prasantrin

If it's good on buttered corn, I bet it would be good on popcorn, too.

I can't remember my points, but I got around 70% for most of the quizzes (there are 5 different categories, or maybe 6). The best I did was with desserts. Or maybe it was snacks.

My mother accidentally made vanilla salt over a year ago. I'm not sure about the flavour, yet, but I used some of it in my neti pot, and it was not a good idea. It was very, very fragrant, and while that can be seen as a good thing, it's not a good thing in a neti pot. I'm going to bring some back to Japan with me and sprinkle it on homemade caramels. Yum!

Unfortunately, Japan is far from immune (and I often think is more susceptible) to such cases. Read about the Meat Hope scandal. Actually, I used to eat sand from the sandbox when I was younger...that's pretty much used cat litter, right? Too late! But I will no longer buy that chicken, and the next time I'm at Costco (which won't be till after I return in September), I'm going to ask them about the smell. It's not Costco chicken, but chicken from an outside source, so maybe the source company is doing something funky with it. No harm in asking, anyway!

My guess is someone from the Netherlands, but not Chufi because she has already done one recently. Last time we had someone from the Netherlands, I guessed markemorse, so that's my guess again (though I know there are others in that area).

euuuuwwwwwww! Looks like I won't be buying that chicken any more! Even if the smell is not because of feces, it will still remind me of what you wrote!

I often buy chicken at Costco in Japan. According to the packaging/best before dates, I usually get it within a day or two of it being packaged, and a week before the "best before" date. I've noticed the last few times I've bought it that it smells like ammonia or bleach. It tastes fine when cooked, and doesn't smell spoiled, but that ammonia smell bothers me. Why might the chicken smell like ammonia? Is the ammonia used to prolong the shelf life of the chicken? Or to clean the chicken? Or is it used to hide the smell of not-so-fresh chicken? Most importantly, should I stop buying it because of the ammonia? Or is the ammonia harmless?

I hope you're taking pictures when you're not judging! I'm so jealous, but I'm excited for you, too! Enjoy, and don't forget to post about it after! Pleeeeeaaasseee!!!

Had my first SNFM visit of the season last Saturday--had my requisite farmer's burger and also had a butter tart from my bakery guy. They have a lot more vendors now--some good stuff out there. I still get farmer's burgers from my usual sausage guy, but there's also a stand that makes their own bacon that is very good. We didn't buy any this time around, but I'm sure we'll pick some up sometime soon. For great fruit, St. Leon's on St. Mary's Ave (Road? The one in St. Vital--I can never remember which it is) has very good quality fruit. We bought some Ranier cherries for $3.90 a pound that were the sweetest I had had all season. Really great raspberries and blueberries, too. Their produce is, in general, much better quality than what I've seen elsewhere, but I've only been back for a couple of weeks so I've not seen everything, yet!

Hey! Not fair! I can only remember where people live if they put it in their info, but I know you! (Not personally, but in an internet way ) I'm enjoying your blog. I loved the pictures from the farm. I'd love to have something like that available to me, but CSAs don't exist in Japan (though I can buy stuff from the very small farm near my workplace) and in Winnipeg, they're more for larger families than for single people (and are quite expensive, too). Looking forward to seeing more barbecue! That's another thing that's hard for me to get!

I was reading The Dim Sum Book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, which I got from the library, but some a**hole cut out huge sections of the book. I'm so annoyed, but also disgusted. Who the hell does things like that?

I was going through some old emails, and found a quiz, Eat This Not That. You choose which foods would be a more healthful option (though in some cases, it's just about choosing the lesser of two evils). Very interesting, especially when they show you the calories, fat, and sodium for some of the foods. Who knew a Whopper with cheese had so many more calories than a Quarter Pounder with cheese???

Absolutely wonderful! Syria is one of the countries I most want to visit, primarily because of the food (but I suppose I could take in some of the history and sites, too ! The baqlawa from a Syrian restaurant was the best I ever had, and on a recent trip to Oman, the chef on the yacht I was on was from Syria. He did wonderful things with fish, but nothing brushed with pomegranate molasses (or even remotely sweet--but a couple of very spicy ones). Thanks for your report, and if I do make it to Syria one day, I'm eating where you ate!

Wow! For practice or very small runs, I wonder if something like Print Gocco might be useful. In Japan they sell two kinds--the manual one (like in the link) and I think one which attaches to your computer (not sure about that, though). I've only seen the manual ones in North America, though.

I used to use a recipe that I got from Usenet that had coconut. It's been many years since I last made it, but it used to be my go-to ccc recipe. You can find it here.

I saw the magazine when I was at the supermarket yesterday, and I stopped to see if it was a date square recipe. I almost bought it, just because the blueberry square looked so good...and I think your picture looks just as good! I might actually have to buy the magazine, now!

moosnsqrl??? (hope I got that right, I've always thought it was "moongirl" and only just realized it must be "moose and squirrel".)

I'm not sure if they have kalamata, specifically, but the Seijoishi in Hankyu Umeda Station has a decent selection of olives. The Burdigala Bakery on B2 at Herbis (not Herbis Ent) also has very small packets of olives in brine. They were quite nice, but I can't remember if they were kalamata.

Mmmmm....your recipe sounds like it will make a delicious bar, and your picture looked even better than what I imagined! So you didn't mention if the bars you made were similar to the date bars you liked. Or were they better? Is there anything you would change about your recipe?

don't worry, at least your oven will now go to heaven when its time has come. It's been baptized, you see. I came back to Canada to find that my book, which I had been planning to take back to Japan with me, has been boxed up and put somewhere not to be found. Luckily, I was able to get the very last available copy from the library system last night, and I am in the process of copying the recipes I really really want to try when I go back in September. I photocopied a slew of them before I left home last Christmas, but this time I'm entering them in my recipe database. Now I've got to go through this topic again to see if there are any I missed before!

Gee, I wish I had a walk in reefer... In Japan, homes don't have space for a pantry, but many homes and apartments have a wee bit of space under the floor for storage of, I think, tsukemono and the like. In my 4-apartment building, only the 1st floor apartments have that space, so I was out of luck. If I did have it, I'd use it as as teeny tiny pantry (and would probably forget about whatever was in it).

My favourites: spinach and bacon gorgonzola and potato Italian ham and a runny egg pepperoni and pineapple (OK, that has pepperoni, but the pineapple makes it different!) Not really a topping, but I also like using pesto instead of tomato sauce.

I like it, but only with good quality olive oil, fresh crusty bread, and a bit of rosemary crushed in. Sometimes I'll even go all the way and add some balsamic vinegar (should I be embarrassed to admit that? ) if my olive oil isn't great. I see it as just another way to get my beloved bread and extra fatty goodness in my body.

Thanks so much! I never even thought to look for a mix at the store. I'm a wee bit slow these days...

I think Domestic Goddess uses a Turbo Oven, which is quite small. My own oven is quite small compared to ovens in the US/Canada (it's at the most 12-inches squared), and I knew DG's was, too which is why I asked. I can't fit any kind of sheet pan--half or full, or even a regular-sized cookie sheet into my oven.