Daddy-A

When ripe, this is the world's STINKIEST camembert. This cheese pictured above spent a couple days in our backpack as we wandered the GR through the Dordogne. By the time we were in Les Eyzies de Tayac, we had to keep the cheese on the window ledge outside our hotel room, it was that ripe. Having said that, it's AWESOME. On a related note, Saturday night we devoured the Epoisses we picked up from Allison. That, and the port soaked Colton Basset which was much much better than I'd had in years past. (Joe, did you guys do anything different with it this year?) Our friends were very grateful. A.

Was there for the 4th time in the last 4 weeks. In and out in 2 minutes with a top-up for my Colton-Basset supply and some Epoisses for a Christmas cheese plate. Don't want to see my Visa bill next month. A.

This may get me banned from all things "foodie" ... .... but as long as they're not selling the rutabega stuff at the same price as real fruit, and the product tastes good, does it really matter? A.

Lee Valley is my go to place for really useful items. This cooling rack has been a very welcome addition to our kitchen this year. The web site (www.leevalley.com) also has gift ideas based on price ranges. God Jul! A.

What a wonderful week. Makes me wish I was returning to France sooner. Ah well, Lyon & Carcassonne will have to wait until September. This is probably my favorite picture ever on eG. We're just missing Lucy .... Best food picture EVER! Thanks you guys! It's been grand. And the number of long-time-no-post members that came out for this one speaks volumes. A.

My wife & I will be visiting SF the first week of May for a real visit (last visit was a 6 hour stop-off during a cruise). I'll seeking advice on dining options closer to the trip, but need some advice on a Christmas gift idea. Hopefully the wife isn't reading this now ... So here's what I'm looking for: Limo/town car service that will pick up in SF Flexibility as to which wineries to visit Reputable! I guess the last one is the most important, as I figure tour groups can take you wherever they want. As this is HOPEFULLY for Christmas, time is of the essence! Thanks in advance A.

For Diapers and Cheese, you'd be looking for the Port Salut. Costco ROCKS this time of year for certain cheeses (sorry Joe ) ... the above mentioned cheddars (not a fan of the Balderson cheeses myself), Ste Andre, Port Salut and Cambozola are really well priced. There are also a couple bries and camemberts they carry year round, but the Ste Andre more than satisfies my need for soft rinded cheeses from the big box. Outside of that, everything else is coming from Les Amis and Choux Choux (Victoria) for our Christmas cheese plate. A.

Yup. Kolachy and Pied-A-Terre both in my work-a-hood. There has to be SOME benefit to having suffered through this construction! A.

I didn't really have any trouble controlling the heat ... merely getting it up to 225F. Basically, in the Weber Bullet, it means preventing the cold outside from reducing the temperature inside. I simply added more fuel to the fire, and opened the vents up 100%. Next time I'm considering using a hot water heater insulating blanket (like THIS). I don't know if it would melt or anything, but we're only talking about 225F so I'm hoping it won't be a problem. I'm smoking a turkey for Christmas so I may get a chance to try it out then. A.

So am I the only one smoking brisket these days? I was actually wondering if I should put this in Chef Fowke's "Great Pastrami Experiment" thread, but as it wasn't really an experiment ... 'Twas a snowy Satyrday in Vancouver. About 10 cm (4 inches) fell over the weekend, but the tough part was the freezing temperatures we experienced on Saturday. -6C (21F) for the better part of the day made holding the 110C (225F) really tough .... and yes Susan, I know you do it all the time. Still, we (13 y.o. son and I) forged on with 2 x 7lb briskets that had been brining for 6 days. Brine was standard salt/sugar with pickling spices. No saltpeter as I'm not so concerned about the colour, but am concerned about nitrates. Out of the brine they were dried and covered with a rub of 2/3 Coriander - 1/3 Black Pepper that a rough ground in the spice mill (formerly known as the coffee grinder). As with my last brisket, smoking wood of choice was cherry. This picture is for any of you who have a family member who saves EVERYTHING, "just in case." This is a meat slicer my father has been saving for 30 years. It has been used exactly once during that time, but now that I've found it, it will be getting a regular work-out. Of course, my father has taken this incident as reason to hold onto various items that include snowshoes, Tupperware containers without matching lids, and no fewer than 5 paper towel holders ... "just in case." Finished product which was steamed, and served with Winnipeg rye bread and a nice grainy mustard to 25 or so ravenous partiers at our annual Cookie Exhange. An excellent pastrami all round, with a terrific texture and wonderful smoke. The smoke-ring at the thin end of the brisket actually penetrated all the way through! Leftovers were started on today as my dad & I lunched on a couple sandwiches and tried to figure out who to give the snowshoes to. A.

Rona, There are many better options in and around that price range than SR. Don't know what happened, but it ain't the same. A.

Yeah, the new Kolachy Shop is in the Bentall Mall near the post office. According to me lovely wife, they're open for breakfast before 8am ... but I know Tim is never up that early. Still awake perhaps ... Agreed, the graphics looks really good. A.

That was the EXACT comparison I made. A.

I enjoyed a couple of these yesterday. The standard Puff is really nice. Light, airy ... everything a cream puff should be. The Macha Puff was like eating a mouth full of eggy grass. I really don't get Macha ... but I'm sure others would. But at the end of the day, these are just cream puffs. Nothing to justify huge lineups. What Beard Papa is selling is hype. There are line-ups because we are told there are lineups. Then, like sheep, the general public says "Wow, they must be good if there are lineups" and rushes off to fuel the hype. Brilliant. Wish I'd thought of it. A.

FAS has excellent soups, as does Go Fish! although I've never had clam chowder at either. A.