Larry

I'm with you on that. Glad to hear that someone else shares my feelings about this meat, no one in my family understands! I do love fruitcake though, every year we try out new combiantions. This year, my mom soaked currants, gloden raisins, dried pears and dried sour cherries in port and rum for a few weeks and then used those in the cake. It's also being "basted" every few days, cannot wait to try it!

I was out and had a saffron panna cotta for dessert, delicious. Just thought of these, never actually made them: Chocolate layer cake with a chai flavoured buttercream frosting? Darjeeling or Earl Grey ice cream with pistachio chocolate sugar cookies? Sweet naan with cinnamon spiced thick yogurt or creme fraiche, topped with sliced mangoes, sprinkled with sugar and then broiled?

Please elaborate on the 12 dish dinner. Thanks. This is how the traditional Ukrainian Christmas proceeds, all the dishes are not served at once, more like a tasting menu: 1. A wheat berry, honey, and ground poppyseed pudding (this is one of my favourites!!!) We make huge batches of it just so that I can enjoy it for the following week . 2. Borscht, a beet and vegetable broth soup with lots of dill and pepper served with mushroom dumpligs (my grandfather uses a wild mushroom mix and forms them into almost the size of tortellinis, so each bowl gets about 4) 3. Pierogies With a variety of fillings, including traditional potato, cabbage, mushroom. We like to add in caramelized onion ones, and blueberry and sour cherry ones for dessert. 4. Wild Mushroom Sauce To be served with all the main dishes 5. A white fish dish We like to either use turbot, sole or snapper, do a basic egg wash, dipped in herbed breadcrumbs, drizzled with garlic oil and then baked or pan fried. 6. Cabbage Rolls We make these with a both a buckwheat and plain rice filling. Of course both with lots of onion and dill. 7. White Beans This is more of a side dish that can go into either the soup or with the fish. 8. Rye Bread It must be rye, I like the one sprinkled with poppy seeds and with with caraway seeds in it. 9. Cloves or garlic Everyone must consume one clove of garlic through the dinner, either minced into the soup or just whole. I rub it into my pieces if bread throughout the night. 10. Dried Fruit Compote We make ours with dried cherries, apricots, plums, raisins, currants, peaches, pears, apples sweetened with a bit of honey and fresh orange. 11. Poppy seed roll Light white batter rolled around a thick poppyseed filling. 12. Prune filled fritters and cookies. Of course, this is what my family does, but every family has a slight variation on the dishes that they serve and additions. Overall, it is a gorgeous evening surrounded with family and friends.

I am afraid of the effects of Olestra in ten years or so. This is a camouflaged fat molecule, and would not some of them be prone to build up in your system just as regular fat molecules do, or even become toxic?

We always have plenty of wine, rice, frozen homemade pierogies, evoo and balsamic, canned tomatoes.

I am of Ukrainian descent so we always celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January with the huge traditional twelve dish meatless dinner on the 6th. You can only begin the meal once the first star in the sky has been seen and each course is usually followed in the same manner. This is more of a custom than a tradition, but I cannot think of a Christmas any other way.

The Montreal Gazette does a pretty good food section, especially with restaurant reviews. They have now even included a few special food articles on Saturdays which is nice.

I have never kept my soy sauce or tamari in the fridge! Then again I do go through it pretty fast. I agree that putting refrigeration requirements is just the companies covering their bases. I keep ketchup in the fridge just because I like it cold.

It is really a great book, you won't be disappointed! I have all of her books and they are all fantastic, my favourite series!!!! Have you seen her magazine? Just as beautiful as the books.

EUROPE!!!!!

I'm making the cranberry lime tart, peppermint chocolate ice cream cake, and perahps the ginger cake, all from the December Gourmet or Bon Appetit, don't remember. There will be the essential yearly fruitcake and cookies too.

He did, but I forgot off the top of my head. I would have to go back to last year's notes.

I have never tried peppermint oil, perhaps I will this year, but I like to stick to what I know works. The extra on top just makes it so much prettier.

My chem prof was telling us that when it fully hits the market it will be huge! It's the miracle oil and I remember him saying that it has a high smoke point (he's into foodie stuff too, so always adds that extra bit). I wonder hoe it tastes though?

I pulverize candy candy canes to a medium fine powder in the mini chopper. (I like to use the traditional red and green canes that are so hard to find now...at least in Montreal) Then I melt dark chocolate, (I never weigh it, sorry), stir in 2/3 of candy and pour half on to a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Let it set for about 30 mintues. Then do the same with white chocolate and pour that one on top, let it set and then finish off with the rest of the dark. It's nice to sprinkle coarsley chopped candy canes on top. It's the first thing my friends run for at my annual holiday gathering!!!

I make a triple layer peppermint bark, with dark chocolate on the outside and white in the middle. It's beautiful when you break it into pieces. Also, I pulverize the candy canes into a powder so it makes the chocolate extra smooth. Other favourites of mine are cranberry and hazelnut, macadamia and candied orange zest.

..and taste one from the batch too.

Always Vogue, food magazines and Shape (for exercise tips to work off the food!). I must seem like a walking oxymoron to the sales clerk. Also, trident gum, you can never have too many packs.

Just the plainest yet most satisfying soups are my favourite: carrot, sweet potato ginger homemade chicken soup with carrots, celery, and peas and lots of black pepper borscht gazpacho

In the past year or so cooking light has started to add back the butter and cream in many dishes that traditionally use it. I think that they are now beginning to lean towards "everything in moderation", which is a good thing because that is North America's problem: many don't understand moderation. Basically, most low fat things taste horrible and are not worth the time. Even if it does taste decent you'll just be compelled to eat more of it and end up consuming more.

I use is my extra tall black Dean and Deluca mug to drink tea in all the time. It keeps my tea extra hot until I actual begin to drink it.

I was vacationing in the Bershires this summer and did all my grocery shopping there. The meats, breads, produce, everything was fantastic! I was afraid I was going to have to resort to the stop and shops while I was there.

Oatmeal with mixed berries and attempting to study for exams

Spicy veggie chili with melted cheese

How about the new bread bible book?