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I was in the grocery store the other day looking for a nice steak to cook for dinner and got distracted when I saw packs of meaty beef back ribs for sale. I couldn’t recall the last time I had cooked them.

It’s Mother’s Day, and in this column over the years I have written about my mother, Julie, and the food she cooked when I was growing up. Today, though, I thought I would talk about my father’s mother, my grandmother.

You really appreciate the skills of a well-trained sushi chef when you make sushi yourself. The chef makes it quickly, precisely, flavourfully and attractively, while home cooks can struggle, especially if they don’t often make sushi.

Baked potatoes and yams are often served as a side dish. In today’s recipes, though, I’ve elevated their status and made them the star on the plate. With regard to the spuds, I made twice-baked potatoes.

A lot of flour is being sold during the COVID-19 pandemic — an indication that many folks have gone into pioneer mode and are making bread. Ask them what goes good with it and many will say butter.

Early this year — which seems like a lifetime ago, given what’s happened with the COVID-19 pandemic — my wife and I had a lovely little getaway in San Diego.

A number of readers have asked me to offer basic cooking techniques — skills they could learn or improve on while staying close to home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recent column on menu planning for the COVID-19 crisis, I suggested home cooks include dishes that used ethnic ingredients.

As I noted in recent columns, many sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ readers have reached out to me and emailed suggestions on topics I could write about during the COVID-19 pandemic. Readers have also sent recipe requests and ideas.

The COVID-19 crisis is affecting how we cook and eat. Some ingredients normally well-stocked in grocery stores are becoming scarcer and we’re being forced to switch things up. I was reminded of that when plotting out recipes for this column.