Nyleve Baar

Wonderful photos and stories. We were in India 4 years ago and I would go back in a heartbeat. We WILL go back. It's a huge country and the regions are so different from each other. We loved the people and the food and the really amazing experiences. Thank you for sharing - it brought back so many good memories for me (and renewed my desire to return). As for the lassi cups. It wasn't until the very end of our trip that I realized that these were one-use cups. I was always a little nervous about drinking from them (but of course we did) because I was afraid they couldn't be sanitized properly. Duh. So stupid. If I had known earlier in the trip I would have packed a bunch of them in my luggage to bring home and use to start seedlings! By the time I learned the truth, it was too late to collect any of them. Oh well - another reason to go back!

I didn't know the name of the typical rice of that area. It's so different - most of the time it was quite white, but occasionally they use a rice that has some of the brain still on it. Very delicious. Is it called johdi? Not sure I've ever seen it here.

Our most memorable "alcohol" moment was when we took a houseboat on the backwaters. Stopped at a little shop along one of the canals and we got out to see what they were selling. I spied a bottle of what looked to me like some kind of Australian red wine and immediately paid probably something like $15 for it because we were desperate. Imagine sitting on an idyllic houseboat with NO wine! The boat staff took the bottle and said they would serve it to us when we asked. At the appropriate sundown-ish moment, we asked. It came. It was non-alcoholic wine. It's hard to describe the disappointment. One sip is all it took. And the fact that this information - the NON ALCOHOLIC INFORMATION - was hidden neatly away on the label...very sad moment indeed. I do have a photo of us as we toasted with this non-alcoholic, borderline undrinkable substance. On a houseboat. In paradise. There wasn't much alcohol available in India when we were there 4 years ago. You did have to go to some effort to find it. My husband managed to find some "gin" at a scary market stall (much like what you describe) and it made him so sick that i poured the rest of the bottle down the drain. We made do with the occasional beer. We survived. India is worth it.

Such great memories for me. We did the Madurai street food tour about 4 years ago and it left us stuffed and speechless. Our guide may have taken us to a few of the same places as you went to but also to some different ones. One of my favourites was a crazy dosa place somewhere away from the centre of the city. The two brothers (I think) who ran it were so funny and charming and happy. Almost everything we tried was absolutely delicious but we stopped being able to eat more than a bite at any one spot after the first 8. Enjoy the rest of your trip - I would love to go back.

Are you going to Madurai? We had a wonderful street food tour there a few years ago. The city itself has an unbelieveable temple and the food was amazing.

Pretty little Apilco gratin dishes yesterday at Value Village. $3.99 for 4 of them. Not sure I'll ever use them but I can't resist French china.

Change that to...April...or so. I'm just ready to filter the batch that I was originally supposed to check in mid-august. It's MAPLE VINEGAR! Thus, special and worth the wait.

Great! It may very well take much longer than a month, especially in the winter when our homes are cooler. Be patient. It will come around eventually.

I use apple cider vinegar as a starter. I buy one of those live, unfiltered vinegars - like Braggs or similar. You really want a flavour that doesn't assert itself too much as maple is so very delicate. Red wine vinegar would be too intense, I think. But I'm sure either one would work as long as the "mother" is in it.

I've been making this maple vinegar for several years and it is a fantastic substance. Mellow, like a good balsamic, but with its own flavour. I buy crappy maple syrup from a local producer - I ask him for the stuff he can't sell because it's too dark, or old or whatever. As far as I know it's not being made commercially, so this is definitely worth making for yourself. http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016211-maple-vinegar

This is from The Onion, right?

I agree with liuzhou. Eat it and make a fresh one next week. It may not be unsafe to eat, but it will be a week old pie from the fridge.

Oh lucky you! I am also in Ontario and have a Secret Porcini Spot which has never failed me yet...until this year. Not one single mushroom has come up this season. I'm blaming it on the dry summer. Hoping that the fungus is sleeping underground in preparation for a big crop next year. I usually get more porcinis than I can deal with - two dehydrators going full time and cooking them until no one can stand them anymore.I still have dried from last year to get me through. Used to know an oyster tree but our neighbour cut it down. And I haven't found a single puffball this season either - don't like them particularly, but it's weird not to find even one. I did come across a fairly abundant crop of honey mushrooms (armillaria mellea) which I used to eat, but further research made me queasy about them - it seems that not everyone can tolerate them and some people get quite sick from them. Decided to leave them where they were. Oh well. Next year. Enjoy yours while you can.

How long do you suppose it can be safely kept in the fridge? Not generally afraid of this kind of thing but have been traumatized by all the scare-talk about botulism in infused oil.

Shameful head-hanging not required. Am just happy to have my book mentioned at all!

Totally fine. Don't thaw the berries before adding to the batter. I use them all the time.

Ok maybe I really am losing it. But I have the book in front of me and cannot find the recipe in it. I have never owned barley flour and would never write a recipe specifying sea salt as an ingredient ( I just say "salt" and let people fine tune it themselves. This is a puzzle. If it's in the Clueless Baker, what page? Whoever is responsible for the ruination of the dump, I mourn the loss of a great local shopping area.

That looks like exactly the recipe. And it isn't mine, but i would like to take credit for it because it looks damn good. Yes, used to find many many excellent things at our local dump. Equipped many of my son's girlfriends (and both of my sons) with Cuisinarts of various vintages from there, as well as amazing attachments for my Kitchen Aid and endless mugs and plates for the local soup kitchen where I volunteer. The mugs and plates still show up on occasion, but haven't scored a good appliance from there in probably a year or more. New people are in charge now and they are insanely tidy - throwing everything in the big bins or maybe hoarding the good stuff for themselves. Very unsatisfying. I still get a cool book occasionally, but it's getting rarer and rarer.

This is so weird. I have absolutely no memory of that recipe. Are you sure it's from my book? I have never had barley flour in my house either. Now I'm starting to worry about dementia. Mine, not yours. And Kerry - the note was Darienne's not mine. This note is mine. But that's obvious. (By the way, have been in awe of your Manitoulin cooking experiences. Also bartending ones. Very impressive.) Darienne - next time you stop in you have to ANNOUNCE yourself. Or maybe we'll meet at the dump. But they've ruined it - not as much fun as it used to be.

Hello! Well isn't this a fine howdydoo? Funny enough I don't know which recipe you're talking about (Darienne). Is it the Beer Bread (with seeds as suggested as an optional ingredient)? Permission granted to include recipe here, if you want to share. This is so funny to be outed here. I have no problem with that - not worried about paparazzi camping out on my driveway anytime soon. By the way, Darienne, you do know that I live right in your very own neighbourhood, don't you?

Check anyplace that sells drapery and upholstery fabric. These often come in unusual widths. I need a minimum of 80 x 150 for my dining room table so this is the only way I can get such a thing.

I have a weirdly large dining room table and have always had trouble finding tablecloths to fit it. Finally I gave up and went to a large fabric store - bought extra-wide upholstery or drapery cloth and took it to a dressmaker who hemmed it to the exact size I need. This has been the best solution by far - and the least expensive. You can choose from endless fabrics and get the exact colour and type of material you like, made to your specific requirements.

How do you prepare the knotweed? We have it rampant around here but I've never cooked it. Those shoots look quite advanced - are they still good to eat?

We didn't eat rat in Cambodia, but we did get to taste it in the Mekong Delta, on a night street food tour in Can Tho, Vietnam. It was grilled-ish and tasted fine, really. If I had gotten it without knowing what it was, I don't think I would think it was rat. We also ate snake on that same tour which, to tell you the truth, was not as tasty as rat. The tour, by the way, is free and highly recommended. You pay for your food but there's otherwise no charge and the guide is charming. Also saw the same tarantula vendor in Phnom Penh. Would not, could not, try those.

It seems to me that the weight of an egg of a certain volume can't possibly vary too much. It must be the same density no matter what, doesn't it? I understand the need for precision in commercial production or for very finicky types of cakes, but for simple baking I assume one can just measure out the eggs in a measuring cup. Am I wrong about this?