prasantrin

I don't grease--but I do use non-stick. Yes, it does take a long time to get the flame just right, doesn't it . I used the medium burner on my stove, with the setting at maybe medium low. Or somewhere between medium and medium low. On my stove, even medium seems to be too hot.

They definitely do not taste the same. Although the ingredients are similar, the proportions are different. If you're a beginner to Thai curries, in general, I would suggest starting out with Massaman and yellow curries. These two curries are generally easiest for beginners--yellow is especially easy to make, while Massaman is often the easiest (for those who have not tried Thai before) to eat. Yellow curry is most often made with chicken, while Massaman with beef. Neither are made with pork, since both are curries from the (predominantly Islamic) south of Thailand. But you could do whatever suits you best. Of the other two, I prefer red curry with pork, green curry with beef. I do like red curry with beef, as well, but for some reason, I just prefer it with pork. Perhaps those are the meats my dad usually used. There is some disagreement on which is traditionally hotter--red or green. I think they're both about the same, but my Thai friends say green. It all depends on the chef, I suppose.

Well, if you really have to do it, an acquaintance from rfc once mentioned the following From this website it seems they're only open for dinner.

I was curious if these were the same sardines I remember from my childhood (they aren't--the spicy sardines we used to get were Portuguese, I think). I did a websearch and found a website selling them. However, I also found an old warning about them. Hopefully they're more careful about sealing the cans now!

Couldn't find any mention of Lemon Cheesecake pocky. Anyone else try it? Not one of my favourites, for sure, but it's not bad.

A few small bags of wild rice--not the crap sold at the supermarkets in tiny gift boxes, but the good stuff. Oops. That's not really west coast, is it?

Don't know if this still falls under the heading of regional food, but... If you're passing MSP on the 494, Al's Breakfast (they're only open till 1pm) is not far off though it's actually in Minneapolis. Al's is the classic breakfast diner--only 14 counter seats--long waits in the morning...etc. Everytime I'm in MSP, I end up having breakfast/brunch there every morning. The only things I've ever had, though, are the Eggs Benedict, hash browns (I like them, but I've heard complaints because they're made of cooked potatoes, not raw), and a side wally blue (blueberry buttermilk pancake). The place is a dive so don't go if you mind many many years of grease caked on the only stove in sight. But the eggs benedict are well worth it... Avoid ND--just drive back to Winnipeg or head straight to the MSP area.

There are a few Indian grocery stores in Kobe, though. It's not that far from Osaka and the atta is worth the trip! Plus you can dine at one of the fabulous Indian restaurants in Kobe (Osaka has good ones, too, but Kobe has better...) I think I may have an extra bag lying around should you be interested...I go to Umeda several times a month if you want to meet to pick it up. I think the problem is your flour. Atta is finely ground whole wheat flour. I would think a coarser flour would make it harder. I also made some chappati a couple of nights ago, and I used about 1.5 cups atta, 1/2 cup water (I used to use hot water, too, but have found it doesn't make much of a difference), and a bit of oil. Didn't measure the oil or flour, though. I ended up having to add more flour so I probably had about 1.75-2 cups flour. I don't think you have to measure precisely. My chappati were excellent! Nice puffing, too! Oh, I have found that when I use too high a temperature to cook them, they get very hard. I find something less than medium works well for me (on a gas stove). You just have to play around a bit before you find the right temperature for soft, poofy chappati. Years ago, when I wanted perfectly round chapati, I'd use a tortilla press to get the initial round shape. Much easier to keep it round when rolling it out, when it's round to begin with.

Never been to the St. Norbert's farmers market?!?!?!? Well, if you go this year, the first thing you must do is get a Farmer's Burger from the pork vendor on the north side of the market. Doesn't matter if it's 8am...it makes a great breakfast. He makes good sauerkraut, too. Get the burger, not the sausage. It's the same meat/flavourings, but the burger, for some reason, just tastes better to me. (Edited to add...oops. Even though you don't keep kosher, you probably don't eat pork... My bad! ) Then, as you meander around, you can pick up some lemon tarts from the baker at the east end of the market. He usually doesn't have them till July, though, as he starts off with strawberry tarts at the beginning of the season (but they're not so good). His lemon cookies are quite nice, as well. Vic's Fruit Market (which I'm guessing is the one on Pembina) is not bad. I don't find it to be particularly outstanding, though. Deen's sometimes has interesting Indian (East and West) vegetables. It's just across the street from Dong Thai (on Notre Dame?) so you could hit two places with one trip. Ever been to the organic grocery stores on Westminster? They sometimes have more interesting produce. There's one right by Tall Grass Prairie, so you can get a fresh out of the oven whole wheat cinnamon bun while you're there.

I can only think of Asian vegetables, but almost everything you can find at Sun Wah can also be found at Safeway/Superstore. Dong Thai sometimes has less commonly found Asian vegetables available (Thai eggplants, for example). I always found it difficult to find interesting produce in Winnipeg. The stores, whether big or small, really do carry the same things--varying mostly in price and quality. That being said, I love going to the Farmer's Market (St. Norbert). Sometimes the Chinese vendor would have things like pea shoots, which (at least 2-3 years ago) weren't very common. And where else can you eat a Farmer's Burger while you shop for groceries?

I just bought these the other day, too! Haven't had them, yet. I'll have to put them in the fridge... I also saw some Kit Kats that weren't covered in chocolate. Interesting...My favourites are still the little ones in the gold box.

I'm not the original poster, but when I head to MSP this summer I'll be coming from North...and I love a good pie! What are your suggestions?

I like them on saltine crackers. Yum! Sardines and crackers were my favourite snack as a child--those and roasted peanuts still in the shell (to be accompanied by a can of Hires root beer). I do know some Filipinos who eat them with rice...

Generally, one only needs to be a resident of another country for 1 year before being allowed special exemptions regarding customs duties, etc. Take a look at CBSA's page on Moving Back to Canada. As Nanuq wrote, you do have to contact the provincial liquor board of whatever province you'll be moving to. You may also have to pay for the customs assessment, not just provincial fees. You do still get your 1.5 L of wine duty-free, though

I bought a couple of single serving containers of Haagen Dazs today. Mango Coconut--at first it reminded me of Banana Boat sunscreen. But then it grew on me. Pronounced coconut flavour--quite creamy. Yet slightly artificial tasting. I probably wouldn't get it again. Panacotta Raspberry--caveat--I don't like raspberries. Upon first glance, it looks rather ordinary. However, it is absolutely delicious! Not too sweet (as many HD flavours are) and perfectly creamy. The raspberry flavour isn't too tart. I loved it!

Keep in mind...this isn't a slur...but at my parents' import store, many customers (Canadian-born of European descent) would ask my parents if they would waive the sales tax if paid in cash. Now, does that tell me that those Canadian-born of European descent people come from a country where ?

Great! The party isn't until the end of July, and I won't get home till the 11th, so there's plenty of time for you to get settled into your new place before you make our cake . Congratulations on the sale of your building, by the way! I sure hope your new space will be a little closer to the wrong side of the tracks--that's my area of town, too . You know, I didn't realize your restaurant was still open last year. It was closed the couple of times we went (and once we even took a special trip out to that area just to eat there! Normally we'd just drop by when we were in the neighbourhood), so we never got to eat there! Darn! That brisket looked amazingly good, and if it weren't so expensive in Japan, I'd buy some just to try your recipe. I loved those A&W drive-ins. I remember them fondly from my childhood--we used to pick up liters of root beer to go on our way back from church on Sundays. I especially loved the trays, and hoped that one day I'd be fortunate enough to work at one of them just so I could put those trays on people's car windows . Sad story, but true! BTW, may I ask which magazine the article/recipe was in? Congratulations on that, too!

OK, after seeing your chiffon cakes and meringues, I have to ask. Does your catering business ever do cakes for teeny tiny private parties? Something like a mocha or coffee chiffon cake with buttercream icing (made with real butter, of course!) or maybe a hazelnut dacquoise for 30 people? Or maybe both?!?!? I'm planning a surprise almost-70th birthday party for my mother this summer, and am searching for a decent cake. Is there none to be had in Winnipeg!? (see this thread if you're interested in what I've eliminated, and why.) BTW, I long for A&W root beer and onion rings. I had some root beer (in frosted mugs!) while in Thailand, but they had no onion rings. That'll be one of my first stops while I'm back home this summer!

If you're thinking of doing three places, I would suggest starting out in Ubud (Monkey Forest would be great for the kids, great food, quiet but there are some day trips available), moving up to Lovina (husband can go scuba diving there while you and kids can go dolphin watching and snorkeling if you can), then end up in Nusa Dua (for that relaxing resort-type area). Kuta is a waste of time, in my opinion--food isn't great, prices for Balinese goods are higher than in Ubud, and it's just too tacky touristy. The main problem with my plan, however, is that you'll be there for a relatively short time--it takes time to travel around Bali and if I remember correctly, the roads aren't that great. I can only imagine how much more difficult it might be with children who have shorter attention spans (maybe not shorter than mine, but shorter in general). We took shuttles everywhere (very bad shock absorbers), but if you're brave, you can rent a 4WD and drive yourselves around. That way you can make more frequent stops.

In that area, you could probably do some laundry, watch a little TV, have dinner and still get back on the road before the train is done

Will you be posting accompanying recipes elsewhere? I'd love the recipe for your sticky buns...and peanut butter pie....yum yum!

Here's a link to an older thread with Winnipeg recommendations. There are also some pictures from Mayhaw Man's visit there. I would highly recommend hitting Bistro Dansk if you have time. They have excellent soups and I love their schnitzel. Their pate used to be very very good, but the last time I had it I was disappointed. It could have been just an off-day, though. By going to Bistro Dansk, you could also skip Baked Expectations for dessert and have Bistro's hazelnut pie. Yum!!! It's packed with hazelnuts and topped with a good serving of whipped cream. Nothing could be better .

Strange Japanese spaghetti...I have not been interested in this thread till now because I have just heard of the strangest Japanese-style spaghetti ever. A friend of mine once lived in Nagoya. She said that she was at a restaurant that had strawberry spaghetti. That's right, strawberry spaghetti. How odd is that? Is does, actually, get a little more odd. Not only are the noodles strawberry-flavoured, and not only is it served with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, but it is also served warm! They also have a banana version...

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Saskatoon. My only experience with food there has been really bad Chinese food--and that was about 17 years ago! Here's the article about overweight/obesity rates in Canada. It's interesting that while Saskatoon is the largest city, it's the Maritimes that is the largest region. Well, we're still smaller than the US!

One of the strangest things about these souped up cars in Japan is that they are often station wagons or mini-van-type cars. Now where I'm from, station wagons and mini vans can never be cool, no matter what you do to them.