We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. Here are our favorite nibbles from today's offerings.

SF Chronicle: Oooh, Ho, Hoh! (said with heavy French accent, mimicking one of our favorite cooking school instructors). The Grand Cafe has a new chef and Californicated French menu. We're seriously eyeing the $18 express (45 minutes!) lunch menu loaded with salad, entree and macaroons for a Friday in our very near future. Grand Cafe remains a lovely and relaxing space with takes on dishes such as: Cassoulet, fresh wild Chinook salmon, Boeuf Bourguignon, outside meets (meats? hehe) inside marrow bones with oxtail, and lighter fare such as Salade Nicoise and legumes pot-au-feu. Chow down on the chowdah with tips from Georgeann Brennan, who learned the ins and outs from her Dad growing up in the O.C. waay before it got a rep. SF's oftentimes chilly summers combined with easy-peasy prep give these thick and wholesome soups major appeal.

SFisters are forced to lighten up our menus as the warm weather continues. The burning questions on what to eat and drink looms large. Our answers:

Eat it: blender soups, savory or sweet. Just in time for tomato season, rev up the blender and make gazpacho. Combine in a blender 3 cups or more tomato juice (or you can do a 50-50 combo of veggie stock), 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice, 18 ounces chopped seeded tomatoes, 6 ounces diced English hothouse cucumber, 1 cup chopped red or green bell pepper, 1 medium chopped white onion, cilantro, and parsley. Mince 1 green onion and 2 garlic cloves garlic. Heat lovers, add: a seeded minced jalapeno chili or ample shakes of favorite hot sauce. After blending, add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve chilled. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream or non-fat plain yogurt, and sprigs of cilantro and parsley.

Sweet fruit soup: blend 4 cups of any combo fresh chopped peaches, berries, and melon with ½ cup orange juice. Add sugar or honey if needed. Chill at least half an hour before serving. Ample pours of Prosecco or Cointreau mixed in make this va-va-voom adult fun in a bowl.

Hot chicken and cold drink/treat suggestions after the jump.

SFist Mary, contributing.

The tapered point of a bright green sorrel leaf stands out at the market, but that leaf's tartness—from high levels of oxalic acid—stands out on the plate. Take a bite of raw sorrel, and your lips will pucker as your eyes squint.

Though this column usually focuses on farmer's market finds, we want to occasionally offer some advice on common kitchen techniques. Great ingredients make great food, but so do great skills. Have something you'd like us to discuss? Send us an email or leave a comment.

A freezerful of stock is a cook's secret weapon. Create buttery, flavorful boiled rice by using stock in place of water. Make extraordinary soups with homemade stock. Finish a dish with a rich, stock-based pan sauce. Braise food in stock to add extra dimensions of flavor. Impress your friends with tales of stockmaking (though this doesn't work for us nearly as often as you'd think). You can buy good stock (hint: not with a Swanson's logo), but if you know how to make your own, you can control the flavors and stretch ingredients a little further. Save the bones from your roast chickens, and convert them to a golden elixir every few months. It's like getting a bonus meal out of the chicken.

It's an easy skill. You can find complex instructions, but we prefer the simpler forms. Yes, it takes time, but you don't have to do much work, so set it up before you hunker down for a night of TV, and by the time the news comes on you'll have a richly colored, aromatic addition to your pantry.