Pam R

Sorry for the less than fabulous photos. I tried to get a pictures from each side of the roast. It's just over 3 kg, and I'd guess it's about 4 inches thick. This roast came frozen and I was surprised to see that the bottom had slits cut into it (through the bones). My rub: 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp. black pepper 1 1/2 tbsp. cumin 1 tbsp. kosher salt 2 tbsp. ancho chili 1 tsp. allspice 1 tsp. generic penzey's chili powder 1 tsp. smoked paprika And here it is rubbed. I just put the rub on now and it's in the fridge, open. I don't plan on smoking it until Saturday -- leave it uncovered or do I cover it?

If you're here before Tavern in the Park moves, it's a beautiful restaurant with good food. But, it's about 10 km from the Forks. We're not really a fabulous walking city (I mean it's good to walk here, but not for getting from one place to the next). More info would help.

If you're going to use it again for fish, once it's strained (coffee filter is great), I'd put it into a jar or other container and store it in the fridge until you're ready to do fish again. And yep, what Chris said. No need to babysit it while it's slowwwwly going through the filter.

I mean it's not boneless, rolled and netted. But I haven't taken it out of the packaging yet. I'll post a picture as soon as it's thawed.

I'm got a bone-in, unrolled chuck roast in the cooler thawing now. I'm planning on smoking it this weekend -- I figure I'll put a rub together and get it all nice and rubbed on Friday. Smoke on Saturday. Any rub ideas? eta - it's a good 5-6 lbs. I've never smoked one with a bone in it -- how long do you think I'll need to leave it on? Is it even possible to guess?

According to the fine people at Boylan, MASH doesn't have a specific meaning. It could be: "the MASH product is taking two unique flavors and MASHing them together - it can also be translated into the extracting of essence and flavors from fruit by "MASHing" them."

Not weird at all. I like to add a little lemon or lime juice and a (very small) splash of oil.

Mash of flavours? (blood-orange/mango, lemon/ginger) Mash of beverage types? (juice/pop/water) I don't know the answer, but I just emailed the company and asked them.

I got a case of the Lemon Peel/Ginger Root in last week. They are so good. Not very gingery, but very good.

I haven't spent much time at the lake in the last couple of years and haven't yet been up there this year. I hope to get up there in the next few weeks and I want to know what to eat. Any news on good places? What's the best place for fish and chips - pickerel cheeks anybody? How's the Chinese place in Gimli? Any hidden gems?

I, too, am in favour of the plastic slider/cutter. I've had one too many wrist scraping incidents with the metal teeth. But I think the design on the industrial boxes (in my pictures above) is better than the design on the one Chris posted.

The sliding cutter on your box looks like a pain. You need to get one with a sliding cutter like I have. The plastic gets pulled from the slot at the top, and then right over the plastic bar that the cutter slides through. Just pull the plastic across the bar, and slide this across it: This one happens to work really well. The blade is sharp enough that I can slice the plastic with very little pressure -- pushing it with one finger. The only problem with this set up is that if you lose the little plastic dohickey with the blade -- and it's happened -- you're SOL.

Thanks for the info, Rona. I've never been to their market. I just got an email update from Crampton's. She's got strawberries, Saskatoon berries, local carrots, local sweet onions and local garlic. Plus a lot of other things.

I've heard of these special jachnun pots, but can I use any old pot as long as the lid seals it up? What about (sorry) a foil pan covered with more foil?

I don't know what happened to Just Desserts (but maybe the confusion between us will now end). Is Sawadee opening a second place or moving?

How do I bake/cook it? I have some in the freezer but there are no English instructions. Once it's baked, what do you eat with it? Thanks.

A&W does the breaded onion rings, and I find that they're really heavy. A light and crisp beer batter is a good way to go. And canola is good for frying -- soybean oil also good.

How do you cut your desserts? Wedges? Small pieces (like a wedding cake)? We are caterers and we do our own baking. We sell by the cake/torte not by person, but have a general idea of how many desserts we need for different group sizes.

I'm just reporting the news here. No other news today, but I'll keep posting as I hear/read things.

There's a simpler solution for you! Sabra makes 'chunky hummus'. Just sayin'.

BTW, Ciao's June/July issue's News features a new cupcake store at 439 Stradbrook, The Cupcakery. We're a little behind the times, but finally have a store devoted to little cakes. In the Exchange (114 Market), we have Don Pedro's Mexican Grill. The magazine says that there are 2 Mexican chefs running the kitchen and that the food is 'authentic'. And McNally Robinson opened up at Polo Park with a new Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery. Finally, the Conservatory at Assiniboine Park is now Star at the Conservatory and is being run by the folks from Star Grill.

Bonfire Bistro on Corydon has Wood Fired Pizza.

Falafel.

It's mostly little tubs, but it is available in bulk, so some places may be re-packaging/selling out of a deli. Do you have Costco nearby? (The local Costcos sell the roasted red pepper hummus.) Otherwise, I'd check with local grocery stores.

An Israeli was in my store this afternoon. He was surprised at how much he liked the cranberry/fig one. But his least favourite was the chipotle, which I really liked. He says it 'was like hummus mixed with something, not just hummus'. Hrm.