I have been trying to find choi sum in Vancouver ever since I moved here from Hawai`i, where I first learned about it. It’s a wonderful vegetable. I did not know about all of these, though, and am looking forward to trying them all. Thanks for the information!

Over a year after first writing this article, I find that I have taken off another 30 pounds, but, otherwise, am pretty much in the same place I was when I wrote it. I still love the website, all of its contents, its personalities, and all of the wonderful recipes and ideas I see here. I’m in the process of moving further north, where I look forward to a new CSA, new farmers’ markets, and new restaurants to explore. JeanE23, if you’re still reading, I can relate to your comment on how hard it is to achieve five-a-day -- and I thought I was eating a lot of produce until that mandate came out! The whole thing is, indeed, a journey filled with both pitfalls and unimagined pleasures. Enjoy!

MMMMMMMMMMM... you make me sad I have never actually tasted garlic scapes! I must do something about that!

another delightful essay, my friend. I love your musings! Just beware of what happens if you give a mouse a cookie.

Thank you for a touching and beautiful article! My own brother (gone since 1996) was a professional chef. Mostly, the rest of us were afraid to cook for him. But he loved meatballs; in particular, spaghetti and meatballs and a soup called albondigas (that means “meatballs” in Spanish). The last thing I ever cooked for him to eat was albondigas, some years before he died. But now, every year when his birthday rolls around, I make his favorite birthday dinner as a memorial: spaghetti and meatballs, with chocolate cake (and chocolate frosting) for dessert.

As for your thoughts on mastery and Julia Child, yes, you get it - and Ms-canned-soups-and-wine totally doesn’t. Bravo!

this sounds wonderful! Thanks for the idea!

Rambudan is a really funny-looking fruit that looks sorta like a little red porcupine, about the size of a kiwi fruit. I think they’re related to lychee, but bigger and with long sorta soft spines all over them. You peel the red part off, and there’s a woody seed with a clear/white kinda sweet mass around it. Tasty, but I have to admit that the best part is how spooky they look before you eat them! Not sure where they’re from. I got turned onto them by my Filipino neighbors. When I worked at a produce distributor on Kaua`i, they were a special-order item, but you’d find them sometimes at the sunshine markets... Definitely worth looking for!

Didn’t have guavas in my yard, but ‘most everything else. There was a huge guava plantation on the island; they made every guava product you could think of, but I never ate one fresh.

I never thought I would, but I have to admit, I do sometimes miss living in the islands. Mostly, I miss the music, though. About the only tropical fruits I really, REALLY like are pineapples (and you can get better ones there than the ones you can get here on the mainland). Bananas are pretty okay, too, but when you’ve lived with a banana tree in your yard, you can learn to dislike them -- they all ripen at the same time, and sometimes you can’t give them all away before they go overripe!

Well, Joan, I will definitely give this a try! Pie crust has long been my nemesis... so I’m all about trying an “idiot proof” recipe! Thanks! And another lovely article, by the way...

I never stop being amazed at the sheer creativity of what you come up with! And even $12 a week is darned good! You should be (and are) applauded at every turn. Thanks for sharing these!

Well, shoot! My own plans for when I win Mega Millions is NOWHERE NEAR as wonderful as this! I wish you all the luck in the world, David! Make sure you keep us all in mind when you win, so we can all come visit and eat there!

Probably would have done the same as you. People tend to take umbrage at being corrected, especially in front of their children and/or in public. And, the mother very likely would have told you it’s not your business. But, probably, somewhere in the Universe, she is being laughed at or hated for her hypocritical behavior. I would wish her a karma that includes better choices -- but I’m sure not perfect about the choices I make, either!

aaahhhh... chocolate chip cookies... now that’s a subject for a memoir!

although I actually like tofu, I’ve never been brave enough to try tofurkey dogs.

I lived in Colorado for almost 25 years, but only went to Estes Park once. I don’t remember seeing a dog-shaped restaurant there. Sorry I missed it! that would be striking!

oh, how I miss lilikoi! and rambudan! but dragonfruit? never had it. and never particularly liked mango, even though they were all over my neighborhood on Kaua`i, when I lived there. We did have guavas, and there was a Sharwil avocado in my yard -- but I didn’t like them, compared to the more familiar Haas that I grew up with. Have to say that I agree, though. Could neve be TOTALLY a locavore, because I am too in love with lilikoi and avocados and pineapples... wherever you are right now (or whenever you wrote this) I am jealous.

Another winning article, Mamster! and I totally love the salad recipe you included. Going to have to try this soon! (and yes, I totally agree that you need those fatty porky things to make a really great salad!)

Thank you for sharing. This is a lovely remembrance.

Unlike the others above, I have never experienced the slaughter of my meat. My brother, however, spent a summer with cousins who raised a cow each year for slaughter. After playing with and riding on Joey all summer, at the end of it, he just couldn’t face Joey burgers or Joey roasts or any other meat for about a year. I do think it’s important to recognize that our meat didn’t start out in those antiseptic little white trays. Thank you for sharing this reality. Great article.

I remember driving across the Bay with friends to pick up fresh berries at Kato’s farm in Fremont. The trick was to get them back home. Because there was always a bruised berry that you just new wouldn’t make it, so you just had to eat it. Oh! there’s another one! Gotta eat that, too! And on it went, until pretty soon, you’d realize you were deliberately pressing on the berries a little hard so you would bruise them just so you could eat them! Needless to say, we learned to buy a lot of extra berries at Kato’s so there might still be some by the time we got back home.

What a great article! Thank you SO much for sharing this! I’m sharing this article with everyone I know!

This sounds incredible! I usually eat my blueberries with lemon yoghurt or lemon sorbet. It just seems like the perfect combination. But adding ginger to a drink with lemon and blueberries? Now that’s inspired!

This is a very thoughtful and interesng article, and the comments are wonderful! I am thinking Culinista sounds good, but maybe that’s feminine? So would a guy be a Culinisto? Just wondering. t’s probably already up there, but it’s not on the screen, and I can’t remember what I’ve read! Culinaut also sounds good, like it’s an exploration as much as anything -- and it is. So I couldlive with that! I usualy think of myself as a “food person.” But that’s a pretty lame phrase. Thanks for helping us all think about this! Because, I think you’re right. If we don’t have the right “label” in today’s culturem, no one will pay attention to those of us who really do CARE about food!