prasantrin

I'm pretty sure I made mine with the rum syrup. I can't remember precisely, because it was about one year ago and I was as sick as a dog, but I clearly remember stabbing the cake with a knife (perhaps a bit too vehemently, as when I sliced the cake, some chunks fell off because I stabbed too deeply). The cake with what I think was rum syrup was very well-received, and I think was one of the favourites of the crowd.

I have heavy silicone oven mitts, and while they are very bulky (especially for my teeny tiny hands), I love them. I have no problems using them to take my Le Creuset pot out of the oven when I do no-knead bread. Taking cookies out without gouging one or two with the mitt, though, is another story... I've always wanted the silicone ties, but one of the guys at Lee Valley said not to bother. They had so many returns of broken ties, that they were considering discontinuing the product.

Oh good! I was hoping you'd freeze it, because I want to know what your fridge/freezer looks like. I hope it's as pretty as the stove!

Will do! Does it matter if it's dutch process or natural? I'm guessing natural would be best, but what do I know?

I'm +1 if all works out!

I brought it up to 145C for the first batch, and they turned out fine. I was going to do the second batch, but I'm not 100% happy with the recipe I'm using. The recipe at tartlette calls for I like this recipe because heavy cream in Japan comes in 200mL containers, so I don't end up with leftover cream (not that that would be a bad thing, but I tend to use leftover cream in my cereal adding on the calories). But the chocolate flavour is quite mild. I used Valrhona--60%, I think (I bought 60% because I was thinking of making a different recipe that called for chcoolate that was no more than 60% cacao, but then I went with the tartlette recipe, with which you can use up to 99% cacao chocolate). So, is there a way to make these caramels chocolatey-er using the same 60% cacao chocolate? How much more chocolate can I add before the caramel doesn't set anymore? Or does that have nothing to do with the caramel setting? By the way, I skipped the salt and added about 2 1/2 tsp peppermint essence. Mmmmm....

Sometimes we get inspired from other members' pictures. Recently, FoodMan made the Superb Squash Soup with Parmesan Crisps from Jamie Oliver's new show. Before you read the rest of this, please look at FoodMan's beautiful soup. It's somewhat crucial for you to see it before you view my picture, which I will subtitle "Inspiration Gone Wrong". Here is my Superb Squash Soup (with no Parmesan Crisp). As you can see, it went horribly, horribly wrong. It tastes OK, but it's very very thick. In this picture, it's cold, but even when it was warm, it was ploppable. As I was blending it with my hand blender, I had visions of...well...you know. It's really difficult for me to eat it. This morning as I was scooping it into my thermos, I almost threw up! If you could only see it in person--the picture just does not do this dish justice. Now I have a debate going on--suffer through the entire pot of cr...errr...soup, or just throw it away. It really doesn't taste that bad, but my imagination wreaks havoc with my stomach...

Carolyn--did the staff mention anything about the dishes that were largely uneaten? It seems that if some dishes were less than half eaten, especially so early in the meal, they would sense something were wrong.

Someone made char siu bao again! Twenty-seven pieces, and they're my best yet! I need to do a better job of skimming the fat out of the filling, and I have to get the bottoms of the bao thicker (the tops are kind of thick, but the bottoms are very thin). I have a lot of filling in each bao this time around, which is great (I like a high filling:bao ratio), but it falls apart more easily. But that's OK...I just ate the broken ones fresh from the steamer! I thought I had eaten four, but after counting, I seem to have eaten five. Oops. Now who do I see about changing my member name to "onetrickpony"?

Whew! I do not envy you your task, but I do envy the food that will be the outcome! If I were back in Winnipeg, I would definitely make the trek out the Brandon for this! (And I've never even been to Brandon!) When my mother was the co-ordinator for the Filipino Pavilion at Folklorama (way back in the '70s), one of the first things she did was contract out the food services. She knew she would not have the patience to oversee a bunch of relative new-comers in making and serving all that food. You're really amazing for taking this on! And ya, pictures...we need pictures...

I'm sure there is. But given it was 7C inside (and even colder outside) my apartment when I woke up this morning, that sunny window sure as heck isn't around here. And those potted herbs wouldn't be thriving right now in these temps. I'd love to have a little garden, but I don't even have the space for large enough containers in which to plant them. Were I to forage for my food right now, in my immediate vicinity, I could get some non-sweet oranges, and perhaps some persimmons. Period. In terms of hunting, I might be able to get some little birds, or perhaps a stray cat. I could definitely get some crows. And Asian markets (if we're speaking about SE Asian in particular), they're just as expensive as regular supermarkets (and for some things, even more expensive). I just paid Y2900 for a 5kg bag of Thai rice. I could have had a 5kg bag of Japanese rice for Y1500, but I'd rather have something I enjoy even if it's more expensive. I think that's the point of the original question--what are you willing to pay for something you'll enjoy. hummingbirdkiss' answer was that she'd rather not pay much at all, but enjoy what she can get cheaply. Simple. I'm sure there was no intent to judge others as being silly or unreasonable for doing otherwise, but for some reason, that is how it has come across. At least to me...

That's what I'm making today! (The bao--I made the char siu a couple of days ago.) I'm making chocolate caramels, too. I swear I shouldn't have PMS right now, but my eating habits and cravings certainly are making me feel like I do!

Thanks! I was actually planning on making two batches (one with peppermint, and one plain), so I can definitely try both. I'm hoping to try the yuzu one today, too, but that will depend on if I have any corn syrup left after my chocolate experiments (at Y800/$8 per bottle, after my current stock is gone, any more recipes calling for corn syrup will have to wait until March when my friends bring my some!).

I'm finally getting around to making chocolate caramels. I decided to go with the recipe on tartelette's blog (though the recipe originally came from a French blog), because it's more similar to Kerry's recipe and the technique I'm familiar with. She says to cook the water, corn syrup, and sugar until it is "light golden brown" in colour before adding the cream. Does anyone have a temperature for "light golden brown"? I'm not very good with judging colours, and don't have enough experience working with sugar and caramel (I've only ever made Kerry's recipe). I was thinking that if I used Kerry's recipe as a guide, this pre-cream stage should be cooked to 145C/293F. , but for this recipe, the final stage is cooked to 118C/245F, which is lower than Kerry's final temperature. Do you think the first stage should be finished at a lower temperature? Or would 145C/293F be OK? For additional background on the recipe (in case it makes a difference), the water, corn syrup, and sugar are cooked, then the cream and butter are added. Once the final temperature is reached, melted chocolate is poured in after taking the mixture off heat.

Can you be more specific with the places you've lived when you claim you've lived "all over the place"? Because I live in a reasonably large city in Japan, and I would argue your statement that "you can live like this anywhere if you want to" is simplistic, at best. Or maybe you're thinking from a US-centric point of view? (though I doubt those in Alaska would agree with you, at least during the winter months).

How much I'm willing to pay for something depends in part on where I am and what I'm buying. In Japan, I can see myself paying Y500 per strawberry for momoichigo, but back in Canada, I would never pay $5 for one strawberry, even if it were momoichigo. But for a pint of good quality regular strawberries, I would be willing to pay Y700 for them in Japan, and also $7 for them in Canada.

Another version of the Iclair Cake or Icebox Cake that my mother makes is with mango pudding and cream crackers (similar to saltines, but richer--she uses a Filipino brand called Sky Flakes). It always goes over well with the Asian crowd (but I don't think robyn has many Asians in her crowd ). But my point is really that if they liked the dessert, you can do different takes on it. It will be "new" every time, so they won't get bored of it.

I can only answer the first question for now, but I'll try to find the Home Ec teacher tomorrow and ask about the leaves. The Home Ec. department has many sets of those bento boxes (and miso soup bowls, donburi bowls, etc.). I actually went into the kitchen for the first time in the four years I've been working at this school, and they have a great set up! Several microwave/convection ovens (most with 3 racks, but one has 4! It could even fit a large turkey!), 3-element gas stoves at each station, and lots of counter room. I'd love to cook in there one day!

If you have a fan (electric type), aim it at the smoke alarm before you start using the oven (or cooking). It's a bit of a hassle, but it will do the trick. The only other option I can think of would be to replace it with a less sensitive model.

You can buy the little basket-like things for steeping tea separately. They're available at any Y100 store, in different sizes, so I imagine if you're lucky enough to live in an area with a Daiso (Vancouver, Hawaii, Dubai, etc.) or Japanese grocery store (like Uwajimaya), you should be able to pick one up for a few dollars. I have one for my mug, but I take it out after it finishes brewing, then put it back in when I want a second steeping. My mug also has a lid to help keep the contents warm (but it doesn't really work).

You use kurozatou for pineapple upside down cake? I've never thought of that. I didn't actually use jouhakutou, but the light brown coloured jouhakutou. I thought it would be OK, since brown sugar in the US/Canada is quite moist as well, but it was a bust--big waste of sugar and butter! So after that, I used either granulated sugar (works, but different flavour), or brown sugar that I bring from Canada.

Is he Canadian? Canadian cookbooks often have volume measurements in metric, rather than metric weights or imperial volumes (or weights).

Can I post my bento here even if I didn't make it? My S3 girls who took an elective Cooking class had their last class today. Traditionally, they make a traditional Japanese meal, and present one bento to each of the S3 homeroom teachers. This year's graduating class was larger than usual (48 more students than usual grades), so they had some extra bentos to pass around. One group chose me as the recipient of theirs! Kabocha, taro, konnyaku, chicken, snowpeas, and little tiny carrots cut like momiji and sakura (I guess they wanted to include all the seasons...) Sakura-shaped takikomi gohan with chicken konnyaku, and I can't remember what else. This was actually quite tasty. They used more oil (I could taste it) than most takikomi gohan I've had, and I think that's why I liked it. Some kind of fish, and you can see some lotus root in the background. I was pretty worried about the fish--it looked a bit overcooked. But most of it was quite moist, with only the thinnest part being dry. My little egg and my dessert! Mochidango, one of my favourites! They like me, they really like me!

I'm going to finish this today even if it kills me! But I only have a bit left, so I am sure I will live quite a long time after I finally do finish... My mother's last full day in Japan was spent mostly in Kyoto. We had an appointment to get her hair cut (at the same stylist I've used the entire 9 years I've lived in Japan--even when I lived in Tochigi, I'd still have my hair cut by him whenever I was visiting Kyoto). After her morning of beauty, we went to Nishiki. This was great, because it wasn't very busy that day, so we could really take our time to wander through all the stores (at least the stores that were open, since quite a few were still closed for the holidays). I don't have any pictures of the stores, but it seemed the colours were more vibrant than usual, and the foods were tastier. We bought three packs of those tiny fish simmered in soy sauce and mirin with walnuts (my favourite preparation of chirimen jako), several bags of snacks, a 5-pack of botan ame (my all-time favourite Japanese candy), and I can't remember what else. While my mother was getting her hair cut, I was reading Kateigaho. I subscribe to the international edition, but I rarely if ever read the Japanese edition. This particular one had a focus on Kyoto foods! What luck! So I chose our lunch place from one of the articles. Maruyata is a relative newcomer to Nishiki. It was established in Showa 63, which I think translates to 1988. It specializes in what I thought was unagi from the pictures (when I read in Japanese, I skim, assuming I won't understand anything, anyway), but turned out to be anago. I like both, so aside from feeling a little sheepish when being corrected after I gave our order, everything was A-OK. We both had the anagodon. It was a rather small serving for my tastes (and I was quite hungry, as well), but in terms of quality, it was great. I think it was about Y1300 or Y1600. After spending a few hours at Nishiki, my mother had to make one last trip to her shrine of shrines, the Y100 shop. She picked up a few odds and ends, I don't know what, and then we went for tea at Daimaru. Actually, I had hot chocolate, and my mother had water at Wittamer. I like the idea of Wittamer--beautiful chocolates and cakes, white tablecloths, etc. It looks so rich...if only the quality matched up. I don't know what Wittamer in Belgium is like, but Wittamer in Japan is vastly over-rated. They do use very nice hot chocolate pots for their hot chocolate, though. And you get the equivalent of two servings, since there is hot chocolate in your cup when you are served, plus enough for one more cup in the pot. I had the hot chocolate set, which included cake, one piece of chocolate, and hot chocolate. I ordered the foret noir, expecting black forest cake, but this was more a riff on black forest rather than black forest. I couldn't find any cherry in my cake at all, not even as a flavouring agent. The complimentary macaron was about as good as the macaron from Angelique (which are still in my fridge). The chocolate was some kind of caramel, but I think even I could have done better in terms of flavour. Even the shell had an off taste to it. My mother had the mont blanc. Again, this was more a riff on mont blanc than a traditional one. It was good, but again, not as good as others, and certainly not as good as we had expected. The marron glacee was quite tasty, though. I think that's it for pictures from our holiday. We missed a few places...lunch at Tengayu in Ashiya with my neighbour--good tempura, but Ten-you was better, lunch at Katsukura (always reliable katsu--we always get one ebi katsu and one tonkatsu, and we share so we can get a bit of each), etc. One place I regret missing was Mont Plus. It was mentioned in an article about places in Kansai that have good hot chocolate, so since I'm on a hot chocolate kick, I insisted we go. Unfortunately, I did that skimming thing I do, and I didn't notice they only served hot chocolate for about one month, from the middle of January until the middle of February. I found out when I read the article more carefully, after trying to order it and being told it wasn't available. Oops. But we had some really delicious cake there--my mother had a pistachio cake that was loaded with whole pistachios. Even in Canada, you would rarely if ever find so many pistachios on a cake. I'm going to go back one day soon for the hot chocolate. Our last meal, by the way, was bulgogi pizza from Pizza Hut. ETA: A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to y'all! Thanks for reading!

Ha! I don't even like sapin-sapin, so I'm not the teeniest bit jealous about it! If you'd made carioca or cassava cake, that might be a different story, but sapin-sapin? No way! This, on the other hand, makes me drool... My very small contribution, I spent all day Sunday making more than 200 shortbread cookies for my S3 (US-speak=high school seniors, CDN-speak=12th graders) girls who are finishing next week. I don't always bake for my students--only when they've been a very good group (last year's S3 girls certainly didn't get anything homemade!). I won't be handing them out until the 29th, and they'd better appreciate them!