What generous folks you are! I have been deluged with almond cookie recipes (I'm going to have to schedule a baking marathon) and someone even came down and brought me almond cookies! (Whoever you are, I WANT that recipe! You didn't leave a note!)

And many readers have responded with ideas for Winnie Hee, who can't seem to find the perfect wok for her electric flat-top stove. One popular idea was to try the San Francisco store The Wok Shop (888-780-7171 toll-free; wokshop.com), a 35-year-old spot that specializes in equipment for Asian cookery, including such hard-to-find items as wooden molds for steamed rice cakes, stacked Chinese metal lunch boxes; stone flour mills and Thai rice steamers. Check it out.

Meanwhile, I've been in a lemon mood lately. Not because I'm feeling, as we used to say in my childhood, "sow-ah." Just enjoying the bright, fresh flavor of lemon splashed on a salad, in several desserts I've made lately, in a pasta dish. My darling brother brought me a bunch of limes from a tree he grafted from our grandpa's and that started me on my citrus binge.

I was paging through my oldest recipe collection, the one in which I've handwritten recipes I've used more than once and really liked — "the keepers" — and came across a recipe I've haven't used for years but loved from the first moment I tasted it. I first encountered it when I was in college and trying to be a vegetarian and it is one of the few survivors from that period. (Don't even ASK me about the soy bean casserole, yech!).

I got the recipe from Mollie Katzen's classic "New Moosewood Cookbook" — except when I first knew it, it was the old Moosewood Cookbook (first published in 1977 and revised in 2004). Moosewood is a restaurant in Ithaca, N.Y., a vegetarian collective where Katzen made her name. But I've since encountered a number of other versions.

The basic ingredients are tahini (sesame butter, like peanut butter, only with sesame seeds; found in health food stores, Whole Foods and even some major grocery stores), lemon juice and water. (OK, to be honest, you might have trouble finding tahini. I scoured a couple of Safeway stores with no luck, though I distinctly remember getting it there at one time. I feel sure you'll find it at R. Field, at India Market, at Whole Foods. (Other than that, try online at http://www.TheSpiceHouse.com, http://www.Amazon.com, http://www.AmericanSpice.com). Or make your own: Toast 5 cups sesame seeds in a 350-degree oven spread out on a rimmed baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Process in food processor with 1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil. Blend 2 minutes. You want a thick, pourable consistency. Add more oil as needed. Makes about 4 cups. Keeps 3 months in airtight container in refrigerator.

Lemon-tahini sauce can be thick as a sauce, for use on steamed or roasted vegetables, rice or other grains or even fish or meats (don't tell Katzen!). Or it can be quite thin and used as a salad dressing.

Here's Katzen's version, which yields 1 to 2 cups. She points out, rightly, that it keeps for weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

LEMON-TAHINI SAUCE

• 3/4 cup sesame tahini

• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 small to medium clove garlic, minced

• 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups water (depending on desired thickness)

• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste (varies with amount of water used)

• A handful of very finely minced fresh parsley

• Cayenne to taste

Place the tahini, lemon juice, and garlic in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. (You can also use a blender.) Begin to process.

Keeping the motor running, slowly drizzle in the water, checking every now and then to monitor the consistency. When it is as thick as you want it, turn off the machine.

Transfer to a medium-small bowl or container, and season to taste with salt, parsley and cayenne. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready for use.

A serving is about 2 tablespoons.

• Per serving: 250 calories, 10 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 19 g sugar, 5 g protein

Online, I found a simpler version and have used it when I'm in a hurry:

LEMON-TAHINI SAUCE

• 1/4 cup sesame tahini

• 1/4 cup water

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the ingredients in a cup and whisk with a fork until thoroughly mixed.

Many recipes add some shoyu or temari, minced vegetables, minced garlic and other seasonings. Use your imagination.