Manolo

Thanks for the heads up on the Struie! There also seems to be a few quiet released Barolos along with some other Classics like leftover items around.

Well reading this thread got me hooked and I ordered the book. I've made the duck procuitto and was happy and confident enough to go ahead and try the fresh bacon and the pancetta. The results have been fantastic. Finding pink salt locally in Canada proved to be and interesting exercise, but I managed to get 2 different types. First was called "Ready cure" from Canada CompoundCanada Compound. I got the spec sheet on this product and it was about 1% Sodium Nitrite. The second product was a closer match to pink salt and I found this one at Malabar Super Spice and it's called "Sure cure" and it contained 6% sodium nitrite. I found a whole belly (about 10lbs) at a local Asian market for $21cdn. Split it in half, 1 for the fresh bacon and other pancetta. I decided to add maple syrup to the bacon cure since i wouldn't be able smoke it. The bacon came out great, I will never again buy bacon... I just took down the pancetta and fried up a chunk and wow! I will never again buy pancetta! Thanks to everyone on this thread for providing me some insight and inspiration to try something like this. Here are a few pics i snapped during the process.

The Wine Spectator website recently ran a video with Harvey Stieman discussing Wine and Chocolate pairings here.

This looks similar. Steelite has alot of great looking tableware.

It's been very wierd lately, there have been a number of items that have quietly appeared on the shelves. I walked into Summerhill about a week ago and there was a bunch of different 2001 Barolo that was never announced.

I was sitting at the back table with a friend that I got the class as a gift for. Boy did I feel lucky when they pulled out that 77 Grahams.

sadistick, i think I had some of your tarts at a recent Port tasting class at the Summerhill store. If so, those were damn good!

I have had the exact same experience in this store. I will never return, there are too many other shops out there carrying the same items with decent service.

Philly's liquor stores are State run much like our LCBO. But it helps that thier Chairman enjoys his wine.

I think the Italian butter at Schefflers is from Beppino Occelli, I've picked some up there before.

Just remembered another place I've ordered from that is located in London Ontario, Hasbeans.

jayt90, I just found these 2 recently Birds & Beans and The Grean Beanery . I've used Merchants of Green Coffee but I found them too expensive. As for larger orders there is someone from Toronto that frequently posts on the Coffeegeek.com forums quite a bit, Andrews Green Beans. His prices are some of the lowest I've seen.

I was going to pass on this release but ended up picking up 6 of the Meandro. I had to try 3 different stores before I found any. I have yet Ito try it but am looking forward to it. I also grabbed a bottle of the Crios Cab to try and found it got better with some time in the decanter, it was ok at $13.

I think this is the same situation as with the 97 Coutet Sautern & Pol Roger champagne a few releases back. They didn't show up at the stores in time for the release but eventually were in the stores about a week late.

Please report back on how it goes. I never tried roasting wok style. I have always used modified popcorn poppers that I picked up at various Goodwills.

What are you roasting with? I loved roasting my own coffee but had give it up when I moved. We don't have room where I can vent out the smoke/smell from the roast. Nothing beats roasting your own.

Did you manage to find any of the Beerenauslese? I tried to find some and the Consultant at the Laird store said it didn't come in. I was hoping to get some.

U-save centre on St. Clair West may be worth a try, they carry alot of italian housewares. U Save Centre

Turns out I should read the label before posting! I miss read the text on the back label, it was "fined with egg whites". Since the Muga Reserva is the same, we got a great deal in Ontario, the price in Philly was $21.99us.

For roasted Coffee, I think that Dark City does the best job in the city. You can order by blend or variatel and degree of roast. The prices are fantastic and they include delivery to your front door! As for the Rancillio Rocky, its a tough find in T.O. The only place I've seen that carries it locally is here. A friend of mine ordered one and is very happy.

I was in Philly this past weekend and managed to find a bottle of the Muga "Unfiltered" that Parker awarded the 92. The LCBO version is clearly labeled filtered, it will be interesting to taste these side by side further down the road.

I had one bottle that looked like the cork was pushing up a bit, so I popped it and tried one and It was good, but not 92pts good, 90 would be more accurate. It can cellar for 2-3 years, I'll hold of on the rest till then.

I saw people going out with them by the case. I think there were 1200 cases across the province which is pretty average for the feature wines. I don't think it costs the LCBO anything to promote these wines, I think the covers are prime space that they charge a nice premium for. I managed to grab 3 full bottles and 2 halves. The price and the Parker score printed in the catalog made this one a sure thing to sell out. The funny thing is that the Parker tasting note and score are for the "unfiltered" version of the Muga Reserva, the one released here was filtered. What bothered me more was the D'arenberg Coppermine Road that was released last weekend, they publish the Parker score of 93 and only bring in 160 - 6packs. Summerhill got a total of 40 bottles. Luckily I got 2, I loved this wine at the D'arenberg tasting dinner the LCBO held at George back in September.

I understand that they should be given the opportunity to correct the problem most of the time, but in this instance it was almost every dish out of the 7 ordered that came out salty, almost to the point I thought it was normal there..

No, I wish that I had, but I didn't want to put a damper on the evening with a complaint. I just won't take my business back there.