Vegetarians in Paradise/Aunt Nettie/Reamer/Kitchen Tips/Kitchen Hints

We're delighted to share our Aunt Nettie with you. She's agreed to answer any questions you might ask about food, its preparation, and even clean-up tips. But we have to prepare you. She just might want to come right over to your house and help you fix dinner.

To send any questions to Ask Aunt Nettie, .

Jonathan in West Hollywood asked for Aunt Nettie's help with lemon juice. He writes:

Dear Aunt Nettie,

I like to squeeze a little lemon or lime juice over my salads, but I'm tired of picking out the seeds as they drop into the salad. Any suggestions?

Here's Aunt Nettie's advice:

Dear Jonathan,

I'm mighty glad to hear that you enjoy the flavor o' fresh lemons 'n' limes on yer salad. It's awful Lemon good fer pickin' up a tad o' vitamin C, too. I know the problem yer havin' with seeds, an' I have jes the ideal solution. You don't need any fancy equipment, jes one simple little kitchen gadget. Take yerself down to the nearest kitchen shop an' buy yerself a little reamer. Probably never heard of it, right? Once you lay yer eyes on it you'll know it's fer squeezin' citrus juices by hand, the ole fashioned way. It don't cost much, an' it's ideal fer makin' jes a little bit o' juice. Then, to git rid o' the seeds, pour the juice through a little strainer, somethin' like a tea strainer.

Well, there y'are, Jonathan.

If You Haven't Met Aunt Nettie. . .

Our Aunt Nettie has a head like a hard disk. It's filled with megabytes of information about food and cooking. And she's just itchin' to share her learnin' with city folk who live in mortal fear of the stovetop.

Aunt Nettie grew up on the farm. She did not eat out of a can or reach into the freezer. There was no microwave to pop her food into. Everything she made was from scratch. All the food she ate was natural, without pesticides. It was grown right there on the family farm, and she had to cook to survive. At eighty-three years young she still leaps and bounds around the kitchen and can shake, rattle, and roll those pots and pans with the best of them.

Nowadays, Aunt Nettie just shakes her head and complains, "Nobody cooks anymore. They have no idea about puttin' a meal together." She's on a mission. She wants to help those younguns eat better so they can grow up healthy like her own eight kids.

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