chromedome

"Divided by a common language," as they say.

Cool. I use a Mason jar lifter for ceramic ramekins, but it's not as good with custard cups and their sloped sides.

Black cake is a tradition in Nova Scotia as well, probably because of the Caribbean rum/molasses connection. Someone, probably Peter the Eater IIRC, posted a recipe here once upon a time.

LOL Speaking as an older brother, "younger sibling" *is* a reason.

I spent the summer and autumn of '80 working the inshore fishery in Newfoundland with my father and my uncle. My uncle tried repeatedly to teach me the necessary handful of basic knots, and failed miserably. I think he thought I was deliberately screwing it up, in order to avoid responsibility, but in truth I was just as frustrated as he was. I was never any good at 3D puzzles, either, or anything in general that requires spatial perception (I bang my head a LOT).

I ate a lot of rabbit growing up, as well. My father snared them and occasionally potted one with his little .410 shotgun, and we also raised them occasionally. We mostly ate them as stew, though fried was not uncommon either. I could skin and gut one with my pocketknife by the time I was 7 (during those brief intervals between losing pocketknives, at least...).

I find the texture is improved the second day. I usually make mine up ahead, and reheat a portion each morning for breakfast. If I forget (which happens occasionally) I'll make 'em up but won't eat them day of. I'll have something else, and then have the new batch the next day when they're "right" in my estimation.

On a Daiso-related note, I don't know if you saw this on your local news: https://www.narcity.com/ca/on/toronto/news/japans-version-of-dollarama-just-opened-in-ontario-and-you-wont-be-able-to-resist-their-products

Something I tripped across the other day while working, and thought it might amuse some of you (and it's at least somewhat on topic...) https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/325536

One of my former restaurants was in a rather nice little seaside in. I had a customer stay a week once, an elderly and curmudgeonly English gent (he clearly relished the curmudgeon role) who told me that he looked forward to each Canadian visit, in part, because it had become impossible to get a decent muffin back home. There's been a decade of enthusiasm for all things artisanal in the bread world since, so I doubt it's still true (if in fact it was, even then). It amused me, though, because he reminded me of a perpetually sour co-worker I'd once had. That co-worker was from New Zealand, and one of his recurring gripes was that it was impossible to get decent lamb in NZ because the good stuff all got exported.

I think part of the problem is that by a certain age, we've all been "compelled by circumstances" a time or two, and have an instinct to hedge against the eventuality. Also, of course, there's the question of upbringing. My parents both grew up in large and not-affluent families (in my father's case, in a remote part of northern Newfoundland where a bad gardening year could put you at serious risk of malnutrition), so the idea of wasting anything edible was always anathema in our household. It's something that's been hard for me to let go of, though working in foodservice will beat that out of you pretty quickly. I will say, having an instinctive aversion to food waste is not a bad thing in the person who runs the kitchen. Many's the prep cook who was threatened with dire (if unspecified) consequences should they offend my "East Coast frugality gene."

I'm sure all the pet people can relate...

For me it's less a feeling of "I've already eaten" than one of "I'm going to want something to eat eventually, but *not* what I've smelled for the last several hours while I prepped it." Back in December I made the staff Christmas meal for the supermarket where I teach cooking classes (and may I say, parenthetically, that prepping a lavish holiday meal for 150-170 people on the morning of, with no advance prep possible, no assistants and a rigid 5 hour time budget, is a non-trivial exercise even for a professional?) and they were all quite surprised when I was reluctant to join them at the end. I had a small serving of broccoli salad, and made the excuse that we were eating with family soon after...

Wow...even by the standards of my own family, that demonstrates a remarkable degree of talent.

Pretty much how I prioritize. Except I always plant a few potatoes, despite their year-round cheapness and availability, because I like new baby potatoes fresh from the garden (and those, of course, are also pricey by potato standards).

That'll be a lifelong memory. Well done, Auntie.

I used to occasionally do "millionaire fish & chips" at one of my restaurants...one piece halibut, one piece salmon, one lobster tail.

I'll second the recommendation of upgraded equipment, though I'm no chocolatier. If you can't do it all yourself your options are a piece of machinery or more staff...staff are cheaper up front but costlier in the long term, whereas machinery is the opposite (and doesn't need training, won't call in sick, won't leave once you've spent six months training it to do things the way you want, etc). When my parents had their bakery, my mother rolled the crust for tens of thousands of pies by hand (my father joked she could have arm-wrestled Popeye). When my cousin bought it from them, the first thing she brought in was a dough sheeter. She was able to make more pies than before, and (unlike my mom) didn't need to take muscle relaxants in order to sleep and avoid debilitating headaches. Different problem, but analogous.

McCain originated here in New Brunswick, which (like neighbouring Maine) is a major potato producer and therefore a natural home for a french fry manufacturer. You can't get anywhere near the town of Florenceville, where their plant is located, without smelling and craving french fries. We get a lot of McCain-branded product here in Canada, from tater tots to frozen cakes, but as the article says a lot of their profit comes from their role as an anonymous supplier to other food manufacturers and retailers (they supply McDonald's with fries, for example).

I've never had rivets actually fall out, but I've had the rivets get loose enough to make a couple of pots and pans more or less unusable. That's purely on the cheapest and lowest-end of cookware, of course, back in my impecunious bachelor days.

Here in Atlantic Canada - especially Newfoundland - we do that with molasses. Though in my family we'd do it right on the biscuit/piece of bread, so as not to dirty a plate. Or better yet, a touton (bread dough patted out flat, and fried in a cast-iron pan).

Interesting. In my neck of the woods chow chow is a relish made from green tomatoes, which we get much more reliably than fully ripened ones. No corn, though.

If it's garlic-infused oil stored at room temperature, you betcha. If it's basically just garlic, pulverized for freezer storage with a splash of oil to protect the flavor compounds from dissipating, that's a whole other thing. That's what I do with about half of my garden garlic, so it doesn't shrivel up and get leathery after a few months. The rest I eat fresh. My method (such as it is) is to peel the cloves and drop them into my food processor, then drip in a small quantity of oil until it makes a reasonably smooth paste (I don't worry about it being super-uniform). Then I portion it into small ziploc bags, and put them in turn into a larger one for a bit of added protection in the freezer. When I take one out I'll often use it all in one dish, otherwise I try to make a point of working through it within a few days. I use a neutral oil, but that's a question of personal preference. My reasoning is that a strongly-flavored oil would limit the garlic's versatility.

I'm also in the "always have a few cans" camp. Even with an IP, cooking beans from dry requires at least a modicum of forethought. That's not always forthcoming, and so I appreciate the convenience of having a can right to hand in my hour of need. (...also sometimes I'm just lazy....)

I feel your pain. One of my restaurants was never intended for year-round use, and I had to put things in my coolers to keep them from freezing. Needless to say, getting hot food out to the tables was also an interesting challenge.