Hmm. Iceberg lettuce is a very fine thing in hot weather.

Since grocery shopping has become a damnable nuisance, I have returned to making our salad dressings at home. Last year, I put up some tarragon vinegar, and it is THE BOMB in a vinaigrette. I would also like to make bearnaise sauce (damnable computer won't spell in French), but the last time I did that I suffered a vigorous protest from my digestive system.

I made a beef stew the other day, thickened with red lentils (split masoor dal) instead of beurre manie. (Himself's niece and all three of her children have celiac disease, so I occasionally experiment with gluten-free food that is not an almost-but-not-quite imitation of the real thing.) The resulting sauce was a little grainier than I get with flour, but completely acceptable. Also, the lentils add protein without fat.

Of course, beef stew always tastes better with half a bottle of plonk in it, and rather a lot of mushrooms.