FOOD

It's getting to be soup season, and both Nancy Leson and I have our favorites. In this week's Food for Thought, Nance and I trade favorites from childhood, our go-to's at restaurants, and the homemade must-haves.

I've always thought it would be fun, not to mention cool, to make my own paprika from peppers I grew myself. Call me a kid with a crazy dream, but last weekend that dream came true. Last spring while leafing through the Territorial Seed Catalogue, I came across their blurb for Alma Peppers . "Grow your own paprika seasoning!" it gushed. "Alma is one of the best paprika-type peppers for drying and grinding." I had to try it.

Even if I'm going to cook boneless chicken thighs, I always buy the bone-ins and bone 'em out myself. They're less expensive that way, and I get to save the bones in the freezer until I have enough to cook up some chicken stock. But up until, now I've never attempted to debone an entire bird. Surprise: It was way easier to do than I expected and a lot of fun, too.

In eastern Whatcom County, right where Highway 542 turns sharply to the east and toward Mount Baker, you’ll find the North Fork Community Library.

I thought I was getting fancy when I replaced my all-metal 20-year old Ecko straight-bladed veg peeler with the cushy-handled Oxo. Then I started hearing about "Y" shaped peelers. Food writer Daniel Gritzer, among others thinks it's the only way to go . I decided to get a "Y" job and see how it stacks up against my old reliable. Sure, I was putting $1.97 on the line for this experiment but felt I owed to Food for Thought listeners to take the risk. My conclusions?

"Stein, tell me true," Nancy Leson asked. "Do you think you waste a lot of food?" I'd say I waste less food than the average American. And 73 percent of us say the same. You do the math.

When I returned from Phoenix last week — after attending the Association of Food Journalists conference and co-hosting the 2018 AFJ awards ceremony — Stein had just one question.

When Nancy Leson 's husband, Mac, didn't get her a new toaster for their 21st anniversary, she bravely hid her disappointment. But it all worked out better than okay when he took her to dinner at their new favorite restaurant.

I suppose knowing they're the life form most likely to survive a nuclear war is what makes them so bold. But unlike Don Marquis' correspondent Archy , the cockroach with the soul of a vers libre poet, the bug scuttling across our restaurant table had no literary pretentions. As far as I know, the only thing he ever got down on paper was himself when I squashed him into a paper napkin. As Archy wold have observed, "Transmigration of souls is a great game if you don't weaken."

The phrase "Back to school" always puts me into a warm and happy frame of mind. Mainly because I know it won't be me who has to go back to school. Ever again. Nancy Leson says "See? I feel the complete opposite of you." "So what else is new?" I asked her.