You can’t make green papaya salad without one (at least not easily).

It’s a tie, I think.

That’s funny about the meatloaf, because that’s one of the few dishes my mother made beautifully. She learned it from her mother. I learned it too, and adapted it to suit our tastes. The recipe involves 3:1 ground beef to ground pork, cracker crumbs, eggs and evaporated milk (among other things) with a tangy glaze,…

No, she was Southern, so she just boiled the shit out of any vegetable adding slice of bacon (or in the case of greens - a ham hock), salt and pepper for seasoning.  She never met a steamer and baking was just for meat and potatoes and baked goods. Daddy used to say the North is where they cook the tomatoes and leave…

I cook a lot of Thai food and a fair amount of Korean food. We had japchae last night, which is on our rotation of “clean the fridge out” meals. We much prefer it to fried rice. I also make gochujang fried tofu nuggets as a banchan sometimes.I haven’t heard of those dishes you mention, but I will look them up. We do…

I was about 12 when my mother had major surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor in her leg. My madcap aunt came down to “help.” My mother gave us a signed check for groceries and had my aunt take us to Delchamps for groceries. I was shocked when she simply dropped me off and sent me inside. I’d never shopped by myself…

I have kids. I put dinner on the table. Didn’t keep unhealthy snacks in the house. McDonald’s was rare treat or an outing, not an ordinary meal. I tried to prepare meals I knew or thought they would enjoy, and didn’t taunt them with items I knew they’d dislike. They either ate or didn’t. No pressure. I figured they’d…

My mother was a disinterested cook. I took over the cooking for a lot of family meals when I was very young. I really hated meat growing up because for my parents meat had to be cooked TO DEATH...and buried. I was never able to break them from that, but I was able to “fix” many other things on our table. As an adult I…

I think it’s helpful for parents to try and figure out what exactly it is that the child doesn’t like about a particular food. I was lucky enough to have good eaters - except my son absolutely hated mashed potatoes. I figured out it was a texture thing that he grew out of. As an adult he eats ANYTHING. But no ground…

I wonder if you can make this with shrimp; we don’t eat chicken.

My SIL and I married brothers, our first names and middle initials are the same. And we have the same last name. That’s REALLY a drag!

Me too. My name was very popular when I was born. It was such a drag to have the same name as more than a few of my classmates, so they have to add your last name initial to differentiate you. Don’t think that will be a problem with our adorable, treasured Pebble. 

(What a whiney baby!)

I can see that! Since we don’t eat pork sausage, I’ve found that adding ground fennel (toasted in with the aromatics and tomato paste and olive oil) will give the suggestion of sausage in a tomato sauce and make it seem “meaty.”

It’s a pantry soup - diced shallots or onions if you have them. Brown those. Open a can of tomatoes, toss in a couple of sliced carrots or sweet potatoes. Just enough broth or water to make sure the vegetables are covered. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add salt, pepper, a pinch of ground red pepper for…

Your back pocket is fancier than my back pocket! ;)

I do all of the cooking and all of the kitchen cleaning, simply because I clean as I go. It’s just two of us at this point, so it’s easy. When the kids were home, I’d cook and he’d clean. But I don’t trust him to properly wash my wok and my cast iron skillets...and while I absolutely don’t mind dog hair tumbleweeds on…

That does stink. I think at 4, that’s the first birthday they actually remember. Tell her she can plan an unbirthday party for when this is over! Make it as silly as possible, with uncake, unpresents, etc. 

One of my dearest friends is turning 70 in two weeks. (The rest of us are in our early 50s.) This is a BIG BIG DEAL for her because she’s divorced and her children live far away, so we’re renting a beachfront condo for the day - so the 7 of us can spread out outdoors - and having a brunch spread with bagels, smoked…

That’s pretty much exactly what we’re having for dinner.