my husband leaves a scrap in a container so he doesn't have to make a decision about throwing something out or worse, washing said container. All three wives of these boys are resigned to the knowledge that this habit will never die. There is one sister, the youngest child, but there is no evidence that she does this. I wouldn't put it past her three sons, however.