chromedome

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.

I actually planted some lemon balm (the North American name for melissa) simply because that's my landlady's name. I used to also create dishes with ingredients that started with the same letter (alliteration) just because it sounded good on the menu, and people seemed to respond favorably to it when used in moderation.

Feeling for y'all. I'm still using/loving my 80s-vintage Japanese-built Cuis, but hope to pick up a spare from eBay or Kijiji against the evil day that it finally gives up the ghost.

LOL Forest...trees... It was a running joke between my ex and I that there is a well-known blind spot directly beneath one's nose.

Those look dry cured, to my eye...is that the case? "Canadian" bacon (here we call it "back bacon, or "peameal bacon" if it's rolled in cornmeal) is not. It's basically just a pork loin, cured and smoked but not dried.

When I was a kid, my mother called those "dollar fries" because they supposedly resembled silver dollars. That was in the days before the loonie, y'understand.

I think it's one of those things that can't be reasoned over...like people insisting they can't eat anything rare because of the "blood."

@David Ross The presence of French on the label doesn't necessarily mean the lamb went through a Francophone part of the country. Food sold in Canada has labels in both official languages, by default.

Not to hijack the OP's query, but I'm curious to get a shout-back from my fellow Canadians...I've lived on the Prairies and both coasts, and the default egg everywhere in the country seems to be over-easy. The only times I've had diners order sunny eggs, they've either been American or from Ontario. I note that Ashen fits the latter category...anyone else care to weigh in? Personally, though I made them to the (eventual) satisfaction of my late California-bred wife, I never took to sunny side up and know few others who care for them. "Don't want my breakfast looking back at me" is a comment I often hear.

Careme supposedly characterized pastry as the most important branch of architecture...