Kat Thompson is the audience editor of Eater’s Southern California/Southwest region. The rhythmic pounding of my late grandma’s century-old mortar and pestle is as familiar to me as any lullaby. The ...

While I still like to have dried pasta on hand for really quick meals, I can now go from taking out the flour to tossing noodles in boiling water in a surprisingly short amount of time. Once I learned ...