The Washington Post had a special section in yesterday's paper about learning to cook. Had a photo illustrating the difference between chop and dice, etc., one on substituting ingredients, some basic recipes.

I don't quite understand the passion for sourdough starter. In an interview, Katie Porter said people kept offering her starter, but she doesn't have time to bake.

some idaho instant potatoes

Ummm, baby reds.

Except my local WalMart didn't have that flavor this morning when I went for my weekly milk run. They had every other damn flavor except the one I wanted. No light cream, either. OTOH, they had an entire rack of toilet paper, so good with the bad.

some idaho instant potatoes

Ummm, baby reds.

There are 2 or 3 of those in our pantry right now! Super tasty.

what ingredients do you have and maybe we can give you all a recipe to make

Aw, thanks, that's lovely. I do something similar to your chicken pouches -- I buy TJ's tinned chicken, which is very good, and then frozen rice, pasta, and polenta. So no matter what else, I can always zap a bag of carbs, and toss in a tin of protein. Sometimes I'll add frozen veg if there isn't any already. The ease of doing that has made the difference so many times between following through on eating and inadvertently fasting.

I definitely do not have the wherewithal to bake. If only I had a local friend who passed on the results of stress baking!

I don't quite understand the passion for sourdough starter.

Sourdough is like frozen yogurt. It's a bread people think they enjoy, but it's also kind of a bummer.

My CSA has switched to all online ordering & curbside pickup, and they've been selling out of almost everything every week. Fortunately the chickens are still laying like crazy so we won't run short on eggs, but I miss being able to drive over and browse the farmstand.

Tonight is the last pre-planned meal of the 2-week shop! Tomorrow/Friday will be "use shit up however I can"

I was THISCLOSE to starting a sourdough starter and then I found yeast at the store.

The Purdue Short Cuts chicken is fully cooked and bagged and can be frozen. In my store it's near ham steaks. They have different roasted flavors and they're so easy to thaw and dump into a meal.

I have to inventory what meals we have left today.

We're still eating off the mini-feast I made for Easter dinner. Tonight I'm going to use the rest of the tomato sauce I used on the lasagna on pasta and some veg from the freezer.

Our Farmer's Market here usually starts in May. I have no idea if we will still have it or not.

Our farmers' markets are closed down; they were my primary source of fresh vegetables and fruit. I miss them ... one stall is from a hydroponic grower and, even in winter, I could get really fresh salad greens and such.