Margaret Pilgrim

We should vet those arbiters who etched so many of our strictures in stone. As in, who the hxxx were they? For every one, there i possibly a counter authority or grandma who did the opposite.

Absolutely. Back in the day her first book was published and this lasagna began to appear, it was hardly recognized as "lasagna" by the American diner.

It's interesting that when status for owning something is worth more the intrinsic value, fakes enter the market. 19th C wines; antiques (particularly collectables), art. "Stuff" that is not meant to be consumed or used but simply owned for show or bragging rights. Fools are born every day.

Without disparaging the author, several of his/her objections have been dissed in modern times, such as the ban on cheese with fish you mentioned. And orzo as a side dish is a no-brainer! We call it "roni"!

California is weird. I don't think I've come across any of those sins, except garlic bread, for which there is no substitute as an accompaniment to an icy beer in a beer garden.

My father's family all battled weight (although by today's standards they would have been considered average). So we seldom ate pastas or potatoes. Little fried food. Broiled or braised. "Boiled" veg. Lots of salad. Still no one was skinny since the concept of portion size was not foremost. Forward a generation, I confess to feeding our toddler "marble meatballs": centimeter sized balls of ground round, sauteed and sauced with Campbell's tomato soup. He loved them. Also macaroni showered with (orange) Kraft "cheddar cheese food". He loved that too. Somehow and fortunately, both our tastes have evolved. My DIL never cooked but brilliantly fed our toddler grand-kids from Whole Foods' prepared food and salad bar -> plain chicken breast, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Plain, wholesome food, no sauces or excess salt. Raw vegetables and tons of fruit. They are good eaters now, and she has begun to cook as they've grown into "children".

It's also the Westermann method for roast chicken. Par"poaching', that is.

Reminds me of trying to eat a burger on the deck at Sam's in Tiburon. Take a bite, shoo away a sea gull. Take a bite; another seagull swipes a fry.

No brainer strip steak and chard

Last sit-down inside restaurant probably late 2019. Husband refused any food not cooked in our home until he consented to dim sum early this year. We also finally do a taco truck. It's been a VERY long haul.

Some of each would be lovely, thank you.

Gorgeous plates, as usual, @Ann_T. But please tell us how you are healing. All good thoughts continuing...

30F outside -> eggs Benedict

Last night, arriving in the country -> quick and easy = repurposed roast chicken with tonnato sauce.

You qualify in both cosmetic and internal medicine. The bowl pictured above has no relation to any Progresso soup! Your inclusions are brilliant.

By request, SF style prawn cocktail. Jumbo prawns, avocado, onion, cucumber, cilantro, prawn cooking water, catsup.

San Francisco hosts one of the largest Chinese communities outside China. New Year's preparations have taken over several neighborhoods, Grant Avenue area certainly but also the handful of offshoot concentrations or "New Chinatowns". We live a few blocks from the Clement Street neighborhood, where shopping was frenzied over the weekend. Last night was punctuated by many informal (illegal) fireworks ranging from strings of firecrackers to quite a few major reverberating booms. It's quiet this morning.

What were your findings? To be honest, we have found that wine is situational. Food pairings do affect taste judgments, but for us far more important is the place and time and company which can elevate or depress the perceived quality of a wine. That said, I do totally prefer a thin glass.

Repurposed roast chicken -> lard crusted chicken pot pie

I remember a dinner at which I asked an accomplished wine guy if a particular glass was okay for him. Without looking at it, he replied, "If it has a hole at the top, it'll work for me."

We are very fortunate to live in an area of conspicuous consumption and rapid depreciation. Garage and moving sales have outfitted us with premium, signed, glasses that don't cause me angst at table or while washing up. Usually around $1 or less apiece, as Henrys move on to the next mandatory purchase. And as they trade up, so do we, albeit a year behind current trends 🤣.

Baby portobellos, Blenheim apricot vinegar, EVOO, Malden. Hot Calabrian sausages, fresh tomato sauce finished with vodka and cream, No surprises but ultimately comforting.

Elegant!

It looks great. And/but I could easily attack it by deconstructing it. Knife and fork. All ends up the same. Delicious!

Excellent. Thanks! I've only had one really bad martini. My boss invited husband and me to their flat before we were to go to dinner and the theater. Her husband was of the "never an empty glass" school, and kept ours topped up. And, apparently up and up and up. Realizing that we had tippled through our dinner hour, we headed to the theater, where fortunately our seats were back row orchestra, with a padded wall behind us. The lights dimmed, we tilted our heads back and slept peacefully (I hope) through Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead. Never saw Peter Ustinov.