cooking. I’m lax about chasing a few stray pennies to make my checkbook precisely balance. But “wild mushrooms” on a menu should have been foraged in a forest, preferably on a misty dawn morning.

Homemade/housemade better not have come from a box.

Then there’s shortcake. Those cellophanewrapped things with the depression in the middle displayed next to the strawberries in stores? Those are sponge cakes. Strawberries with angel food cake or pound cake? They may be delicious, but they are NOT shortcake. Shortcakes (the “short” refers to the amount of fat) belong in the biscuit family, as do scones.

Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].