Katie Meadow

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.

Your husband's daughter must be an Anglophile. The English way is to make sure the toast is cold by the time it comes to the table. That's why they invented the toast rack. In an ideal world my butter sits out for about an hour before spreading on hot toast. That's why I come down for my breakfast after my husband. I like Irish butter. If you use a high fat butter it is more spreadable than standard American butter right out of the fridge, as well. Plate, toast, knife, butter. In that order.

@Shelby Before you spring for a new deviled egg platter, consider eBay; loads of them available in all different price points, some venerable, some awful. Also I used to see them in thrift shops, but haunting those places isn't high on my list these days. The last thing I need is more kitchen objects. I have a nice Frankoma one from a zillion years ago, but I never use it any more. It's either me or the eggs, but I'm so sick of trying to peel them I rarely make them in quantity. I do like them but it's probably just as well I stay away from them.

Definitely not worth $5.99.

Calling pies or fries or any other food "crack blank" has always made me uncomfortable. And after 15 years or how ever many years since the Milk Bar opened and they named that pie my discomfort remains. The one time I went there, at least ten years ago, I was not wowed by anything I tasted. Not the pie and definitely not that godawful cereal milk ice cream.

I have been addicted to this Haku Black Garlic Shoyu.

Wow. This apron has a pretty steep learning curve.

In my next life, or maybe my next dining room, I am going to paint the walls that perfect shade of dark pink. And maybe get a set of those Agave dishes to go with. How fun is that! I miss New Mexico food, but when it comes to green chile burgers, as long as you have some roasted hatch chiles you can make the best ones yourself with good beef and an outdoor grill. Squash flower soup sounds fabulous right now, but definitely before going out to the Botox party , so at least your happiness over the soup will show.

Personally, and as a woman of 71, I can think of a lot of benefits to not being noticed. I'm not a shrinking violet and can get attention when I need it, but not being looked up and down on the street or while waiting for a coffee is a beautiful thing. It's been a long time since some idiot said, "Smile why don't you" to my face and for that I am eternally grateful. I was always afraid that if I said what I really wanted to say back to them I might get punched or worse. As for that article, I don't really feel as if pieces of me are falling away. In fact I feel like a magician, like I can take up as much or as little space as I am in the mood to do. For many years I was told I looked younger than I was. Going naturally silver was the best decision ever.

Really, that was a sweet piece. But Frank, it gets worse. Wait until you are in your seventies. When you fall asleep halfway through the martini. The noise factor is huge. I hate it at prime dining time. I like looking at all the young people who appear to be able to hear each other but I'm not sure how I feel about being the oldest person in the room. On the other hand I don't like being surrounded by people older than me, either. That was one of the weirdest sensations eating out in small towns in the south. It was a granny fest. That made me really feel ancient. Although if you are surrounded by really old people they've given up trying to talk loudly, so that makes it easier for those of us who are still conversing. I love having a comfy booth. But now that I have shrunk a bit those booth tables seem high, and they are nailed to the floor, so that may create a large drop zone. I hate being in the middle of a room of crowded tables constantly getting the back of my chair bumped. Also I think that's where the noise concentrates. I like sitting next to a window when there is still daylight coming in. I like seeing my food. I like having a walking distance neighborhood restaurant with good food. I have one where the food is pretty good, but I can't tell if their food is getting richer or my tastes are getting simpler.They know me, and that's nice. And in cool weather they have heaters outside and will bring me a blanket without my asking. And outside you can hear yourself talk. But it isn't an everyday kind of place, more of a splurge. And if I want to splurge I might want to go somewhere else. But then it means driving somewhere...... And now you know you don't want to dine with me, since I'm so cranky!

I was thinking of this one on the NYT site by Martha Rose Schulman: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014134-green-goddess-dressing

The NYT has a pretty good recipe for Green Goddess. Along with parsley, anchovy and tarragon it calls for watercress and chives and home made mayo if you can swing it. Very green. Older recipes often include sour cream. Once you start adding buttermilk and dry herbs and a fistful of salt it starts getting ranchy. Then there are those rogues who try to sneak in avocado. I say, let them eat toast.

@Maggie the Cat : one smart cookie.

Make him an apron with a grinning dog on it. Or one that says something stupid, like, "Eat the Cook" or "Warren Buffy" or "Crackhead."

This topic reminded me that my apron of many many years, despite periodic washing, has some embedded grease and is not very nice looking any more. So I was inspired to soak it to see if I could rescue it. Since I am most likely to wear it when finishing cooking a meal for company after I am already dressed in something I don't want to splatter, the apron itself needs to look passable. I soaked it in very warm water with dish-washing liquid and a few tablespoons of bleach. After half an hour the water was disgusting. I changed it, and re-soaked, then scrubbed the greasiest part. After a turn in the washer and dryer, low and behold it is much improved. It's a very nice apron: heavy soft cotton, mattress ticking stripe, unisex looking, not dopey in any way--and that's saying a lot for an apron. No Eiffel Towers, no cats, no poorly rendered artichokes, no cringe-worthy writing. For most of my daily cooking, other than baking, I just toss on an old flannel shirt if I know I'm in danger of flying fat. don't have to get dressed for a job any longer, so I don't worry about most of my stay-home clothing. But now my apron has a new life, so perhaps it will get more use. Oh, and I agree with a poster above that having a tie strap enables you to hang a towel on your body. If I'm not wearing an apron I am typically found cooking with a towel slung over my shoulder, but which has a habit of creeping off somewhere when I need it most.

None of this sounds terribly appetizing I have to say. And as for calling it hummus, well, I may be totally off base, but my feeling is that if the spread doesn't include chickpeas it probably shouldn't be called hummus. You could call it Chicken Livers with Tahini I suppose. There are plenty of hummus dishes that incorporate a third flavor, but they typically still include mashed chickpeas as a primary ingredient. Babaganouj subs eggplant for the chickpeas, but it isn't called Eggplant Hummus. Personally if I were going to a party I would a lot happier with two spreads: one a classic hummus and the other a chicken liver pate of some type. A martini with an olive works well with both, right? And you don't want to confuse your vegetarian friends who expect hummus to be made with olive oil.....not schmaltz. Just me!

Pressure and induction features add $200 to the already nausea-inducing $161. Just to make rice. I'm not planning on using it for oatmeal or steaming vegetables or whatever. It's just that I want the keep warm feature, and the 5.5 capacity for substantial leftover rice or feeding more than four people. Also I am eating a lot more short grain rice these days, and although I can make very good basmati with one hand tied behind my back in a pot on the stove, the short/medium grain or so-called sushi rice I seem less able to get perfect. And I am hoping never to buy another rice cooker after this one, so I want to get twenty years out of it, or until I forget what it does, whichever comes first.

I'm thinking of buying a rice cooker. I'm looking at two Zojirushi models, both 5.5 cup. Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Neuro Fuzzy Rice $161 Zojirushi 604976-NS-LGC05XB NS-LGC05XB Micom Rice $121 The pricier one has the Fuzzy Logic and is made in Japan. The other one is simply "micom," not fuzzy logic, and is made in China. Both have features that are comparable or that make no difference to me. We do eat rice maybe five times a week, and I like leftovers for breakfast as well. My intention is to primarily cook white Asian rice, enough for me and my husband for a stir fry, and then enough left over to refrigerate to use for fried rice the next day, or breakfast, or whatever. The 5.5 cup size seems about right. Many Amazon reviewers and other sites stress the "made in Japan" factor as being important to overall quality. What do you think? And how much difference does the Fuzzy Logic make? Anyone with strong opinions on these two issues please weigh in! Thanks.

Good ricotta....now that's something that I could eat out of the container with a spoon. Lasagne is a treat for me, since I try to avoid eating a lot of wheat or cheese. If it isn't made with ricotta it ain't the real thing. And the labor involved in a respectable lasagne justifies using the best ingredients---at least that's how I think about it.

There were very few things I wanted in my mother's kitchen when she died in 2012. Her Oxo good grips locking can opener seemed great, so I took it. It's still great. I have no idea how long she had it before I became the boss of it. That Oxo replaced a real piece of crap in my kitchen, so I may not be the best judge, but it is still a great can opener. Needing to go around twice....never!