Pam R

First- thanks for sharing your yeast-dough recipe a while ago. I haven't had a chance to try them but I will (who says hamantashen are just for Purim?) Now - caramel-pecan?? Is there a recipe or is it just a caramel candy and some pecans? I'm a sucker for anything with caramel..

I was going to suggest a Pavlova as well - I know I know I know not everybody loves the non-dairy topping - but mix some with some lemon or orange curd and top with fresh fruit. Perfect Passover dessert. Have I mentioned that I'm all in favour of non-dairy subs? You just need to add other flavourings to them.

kugels are good sides...and are fine reheated. blintzes? time consuming to make though. hmm.. I get that it's not kosher... but what kinda noodles are we talking about?

Rich's makes passover creamer...or kineret

Not sure where else to answer this: Also known as a stick or a hand blender... you can see a few here or here. You immerse the blade into the food and blend it in the pot or bowl. Very useful.. much easier to clean and I use it for almost any soup I puree.

Lucy: I've been catching up on some of the foodblogs I missed before becoming a member (how did I not know about this thing before last fall?) and I just finished up your first blog. I enjoyed it so much I was left wanting more and... ta-dah! Thanks... so far I'm enjoying this one just as much. Eh? Rich? You can buy a workable one for less than $10 CND ...and a not so bad one for less than $20 ... worth every penny!

pheh! - Montreal bagels are overrated. They are not chewy (they are kind of like... a bagel shaped/sized challah... weird)

you forgot chewy.. they should be chewy and yer all crazy

hmmm...could we be related? As for matzo balls, I actually like them somewhere in the middle of clouds and cannon balls... so I shan't give you my recipe..... but... have you tried using soda water / seltzer instead of water in the recipe? Do you let the matzo meal absorb the liquid (meaning- leave your mixture somewhat gooey and refrigerate it for a while allowing the meal to absorb the liquid before adding more matzo meal to make it easier to handle?) Then there's the whole baking soda aspect... something I never do

Dejah, We're Manitobans. We're not supposed to complain about bbq'ing in the snow. Just open your garage door like I do and bbq away! And I have to say...the one week I spent in Vancouver in Nov... happened to be the one week when the weather was better in Winter Peg I wanna see more pictures of pretty BC

Beet borcht (with beef shortribs in it) on Monday...and tonight I think it'll be french onion. It's still winter here!!

Alls I'm sayin' is that if I'm making chicken soup/stock I'm using raw bones, wings, necks and occasionally a whole chicken or 20. (if we're making 60-70 L we use lots-o-chicks). The whole chickens are only thrown in if the meat is going to be used to make kreplach or blintzes. If I'm making a turkey wild rice soup with lots of veggies (or somethin) - well heck, I may use some bones that were tossed in the freezer from that time we had to roast and carve 10 turkeys! I'm not sure what my point is here....

Daddy-A: Great blog so far! I was in Vancouver for the first time on a business trip last November. I wish I had been more aware of eG and all you Vancouver egulleters then... I've missed out on so much! I'm taking notes for the next trip. Thanks.

hmmm.. I also think you were asking me... but I think for my cookie dough recipe, not a yeast dough. So here's my cookie-type dough recipe: Makes 32-38 cookies 3/4 cup vegetable shortening 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. baking powder 1 pinch salt 2 cups all-purpose flour -- approximately In a mixing bowl use a spoon to cream together the shortening and sugar. (You can use an electric mixer.) Add the eggs and vanilla and continue mixing. Add the baking powder, salt and about 1 1/2 cups of flour. Depending on many variables the dough will require different amounts of flour. Slowly add more flour to the dough until the dough is soft and smooth, but not greasy or sticky - between 2 and 2 1/2 cups of flour. This dough does not like to be refrigerated - once you've made it, use it right away. Cut the dough into thirds and roll out one section, about 1/8" thick on a well-floured workspace. Use a cup or a can to cut approximately 3" circles. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of a filling of your choice in the center of each section. Bring three sides of the dough together to make a triangle. Pinch the 3 corners together and place on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). Place in a preheated 350º oven for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. edited to ask if anybody can staighten out copyright issues for me... I hold copyright, but the recipe has appeared in a newspaper (or 2) - does that matter?

Because Purim is some cookies and alcohol.... Passover is the whole megilla

I feel like we've been here before! I know and understand that you would rather not use substitutes, but I have had great success with that certain liquid coffee creamer substitue. And quite honestly, with the quantities you would use in the cake, and all the flavour from the cooca and vanilla and other ingredients... you won't get a strong flavour from it. Another thing I will be experimenting with shortly - that I meantioned on the Shabbos thread is the potato milk. I don't know if it's available outside of Canada yet but it's the best parve sub for milk that I have found.

I just looked at your site and it's great! Good luck with it (and if you ever need any kosher/jewish writing, let me know )

grrr. edited for double post

no I still haven't been able to find a copy... I thought it was actually published here (I may be wrong) but can't seem to find it

hmmm...doesn't sound like such a bad idea

At the moment I can't find my recipes on their site... I'll let you know if they show up. If you'd like one of the recipes, let me know and I'll see what I can do. We usually do a couple of 'fancy' desserts - this year I think I'm keeping it simple - a variety of cookies (some komish/mandelbroit or as I like to call them 'passover biscotti', almond macaroons, meringues.. that kind of thing) - I'll be baking cakes/tortes and cookies for customers, so really it'll be whatever I can still stand looking at! I'm now partial to a kugel made with shredded butternut squash, leek and zucchini - I find it's lighter than most other ones I've tried. And I've always enjoyed the 'mashed' potato type of kugel - no matzo meal. Grilled or roasted vegetables... we've NEVER had tzimmes in my family... it may be time to try one I don't know if this is at all helpful! Let me know if you'd like more ideas for specific things. I may be tempted ;) I just need lots of money backers! Last year I actually thought that maybe I should open a kosher for passover only bakery in Israel. We're full-line caterers but I spent SOOOOOOOOO much time baking that I was baking in my sleep! I figured I could maybe make enough money over Passover to live on all year... what do ya think? The day after Rosh Hashana (Sept) my aunt called to invite us to her Seder. I'd say that may be a little early for some.. late for others. The people that order from us are starting to put together their menus now and calling to see if our order sheets are ready. Because this is our business, we're probably a little ahead of people in terms of actually planning the food. We have to order all of our meats/cheeses and kosher-for Passover baking/cooking supplies from Toronto - so today we spent a few hours putting together our supply order list and tomorrow we'll finish it. If we order in the next couple of days we'll get the order by next week (or the week after - depending on whether all of the things we order have come in from Israel/NY yet).

The cake looks fantastic. you did a great job. I just ordered a book on Friday that has a section on sugar flowers because there are a few of us that want to try our hands at it (I would have signed up for the class but the timing is bad). So you spent time with keith working on it... but WAS there a book that you found helpful in the end?

Perhaps. It may also say something about the popularity of the food these days. I live in a city with a large French community (largest in Canada outside of Quebec) but there aren't that many french restaurants. Yet there are tons of asian and italian places. (as well as many many other ethnics joints) Do you think it could be because people are moving away from the 'traditional' cooking and are trying these more 'exotic' flavours? Also, I think French cooking is thought of as rather rich... people are eating more things that they perceive to be healthy? Just my thoughts...

Not that we're saying ALL caterers are bad... I = caterer

While many chefs may frown upon using bones from chickens that had the meat roasted on them - if you're making a soup with lots of other ingredients, there's no reason not to use them. I wouldn't use them to make a clear, flavourful broth/stock - there isn't enough flavour left in them. But as something to use as a base for other flavours, why not?