SylviaLovegren

Did she wash the cutting board afterwards? No, the dog licking the board clean was the "washing".

The salt with melon thing actually goes back to ancient and medieval medicine. Melon was considered cold and humid and needed "dry hot" salt to balance it. Also why Italians eat prosciutto with melon. Elizabeth David said that her family used to sprinkle ground ginger on melon -- same thing.

When I was a kid I was driving with my parents in the back woods of Idaho and we got invited to lunch by some very nice local folks. The woman made fresh biscuits and after she rolled them out on her cutting board she called the dog over to lick the board clean. I remember the look of horror on my mom's face but, oddly enough, don't remember whether we ate the biscuits or not.

The berries would probably be fine, just not very appetizing except cooked. I'd worry most about the sausages. But why not cook them up in some sauce and then freeze the sauce?

Are you serious? "Broasting" was a big deal in the 60s -- my husband and I remember seeing signs advertising broasted chicken at restaurants when we were kids. We always thought it was just a fancy way of saying broiled. Had no idea there was an actual "broaster" and that it was a pressure fryer. The things you learn...

Thank you for a fascinating week. My culinary horizons have definitely been expanded. Also lots of fun.

OK, you lost me there. Chocolate and salty fish? No, a thousand times no. I do like oatmeal with crumbled bacon, egg, butter and lotsa salt and pepper, though.

Not a good time of year for oysters, but you should be able to get fresh Dungeness crab. If you find a place that serves fresh razor clams, definitely try them. Delicious.

As others have said, those big Florida/Puerto Rico avocados are watery and not as tasty. (Don't let my Puerto Rican friends hear me say that, tho...) They'll do as slightly anemic substitutes, but they're nothing like the Haas or Fuertes. Slightly crisp, slightly sweet, and watery, as opposed to buttery and nutty.

I'm partial to: "Cook until done."

Is goonk a technical term? My MIL isn't messy like that, but she does manage to get every dish and implement in the kitchen dirty, fill up the sink, and cover all the counters and the stove top with mess. After having worked with her in her kitchen for a number of years, I am a fanatical clean-as-you-goer and can put dinner on the table now, in many cases, with no dishes or pots and pans to be washed after dinner at all.

Wow, your kitchen may be small but it looks cozy and well thought out and well loved. I want to hang out there! The seafood looks amazing. I want that whale butter dish.

Ayup. Also, heh.

In the 70s (yeah, I'm old!) at the first "New American" restaurant in Seattle, Rosellini's Other Place. Started with a soup of wild local mushrooms, then a roasted locally grown quail -- done just a point, with butter, no herbs or distractions. A side of wild greens. Desert was wild blackberries, local, in flaky pastry. It was a revelation. Everything fresh and local, everything cooked simply but perfectly, everything in harmony. And served in a quiet, elegant, warm atmosphere. A life changing experience.

Ain't it the truth? This heat wave is intense.

At a certain point (reached yesterday when the heat/humidity index was 125F) I get vaguely nauseated and most food sounds unappetizing. I do get hungry eventually but only want things like salted tomatoes or melon slices, cold light vegetables, maybe some cold fish or chicken. But I think people's reactions to heat vary dramatically. My husband, who's of Greek background, rarely feels hot and even yesterday was eager to go out for a walk after dinner (we went out and I couldn't finish my food). All I wanted to do was put ice on the back of my neck and lie down in a cool dark room.

My grandmother's way with the new potatoes out of her garden: boil potatoes in salted water, have ready some fresh baby peas just boiled with a little salt and some thick fresh cream made warm but not boiling. Drain the vegetables, then mix the potatoes with the peas and the cream. A little pepper if you like. Eat this dish all by itself because any other flavors will blur the purity. The cream has to be really good, no ultra-pasteurized stuff.

We've found a supplier in Toronto who started out raising healthy beef because he didn't what to eat feed lot meat. After years of cattle raising, he's started growing heritage grains on the land that is now rich from all that good manure. His chickens also deliver really delicious eggs. That's the way it's supposed to work.

If you google, you'll come up with a buncha recipes for candied pineapple. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering.

Gonzo food blogging! Looking forward to more.

Probably the first piece of advice would be to wait for the humidity to drop.

Why didn't I think of this? When I was a kid my mom had a set of elasticized plastic covers for her leftovers that looked like shower caps, except they came in colors -- this was before plastic wrap became ubiquitous. Thanks for the tip!

Had no idea there was a Rhode Island hot dog culture. Neat! Wish I could go sample.

There's nothing wrong with restaurants offering bland, familiar food in small quantities for the kids who are picky. But usually those choices are bad food, high in fat and salt and empty calories and prepared with the cheapest ingredients in a not particularly caring way. It's trash fast food and the restaurants are training kids to accept that. Some kids will only eat a few things (I know one teenager -- whose parents are both fantastic, creative cooks -- who will only eat a certain type of hamburger, plain pizza and certain hotdogs, won't eat fruit or vegetables at all and who is slim and seems healthy), but lots of kids will try all kinds of things. Our own son loved sushi, octopus, squid, curries, pate, pesto, artichokes and pretty much everything else by the time he was 4 or 5, unless it came with a cream sauce or melted cheese, which he detested (no mac 'n' cheese for him!). French restaurants generally don't have crappy kid food -- they expect the children to educate their palates by eating good food and I like that idea. Also, turn down that radio and get off my lawn!

Wonderful reporting. Feel like I'm right there -- and wish I were! Looking forward to more.