Margaret Pilgrim

@heidih Totally agree. Under normal circumstances I don't patronize Starbucks. But husband and I were visiting Portland OR in August during a (then) heatwave of 100F. We were parched and VERY cranky. i staggered into a Starbucks and bought us some kind of frozen coffee drinks. Very expensive, to me and in those days, but absolutely perfect first-aid. Memorable while I can't remember any other food or drink from that trip.

I can understand this. I don't like American/California lamb because we bring to market too late. The French harvest when the size of a respectable cat! as do New Zealanders, both of which I enjoy a lot.

Thanks for this! I adore German and French headcheese as well as Mexican cabeza, and would be up for making my own but sourcing and dealing with a head is over mine. Hocks I might be able to handle.

Excellent point that suggests multiple heights to accommodate cooks of different heights.

Workspace height is a deal-maker or breaker. My husband is big on mocking up construction projects using boxes of every size, including large appliance containers. Were I to replace our counters, I would have him mock up counters of different heights on which I can test different processes: kneading, stirring/beating, cutting/slicing/carving. They are not the same. As it is, I use standard counters for few operations, but center marble table top for pastry construction and sink for beating batters.

Addendum, in kindergarten, teacher asked the kids to share what they did on various days. Our son spilled the beans when he crowed that on Saturdays he went to garage sales, on Sundays to the Marin Flea Market.

Totally understand. Plus, garage and estate sales have supplied me with extraordinary treasures. As I look around my kitchen I spot a le creuset tagine, PA Dutch cheese grater, Atlas pasta maker, 80% of my cookware (mostly AllClad), ice cream freezers, 9 pieces of superb quality heavy copper cookware, several vintage crocks that hold cooking utensils. And that's without turning around. Looking down, I see my well loved 4 ply cashmere pullover. Were I to open my cupboards, I would find 100% dinnerware and even 18thC silver flatware from estate sales. Go, look, learn and just leave the junk behind. Happily, Second Hand Rose.

As we ask over and over when going to estate and garage sales, why on earth people bought all that unnecessary, often even useless STUFF!

Sorry about that, but I’m a STRONG believer that there are no bad foods, only bad cooks. Of course, husband says that particularly when traveling, I will eat stuff that you wouldn’t give your dog, or that you’d take away from him should he drag it home.

Try any recipe for Spanish gigantic bean tapas to become friends with Lima beans. I now sub fresh/frozen baby Lima’s for favas in many dishes since double peeling favas is not something I’m willing to do any more.

I have found that the better the provenance of the tomato, the thicker and tougher the skin. Maybe just our local products. Like dry farmed Dirty Girls.

My mom made pour-over coffee. We called it "drip". Used a Chemex pot. Don't think she ever went to Melitta. Can't remember when I got my first one, but I still have both a ceramic and glass one.

Only since 2012. Peet’s started out a NorCal company. We “cut our coffee teeth” on Peet’s.

My go to is a mix of Kenyan and Ethiopian beans. Yummy.

There is a Starbucks two blocks from my house. What i can't wrap my mind around is the number of neighbors we see walking home with several cups in cardboard cup holders in the morning. Whaaaaat? $4000 a year for luke-warm coffee? No coffee pot in the house? No know-how? Besides, we are loyal to Starbuck's competitor, Peets. Electric water boiler + French press + Peet's grounds + 5 minutes -> Good morning!

@Tropicalsenior LOVE your bins. Perfect for your baggies.

Turkeys make good dinners.

Probably my most satisfying first was Bearnaise sauce. We were very young, very budget constrained and dining out was rare. So when on one of these very rare occasions we met our first Bearnaise, I knew that if we wanted to enjoy it, I'd have to master it. I used the recipe in Esquire's cookbook For Men, reasoning that if a bachelor could make it, so could I. The instructions were very complicated and entailed many steps, but it worked. Over the years, I have simplified it to a one pan, over the flame, throw together emulsion, basically the way I cook. And basically the reason I have come to try many over-my-head recipes, because I wanted them in our repertory and knew we would not afford them in restaurants.

When I was thirteen, I was planning on making cookies but my mother interceded and suggested I make bread. She coached me through a simple white loaf. When county fair time came around, she suggested I enter a loaf. I did, and won the blue ribbon, first prize, adult level! She was ecstatic, but didn't add when she told the story that that year, I was the only entry in that category, as all the experienced bakers went for more involved bakes.

More boggling than the faux cheeseburger and/or its ingredients an entire generation willing to support this kind of content. Worse, calling the creators "influencers".

Can you tell us about this men-only gathering? Is this daily or a special event?

It's there. On larger chops closer to the shoulder. I always look through the chops in the butcher case and choose those with this cap.

Sorry to have started such a firestorm. I thought I was simply using standard jargon re "unhealthful", as in EPA air qualities. But I see that they too have gone to "unhealthy". Showing my age, I remember being taught in first grade that unhealthy referred to the condition of an organism, while unhealthful qualified something that affected an organism. But words change in meaning.

I'd have to go back and reread the article, but I was surprised that (as I read it) the sodium level in a Costco chicken was not that excessive. i.e., not sufficient to be considered unhealthful.

Please send bowl of each.