I didn't go on and on about my trip to New York but it was great and I get a warm feeling when I think back to that week. Shows, dinners, interviews...it was all too funny. It was almost a cliche!

One of the nice, quieter moments was having lunch with Lorna Sass at her chic Upper West Side apartment. I've known Lorna for awhile now and while I don't know her well, she's one of my favorite friends and I always look up to her on the subject of food.

Lorna is an expert on pressure cookers and grains. Her new book, to be released this winter, is Whole Grains for Busy People and like most of her books, it promises to be a winner.

Lorna is of course the queen of the pressure cooker. I like them and like most people, Lorna's risotto recipe for the pressure cooker changed my way of cooking, for the better.
She, and millions of others in the US, Mexico and India, all agree that the pressure cooker is a fine way to make beans. I get regular letters and emails chastising me about my disdain for pressure cooked beans. It's an okay way to make beans and for me, a last resort. It really changes the texture and makes a lifeless pot liquor. But you may not have the same experience. I think Lorna forgives me.