When I last visited Washington D.C., I could not get in to see the capitol, nor the Pentagon (I tried). But I did get to visit the Smithsonian Museums, where I languished in American history, soaking in the romance of times past, the heritage that is mine and yours too. I loved seeing the dishes, the serving ware, the dinner invitations and other bits from White House dinners.

Those bits of memorabilia danced in my imagination as I opened the book “Politics & Pot Roast,” ($24.95, Bright Sky Press) a delightful book by Sarah Hood Salomon.

Inside the covers are lots of favorite recipes of presidents and first ladies, but what I especially enjoy are the intimate tales of food and such that fill all of the pages in between. I got a kick out of “uncle jumbo’s” favorites, including a lemon pie; descriptions of Zachary Taylor, a disheveled-dresser who loved a big plate of jambalaya; and details about the financial matters of Calvin Coolidge, a thrifty president who opted to have breakfast instead of dinner meetings because they cost so much less.

There are stories about presidents who were control freaks and jealous husbands; and tales about President Franklin Pierce that will comfort mothers across the nation. This president was so messy that he had a hard time finding his mattress when he wanted to go to bed at night. Moms will also take comfort in stories about life in the White House during Theodore Roosevelt’s reign, when children surfed down the stairways on serving trays and roller-skated through the East Room.

Some of the recipes I may actually try include Eleanor Roosevelt’s chicken and almond soup, Mrs. Roosevelt’s squash biscuits, Herbert Hoover’s grandmothers’ orange jelly, Rosalynn Carter’s eggplant casserole, and Laura Bush’s smoked shrimp with mango salsa.

Whether the recipes turn out to be family favorites at our house or not, I count this book as one of my treasures.

– Jolene Thym

All year long I wait for tomato season. As soon as it’s over, I go
into mourning, refusing to buy any tomatoes at all, since they are
truly but a shadow of what they could and should be. Around November,
I break down and start bagging the firm Romas at the grocery store. I
dice them up small for my salads. A bit of lesser tomato is better
than none at all, I tell myself.

Between December and May, I make do with such tomatoes, knowing that
when summer arrives, I will get real tomatoes. Wait until summer. I
can do that. I wait until summer. But when the first of June arrives,
I want those tomatoes. I want fresh, juicy beefsteak tomatoes from
the garden. I want to smell them fresh off the vine. I want to fill
my mouth with the fresh, sweet flavor. I want to bite into them as if
they were apples.

But no. This is not possible here in California, at least not if
you’re growing them yourself without benefit of a hothouse. June may
indeed be the official start of summer, but it is not tomato time.
July is also summer, yet the tomatoes in my garden remain green. Not
until August do I at long last get what I have been waiting for all
year long.

Adding to the pain of the wait this year was the arrival of “Tomatoes & Mozzarella: 100 Ways to Enjoy This Tantalizing Twosome All Year Long” (Harvard Common Press, $19.95). Authors Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora, who clearly share my love of tomatoes, filled their book with recipes so creative and tempting that the
cookbook is a serious page turner. I have spent hours gazing at the pages: Mozzarella Crostini with Ginger Tomato Jam, Creamy Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto, Rich Tomato Pot Pie. Ummm. I am not sure which recipe I will try first, but I want to try them all.

At long last, offical tomato season has arrived all over the Bay
Area. Sadly, the vines in my own backyard aren’t producing many
tomatoes at all. I’m not sure why. But thankfully, I have connections
at the other end of town, where the vines are producing pounds upon
pounds of tomatoes every day. Those who live on the tomato-side of
town are literally up to their ears in tomatoes, eating them for
breakfast, tomatoes for lunch, tomatoes for dinner.

Even better, the tomato-weary are SHARING!!! My kitchen is now
stacked with gorgeous red globes that I can recklessly eat any time
of day. I like tomatoes cubed in a bowl with toasted bread cubes and
cheese. I love it when the tomato is so big that it takes just one
gorgeous slice to cover an entire piece of toasted bread.

Before the season is out, I will make tomato soup spiked with clove
or dill. I will make fresh, warmed tomatoes on pasta, and my favorite
casserole, fresh tomatoes on a pile of mashed potatoes, topped with a
handful of mozzarella.

Also before the season is out, I’ll make some of the recipes in my
new “Tomatoes & Mozzarella” cookbook. Then, come late September
when there are no fresh tomatoes in sight, I plan to tuck the book
away. I will put it completely out of sight so I can endure the long,
tomatoless season that lies ahead.

– Jolene Thym

I don’t particularly care what anyone else has to say about Rachael Ray. I’m not a particular fan of hers — I’ve never seen her show, never met her in person. But the fact is that in my kitchen, Rachael Ray is two for two. I’ve tried two recipes from her new book “Rachael Ray: 365, No Repeats,” and both were stellar meals, worth adding to my repertoire. I am not sure I would have liked either one if I had actually followed the recipe, but a little tweaking is all her recipes seem to need. First, I made her shepherd’s pie. I opted to use roasted turkey breast chunks in place of ground turkey. It just sounded better to me. I doubled up on the carrots and onions she calls for, pulled back on the peas, and used only half the bacon she suggested. But her idea of using a bit of chipotle powder to accent the smoky flavors in the sauce and veggie mixture is truly inspired. I delivered the dish to one family who loved it, served it to my own family and brought it to a potluck. Smiles all around. I gave Rachael the credit and vowed to open her book again soon.

A week later, I was staring at a small bag of polenta cornmeal, a bag of black beans and a butternut squash, all of which I had purchased from the People’s Grocery truck in West Oakland. I wasn’t in particular need of groceries, but it’s such an incredible program that I wanted to support it.

Convinced that all of these foods might make a meal, I opened Rachael’s book and searched. I found a recipe for polenta with black beans and chorizo. I don’t have any chorizo, but I most certainly have in stock a few links of andouille. Different, yes, but equally as tasty.

I jumped into action.

I cooked up the polenta — hers was quick-cook, mine was traditional, so I had to play with the cooking time a bit. She wanted me to open a can of cooked pumpkin and mix it into the polenta. That sounded gross, so I hacked my butternut squash into cubes, oiled it, salted it and put it in the oven to roast. Half-way through, I decided it need a little garlic and pepper as well, so I sprinkled and stirred the cubes and returned them to the oven. Rachael wanted me to add a dab of parmesan and a pinch of thyme to the polenta. I doubled up on both, but subbed out a little of the parmesan for asiago, then stirred in a little cream cheese for added creaminess. I also decided I’d rather have it baked and cut into strips, so I slipped that in the oven alongside the squash while I tended to the other details; roasting peppers, pressure cooking black beans, sauteeing onions and sausage.

After 1 1/2 hours of cooking, I began to assemble beautiful plates of food. Bright orange squash was spooned alongside pale yellow slices of polenta, and spoonfuls of black beans and sausage flecked with red and green peppers and topped with cilantro. One bite told me that even though I had tweaked this recipe as well, Rachael Ray has it going on in the kitchen. She knows flavor. The sweetness of the squash, the heat of the sausage, the creaminess of the beans and the polenta made for a memorable meal. Even better, I know that a meal that colorful is rich with an array of vitamins. I suspect that all those Rachael Ray bashers out there really need is a fork and a plate of food, Rachael-style.

–Jolene Thym

This Christmas, I sat down to the most delicious meal in recent memory. The side dishes were great, but the meat — this was no ordinary piece of beef. It was rich, complex, tender, and more fully-flavored than any meat I’ve ever brought home from the grocery store. As I ate bite after bite, I realized it tasted like meat I had sampled from Lobel’s in New York.

But I knew this meat had come from the local Costco. Confused, I asked the chef — my sister — for her secret. She answered in two words: dry aged.

Generally speaking, fresh is best when it comes to food. Fresh picked vegetables and fruits, fresh flour, fresh herbs, fresh pasta. But when it comes to meat, old is better.

Transforming a nice cut of meat into an ethereal eating experience is utterly simple. Details can be found in the pages of “Steaks, Chops, Roasts and Ribs” by the Cook’s Illustrated team.

The toughest part is you have to purchase your meat well in advance, no less than four days for optimum flavor. At home, remove the meat from packaging and position it on a rack set on a tray in the fridge. Do not cover the meat with plastic, as the goal is to literally dry the meat.

As the meat ages, the enzymes in the meat break down the connective tissue and muscle fibers, making the meat more tender. Aging also literally dries the meat, which intensifies flavor.

When it is time to cook the meat, be sure to shave off the hard-dried surface. You’ll lose a tiny bit of volume in the aging and trimming process, but the added flavor in your meat is well worth the sacrifice, trust me. Me, I will never cook a meat straight out of the plastic again, especially if it’s an expensive cut.

– Jolene Thym