prasantrin

But you're a writer, and it's probably something you've done (brought a laptop to a bar/restaurant/coffee shop and used it). So you might not be bothered by it, but it doesn't mean others won't be. Would it have bothered me, personally? Probably not. But sometimes I wonder why people always need to do something rather than just sit and do nothing. What's wrong with relaxing and enjoying your own (or other's) company? What's wrong with a place that tries to encourage such behaviour?

Without seeing the place, it's difficult to judge, but I think the owners are trying to project a certain image--they have a little bar to which you can come for a drink with some friends and have some intimate conversation. Or come alone, and be content with your drink and your own thoughts. And laptops (and I would think any other form of electronic equipment) probably, in the owner's opinion, mar that image. Sure you might be working quietly, but when other people enter the bar, they see a guy using a laptop (even if you're in a quiet corner, you can probably be seen by some people). And that affects their image of the place, too. This opinion is based on what I imagine the bar to look like and feel like, though. It may look or feel very differently from what I'm imagining, so I could very well be wrong. In Japan, I often go to little restaurants or coffee shops where laptops or people talking on cell phones would be very out-of-place. They aren't gourmet high-brow places, but are just little places where one can go and be quiet, or enjoy other people's company. When I have work to do (marking papers--not done on a laptop), though, I can usually be found at Starbucks (mostly because it's one of the few completely non-smoking places in Japan).

Should the bar have such a policy, perhaps it should be posted somewhere in plain sight to avoid such confrontations. That being said, while a laptop is less intrusive than a television, it's not as quiet as a pen. I don't see a problem with the policy, and I would not have been offended had I been told to put away my laptop. I might still have left if I had really wanted to work, but I probably would have stayed and enjoyed my drink.

Norm--no problema. I know professionals tend to use harsher language than us poor (hypersensitive ) home cooks. I just felt sorry for jackal10's poor pie. It's feelings were hurt, doncha know! Tepee--but wherever would I get the jellied stock with which to fill the hole? Would it be as good without the jellied stock? I love meat pies, but if I'm going to make it for the first time, I want it to be good! I could just make the crust and stuff it with apples or something. But as I understand it, hot water crusts don't make the best crusts for anything but meat pies. Maybe I could put some of my leftover pot roast with sauce in there? Before looking for jackal10's demo, I knew I had seen a beautiful pork pie with hot water crust. It was the innards that were beautiful--you could see the jellied stock so clearly. But jackal10's pie's jellied stock wasn't so easily seen, and though you could see fatmat's jellied stock, I knew that wasn't the right one, either. I finally found it here.

It could just be me, but using the word "pathetic" always implies at least a little disrespect, doesn't it? It most definitely looked homemade, but I like my pie crusts on the dark side, so I thought it looked quite good. fatmat's demo might suit you more. His pork pie is prettier. I'd eat that one, too.

Poor jackal10. No one remembers his hot water crust demo (it's a cut-and-paste in the first post of the topic) from many moons ago. I remember it well, because I always wanted to make that pork pie--it looked so good! Unfortunately, I am too lazy to make anything like it, other than sausage rolls with ready-made puff pastry.

Cha xiu bao: You get me scared! What am I forgetting? Tell me, tell me!!! ← Me?

As I understand it, it is in a minority of states where servers are paid such low rates. In most states, servers are paid at least minimum wage. While this may not be a "competitive hourly wage" to some, it is most definitely competitive with other service industry jobs. And in Canada, I believe all provinces require servers be paid at least minimum wage. Prices in restaurants there have certainly not soared "into rediculousness." Not a good example at all. You're paying $3000 for the TV, not for the person who sold it to you. Not only that, but if Best Buy staff work on commission, the person who sold it to you can negotiate the price with you, giving you a discount which would actually result in his/her getting less pay, as that discount would come out of the commission, not the cost of the TV.

A Korean-naturalized-American acquaintance told me those toilets were becoming more and more popular with Koreans, too! As a matter of fact, she described a very interesting infomercial in Korea that showed just how effective the toilets were at relieving constipation, and how well they clean peanut butter from balloons! (you can imagine what the peanut butter was supposed to be!) On that happy note, back to food!

I thought your stories were hilarious. May I ask, was he already a bit older when you first started dating? Your stories remind me of typical behaviour of older (not old, but maybe mid-30's onwards) Japanese men. Or of male Kyodai/Todai graduates! Funny!

I can't say I'm a fan of "Gourmet Grill and Cheesecakes". First, in a place like Bismarck, there may be a chance that people will be put off by "Gourmet". It sounds a bit pretentious, or people may think any "gourmet" place will be too expensive or too "high-brow" for them. Can't you keep your current name, then for example, under the sign you could write "and so much more" or something like that. So it won't be an official part of your name, but it will let people know you offer more than just desserts. Regarding dinner, is downtown Bismarck busy enough to add to your business at night? If it's anything like downtown Winnipeg, you might be better off not doing dinners, at least not until you are well-established as a place to go for meals rather than just desserts or snacks. If you can't do it at the beginning of the calendar year, perhaps the beginning of the fiscal year would be better. In terms of taxes, the beginning of March might throw things off a bit. But with regards to your question, I don't think it's too much to ask, at all.

Thanks! As luck would have it, I'm going to that area this weekend! I hope my friend doesn't mind going cafe hopping. We were already planning a visit to Ek Chuah that day (chocolate shop/cafe). One can never have too many sweets!

21 days!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! That's horrible!!! What could you possibly do in HK for 21 days?!?!?!??!??!?!?! Why would you want to go there for 21 days!!?!?!??!?!?!?!? Other than to make us all jealous! I want to go, too! I'm not so far away, just fly me over for a weekend. I promise I'll tag along quietly. Where are you staying? Did you get an apartment hotel, or a hotel hotel? I need to plan my future trips.

Can someone tell me why Pierre Herme has a gazillion outlets in Tokyo, yet none in the Kansai area? I was considering ordering some macarons online, but I think they choose the flavours, rather than letting you choose them yourself. Does anyone know if they'll be opening in Kansai in the future? I tried to find the info on their website, but my reading is limited, so I didn't get very far.

You didn't know because it isn't true. Dominion is part of A&P, along with Food Basics and Ultramart. d. ← If you look at the Superstore website, you'll see at the bottom of that site that Superstore goes by the name Dominion in Atlantic Canada.

I like their sour cream&onion ripple chips. I'm quite certain that they are manufactured by the company that used to make Hostess chips. They were the best sour cream&onion chips (other than O'Ryans, which was also made by Hostess), and the PC ones taste much the same--except they could add a bit more the flavouring to make them tastier. I also like their oatmeal cookies. I like crispy cookies. The chocolate chip ones are OK, but I'm not a big fan of chocolate chip cookies. That's pretty much all we ever buy of PC products, and we rarely even buy those.

I'm eating at Marlene's house! The cheese, jalapeno, and scallion filled wonton wrappers are my favourite of your meal. When I have leftover spring roll wrappers, I like to fill them with cheese and fry them. The bits of cheese that melt out and get all crispy are the best, and I can see them in your picture! I love those slices of pork with fork marks in them, too. It looks like someone tried to put them on his plate and you yelled, "Hey! Put those back! I haven't taken a picture, yet!"

I agree! It's something I have given much thought to! Partly because I'm just anal, though. When I eat ice cream, I put ice cream on the spoon, then turn it upside down before putting it in my mouth, so the I taste the ice cream first, not the spoon! So once you put it on yourself, the condiments will be between the veggies and the top bun? Does that mean you developed your own onion variety? Do you grow them yourself? I might have missed that part.

If I wanted to make joong or nor mai gai, but I couldn't get bamboo leaves, banana leaves, or lotus leaves, what could I use instead? Could I use parchment paper? My mother wants to add this project to the siu bao project we're going to be tackling when she comes. She went to a class (taught by Kathy Man--Manitobans may know who she is) and now she's eager to make them at home (or rather, she's eager for me to make them in my home). Kathy suggested using a custard cup and steaming the product with the cup covered with aluminium foil, then turning it over to serve. Actually, she suggested using aluminium foil, first, but all the Asians in the room (there were only two, I think) cringed at that idea. I'd like to use some sort of wrapper, but am a bit stuck. Any ideas?

That's what I thought and first wrote, but when I went to the Superstore website, it only mentioned Superstore and Dominion, so I edited it out to say Dominion instead of Loblaw's. The Loblaw's website mentions all the stores, including those two.

PC is the brand produced by Superstore/Dominion. Safeway makes Safeway Selects (or something like that). No-name brands are very different from brands like PC or Safeway Selects. The latter are much better quality, and are designed to compete with national brands. This is unlike no-name brands which are designed to be cheaper, generally poorer quality versions of national brands. One way you can tell the difference is packagine--no-name brands usually only have two colours (maybe three) and are very simple, with no photography or illustrations. This is done to help cut costs.

Where's the rice? Fried egg with Chinese sausage requires freshly cooked rice. It's a law or something! I love Chinese sausage. I wish i could get some that didn't cost a small fortune!

I'm actually quite glad you didn't post that until after I made my purchase. It would have made the decision oh so much harder! I'd have had to buy the sampler, for sure! My mother would love that! Except for the wines, cheese, crudites...all she needs is the fruitcake!

I know it's cliche, but something like manicotti or canneloni with homemade pasta is always nice. Like the one Dave Ross did, but without the meat. Spanakopita is usually popular with everyone, and can be made ahead, then reheated. Technically, though, both of those would fall under an "ethnic" heading...

I've just finished ordering cakes from two places--I just couldn't make up my mind! I ordered 3 1-lb cakes (dark) from Claxton, and 1 1-7/8-lb cake from Collin Street. My mother can do a taste test to see which she likes best, then next year I'll try a couple of the others. I really wanted to order from Mary of Pudding Hill, especially because they have yummy looking nuts and candies, too! But their cakes were a little more expensive, and the shipping was, too. Plus if I had ordered the chocolates I wanted, I would have had to pay an additional $10 in shipping! And I completely forgot about the Black Cake! But no harm done. I sent them an email a couple of weeks ago and they never replied. AFAIK, if they're not interested enough in replying to my email, they're clearly not interested in my money, either.