[Best Times for Snacking]

Best snack I ever had was at a condo on the North Shore of Lake Superior at about 10:30 pm -- a bacon, lettuce and hummus (no decent fresh tomatos to be had in northern Minnesota Thanksgiving weekend), on toasted levain bread from Acme Bakery in Berkeley (thanks to my freezer). Me, three close friends whom I've known for over 20 years, a great bottle of Russian River pinot noir, but that sandwich was to die for. And, 10:30 pm is my favorite time for a snack -- and always savory, never sweet.

[Worst meal at someone's home - Part 1]

Without a doubt, Thanksgiving at my aunt's house. We sat down, she served turkey. Yes, just turkey...that was it. As we neared the end of the meal, she exclaimed that she had forgotten the corn and brown and serve dinner rolls, and since we were almost done, she'd just grab the corn out of the freezer, the rolls out of the fridge, and she served then as was, except that she did take the frozen corn out of the bag and put it in a bowl. She also mentioned that she had forgotten to boil potatos to mash, but didn't think we'd want to eat raw potatos. There wasn't even a jello salad to complete the meal.

[Your 10 Favorite Cookbooks]

Four standbys here:

Michael Field's Cooking School. Great for technique.

Barbara Tropp's "The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking." This one is a real gem, and her intros to the recipes are great. I think my kids' first foods were cooked using these recipes (who needs Gerber baby food when one can have pot stickers?).

A church cookbook, which my mother received when she got married in 1955, featuring mainly Swedish and German recipes. Wonderful comfort food; even has recipes for making soap, cottage cheese and other oddities.

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies. She actually tells you what the texture of the cookies should be like. The Sour Cream Pecan Dreams are a regular in our house (another first food for the kids).

All of these have been so often used they are now held together with duct tape.

[Homegrown tomatoes]

Anyone expecting a frost in the next few weeks should ruthlessly prune plants -- any blossoms should be removed, as should all of the branches that point downward. Here in Minnesota, come late August, I wack the heck out of my plants so that all of the energy goes into ripening the tomatos, not sustaining greenery.

And, if you have too many of the ripe ones to take care of immediately, and intend to use for canning and sauces, freeze them whole. Don't cut the core out, and try to keep the skin as intact as possible. When it's time to use them, run under hot water and the skins will slip right off. Put in pot, and when they are thawed, it's pretty easy to pop the cores out.