Daddy-A

I was just about to suggest that. I have a little Braun unit I picked up for $10 at a 2nd hand store. I grind all my own spices now. A.

Best patio in the city is attached to the back of my house. All the rest are pretenders. Food's pretty good too ... especially when there's pig involved. A.

Typos asside , this is yet another example of her correcting herself in a later review ... possibly due to her reading the facts here. I'm pretty sure she wrote that Tojo wasn't at the awards, although I can't find the article right now. Then there was the "vegan wine" comment from a few months back. She's gotta be up for a Pulitzer pretty soon, dontcha think? A.

Any Jackson Pollock's yet? I hope someone is carrying my torch ← Jeeezuz! You're not even in the class, and you're STILL annoying me! Agreed, it's been great with Dave in there. As far as Neil goes, he's offered me a couple chances to come and help out at the HSG ... but I KNOW he's just end up yelling at me, and I'm damned if I'm going to let him see me cry! Thank goodness Chef Tony is there to keep Neil under control. Just to stay OT, the calibre of instructors at NWCAV is really high. If I was ever looking at cooking as a second (hell, who am I kidding ... more like 5th or 6th for me!) career, I would give serious consideration to this school. A.

Hey! Nobody said anything about this being a TAG-TEAM blog! Ummm ... don't get your hopes up there mochihead. As host of said luau, this will be a luau in name and decoration only. Some guests bring Hawaiian themed items, but "luau" was chosen as a tongue-in-cheek homeage to the end of our wet Vancouver winters. Ironically, the Victoria Day long weekend is often wet itself ... so we're keeping our fingers crossed. What can you expect food-wise at the luau? Think South. A.

Nu is my current (resisting the urge to say "new") new favorite patio. Last year it was O617. I guess that makes me hipper than A. Gill. Or at least prettier. A.

Please let that be a Victoria Day luau. That seems to be an appropriately Vancouver-ish thing to do (I have no idea why - it just does!). Without giving too much away (this is after all Deb's blog) it is a day-before-Victoria-Day Luau. It's a little known fact that Queen Victoria was a real glutton when it came to roast sucking pig. There's your connection. A.

Woo hoo! It fit!!! Deborah & I had a running debate over the size of this range. Typically, I wouldn't put a range this large into an 8' x 11' kitchen. Then again, Deborah wasn't a typical client and the 48" range really made sense for her. I kept teasing her that while I was sure the range would fit into the design, I wasn't sure the range would actually be able to fit through the narrow hallways and make it into the kitchen. A.

Well hell! If it's good enough for Christian Slater, I'm in! A.

No, I'm the one who's anatomically challenged. It turns out what I was separating was the cartilage from the sternum end of the spare ribs. So it turns out I was indeed working with a rack of spare ribs. I've corrected my initial post to reflect this. Nothing like making an ass of one's self to finish off the day! Regardless, the meat was really tasty! A.

Abra ... yep, there were bones in there ... or at least those of the "cartliage" variety See - lower right side. Peeling the membrane off the spare ribs was actually really easy. Just start at the end closest to you in the picture, and lift off a portion with a butter knife. Then just peel away, keeping your free hand close to the point where it's peeling from the ribs. It also helps to use a paper towel to hold onto the membrane while you pull. The whole "butchering" process is outlined on Virtual Weber Bullet.com. There's even a video showing the pulling of the membrane. A.

Actually, it was the whole rib section Ben. The instructor cut the back ribs really short, so it doesn't look like there's much in the way of back ribs ... unless of course I have the terminology wrong. I'm a rib rookie remember? Please feel free to correct any erroneous errors Laurie, PM me & I'll forward the recipe ... unless you have the Moosewood Cooks at Home cookbook, then it's the Asia Slaw dressing on apple, fennel and a little bit of celeriac shave really thinly. I also added carrot & reb pepper for colour. A.

How were the rillettes? I haven't tried mine yet ... still letting flavours develop. Rib homework is going well. Here's what I was up to with the ribs last week. CLICK A.

At my last cooking class I was given the task of cooking a nice rack of pork spare ribs for the next class. Consulting The Virtual Weber Bullet site I chose the "Best Ribs in the Universe." Step 1 - Breaking down the ribs. The whole rack and nothing but the rack. Same rack, rotated 180°. The cartilage is being separated on the right. edited to correct an anatomy error Once the cartilage & the skirt were cut away from the rack, I needed to pull of the tough membrane from the inside of the ribs. This stuff is tough! It comes off easily however. The spare ribs (cut into two pieces so it would fit in the Bullet). In the back there is the skirt and some off cuts marinating for a little snack. On the right is the fat that was rendered the next day. The pork dusted in "Bob's Rub". The cooking method is to smoke them at 225°F (107°C) for about 3 hours, and then crank the heat up to 250-275°F (121-135°C) for 2 more hours or until the meat falls away from the bone. Glaze is added during the last 1/2 hour. I used mesquite for this smoke. At the turn ... Just off the smoker. I'll admit, the meat wasn't falling away from the bone. But in my defense, I didn't start this until 5pm and by 10 we were getting a bit hungry Saturdays can get away on you like that. Smoke Ribs (sort of) w/ Daddy-A's Honey-Q Sauce (riffed from Ron Shechuck), Grilled Asparagus, Apple-Fennel-Celeriac Slaw & Coconut Rice. Wine was a Golden Mile Cellars Road 13 The ribs were excellent, but not fall-off-the-bone excellent. I know if I gave them the proper amount of time they'd work out just fine. The real surprise for me was just how good the sauce tastes when you just brush it on at the end! Rather than all burned like it would have been had I glazed the ribs sooner, this was nicely caramalized and very tasty. I'll be doing the spare ribs in a couple weeks. A. edited to correct an anatomy error it turns out what I was cutting away from the spare ribs was the cartilage from the sternum end of the spare robs, and NOT back ribs. Like I said, I'm no butcher! edited again because there was aparently a pre-existing rib thread

I thought it was from the "egg" additive you had to pay an extra 50 cents for in the Orange Julius. A.

That didn't take long. Bring back to surly guy who made his own corned beef! A.

This is kind of the reverse design of THIS design from Snaidero. Co-designed with Pinifarina, it was released a few years ago. The Snaidero web site has more pictures, but because it's flash, I can't link directly to the Acropolis page. http://www.snaidero.com Here's a quote from the Snaidero site: Ladies?? A.

Hey! Where on Mayne? We holiday there quite frequently, and other than the Oceanwood and in a pinch, The Mayne Island Inn (which I believe they were going to close and develop the property), there's really not much in the way of dining-out options. A.

*sniff* Wonderful story Marlene. And yes, they do grow up faster than you can imagine. My oldest starts his new job with .... TIM HORTONS this weekend (how Canadian!). It seems like just yesterday he was a babe in my arms. *sniff* Awesome job on the pizzas! Don't worry about the fussiness. After you do them for a while they're really easy ... but yes doing it with another set of hands is much simpler. J & I do them all the time now. The only thing I might suggest is to keep the ingredients to a minimum ... more Tuscan style I suppose. The gravy separtor ... the fat rises to the top and the gravy (sans fat) pours up through the spout from the bottom. I have a similar one from my Bestemor. A.

BINGO! Apparently, my Google skills are lacking at 7:42am. A.

Ahhhh ... this is a tidbit on information I didn't have. I agree, this is a silly policy. David is of course correct; either allow photos, or don't. Making it contingent on a purchase is quite petty. Wise words. Does this tome allow me to still keep the chocolates? A. ps - David - I may be in touch. My wife and I will be in Paris in September.

There's a place on Granville Island (down near the Hotel on the south side near Performance Works) that does architectural glass, including back splashes. I don't have the name handy, but you should be able to find it no problem. They're a bit pricey, but they do beautiful work. To keep this food related, you could shop for food in the market after looking for your backsplash A less expensive option would be to use glass tile ... something large like a 12x12 actually looks really nice. Not exactly what you're looking for, but after you get the quote on the plate glass you may want to consider it. A.

It is a shame because their chocolate is pretty darn good. I think you did the right thing though. I would have done the same. That must have been a pretty important photo. If your friend was going to buy the chocolates anyway, what was the big deal? You could have left with the chocolates, your photo, and then shared the story here, and still had your sense of outrage noted. Instead, you left with your sense of outrage properly noted, but without really good chocolate or a photo. I doubt the shop owner is losing any sleep. A.

Great burgers everyone! Like most, there's no way J would allow anything other than well-done. Myself? A little pink is good! Nice work Tracey. J & I grill pizzas all the time, probably 'cuz I'm too cheap to buy a pizza stone. I like the crispiness the crust gets on the grill, and the fact that it allows me to play with FIRE! Grilling pizza is a snap ... you just have to pay attention. I have some a rack of pork ribs that were given to me as "homework" for a cooking class I'm taking. I may just have to smoke along with y'all this weekend ... in my own thread of course A.

Dropped by today to pick up my forgotten rillets (we had extras), and Tony gave me a taste of the duck stock they're going to reduce to demi. Sorry for the oft-used interjection, but ... YUM! A.