Sue:
If you could eat only one meal, a last meal, what would you have in that meal?

Nancy:
Several individual dishes that don't necessarily go together come to mind. One time when I was in Seattle promoting a cookbook, I had not had time to eat all day, and my driver suggested stopping at a restaurant that had great grilled salmon. Maybe because it was so impeccably fresh, and simply but perfectly cooked and I was so hungry, I recall it as a dish I'd want for my last meal. Another truly amazing dish was a hot and sour shrimp soup I ate at a nondescript looking little Cambodian restaurant in Vancouver. It was a complex, aromatic blend of exotic herbs and spices and piquant, sweet, and sour elements so incredible, the experience is still vivid in my mind. The third dish is a springtime vegetable combination prepared by my mother. She used to take fresh, tiny peas straight from our garden and cook them together with new potatoes and just a splash of cream-simple but amazing.

Sue:
Today more and more people are eating out. They tend to either eat in restaurants or bring home take out food. How do you feel about this trend?

Nancy:
I don't have a problem with people enjoying eating out-it is tough having to fix three meals a day, day after day, and I welcome a break myself. I do wish there were more places that offered food that wasn't loaded with salt and fat, though. My husband has to be very careful to follow a low-fat regime, and it is quite difficult for him do this and eat out at all. Places like Boston Market have actually helped a bit, because if you choose carefully you can find a few things on the menu that are prepared with health considerations in mind. On the other hand, I do have concerns that some youngsters are now growing up without ever knowing the pleasure of good home- cooked food or having any idea how to cook themselves. My own son was never interested in learning to cook until he went to college-then I started getting frantic phone calls. Now he can do a few nice dishes for himself.

Introduction | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 |