Arts journalist Carolina Miranda asks in her essay remembering California native Joan Didion. Miranda recounts Didion’s reference of her family’s potato masher in her work, “Where I Was From.” Podcaster and author Cathy Erway recommends sprucing up the pantry by springing for high-quality sesame oil. Evan Halper reports on California’s charge to eliminate the use of gas in homes and businesses. Chef Kavachi Ukegbu is on a mission to expand the audience of West African cuisines and its staple — fufu. LA Times restaurant Bill Addison returns with a review of Horses in Hollywood. Finally, conehead cabbage has an expected look with an unexpected sweetness and can be found across Los Angeles farmers’ markets.