chromedome

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!")

Does anyone know the history of Italian Wedding soup? I presume it's an Italian-American thing...my first-gen Italian-Canadian classmate from culinary school swore vehemently (and at some length) that it was not from Italy.

Now *that* is customer service done right.

A whiff of anchovy, perhaps? The long-ago Italian friend who introduced me to linguine and clams insisted that anchovies were at least as important as the clams, and perhaps a titch more so.

I'll add "cooking off quantities of lobster/crab/crawfish" to that list. A wonderful smell in moderation, but moderation is difficult to achieve if you ever cook 'em in bulk.