Cooking

Rose Mula writes: This morning, starting on yet another health kick, I figured I'd forego my usual breakfast of a humongous blueberry muffin dripping with butter or an automobile-tire-sized bagel slathered with cream cheese or a stack of pancakes swimming in syrup. Feeling noble, I decided to have a much less lethal boiled egg on whole wheat toast. But instead of simply boiling some water and tossing in an egg for three minutes, as I normally would have done, for some reason, I consulted Chef Google. Big mistake. more »

"We were surprised that so many students at Cal had a need for a place to spend Thanksgiving and to eat a traditional holiday meal at a time when the rest of us can be with family and eat more than we should," said Gary Kohler, director of sales and marketing for Hotel Durant and Henry’s, who estimated that it cost $12,000 to provide staffing and food for the students and volunteers. "It's a population we didn't realize was there. We wanted to help." more »

Julia Sneden wrote: I remember that when I was small, my mother baked bread every week despite a killer schedule as a graduate student and teacher, never mind running a household that included two children, two grandmothers and a great aunt. She did have what was the 1930's most modern bread-making appliance, a large, galvanized tin tub with a handle that protruded from the lid to turn the large, reverse-S dough hook inside. In practice, she would always knead by hand because she said she needed to "feel the dough." more »

Margaret Cullison writes: The winter salad creations of my childhood memory seem quaint, if not downright silly. For instance, the Candlestick Salad, dating back to the 1920s, probably elicited a few adult comments unfit for younger ears to hear. The salad consisted of a canned pineapple ring resting on a bed of lettuce, with half of a banana placed, cut side down, upright in the ring's center. The tapered banana top received a decorative finishing touch of miracle whip and a maraschino cherry, meant to resemble the candle's melting wax and flame. more »