I was going to write a column about rice cookers. Then my editor emailed and asked if I’d read this column in the Washington Post:

Who Needs a Rice Cooker?

Grr, Washington Post! This is just the column I wanted to write, so I’m not going to bother. Enjoy.

On Serious Eats:

Cooking with Kids: Bacon Doughnuts

> Try this at home, really. The bacon doughnuts were better than breakfast for dinner. Even my daughter Iris, age four, liked them. At least, I think.

> “What was your favorite doughnut?” I asked her.

> “The bacon,” she replied. I beamed, until I realized she was eating a plain strip of bacon.

Pickles are tasty, aren’t they? Not just dills, but Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon, kim chi, Japanese _tsukemono_, whatever.

I have a couple of favorite Seattle pickles. One is the spicy Parker Pickles from Woodring, sold at area farmers markets and Pike Place Market. These are the best pickles I’ve ever had for putting a sandwich or eating alongside–crisp, sour, and quite spicy. (They also make them non-spicy. You’re welcome, Iris.) Last night Laurie asked me to turn a couple of these into relish for our hot dogs. Good idea.

Renee Erickson of Boat Street Cafe has long been known for the pickles served at her restaurant, and she’s now selling them in jars under the Boat Street Pickles moniker. All of them are good; my favorite, predictably, is the onions. Iris likes the pickled prunes; she’ll pull one out of the jar and lick it clean. According to Renee, next in the lineup is pickled fennel; I can’t wait.

I’m not sure if there’s any way to mail order the Woodring pickles. Boat Street Pickles are available by calling Delaurenti at 800-873-6685. But I’d rather you seek out your own local pickles anyway. That is not some kind of euphemism.