rgruby

Comfort Me with Apples. Joe Fiorito's came out in the early to mid 90s. Ruth Reichl's came out after that by several years, I think.

Wow, been over two weeks since there's been anything posted in this forum. Don't think I've ever seen it this slow. So, just for fun, I'll ask what you want to see in the TO food scene in the coming year. I'll start by saying I want to see the expanded street food initiative actually get off the ground so we can eat something other than the ubiquitous smog dogs from a street vendor. I'd also like to see some more ethnic Chinese joints, especially in the main Chinatown. I also hope the trend towards local continues gathering steam, and that the major supermarkets get on board to a greater degree. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Given that the product I have seems to be the only thing out there for an 8" duct, and given the fact that even if it worked properly there's still only a rather flimsy piece of aluminum stopping the wind and cold from coming in, I rather suspect that it is a fairly common problem. My outside bit is very close to the range hood inside - there's maybe 2 feet of ducting in there. I suspect that the short duct run in my place contributes to the problem. As does the lack of insulation in that wall. As does the fact that it's on the side of the house that gets hit with the prevailing winds most often. Another idea floated out is to angle the base of the wall cap/ vent cover out a bit to try and get the flap to sit closed. ((The top would still be attached in the normal manner). It would also make the bottom of the flap a bit more exposed to the wind, so I'm not sure how effective it would be. It might be a good idea to talk with your contractor and/or the place where you're buying your vent hood and at least see if they have any ideas or have encountered others that have had this situation and see if they found a reasonable solution. I'm about out of ideas. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

lots of it in toronto's Chinatown (downtown). It's not gone, it's just not getting to Atlanta for some reason. Along with rain, I hear. We had a similar issue here until the last month or so. When it rains, it pours (and also sometimes snows). Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Thanks, I think I get the idea. I'm not sure it would solve the problem though, and I think it might let rain in as well. Might help a bit though - in essence it just switches the flap location to the top and uses the flap to form an enclosed "box" when the fan isn't on. Seems like it might flap around less just from the wind. Hmmm. Let me think about this for a bit. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

The vent I currently have appears to be this one: http://www.drillspot.com/products/47018/Broan_643_Wall_Cap It's pretty much the only one I can come up with in an 8" size after the better part of an hour searching the web. The dry eco-vent thingey is something like this: http://www.green-talk.com/2007/09/24/is-yo...ing-you-a-cold/ It apparently only works in low Cfm applications though, so no good for a kitchen exhaust. I've also started putting some insulation in mine when not in use. Helps a bit. I might try gluing some weights on - maybe just start with a bit of duct tape - to see if that will keep it closed when it's not in use, but allow it to open fully when I turn it on. I'm finding it a bit weird (and frustrating) that there doesn't appear to really be anything out there. Oh, also found out that a screen is NOT recommended - apparently cuts down the airflow too much. The search continues. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Going to bump this up because ... Habitat has closed and is opening as the Satori (I think) Supper Club. The sign on the door said Nov 22nd opening (ie yesterday). Don't know if that happened. San has changed hands and/or management. And the Gypsy Co-op space is being reborn as The Legend Wine Bar and Grill. they also look close to being ready to open, if they haven't already. And that's just the block between Tecumseth & Niagara! Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Hi, I know a lot of you are settling down to a nice turkey dinner right about now. Happy Thanksgiving! Ok, just to be clear, I'm talking about when the vent from your range exhaust goes from the inside of your home to the outside, on the outside there is some sort of housing to prevent the elements from entering, but which allows the exhaust to exit. The part that's on the outside is what I'm talking about. And mine doesn't work very well. It's just a cheap metal box with a single flap that doesn't seat properly and/or isn't heavy enough. The result is that it flaps noisily when it is windy, and never really closes. So, in addition to allowing the possibility of letting critters in (there's no screen), it also lets in an amazing amount of cold air - it feels like there's a window open in our kitchen in the winter. Not good. So, anybody have any suggestions on makes or brands that are functional for this use? Oh, I need one built for an 8" opening. I recently read of something called an eco-vent for dryers (which I think are usually 4" diameter openings). Does anything like this exist for larger sized openings? Thanks! Geoff Ruby

Thanks all. I have a really cheap (aluminum?) roasting pan at the moment. I was hesitant about the nonstick (and passed on it). Hopefully they'll offer the non-stick one for sale sometime soon. Your responses were definitely helpful in aiding me coming to a decision. Cheers, Geoff ruby

Will you have transportation available? I worked at a place (14th century castle/ walled village actually) up in the hills and a little south of Rimini a few summers ago. Lovely spot, but 20 mins or so from Rimini. Very difficult to get to by public transit and a cab would be expensive. They used to have a website, montegridolfo.com. I know that the kitchen staff is totally changed, so can't vouch for the food there now. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Ok, easier cleanup I guess. But aren't you losing out by having less caramelized goodness forming on the bottom to make gravy from? Just asking because a decent manufacturer 'round these parts has a non-stick pan on sale. I'm tempted, but wondering if non-stick might not be the best way to go for this application. cheers, geoff Ruby

Hmm. My folks live there and, funnily enough, we just had a discussion about pickled walnuts and how difficult to find they are in London. they just had a friend bring back a few jars from the UK. But that's not to say they can't be found in London, just that my folks seem to have a hard time. there used to be a place in the market downtown that usually had them, but I think it's long gone. Good luck in your quest. If you do find them, please let us know. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

And the Star today.

I recommended Crave on the other recent London thread - but on my parent's rec, as I haven't eaten there myself. But it's at least a half hour from the Wellington strip. Stratford is going to be at least an hour from that part of town. Not sure of the best way to avoid the city if you do want to head to Stratford. Maybe 401 to airport Rd (or whatever it's called now) and up Clarke? Anyways, traffic in London ain't what it used to be - it's gonna take a while to get from Wellington and the 401 to the north end of town. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Please accept my condolences as well. Not sure what I can add to what I nattered on about in the previously mentioned thread. It has been almost 20 years since I lived in London, and I visit as infrequently as possible as I despise the place. And, I don't know the south end at all really - but the Wellington St. strip towards the 401 is/was vile foodwise from what I can remember. I was gonna go on, but I'll leave it at that. Last visit (July) I was going to visit a Mexican place in Wortley village (I do like Wortley village), but coming from Chicagoland - well, it isn't going to be something you couldn't get better there, I'm guessing. Michael's is probably ok though for the white tablecloth thing - but it's been many moons since I've eaten there. Los Imperios dos Frangos. Hamilton Rd, east of Highbury. South side. By Brisbin St. I know this, because 20 years ago, they were my neighbours - I lived on Brisbin, and their stinky stinky garbage made the back yard of the house I was living in unusable in the summer. Huge, slightly greasy, definitely salty beef ribs. Flintstone ribs. It's bringing me back. Not sure they even had tables - living right beside it we always did takeaway. I dunno, I suspect there are some decent places, but I'm too out of touch to know at this point. There's always Kools - you're coming from Chicago, but TO has been deep-dish pizzaless for a few years now since Uno closed. Kools fills that niche for me, but I really gotta be in the mood for that place. I think I'm too old! Or maybe just too cranky. Best wishes, Geoff Ruby

Oh, do I have a book for you. (Well, not literally) Paris in a Basket: Markets - the Food and the People by Nicolle Meyer & Amanda Smith. Published by Konemann in 2000. So, it's a bit long in the tooth now - not sure how much has changed. The authors basically profile one market per arrondisement (their favourite) and have short blurbs about some of the other notable ones, and passing remarks about the lesser ones. It's a big, heavy coffee table type thing. I bought mine on a remainder table two or three years ago for $8 or something. It's in English - not sure if they did a French edition or not. They only deal with markets, and not the market streets such as Daguerre (home of what surely must be the world's largest accordian shop). Lots of nice pictures, some recipes from market vendors, a bit of history about the markets etc. I've mentioned it here before, but it seemed highly relevant to this thread, so I'm mentioning it again. Don't know how easy it would be to track down, either. And I'm not a Parisian (did live by Col Fabien metro one summer long ago) and don't know how good a reference this book would make for those actually living there. If anybody living there has the book, or has even just had a good look at it - opinions please! Cheers, Geoff Ruby

Nikolau Restaurant supply - 629 Queen West. All Clad, Sitram, etc ← Went in to Nikolau today and talked to Louie. They haven't carried All-Clad in ages. Nella on Bathurst does. Nikolau does have Sitram and Cuisinox. Didn't think to ask if they had a chef's pan in the size you're seeking though. My bad. Good luck with your search. Geoff Ruby

Is there a Bed, Bath, and Beyond there? If not, it might be worth a trip into New York. There's this Calphalon Tri Ply 3-Quart Covered Chef's pan they have in stock for US$39.99. I bought one and am very happy with it's performance. ← There's a Calphalon store at King & Spadina. I'd try there before flying to NYC. Well, if all you wanted was a saucier. I know I've seen them around- try giving Nella on Bathurst (just n of Bloor) or Nikolau on Queen @ Bathurst a shout. Maybe even the Bay. I think they carry the Jamie Oliver line by Tfal, and he/they might just make one. Tap Phong on Spadina might be worth a shot too. Sorry I can't specifically answer your question, but I'd try phoning the kitchen places at least (they probably have English speaking staff who know their product and could tell you what's in stock). Phoning ahead might not work for the Bay or Tap Phong though. Cheers, Geoff Ruby Oh, there's also Golda's in Mississauga I think - they have a comprehensive web page - i think they're primarily web focused. I bought a cheap one somewhere, but it has a plastic handle so it's a bit useless.

Well, you might see if there've been any Beard or IACP winners for the cuisine you want to cook. You might check the egullet boards for faves, For Indian I'd say Madhur Jaffrey and (maybe) Julie Sanhi are every bit iconic as Marcella is to Italian. (I prefer Sanhi, but enjoy cooking from both). But, there are increasingly regional cookbooks in English. India is a big country! With diverse cooking traditions. But Jaffrey and Sanhi would be a good start. For Spanish, Penelope Casas has some good books. I like Colman Andrews Catalan one. In the last few years there've been a bunch of enticing Spanish cookbooks. There's also Ferran Adrai's El Bulli tomes. Not sure there's a Spanish Hazan, if you will, but loads of good Spanish cookbooks have come out in the last few years. Japanese - I don't really know. there are threads here, and I know I bought a friend a cookbook discussed and recommended here. But there are other cuisines where there are recognized authorities. for Mexican look to Diana Kennedy or Rick Bayless. Fuschia Dunlop is exploring regional Chinese. For the past several years there have been threads detailing cookbooks that have come out in that year. Last year I started a thread asking about the "vital" or "essential" or something cookbooks from that year - basically asking what seemed to be the best of the lot. I dunno, I check out the award winners, stuff that gets high praise here, but it's hard to figure out what cookbooks meet your needs. I can usually tell pretty quickly after opening up a cookbook whether it's going to meet my needs, but mine may be very different from yours. Good luck in your search, and if you do find some great cookbooks, please let us know! Cheers, Geoff Ruby

The best (thin crust ) pizzas I've been able to achieve were on a gas grill but with a pizza stone. So, if you have a pizza stone, try moving it from your oven to the gas grill. I'm pretty sure this has been discussed a little bit here on one of the pizza threads. If I recall, I and another egulletter had good results with a relatively wet dough doing this. Otherwise, the par-grilling the crust and flipping and adding toppings sounds pretty good. I can imagine adding some smoke flavours (via a smoking box or foil) could add some nice flavors/ aromas too. cheers, geoff Ruby

I've mentioned here a couple of times that Flavor is a decent cookbook. I haven't made a lot from it though, and nothing recently. It's quite good in it's discussion of how to balance flavors. Cheers, Geoff Ruby

I'm thinking of stuff that isn't particularly good for you if eaten regularly, and which a foodie-oriented adult would probably rather avoid. But whose kids might want to eat there quite often. And yeah, this is not the sole domain of fast food chains by any means. What I had in mind were the big burger, fried chicken, subs, taco etc. chains with large advertising budgets. Chipotle and Chik-fil-A haven't made their way up here, so I can't comment. I'm trying to think of a Canadian example of a chain with better quality food. I suppose Swiss Chalet (rotisserie chicken and ribs) might qualify - although the few times I've had to eat there I did not enjoy it at all. Il Fornello is a Toronto area chain that recently announced either an all organic or all local menu. But I don't think there are very many of them outside TO. But regardless of what you wannt to include in the definition of fast food, I'm just curious about when you introduced your kids to it, what were the circumstances etc. Honestly, I'd rather my kid not major-chain fast food at all. We're lucky to have lots of other options near us. And while there's the forbidden fruit angle to this, there's also the not missing what you don't know. And, happy birthday to your little guy! cheers, Geoff Ruby

My dude is two now. Eats what we eat (more or less). He's eaten non-chain fast food a few times (burgers, fish and chips etc.) Mickey D's and Subway, to name but two, are within a ten minute walk of our house. Quiznos as well. Although I rarely eat at any of them (McDonalds maybe once in the past year - maybe because I know I was there fairly recently), I suspect one day soon it'll happen again. And if my kid is with me, he'll probably want to have what I'm having. Or maybe he'll go to a birthday party where the kids all go there. Or he'll see an ad on tv and connect it with that place we walk past that has the same sign and want to go there. Or we'll be on holiday and give in to the easy and familiar. At any rate, at some point, maybe not really soon, but soon enough, he'll probably end up eating at a fast food joint. So, how old was your kid (or kids) when they were first exposed to big-chain fast food? What were the circumstances? Was it your idea or theirs? Cheers, Geoff Ruby

The morels they had were big honking ones, if that's what you're looking for. but yeah, $80 for 100grams. Is a lot.

I was in SLM today for the first time in ages. The place downstairs in the NW corner (Domino's maybe?) has dried shrooms of many varieties. The morels were $80 per 100g - about $350 a pound!!! Most of the chanterelles (several varieties), black trumpets, etc. were half that. Lobster shrooms were less and dried shitakes even less - $20 per 100 g I think. But, still spendy. Look for fresh shrooms again in the fall at the produce place in the middle of the north side of the basement. I like that place because it labels the place of origin of almost all its produce. As I stated above, it's definitely a seasonal thing. Cheers, Geoff Ruby