chromedome

Being a Nova Scotian I thought of Maud Lewis, but yes...very much a folk-art feel to these.

My last rental in Nova Scotia had just one large sink. I put an inexpensive plastic tub from the dollar store into one side (it took up 2/3 of the space, roughly) and rinsed on the side where there was no tub. It worked pretty much the same. ETA: It's nice sometimes to have the full-sized sink space for large pots, roasters, etc.

I live in lobster country (Atlantic Canada) and I can assure you that many old-timers, including a few in my family, insist that nothing makes the potatoes grow better than lobsters mulched into the soil. I've seen research from Maine and Prince Edward Island supporting that thesis, and it seems that chitin and chitosan from the shells may inhibit a few common potato pathogens. Maine, PEI and NB are all major producers of lobster and potatoes, so the correlation is rather serendipitous I suppose. I'm not a huge fan of lobster myself, so I usually only buy it during the peak season when the price is at its lowest. A few years ago I was getting them for my restaurant at $3.99/lb or less right from the boat, but prices have rebounded and the lowest price I could find this year was $6.99. To put that into context for non-Canadians, that's about the regular price here for boneless, skinless chicken breast (ie, not on sale) and lower than the price for a chuck roast. A few years ago, when prices were very low and exports were shaky, the New Brunswick government launched an advertising campaign to try and encourage locals to support the industry by consuming more lobster. Their official slogan was "Put Lobster in Your Lunchbox," but local wags immediately paraphrased it as "Lobster...it's the new bologna." The program was not notably successful.

Illness is more likely to be severe in those cases, but S. aureus can infect healthy individuals as well, and it takes as little as 100 nanograms of its enterotoxin to induce illness. Just because it's ubiquitous doesn't mean it's harmless...our bodies are also full of coliform bacteria, which don't cause illness when left to their own devices but do if they're transmitted to food. In the case of S. aureus I'll quote the CDC*: It's perfectly possible the OP could make that pot of soup and experience no ill effects, but there's an unnecessarily high likelihood of spending a day within 15 feet of the bathroom. Hardly worth it, in my estimation, but everyone makes their own call. *Cited by the FDA in the corresponding section of the Bad Bug Book.

Botulism was a poor example here, because C. botulinum is an anaerobic bacterium. You're more likely to run into a problem with Staph aureus, which is ubiquitous and creates heat-stable enterotoxins. There are a number of pathogens that create toxins, if you want to browse the FDA's Bad Bug Book, and C. perfringens creates heat-resistant spores that can create a new population of pathogens in record time even if you boil the hell out of your soup. Seriously, it's not worth it.

Barring the extra spice (and splash of rum), the basic filling resembles butter tarts.

Steam is your friend.

Very nice. Should hold you until dinner.

I sat down to a near-identical plate last week, but with salmon and lemon sauce.

In my first year at culinary school, I had a pot of stock that was bubbling a little too freely so I pulled it partially off of the burner. A few minutes later I pulled it back...using the handle that had been above the flame. That was good for a few rather large blisters. The instructor used me as his illustration for the kitchen aphorism that "every handle is dangerously hot until/unless proven otherwise."

My best guess was that the cherries made it Oriental, 'cause Japanese cherries, right? But I guess the smilax was the pertinent detail. A couple of the others are head-scratchers, too...the Mexican sandwich is baked beans and ketchup on crackers, and the Indian sandwich is candied ginger and candied orange peel with heavy cream.

PD Review is one of my favorite time sinks. I can only afford to go there about once a month.

It's muddled, here in Canada. I think in Celsius when it's the weather, but Fahrenheit when cooking or baking. The oven at my current rental displays Celsius, so I'm belatedly starting to get a feel for it, but still refer frequently to the conversion table I printed off and taped up by the stove.

We used to use the exact same ones at a place I worked in Edmonton.

I got an immediate confirmation email on mine, but of course I used the Canadian site.

Yup, you'll fit right in.

Department stores carry a kind of stepped wire rack, usually used for canned-goods cupboards or spice cupboards so you can see what's in there. I used those on my table at the farmer's market, for exactly similar reasons. It works well with small jars like the ones you were using.

That looks a lot like what we call buttercup squash. I like it because it bakes to a light, dry, fluffy texture like a russet potato...ideal for soaking up sauce or butter. When I spoke of "butternut" upthread, it was a mistake on my part. I meant to say buttercup.

That was my thought, too. "Squash and cat food? This oughta be an interesting recipe..."

Diluting, as you suggested in your original post, is the most reliable way to go about it.

Nice to see you emerge from the fog, Peter.

Oh dear, another rabbit hole. That's the problem with working at my computer all day...all of my worst temptations are just a tab away.

I once joked with an artist friend that "the shortest line between two points runs from 'avant-garde' to 'old guard'." I think that each new fad or -- to use a less pejorative term -- "collective enthusiasm" changes the way we look at and prepare food, at least to some extent. Like the avant-garde in any other art form, most of it will eventually go out the window but a few things will remain to enrich the collective pool of ingredients and techniques.

I'll second that, if no-one else stakes out the territory. When I was doing farmers markets, there were two pet-food vendors and one bakery all doing a booming business at the same market with their fresh-baked pet treats.

That would, indeed, be a really hot onion. (I know, I know..."curse you, autocorrect!")