lexy

Is that like fruit-flavoured Weetabix? Personally, I like my Weetabix mushed up a bit with milk and with a generous slather of maple cream (which reminds, it's maple season - time to stock up! )

Well, most of my roommate problems have been touched on already (mostly along the lines of lack of cleanliness), but the ever-popular crime of knife misuse really gets me going. Do not use my lovely little paring knife to try and dice a huge carrot or cube chicken breasts! I don't know what it is about that knife (my roommates won't touch any of my other ones), but people seem to want to use for the least appropriate tasks …

here's my dilemma: I want to bake two cakes, I only have one cake pan, and I don't really have time to let the first one cool before unmolding and baking the second. I know the best answer is buy a second tin and bake them at the same time, but (a) I'm cheap, and (b) I don't use the one I have very much as it is, and I don't really need a second one cluttering up my kitchen. Is there any trick to unmolding a cake before it's cool, or cooling it quickly? I don't really want to experiment and destroy a cake, and suggestions?

This got me wondering, why beer? It seems to me that the taste would be totally overwhelmed by the stonger alcohols, and it's not like you need the extra alcohol for preservation purposes.

I would say go with suet unless you have good reason to avoid it. My mum uses a Delia Smith recipe with some alterations, and ages it about three months, periodically dousing it liberally with brandy. Because the bulk of the pudding is dried fruits, and the whole thing is chock-full of alcohol (this is a pudding that you can light on fire, after all!), you could probably keep it in a well-sealed container for quite some time. I seem to have a list of ingredients for my mum's Christmas pudding, although no instructions for some reason, if it's any help: Christmas Pudding 55 g suet (1/2 cup) 28 g flour (1/4 cup) 1/4 tsp baking powder 55 g breadcrumbs (1 slice=3/4 cup) 1/4 tsp mixed spice 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1/16 tsp cinnamon 110 g brown sugar (3/4 cup) 55 g sultanas (1/2 cup) 55 g raisins 144 g currants (1 cup) 12 g mixed peel (2 Tb) 12g blanched almonds, chopped (1/4 cup) 1/4 apple, finely chopped 1/4 grated orange rind 1/4 grated lemon rind 1 egg 1 Tb rum 37 mL barley wine (2 Tb + 2 tsp) 37 mL stout (2 Tb + 2 tsp) to add: I'm pretty sure she doesn't use either the barley wine or the stout, I think she subs in brandy in for those.

wow, I'm tired just reading this! Thanks for all your answers to questions, I was talking to a fairly observant Jewish friend yesterday about her passover plans, and not only did I not stick my foot in my mouth, but I managed to seem somewhat knowledgeable about Jewish tradition - all thanks to this blog!

Sort of adding on to this question, is it significantly more expensive to produce kosher food than non-kosher food? I assume the extra work of having things certified/done in a specific way drives the cost up somewhat.

Ditto - I always get inspired everytime you post your great baking pictures! ← I heartily third this sentiment - you deserve some sort of eG Medal of Honour

How do you keep your red onion slices together on the barbeque? I find they always fall apart (and inevitably down through the grate) when I try to turn them or lift them off. Are you just much less sloppy than I am, or is there some secret to it?

There's been a few references to how small your kitchen (and japanese kitchens in general) is. They seem small even by the standards of apartment kitchens in big cities in North America. If this is pretty standard, is it more common in japan to eat out? Otherwise, why the tiny kitchens?

I'm keen to check it out too - I love thai, and Kingston hasn't exactly got a wealth of thai cooking. I'll be in Toronto until May though, so I won't be able to investigate for a while (not that I can really complain, there's plenty of good thai around here )

I sense perhaps a pocky craze is about to spread across eG I stopped by the Korean supermarket last night and picked some up for myself - yummy, "like a dessert cake on a stick!" (quote from the box)

I've also only heard good things about it. Ditto for new restaurants - nothing much new. There is a newish Thai place on princess that I havn't tried (at least I think it's new - either that, or it's an older place that got a makeover), but might be good.

does modern Japanese cuisine typically incorporate foreign ingredients (like mayo & pine nuts) into traditional preparations?

out of curiosity, what benefits does adding potato starch give to the cake? I've never heard of using it in a cake before

whoa, that's kind of uncanny, I was really just fantasizing I bet they're good, I wonder if they're sold outside of Japan

what's the availability of western foodstuffs in Japan? pocky (as we've been discussing) can be found somewhat readily in North America (depends on where you are I suppose), but does it go the other way too - can you buy, say, KitKats and Mars bars in Japan? and if so, are they adapted for the Japanese market? (green tea and bean flavourings seem to be popular - green tea KitKats sound pretty feasible to me )

wow, not only does the food look great, but it's a steal too! it looks like you served it buffet style, do you ever have problems with people eating more than "their share"? also, I feel kind of stupid asking this, but since I don't have kids … how do you decide how much food to feed Liam? obviously he eats less than an adult, being so much smaller. Is he pretty good at deciding what he needs, and you just let him figure out how much he wants, or do you consciously calculate portion sizes?

funny you should have mentioned this. I had a piece of vegan carrot cake in a vegan/vegetarian restaurant a few weeks ago expecting something pretty horrid - but it turned out to be some of the best carrot cake I've ever had! Maybe it's something about carrot cake that lends itself well to veganism? I wonder how you would make a good cream cheese icing without dairy though. The icing on the cake I had was pretty good (although it did not have the usual cream cheese texture). Any ideas? To add: as far as I know, vegans eat sugar, just not honey (animal product)

I'll be doing a little shopping at the SLM tomorrow (South market), and I was wondering if there are any shops that have a good selection of chocolate (as in bars of chocolate for eating and/or cooking, not candies/sweets)? thanks

lasagna - one of the first meals I ever made for myself, and of course I didn't need a recipe, I'd seen my mother make it a hundred times. it didn't occur to me that you might need to cook the lasagna before layering it in the pan, and I'd never made a white sauce before, so I threw an egg in for some reason. when the egg started to scramble I panicked (I knew this wasn't how the sauce was supposed to look!) and just threw in into the pan with everything else. net result: crunchy lasagna with semi-raw egg 'béchamel' sauce -ugh

oooh, rhubarb cheesecake pie - this is like all my favourite desserts rolled together is it cheesecake poured into a pie crust and topped with rhubarb?

my kindergarten teacher called us all her "petits chou-chous" … I guess 'cabbage' is a pretty common french pet name for kids; sort of strange once you think about it

most of the food trucks here on the university of toronto campus are chinese ("wokking on wheels" etc), where the primary food ingredient appears to be grease. there are also a couple of hot dog tents and a few coffee & donut trucks. nothing particularily notable though

ooh, I'm so jealous! I fear this blog is just going to make me want to move out west even more (the weather, the skiing, and now I'm going to hear all about the great food … )