Hi folks. Looks like some of the same crowd is still hanging around
this place after all these years! I first started posting on RFC back
in '97; have logged off for some time now but was looking for my old
"simple kitchen equipment" list and found that you all are still here.
Hi Barb, Christine, Jill, Victor! Gosh, it's been so long, I forget if
any of you oldtimers are "not speaking" to me for some reason. If so,
let's just say that after five year's hiatus, we can forget old
flamewars and enjoy each other.

Jill, I must say that I no longer covet your green china, simply
because time passes... I have enough china now and wouldn't know what
to do with those green peacocks. But I hope they're screeching happily
in your basement or wherever you keep them hiding. Maybe one day
you'll sell them. You know, in the years since we discussed that
china, the color green has become quite fashionable - it's now going
out of style in favor of blue, my true love. So sell that stuff now or
miss your chance!

If you want to know what's up with me, look at my blog: http://bedouina.typepad.com

I'm still cooking, no matter what else happens. I have even added a
category to the blog titled "Frugal Food." Mark Bittman gave me a
shout-out on his blog this winter - what a thrill. Longtime readers
will remember what a fan I am of his.

My blog is obscure but lives in its own little bubble of fame. If you
google Middle East Peace Food Environment blog you'll get me right
away, because how many blogs are devoted to all three?

My red lentil soup recipe was #1 on Google until this month - some
rascals at the NY Times stole the recipe (ok it's Claudia Roden's) and
vacuumed up the hits so I've been knocked from the top. Plug "Lebanese
green beans" into Google though and you should get my post about this
classic recipe first. Every day I get dozens of visitors looking for
hummus recipes; also tabbouli, red lentil soup, and figs in geranium
syrup - no kidding. The last item was a post on RFC from March 1998
which I cleaned up and reposted at the blog some years ago.

Victor Sack, I'm going to put up your "simply chicken" recipe soon as
a frugal food. This winter I posted chai recipes that I harvested from
RFC long ago, again frugal food. Make your own chai for pennies, don't
pay Starbucks prices. And to this day I still make oven-baked steak
"fries" for my kids - they call them hot fries and think they're
*almost* as good as McDonald's. (That's because I never take them to
McDonald's).

Hope you all are surviving and thriving. Looks like RFC will last as
long as the internet does...

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans, and happy summer to the
rest of you in the Northern Hemisphere. For you Southern Hemisphere
types, well, cheer up, spring is just around the corner!