Margaret Pilgrim

Our son went to nursery school at our local JCC. On Fridays they would make challah...out of Bisquick. The teacher would parcel out pieces of dough to each child who would knead or molest it until it was reunited into a loaf. We're not Jewish, but I knew this was just very, very wrong. I volunteered to make a batch of challah every Friday and bring it to the center around 11am in time for them to finish and bake it before noon. Of course mine wasn't kosher but it had to be incrementally more appropriate than Bisquick. I won't comment on the continued practice of communal kneading,

Yes, thanks. I see Meyenberg brand but I believe it is pasteurized. I was hoping for raw.

Thinking yogurt and cheese, I tried to buy raw goat milk from several goat farms near us in the country. By telephone. I was met with panicky sounding voices repeating that "NO, NO, NO WE DON'T SELL GOAT MILK! NEVER. EVER!!! " Strong regulation in California.

Maybe a nudge, some years ago we were frequent hosts to a guest who had trouble chewing and swallowing.. I became an expert on soft food. One standout, because it was unusual and quite delicious, was salmon mousse served with strawberry coulis. Try it. It's lovely!

While I have a few others, under the banner of KISS, I reach for Keo's Thai Cuisine, mentioned above. Approachable product and instruction. But most important, reliable and delicious results. I have one copy in town, one in the country where I have fewer than 2 dozen cookbooks. Should say something.

If you are teetering on whether to cave in and make a batch, consider his milk chocolate Guinness ice cream. I loathe milk chocolate and find Guinness disgusting, but this ice cream is superb.

Where else do you make ice cream and what do you use?

Franci, a possible fresh fish solution: I called our usual fish monger and placed an order, gave him our Visa # and picked up my order at the door an hour later. Almost “touchless”.

I bring ice cream to refrigerator level when I serve the main course, starter course if we’re not serving cheese. This gives it a half hour or so to soften. Works well for us. Note that the commercial brands we buy are also very hard right out of the freezer. I want “chewable” ice cream.

We own 1 geriatric but 100% viable Simac tank which lived in the country, and 3 Donvier qt, who live in the freezer, allowing us to make multi flavors for dinner parties.

Probably 100 gr or <. To taste as in all cooking.

Actually, my favorite flavor is vanilla without the vanilla, called Sweet Cream (McConnell's) or Fior di Latte. Just milk/cream and sugar. Not very sweet.

What is important is that we each are creating the kind of ice cream that we enjoy. For us it is McConnells or deviations from David Libovitz. Different strokes.

Exactly, almost. 25th Avenue. And a bus runs on 25th Avenue connecting Clement (actually The Golden Gate Bridge) and the "new" Asian areas (Balboa, Irving, Noriega, Taraval).

@Yiannos Is much more eloquent than I, but, yes, my point was that I don't see the need to add other than fine quality basic ingredients in order to make superb ice cream. My question is, to what end to you add other than dairy and flavors?

All in the eye of the beholder. I prefer to have a Straus cow process Marin grass into cream, Petaluma hens process pasture grass into eggs and bees do what bees do. I know it's all in my head, but my ice cream makes me happy.

Clement St which is a 15 minute one bus ride from Grant and.Stockton @ Sacramento St. Three generations ago the young people moved west to this neighborhood which was very simple for their parents to access. Subsequent generations have located south on outer Bslboa, Irving, Noriega and Taraval, all a bus ride away from Clement St.

Proper ice cream. I have.never understood putting chemicals in homemade ice cream in an effort to duplicate “store bought” when the best/artisan ice creams contain only the simplest natural ingredients.

Expanding my mantra, "There are no bad greens, only bad greens cooks." Replace greens with any product and it works.

No, being quietly correct and respectful helps.

We are there. Probably always have been.

Marcella Hazan suggests an ethereal if rich pasta. This is one of those "far greater than the sum of its parts". That ought to take care of at least one...

This is a stunning meal in the best of times. How you pulled it off is amazing, All good thoughts for fast healing and no repeat performamces.

Housemade ricotta is a treasure! Texture depends on length of drain time. For creamiest, only a few minutes, longer for denser cheese. A wonderful fast and inexpensive pasta dressing with handful of fresh veg like peas or asparagus. \

As I wrote that and even reread it, I saw that one coming but thought, "No, they're not going to go there". But you never know... Or more apt, now we do.