Tagged: Food for Thought

When my Food for Thought pard Nancy Leson confided to me that she was taking a six-month leave of absence from The Times I predicted that she'd be climbing the walls within a month.  How wrong I was.

It happened to KPLU's Grooveyard and Weekend Edition host Kevin Kniestedt. Assaulted by a deranged woman in an electric shopping cart at a local supermarket.  Click "listen" to hear him describe his harrowing ordeal.

My heart says "No" but my head says "They make 'em better." Probably... I think.  

Although it's true that my kitchen stove, new just four years ago, began emitting un-ignited gas in a near-death fashion, I still think that today's appliances must be more reliable than those of decades past. Aren't they? 

My Food for Thought pard, Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson isn't so sure.

I don't bother to do it but Nancy Leson does. Find out why below – along with the reason you should never use old tuna cans to cut biscuits. 

I've also posted my "Clamity Cheryl" DeGroot-approved red clam sauce recipe. You can make it in the time it takes to bring a big pot of water to boil for the spaghetti – and in these times of the Fetish for Fresh it's proud to use canned clams.

Is the best way to store bread in the bag or in the fridge? In the immortal words of Prizzi's Honor hit man Charlie Partanna, "Which one of dese?"

 It's Zuppa di cavolo nero – Red Cabbage and Bean soup from Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cookbook.  Good as it looks, it tastes even better.  (Check out her recipe below).

While less adventurous eaters may turn up (or even hold) their noses, local foodistas have made the dairy/dussumeria pairing the hottest trend since Korean taco trucks.  

But not just any sardine and not just any ice cream will do.

I do. So does Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson – but only if they're fried. Others won't eat them at all, no matter how succulently crisp those feathery little hind appendages may be.