If you want a little oomph for breakfast, soak some oats in the soy milk (probably overnight) and then add them. Smoothies/shakes with oats are incredible! They won’t add a significant flavor, so the purity of the banana will be preserved.

I am making myself sooo hungry....

What a lovely essay!

These are wonderful. And, as Deborah Madison’s recent column suggests, you needn’t make these the night before––the yeast will give them plenty of lift if the batter is left for 15-30min while you’re getting everything else prepped.

I left out the sugar and used the first third of the batter for sweet breakfast waffles on Saturday (sprinkled some pearl sugar into them as they were going into the iron...). Then I used the next third mixed with a little goat cheese, caramelized onion, thinly-sliced jalapeño, and smoked paprika for supper on Monday night. The final third will likely go for another supper.

I enjoyed this excerpt. I’m the daughter of divorced parents (from about age 7), and our family was “pescatarian” until then because of my father’s moral/philosophical objections to meat. My mother started adding meat back into her own diet, and that of my younger sister, when my parents separated, but by then I was too old to be really on board with it. Now I eat chicken (and fish/seafood). My partner grew up in a family that still eats a LOT of meat, but because of the way I eat he has gradually reduced his meat-eating to nearly match mine, though I never had any objection to his eating steak or bacon. And, much to my surprise, we seem to have inspired a reduction in meat and increase in vegetable consumption amongst HIS family!

Clearly, this essay really touched me. I hesitate to offer advice, but rather... I’d like to offer a comment that kids seem to generally turn out ok no matter what dietary choices their parents make as far as meat goes. I suspect it’s more important to help them understand what choices their parents are making, and allow them to make their own (within reason..balanced nutrition is important!).

I concur with the Editor’s Note above -- smoked paprika is awesome on these!! But actually, any combination of spices you like is fantastic. This is one of Bittman’s truly genius recipes: so simple you’re annoyed you didn’t think of it, utterly delicious, strangely addictive, completely versatile.

Tried the quinoa porridge this morning. It was lovely -- a totally different texture to that of most grain porridge, since quinoa doesn’t really get starchy and soft. More like...tiny little crunches? Anyhow, it was tasty. I’m eager to see how long-lasting it is.

When my sister and I were younger, we had Mollie Katzen’s previous kids’ book, “Pretend Soup”.

I saw it in a children’s bookstore the other day and fondly flipped through, surprised and pleased to notice how many recipes from it I remembered. To this day I love making popovers, one of our very favorites from Pretend Soup. The step-by-step illustrations really make it, and I cannot recommend this book enough.

Both my sister and I are now in our mid-20s and both of us LOVE to cook and bake; I credit our parents’ efforts and this book.

Not entirely sure what happened to your beans, but I’ve tried a number of ways of cooking mine and here’s what seems to work best:

rinse dried beans and pick out ‘dead’ ones. add to dutch oven. cover with an inch or more of water. add some salt. add lid. add to cold oven. turn oven on to about 300ºF. check in about an hour, then judge from there. small beans like cannellini seem to take about 1.5–2hrs for me; large beans seem to take about 3, maybe a little more.

This is pulled from this Culinate article, and seems to work every time. The only problem I’ve had is occasionally overcooking smaller beans, which really doesn’t bother me. The pot liquor is great in soups, pasta sauces, even bread. Yum.

@karen tsang: Try to find a cast iron waffle maker. It’s not a machine, but it’s not nonstick. :)

My $20 Fubonn special cooks everything from white jasmine rice to quinoa perfectly (provided you add the right ratio of water to grain). This piece makes a great accompaniment to the recent Rice & Beans article (http://www.culinate.com/articles/our_table/the_ultimate_budget_meal), no?

Rice cooked perfectly, and thoughtlessly, in a rice cooker is one of life’s great pleasures, I think. Topped with a little kimchi or stir-fried red chard? I guess it’s lunchtime...

@ SMcK0: I vote for ‘gastronaut’. It has a humorous tone, making it inviting and accessible, but preserves one of the fundamentals of our interests: gastronomy. A gastronaut should be on a ‘gastronomic quest’, and I think at this stage that’s what most of us are doing.

Still, I’ve embraced ‘foodie’ since it is a good conversation opener -- others who think along the same lines will be able to move past the term quickly, and those who aren’t ‘in the club’ will be able to file me neatly. When it comes to coffee, though, I’m a bona fide coffee snob. ;)

I’ve had the slightly odd experience of living by myself for a year while i study in another country, after being used to living with my partner. Now, instead of cooking for one another and fighting over who has to do the dishes, we exchange recipes/techniques and inspire one another to cook more interesting things. I know it sounds horrendously soppy, but it’s one of the only good things about being apart.

When I cook alone (and I should say that I love cooking alone, I tend to do things that take much longer because I feel no pressure to feed someone else’s hunger. I try new things, whether it’s ingredients, techniques, or a particular recipe. I adore leftovers, and think of myself as the queen of leftover recycling; it gives me great pleasure (and self-satisfaction) to be able to turn a bit of leftovers into a completely different and delicious meal. Occasionally these successes inspire me to make the second dish with more intention, from scratch.

Oh, and I also make things spicier than when I’m cooking for partner. Or anyone else, for that matter. ;)

Seriously -- USE THE HEAT!

Also, thanks for mentioning the steam-and-cover trick for vegetables. Once I figured that one out (borrowing the technique from the cooking of dumplings/gyoza), I got rid of the burnt-but-cooked or raw vegetables I often ended up with in my stir-fry.

(I’m on the wok side, too. Mainly because I’ve always used a wok, just like my dad does. Also because they tend to be nice and light, and very easy to clean if they’re small, like mine is.)

No, you’re not wrong about that. The amount of disgusting, sticky-cloying cider I’ve had in pubs here is sad. That said, cider is more respected as a proper alcoholic drink here, so at the very least it’s not difficult to get information on the good stuff.

Also, with the rise of good-food culture here, artisinal foodstuffs of all sorts are easier to get, both via large upscale supermarkets (M&S, Waitrose) and in smaller farmers markets.

Thank you so much for this article! Hopefully this will inspire a rekindling of love for cider.

I adore good cider, and have generally been disappointed with the stuff found in the US -- though I haven’t gone looking in Seattle, which apparently was where I went wrong... Having just lived in Portland for six years, I’m familiar with the delicious Wandering Aengus ciders (from the farmer’s markets tastings), but had no idea about the cideries in Newberg and Sauvie Island.

Now I live in London, so I’m soaking up the English cider here. :-)

Well, I’m here to make a NICE comment!

Ellen, this idea is genius. I’ve been cooking whole chickens and using the carcass for stock for a while, and I often end up with extra chicken and use that.. etc. But I’ve always roasted it.

I tried this idea tonight (having recently moved to London on my own, without my boyfriend to eat the other half of meals). The resulting soup broth was really wonderful: I added ginger, rice stick noodles, green onion, and a dash of fish sauce. The meat was, as promised, incredibly silky and moist. I’ve already prepped the thighs/legs with an Indian spice rub (done while the rest was poaching), and I’m looking forward to cooking a delicious two- or three-meal curry tomorrow evening.

Anyhow, I just wanted to tell you how great this was. Sometimes the simplest ideas just never occur to you, eh?

I just wanted to add my enthusiasm for this article. I live in Portland, too, though I’m from San Francisco. I’m in my early 20s, recently graduated from college, work two jobs, and “give” a hefty portion of my income to my student loans.

However, my boyfriend and I try very hard to buy organic, sustainable, local food. Farmer’s Market when it’s open; Limbo, Pastaworks, New Seasons, etc. for other things. And I’d like to point out that when you buy better quality, the “skills” needed to prepare tasty, healthy food are minimal. Can you grate things? Can you turn on the oven and operate a kitchen timer? Can you boil water? Can you whisk things together? If so, you are well on your way.

I second the idea of eating filling food, too. I’m just now getting into whole grains, but yikes! They’re so filling! Who knew? Soup, too. I mean, if you start with good stock/broth (the making of which requires the following skill: boiling), practically anything you put in that soup will taste good. Stock + Aromatics + Fresh Veg (+ Blender) = yum.

You can be young and unskilled and still eat good food. By the same token, you can be busy and still eat good food. I find it just takes planning and, as cafemama said, multitasking. Let the ingredients guide you.

(Oh, and read lots of food blogs. That helps, too.)