Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Chocolate layer cake.

Soak the matzo in boiling water for 15 MINUTES? Surely this should have been 15 seconds. You want the matzo to be softened, but still discrete pieces, not completely mushy.

No knead bread.

Kale. Lacinato kale salad with oranges, beets, feta and toasted walnuts. Sauteed kale with garlic. White bean and kale soup.

Ed, I hate to rain on your parade, but I feel compelled to tell you that it's possible to have a negative stress test with significant coronary artery disease. It happened to both Bill Clinton and my husband - within weeks of each other - in 2004.

"Clinton passed a stress test at a recent physical designed to detect heart problems, McAuliffe said. An angiogram, which might have revealed the blockage earlier, would not ordinarily be performed, even in a presidential checkup, without symptoms suggesting it was warranted, heart experts said." full article here

My husband experienced two episodes of minor chest tightness one day while lifting a PC. His boss, who had once suffered a heart attack, insisted he go to the emergency room, where his stress test results were "normal". They sent him home with a recommendation to follow up with a cardiologist. Had this cardiologist not recommended an angiogram based on his high cholesterol and family history, my husband would almost certainly have had a heart attack. Instead, he had quadruple bypass surgery at age 55.

I don't know your health history but you might want to follow up with a cardiologist. I'm just saying.

Eggplant rollatini with tomato sauce and a hint of nutmeg mixed in the cheese filling.

@iliana - I'm with you. Fabio's comment is offensive, as is SE's decision to print it. It's certainly not my idea of "charm and personality to burn".

I'm no Sandra fan, but on the other hand, not everyone is an accomplished cook. My mother sure never watched Julia Child or made anything from scratch. I never saw her use any seasoning other than salt and pepper, and a side dish of iceberg lettuce with a sliced tomato (no dressing) was as close as we came to "salad". So let's not assume that we're all whipping up homemade ravioli, using wonton wrappers "intuitively."

Yes, Ms. Lee carries things way too far, but I'd much rather watch Rachael Ray show me how to chop an onion, explain what to stock in the pantry, or endlessly repeat a simple tip like "nutmeg goes good with spinach", than see some intimidating, upscale restaurant chef show off how fast he can crack eggs with one hand or flambe something, or rattle off a list of ingredients I never heard of. Maybe someone who ONLY uses processed food (horrors!) can benefit from a little Aunt Sandy.

Try savory oats cooked as a pilaf rather than a porridge. I've been making different variations of this recipe from the "Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook" for years, as a dinner side dish.

@screamingfresh - I heart Curtis Aikens! Thanks for the link, I'll look forward to every episode.

Stress-filled workday ends
Quiet dinner, candles, wine
Renew my spirit

A proper black and white cookie has icing, hard and shiny. The stuff in between the layers of a layer cake is frosting, soft and fluffy. Glaze is a thin syrup that is poured over the top, or perhaps the cake is dipped in, as in glazed donut.