Sonoma Market has them. But that may not be much help if you are in the city.

I found Ken Hom's Quick and Easy Chinese to be a game changer for me. He had advice about the weird, stinky sauces that are essential for that authentic flavor, and his recipes work really well for the neophyte. May be out of print, but worth searching for used.

Nacho Doritos. Long list of chemicals, but sometimes I just have to have them.

I have a big garden and can my own salsa(s). But, once I am out (about now, usually) I fall back on Mrs. Renfro's. I like the Hot (not very hot, actually) Mexican Salsa the best.

For home cooking (just me and my husband) I have 3 types of menus: One pot meals (soup or chili or casserole) or protein/starch/veg or stir fry/rice or noodles.

One pot meals are loaded with vegetables in my house, so they may get served with a starch (bread or tortillas or rice) or maybe nothing at all if they have a starch as well. Maybe garnishes like salsa or chopped parsley/green onions or sour cream.

The protein/starch/veg is usually something like grilled salmon (my husband grills) and rice pilaf and steamed asparagus. Or pan sauteed chicken breast with mashed potatoes and a salad on the side.

I figure that with one cook (me) and one dishwasher (my husband) we can keep it simple and still have tasty food and decent nutrition.

My grocery has little toy half cans of creamed corn which I use for recipes like this. And I buy 1 pound bags of frozen corn, so it would be easy to substitute about a half can worth there.

But, I also think the idea of baking half the batter in muffin tins is a great idea. I have a recipe that I only make for potlucks because it is too much for the 2 of us, so that would be a nice solution to eat half and freeze half as muffins.

I routinely add a tablespoon to my cereal in the morning. They don't get gelatinous in the time it takes me to eat my breakfast (I am not a big fan of gelatinous foods). We also add a few tablespoons to pancake or waffle batter with no discernible effect (negative or positive). They are a great source of fiber, and I find them innocuous enough. We use white chia seeds, so maybe they are more bland?

We had a wonderful $29 menu last evening at Bistro 29. Food was excellent, service was helpful and friendly in spite of how busy this small room was. We will be going back!

We used Restaurant week to go to Sazon a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. We don't get there very often, since it is rather far from home base, but really delicious and interesting. The ambiance is pure strip mall, but the young couple who own it are delightful.

It is really tiny, and tends to be crowded during this week, so I would recommend that you get reservations!

Anyone planning on going someplace new for Restaurant Week in Sonoma County? I am thinking of trying Bistro 29 since we have never been there and the menu sounds good.

Curious to see if people use this event to go to tried and true favorites or something new?

I love Barbara Kafka's Chicken Salad from her Roasting cookbook. It has fine julienned cucumber and red bell pepper, and is lightly dressed with mayo thinned with lime juice (or lemon) and a slug of ground cumin. I usually shred the chicken so it is the same shape as the vegies. Serve on a bed of soft greens. Not really suitable for sandwiches, though.

I also love garbanzos, but I strongly prefer home-cooked to canned. I have never had any luck with cooking them in a slow cooker.

The best method for us is to soak them (4 to 8 hours) and cook them in a pressure cooker (about 17 minutes), letting them release naturally. Intact, not grainy, no exploded beans, no need to peel because the peel is tender.

They freeze really well (drained) and are great to have on hand to make a quick batch of hummus or throw into a soup or salad.

I second the slow cooker recommendation. We tend to start it in the morning, cold water and polenta, 5:1 ratio. Stir it every 15 minutes or so, once it starts to thicken, reduce heat to low, cook all day (no stirring necessary). Stir in some butter if we are feeling decadent before serving, but not really necessary. Creamy for dinner, but leftovers firm up in a loaf pan and can be sliced for casseroles or griddling.

I made this cake this weekend. It was fabulous, and the cake was so easy and non-fussy. I did use store bought Gravenstein applesauce. I would consider it more of a spice cake as it didn't have a lot of apple flavor, but really delish.

I could eat the glaze with a spoon. I did make it a little too thick (it poured, but wasn't smooth). But no one complained!

Unless you want a more "casual" lunch, you should have a good time at these 2, along with LaHaye and El Molino.

I don't like to eat at restaurants every meal, so would be tempted to get a lunch and picnic. The weather is likely to be splendid in April. You can get sandwiches at Sonoma Market or Sonoma's Best and head up in the hills or up valley for a meal al fresco if the weather is cooperating. Have a great time.

I like LaSalette better for dinner and Girl and the Fig better for lunch. But maybe that's just because I like LaSalette better overall.

Gravy is classically made with pan juices and an additional liquid (such as stock, milk, water). I always have poultry stock in the freezer from all the leftover bones (straight in the freezer after carving).

I make my turkey gravy with the pan juices and stock made from the giblets and necks cooked in poultry stock. I usually make the roux with the browned turkey fat (from the pan), and I brown the flour. This makes a really flavorful, rich gravy.

I don't ever make chicken gravy, but there would be less goodies in the pan, so it might tend to be less flavorful. Since gravy is like crack to me I try to limit it to a once a year thing at Thanksgiving. Otherwise I would be even fatter than I am!

I second or third Lorna Sass and Pressure Perfect.

I personally don't soak beans when I use the pressure cooker, because the whole point for me is to be able to have beans without thinking about it hours ahead of time. I can walk in the house after work, decide I want beans, and sit down to dinner about an hour later with home cooked dried beans. I have never had any problem with the quality, but maybe just because they are so superior to canned that I don't notice.

The only "full meal" I make routinely is this beef stew from Lorna Sass. It is super easy and fast and delicious for cold work nights when I don't want to fuss around for hours to have something warming:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/mem...

Yes, just pull the meat off the bones and remove the obvious fat and skin. You can cube it (especially if you like the breast the best) or shred it, it will tasted the same, but look different.

Don't forget to eat the wings while it is hot, that is the best part of a rotisserie chicken, and useless for cutting up for the recipe!

Not a dumb question. Sounds as if the recipe is trying to help you use up leftovers. You can roast a whole chicken, or the parts you like. Take the meat off the bone once it is cool enough to handle. If time is pressing, I have been known to use a rotisserie chicken from Costco or the deli for this kind of dish.

Traditionally, chicken and dumplings was made from stewed/poached chicken so that you got the stock for the gravy ready at the same time as the chicken was cooking, so you could do it this way if you prefer.

I personally prefer the meat from roasted chicken, as it tends to dry out when you cook it in water (seems weird, but true).

I save all my poultry bones in the freezer until I have a crockpot or stock pot full, then make my own homemade chicken stock which I store in the freezer in various sizes so I can just pull it out and use it when needed.

We live in Sonoma, but go to the Rancho Gordo store a few times a year to stock up on beans. They often do "release" parties with cookbook authors that are really fun, and once we went to a Cinco de Mayo open house there. It is a fun place to visit.

I am running a business and doing most of the cooking for my small family (just me, DH, dog, and cats). If I didn't love leftovers, we would not eat nearly as well. Any thing that takes more than 30 minutes to get on the table I always prepare enough for 2 dinners. Right now in my fridge: Enough meatballs in tomato sauce for another dinner (just need to cook the pasta and reheat the meatballs). Enough jambalaya for a dinner in a few days, re-heated in the microwave carefully. A small amount of chili (we already had 2 dinners) to mix with some stale tortilla chips and scrambled eggs for a dinner if my husband doesn't snag it for lunch. Enough turkey breast to make a small turkey salad lunch for the 2 of us. Some cooked quinoa to do whatever with.

Leftovers in the fridge is better than money in the bank. Or at least, tastier.

A restaurant (long gone, name forgotten) used to make an avocado pasta that I recreated as best I could. I seldom make it, because avocados are expensive and I would rather just eat them with Mexican food or as guacamole, but it was really good and simple.

Boil some fettucine. While draining, heat some good olive oil (or I guess you could use avocado oil but I don't have any) and toast a pinch of cumin seeds until they are aromatic. Add the pasta back and toss with cubed avocado. Add salt to taste and lots of black pepper if you like it and serve.

Easy and delicious. You can add grated Parmagiano at the table, but I don't think it needs it.

I routinely freeze home made salsa, but only the ones that are cooked and pureed (like salsa verde and broiled tomato salsa). If your fresh salsa is little cubes (as opposed to a thick slurry) I believe the texture will suffer, although the flavor would be fine. I would personally puree it before or after freezing. When thawed, I would add something fresh like green onions or more chopped chiles or fresh cilantro to give it some texture.

If you haven't already tossed the first cake, I would grind it up for crumbs. Fried in butter, they would make a great topping for any kind of stewed fruit like sauteed apple slices or pears or whatever you like. Sort of like crisp without having to bake it.

Well, if paulj is correct that out of 30 g of sugar, 1 gram is cornstarch (about 3%), then my powdered sugar recipe (3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup butter) has about 1 teaspoon of cornstarch from the powdered sugar. Which seems trivial. But, maybe it is the secret to the recipe, who knows?

I make these cookies every year at Christmas as they are my husband's favorite. I use my mother's recipe, which is from the 40's I think. Just butter, flour, powdered sugar and lots of vanilla in the batter. I prefer walnuts to pecans, though I use either. The secret is to toast the nuts well and cool before chopping medium fine.

I did try a fancy CI recipe one year, and while they were fine, I went back to my traditional recipe the next year.

I think that replacing a tablespoon of flour with cornstarch might make them more tender, but they seem plenty tender to me without that change so I probably wouldn't bother.

Thanks! KaimukMan. I will give this a try next time I am in the mood for a casserole. Given that it is equal parts rice and meat, it will be a main for us.

Would you share the recipe? I love wild rice, and don't use it as often as I should.

I don't know what ingredients you have on hand, but one of my favorite ways to use good smoked sausage (I assume that Polish is fully cooked/smoked?) is a reader recipe from one of the magazines that is gone (Gourmet?) from many years ago. It calls for Kielbasa, but I use any good quality smoked sausage I have on hand.

Cabbage with Smoked Sausage
2 T. butter
1 large onion, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into thin slices (3 c.)
1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 (12-oz) bottle beer
1 lb. smoked kielbasa, cut into 2-in long pieces
1 medium head cabbage ((2 1/2 lb) cut into 2 inch wedges
3/4 lb medium red potatoes, quartered

Melt butter in a dutch oven over mod low heat, then add onion, sugar, and salt, and cook,
stirring frequently, until onion is golden, about 15 minutes.

Stir in beer, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot, then add kielbasa, cabbage, and
potatoes and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender, about
1 hour.

Serve with lots of crusty bread to sop up pot liquor.