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This is an interesting thread. ALL of my cookies come out flat, and I've never been able to figure it out. I use only butter, always room temp, and I cream for 3 minutes with a handheld mixer. America's Test Kitchen FAmily Cookbok says you should no longer feel the grains of sugar in properly creamed butter, but I have never managed to make them disappear--does that sound right to you all?

My cookies TASTE great, but sometimes I wish they were a little thicker to bite into.

Cybercita, I have been meaning to read Edward Espe Brown. Those sound like great tricks. I am always resolving to use seaweed more often and never manage to do it...this sounds like a good first step.

My bouillon had "nutritional yeast extract" in it, not MSG, but apparently it is the same sort of glutamate and has the same negative effects on some people. I did not check the salt content...Breakfast, Lunch, Tea recommends Marigold brand vegetable bouillon. I think you can find it on Amazon in the USA. It, too, appears to contain glutamate, in the form of hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

Larley, I think that's what you would do. I meant to add that I thought this would work well with canned chickpeas, too. Good luck!

@dmcavanagh, I was just following the recipe (although I did omit a recommended 3 tbs red wine--does anyone think that would add a lot here?). I imagine toasting the seeds is supposed to bring out their flavor, but generally toasting herbs in a separate pan and getting the mortar and pestle is a bit fiddly for me. I'll follow your lead and skip it next time!

I love farro! In New York it was always very expensive--$8 or more a pound--but now that I'm in San Francisco it is easy to find the same brand for more like $3/pound. Now we get to eat it much more often. Looking forward to making this recipe.

The polenta in the picture is leftover and fried (that's why it's such a clear-cut shape), but I actually prefer it right out of the oven, when it's more like mush.

I fried it after it had cooled completely and spent a night in the refrigerator. At that point it's an easily sliceable solid, so there was no danger of it falling apart. I just heated a generous amount of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high flame until quite hot, and then I added slices of polenta and fried until lightly browned on both sides--about 2 minutes per side.

When you tried to fry polenta, was it freshly cooked? Because I can see how that would be much harder!

BigGirPhoebz, I go back and forth between canola and olive oil for roasting vegetables. I agree that olive oil also works very well.

Meleyna, I did not pass it along, but Nigel Slater actually attributes this recipe to Nigella as well!

Arabrab, how about a mushroom on a muffin with half a pound of sweet potatoes (as indicated but not as pictured)? That would do it for me; my husband might be looking for ice cream a few hours later. OK, I'd be looking for ice cream, too, but not because I was actually hungry.

WOW!

Juliebean, sardines in the can do not have heads and fins attached--at least, I've never seen them that way--even if they are skin-on and bone-in. And thank goodness, because that might be too freaky for me to handle. I prefer the milder taste of skinless-boneless but sometimes buy the other kind because the skin and bones are good for you, and if you mash them up well you usually don't notice the difference. Rawfoods is right, this sandwich would probably be nice with other fish, too.

NWcajun, I actually slice my crusts off after building the sandwich; that's why they're still on in that topless photo. But that gets the bread knife a little ooky, so I left the instruction to slice crusts off first...

BigGirlPhoebz, I have been dying to make ketchup! Any day now, I hope.

Clotilde, thank you for your lovely book. I have been cooking from it a lot lately and just yesterday made a beautiful batch of ratatouille-in-the-oven to share with my baby.

Thanks, everybody...glad to know I'm not crazy b/c I like to eat them plain, although now I have extra incentive to make the fried patties I've been dreaming about when I have leftover mashed potatoes, which is not often & definitely not after this holiday. My mom makes a mean post-Thanksgiving shepherd's pie with everything layered in a pie plate. I like it at least as much as the meal itself.

@LoCo, thank you! She is a doll. I'm so eager to see what she likes to eat besides milk...but I'll have to wait a few more months.

Oh, boy, I want to make this right now but have too much work to do. Can't wait. Thank you for the recipe.

Pezdro, I'm sorry it came out bland for you! When I make it the feta and cilantro are what I mostly taste, and for me those both pack a big punch.

I should have made a note that I'm not sure why Madison calls this a chowder--I think because it includes potatoes? I come from Texas, which is not a chowder-happy part of the country, so I don't have an instinctive grasp of the conventions. I must say, however, that this recipe does not come out soupy when I make it--it's more like thick porridge. Hmmm.

Dmarina, I'm assuming that the guilt is only just beginning/bracing myself for the strangers who approach you and tell you what to do with your kid. Oh boy.

I always appreciate it when cookbooks tell you how much salt and pepper to add. You don't have to follow what they say, but if you're a new cook it will give you an idea about where to start. I am terrified of oversalting and can use a lot of guidance myself, even though I cook all the time and have been trying to get better at tasting every step of the way for a few years now.

Thank you for the tips. If you substitute butter for lard, would you left it soften or cut it in cold? For scones you would cut it in cold, I believe, but perhaps biscuits call for a different (softer, less crumbly) texture?

I was surprised that she calls for the dough to be stirred until it was stiff and then for a few minutes more. But I had previously followed her instructions for stirring up a pound cake by hand and was more than satisfied with the results!