Margaret Pilgrim

Prawns and frites Garlic sauteed greens for balance Darker prawns for him

That's a smashing looking salad, but gnocchi played second fiddle! wow. Salad must have been even greater than it looked.

I learned from two maiden aunts. One could cook for 10 and have one spoon dirty at the beginning of the meal; the other could make a p and b sandwich and have every pan and utensil in the kitchen dirty. I thought the first was the better role model. Daily, I cook and clean up. At dinner parties, I plate, husband serves and buses between courses while I tend the next course. After dinner he clears the dining room, checks the living room and crashes. I process "good stuff", load the dishwasher and leave glasses excess glasses til morning when I'm clearer. Works well.

Some people DON'T?

Think "pork belly". I'd score skin, if it comes with it, rub with salt and seasoning, slow roast for a couple of hours at, say, 250-275F. Maybe elevate on a rack in the pan and add a cup of wine/water to pan. Cover very loosely foil to control spatter, i.e., just lay a sheet of foil over the piece. . eta, and/or slice some into, say, 3/8" slices and cook on a grill. We had this in France as a sandwich on fresh baguette, advertised as Sandwich de Lard. Divine!

Korean skewers, chard

Zucchini with remaining gribiche sauce Choucroute repurposed into "kimchee pancakes", Mexican sour cream, grilled leftover sausages

Wouldn't you?

More backyard salad with entryway cherry blossoms, Blenheim apricot vinegar dressing Rice noodles with pork and scallions

Asparagus with gribiche sauce Polish sausage, choucroute, caramelized apple

I have posted this many times on eG but here goes one more. In order to mimic sodium citrate, just add a teaspoon GOOD white vinegar to your sauce at the point when you are trying to melt the cheese. Voila. Done. No graininess regardless of the cheese you use. My logic, the point of sodium citrate is salt and acid. I think that most cheese has enough salt, so I just add a little acid.

Free garden salad Pretty close to free chicken crepes Apple croustade...for some people

We knew that.

More bolted mache salad, now with ranch house rose petals, Blenheim vinegar, blood orange EVOO. Husband enthused, "Great salad!" Bloody strip steak, crushed potatoes, marchand de vin sauce

Many thanks = tomorrow's lunch.

Homemade tomato soup with truffled popcorn, this menu by special request. "We ate the whole thing..."

That's a beautiful but moreover inspired dish! Many thanks.

Red peppers Lidia's chicken casalinga, same pan potatoes, side of scorched asparagua

To me, pan grilling uses a dry pan, perhaps with salt if you are in that mode. Adding more than a gloss of oil is frying. Frying does produce a crust, but is not the finish I look for in a steak.

Holy $%#@! I just paid almost $5 for 3 lbs (1.36 kg) Diamonn Crystal Kosher salt and thought I was being robbed. How much of this was shipping? Does no one carry this in your neighborhood?

A brilliant kitchen mandate.

I agree that the best recommendation is "When in doubt, throw it out." That said, i am most suspicious of unrefrigerated egg, meat or fish. Left out veg, I'd probably eat. But i also put lots of faith in our minds' influence on our health. Worrying about whether I will get sick is not worth half a sweet potato or fries.

Asparagus with green goddess dressing and sieved egg Heritage pork chop with balsamic reduction (rosemary, garlic, butter), smashed potato

Salad from the garden Pasta with prawns, tomato, sorrel, basil, shallots, white wine, pancetta

It was a large, cooked ARTICHOKE. You ate the big chunks of seafood with a fork, then pulled off leaves coated with the delicious sauce. After biting/pulling off the eddible tip of the leaf, it is discarded. Used knife and fork to attack heart. Think "Henry VIII goes to the shore"!