StephanieL

Ah, you do the full chametz clean then. Otherwise, lamb matzo pizza could be interesting.

And here I thought it was some kind of cokehead reference.

Last week, PBS re-ran a Ken Burns documentary from 2003 called Horatio's Ride, about the first successful cross-country trip made by automobile.....in 1903. You had to admire the optimism of Mr. Horatio Nelson Jackson, especially as seemingly all of his gear kept falling off the car and he and his driving partner (and later the bulldog Bud) were traveling muddy, steep, and near-impassable roads with no maps and no places to fuel up.

I also tried to eat on the early side, which is my preference anyway (though not at 5 PM--I'm not a retiree in Florida)--it worked best for restaurants that didn't take reservations and didn't have bars to sit at. I always bring something to read if I'm eating alone, though that's always been my MO in the same situations at home.

Pan-roasted bone-in chicken thighs, sauteed mushrooms and leeks, and mashed red potatoes. A nice, simple weekday meal.

Fusilli with kale pesto, roasted delicata squash, and RG flageolets.

Finding sfingi for St. Joseph's Day today. I haven't had one of those since I left New York.

N synthesized a few recipes to come up with a Spanish-esque stew with cod, fresh chorizo, RG Christmas limas, cabbage, tomatoes, and green olives. Beronia Crianza 2023 Rueda verdejo to drink--I picked it up at The Spanish Table in Berkeley for a good price.

Peanut butter on Irish soda bread (with raisins). The bread from our local baker isn't too sweet, so it works. The peanut butter I have currently is just peanuts--no sugar, oils, or salt.

Well, so far we've found a couple of well-known companies who will write policies for us. It looks like it's going to be cheaper to keep our auto insurance with our old provider and use the new provider for home only, rather than bundling home + auto with a new provider.

One of the giants of South African letters. I saw "The Captain's Tiger" off-Broadway in 1999 and the revival of "Sizwe Bandi is Dead" at BAM in 2008. I also watched "Master Harold....and the Boys" on TV as part of Showtime's Broadway series, with Matthew Broderick as Hallie.

Thanks! What's been your experience with the lender insurance?

We've had the same home & auto insurance provider since we moved to CA. We just got a letter from our mortgage lender saying that our provider is below the financial rating they find acceptable, so we have to get a policy from somewhere else or risk getting covered by the dreaded lender-placed insurance (aka The Policy of Last Resort). A lot of the major insurance companies, like State Farm and Allstate, are pulling out of the CA market and not issuing new homeowner's policies. We have a potential through N's work, but I did not want to have to deal with this.

And it still wasn't completely aphid-free. Extra protein.

There's an online exhibition! https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/new-yorker-100

N picked a Romanesco cauliflower and had to spend a couple of days de-aphiding it. It's currently in the fridge but smelling like, well, cauliflower, so I'm going to make an Indian cauliflower, RG yellow split pea, and potato curry for dinner.

Thanks! I'm in town 3 days a week for work, but sadly up by Fisherman's Wharf. I might have to check it out next time I'm in the Mission.

I make beans in the "usual" method, including presoaking. I can't tell the difference between the beans I make and the ones N makes.

Re: Hannah Goldfield's column on NOLA King Cakes: I managed to get a Dong Phuong cake by logging onto Goldbelly 5 minutes after they went on sale online. I got the classic version (cinnamon filling), and it was the best of all the King Cakes I've ordered over the years. (Gambino's came in second.)

N only uses our InstaPot to make beans, and she absolutely swears by it. No presoaking needed.

Chicken noodle soup, because I think I have a small cold.

We've been keeping an "emergency earthquake" supply of easy-to-open cans of food, swapping them out as they get closer to their best buy dates. We had a canned ham approaching that date, so N made a hash with the ham, potatoes, onions, and the other half of our red cabbage, along with some Middle Eastern-style baked beans (using RG Cranberry Beans).

Being able to buy really good pan dulce out of the back of a truck. 4 pieces cost me $6.50.

Chinese stir-fry chicken with bok choy and shiitakes. Believe it or not, this was my first crack at the "velveting" technique, where you marinate the meat in water, cornstarch, oil, and soy sauce for about 20 minutes. It worked!

I'm a medical writer/editor. I go to the smaller meetings to cover talks, to be written up as news stories afterwards, and our society's big annual meeting to film and edit video interviews (and also cover a few talks).