Pam R

I don't keep regular tomatoes in the fridge. I'm not sure if that's what you're referring to. But I sometimes put the strawberry/grape tomatoes in the fridge. I don't notice a difference with them, refrigerated or not. And I like them cold. When I make salads in the morning to have for lunch, I refrigerate them, tomatoes and all. Hmm. Interesting. I have no idea why I do that. Having said that, the tomato I sliced for my sandwich last night, was not refrigerated, and had about 1/10 of the flavour of the strawberry tomatoes.

I would use the crock pot again. I think starting with less liquid is a good idea - but I always fall into the trap of covering everything with water (well, almost) because I think they should be covered in water. I know that they will release liquid, but it doesn't matter. I'm a second-guesser. In the end, I really liked the meaty flavour - and that came from the long, slow cooking. I've made chili in the crock with great success. I'd reduce the liquid, as you say. If you're home, just check it periodically and add a little liquid if necessary. Take some pictures and let us see

In an attempt to be a 'better bread baker' I'd like to bake a challah tomorrow. I haven't baked challah in years (and years). I don't have a family recipe, and I've looked through the 2-3 topics we have in the P&B forum. In one of the topics somebody mentioned that they make a no-knead challah. Since I'm all about the no-knead bread, have little time today and am at work tomorrow, I'm thinking this is my ticket. Anybody have any experience with no-knead challah? Any hints, tips, suggestions? I'm not opposed to using a regular recipe, but I want something easy and not too time consuming.

Morning all. It's another cold day here. -20 C, -32 with the windchill. (Sun dogs were out again - with an incredibly bright sun.) This soup blog couldn't have come at a better time - though I'm sure it's hard to believe, it's been really lovely here this winter. Temperatures hovering at about -10C. Then this cold spell hit a couple of weeks ago and it feels like it'll never end. It's the best time for long simmering, piping hot soup. Today isn't going to be one of those days, I'm afraid. I'll be gone later this morning for an appointment, then I'm off to a dinner this evening. I'll try to take pictures and get all the facts down - I'm hoping they serve a soup course! Susan, we're in some weird sync. I also had a pear this morning - mine wasn't too bad, though not the best. I have trouble with winter and fruit. There is nothing grown locally (would you grow locally in -20 weather?). I've been enjoying the Pink Lady apples - crisp and tart. I did break down and buy a pineapple a couple of weeks ago - and it was fantastic. It smelled like a pineapple - and I did the leaf test (though I have no idea if it really means anything). You're supposed to pull at one of the leaves and if it comes out without any resistance, the pineapple is ripe. Whether or not this is true, the pineapple was really ripe, juicy and sweet. But I always hesitate when buying them at $5.99 each. I also had some corn thins with natural peanut butter and blackcurrant jam. I'm not sure what lunch will be - I may grab something while I'm out. Or heat up some frozen soup when I get back. We'll see.

Soup dunking is a good thing. A brothy soup is great for dunking. Yes to dunking.

The drive home from work is not long - but it was long enough for me to be chilled to the bone. Well, what's the best thing for to cure that? Soup! After the rich and meaty soup last night, I thought something lighter was appropriate for tonight. This soup is really easy to make, but I'm on a role with my pictorials, so why stop now? Curried Potato Soup - all ingredients and instructions are here. OK. That's picture overkill. Sorry. (But look how well lined-up they are tonight!) Soup's great and all, but I needed something less ... liquidy. Grilled cheese fit the bill. Challah, smoked cheddar, tomato (well, it passed for a tomato) and green onion.

Judith - rest and get better. We'll hold down the fort. That's an idea. Conveniently located and everything. It really is pretty damn good.

Looking forward to the fridge shots! I am on my way home to make dinner. Curried potato soup - just entered into RecipeGullet - pics and links to come after dinner.

Hey, ladies? I showed you mine, now you show us yours. Fridges, that is. (Please?)

Definitely weird. But healthy (or, healthier)!

PS - to the right of the latke crisps is another sample I was sent (though I already sell them). These are the best sugar-free candies I've ever had. They're made with splenda and come in about 8 flavours. This bag has half banana and half orange candies. (They're called MUST and are made by Elite.)

I've had an uneventful day so far. Gone for a couple hours this morning, I was hungry when I got back to work. From the freezer I pulled some chicken soup with rice and popped it into the microwave. It was a little heavy on the rice (approaching congee-ness) - but it hit the spot. Please excuse the fancy dish and cutlery (silverware to most of you?). Don't even look at the place-mat! I ate that while going over one of my Passover orders. I've spent hours and hours working on this order - I think I'll be able to fax it in to my supplier this afternoon. (If anybody wants to see some pictures of my store - let me know and I'll post some.) Another sample I received a couple of weeks ago was a bag of Latke Crisps. I wasn't really taken with them, but brought in a case last week to try. There are only a couple of bags left, with more on the way. So I thought I'd sacrifice a bag for you. First - I love the fact that the company is called "Thou Shall Snack". The package says that they are potato pancake crisps - they don't really taste like any potato pancake I've had. The are a potato version of a rice cracker (very thin) - with a hint of onion and more black pepper than I would have expected. They are growing on me - but I'll take a real latke over these any day.

Curried Potato Soup This recipe is from my cookbook, Soup, A Kosher Collection. Use chicken or vegetable stock, and throw in some canned chickpeas if you like. 1 small yellow onion 2 T olive oil 1 garlic cloves, crushed 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced 1 T curry powder 1/2 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp ground coriander 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes 1 lb red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes 7 c stock 1 c frozen green peas 1 T fresh lemon juice Over medium heat, saute the onion in olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeno and all of the spices. Saute another 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the spices start to release their aromas. Add the sweet and red potatoes and saute another 1-2 minutes. Add the stock, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 30 minutes, until potatoes are fork-tender. Using a potato masher, mash about half of the potatoes. This will thicken the soup. Add the peas and lemon juice and cook 2-3 minutes. Keywords: Soup, Kosher, Easy, Potatoes ( RG1935 )

Good morning! It's a bright sunshiny day here. -20 C (-4 F) and -32 C (-25.6 F) with the wind. (We're very big on the windchill here.) I'm on the run this morning - just got into work and am on my way out for a meeting. But look what greeted me when I left the house this morning: It may be cold here, and it may be flat - but it's crisp, clear and beautiful - and every once in a while you're greeted with a winter sun dog. Breakfast this morning - 2 scrambled eggs that didn't get photographed. They actually got overcooked because I answered the phone while cooking them. This happens a lot. And I had a pear in the car. Thanks to everybody for their lovely comments. Sorry if I/we are missing anything. If you've asked a question that hasn't been answered, give us a nudge!

I don't see any clarity issues that I can see. It looks really good. I've made a duck soup with dried berries - it's an interesting flavor/texture to add to soups.

The bread was great, but on to the soup. I went ahead with the slow-cooker borscht. I think I mentioned last night that I was going to pre-simmer the bones and meat for the borscht a little bit. I did that - skimming all of the scum off the liquid. Then I removed the shortribs and marrow bones - and reduced the liquid by half. Chilled everything overnight; cut the ribs up and skimmed the hardened fat off of the stock. Last night I also peeled and prepped the vegetables - beets, carrots, celery and an onion. Everything went into the slow cooker before work this morning, along with a can of diced tomatoes, sugar, the juice of a lemon, a splash of vinegar and some kosher salt and pepper. Usually I would use sour salt, but I didn't have any at home - so lemon instead. Now, the concerns about the liquid not evaporating and the soup being too watery were more than valid. Even after reducing the liquid last night, I still got home to a watery soup. So I took as much liquid out of the slow cooker as I could - poured it into a pot and simmered it, reducing it by half. Then I returned it to the crock pot. Let me also point out that this is the lightest borscht I have ever made (pink, rather than a deep purple-red). A few comments: What is with my picture sizing? Sorry. Look at those marrow bones. They were huge, and full of marrow. Delicious. The soup was light in colour - I'm used to a really dark red/purple. But it was really good. Cooking it in the slow cooker gave it a much meatier flavour than when I simmer it in a pot for a couple of hours. How do you get more liquid in the finished product without sacrificing flavour? I mean, I like a soup with lots of chunky stuff in it - but this was a little short on liquid. Water wouldn't have worked. I make a vegetarian borscht with crushed tomatoes instead of diced - I wonder if that would have helped.

I like the bread. A lot. But I didn't let it cool enough. It has a great crust - really chewy.

Susan - you put my bread to shame. But I will push on. I told somebody that I would attempt some bread this week, so I did. Not being a bread baker in any way, shape or form, I stuck with my new best-friend, the no-knead bread. I was hoping to get it baked for dinner - but that doesn't seem to work when I'm at work. So it made a nice dessert. Started at about 6 PM yesterday, sat on the counter until 4:30 today: (From left to right - just mixed dough, bubbly dough after 22 hours, dough turned out on floured surface ready for 'folding' and a plate with floured parchment ready for dough, dough on plate getting ready to rest for a couple of hours, dough and parchment dumped into hot pot, baked bread - and finally, somewhat cooled and sliced fresh bread)

Pam, You mentioned they were similar tasting. Did one version taste better than the other? What were the differences, if any? ← Woops. I forgot to answer the question. Thanks for the reminder! I have been firmly in the "why spend the money on the whole bird when the bones make a much better stock/soup camp" for a while now. So I was really interested in the question. The soups were made almost exactly the same - with the exception of the whole bird, vs. the bones (approx. the same weight as the whole bird) and the cooking time. I didn't pay any attention to the cooking time at all. I assumed that one would need to reduce more than the other if the were going to taste the same (or very close to it). So I kept tasting - and when I was satisfied with each of them I strained both and measured ... and they made exactly the same amount of great stock. (Give or take a few ounces.) The difference, of course, is that the bones cost half of the soup chicken. So I stand by my original idea - if you're not going to use the meat, don't bother with it.

American slurpees and Canadian slurpees are not the same thing. Yours are frothy, ours are icey. Much better here. Maybe that's why we drink so many more!

I'd say either the Folk Fest (which means summer!) or kolachies (sp?) which seem more wintery than summery. ← Maybe treat wasn't a good choice of words on my part. Tasty, cool beverage would have been better. Winnipeg is known as the Slurpee Capitol of the world. (Slurpee.com facts) Winnipeggers consume more slurpees than anywhere else on earth. Which is shocking, considering our winters (the cold doesn't seem to stop us.) A guy named Alex is even working on a Slurpee documentary up here.

It's funny. I don't know about the rest of you, but I find that I get myself into a soup rut. There are a handful of soups that I seem to make over and over again. Though they're good, and I enjoy them, it's nice to rediscover old favorites that have stopped making appearances at the lunch or dinner table. So last night, I went through my book and photocopied a bunch of recipes that I forgot about. Soup is such a forgiving dish. A little extra liquid - just let it simmer for a while and it will reduce. Not enough liquid? Add some water, stock, juice, etc. Not tasty enough? Add some seasoning. Too salty? Add some potatoes or barley. Etc. Most often, I don't cook soups by recipe - but I'll use what I have on hand, or pick up some ingredients that I think I'll enjoy together. Today I used one of my old recipes - and remembered how much I enjoyed it. I'm going to try to use a few more of them this week. Mushroom Eggdrop Soup Ingredients are: onion, oil, button mushrooms (I was going to get some fresh shitake or crimini this morning, but the store didn't have any), garlic, ginger, chicken stock, black pepper, soy sauce, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, green onions, cornstarch (and water), eggs and toasted sesame oil. (not too bad for cell phone pictures) Easy to make. Sweat the onions and mushrooms in oil until they start to release their juices. Add garlic and ginger and cook another minute. Add stock, water chestnuts, bamboo, pepper and soy. Bring to a simmer and simmer about 5 minutes. Mix the corn starch with cold water, pour into simmering soup. Simmer another minute (it'll thicken) Beat the eggs together with the sesame oil and slowly pour a thin stream into soup - wait a few seconds and stir. Check seasoning and serve with green onions and extra sesame oil, if you like.

Judith - I hope you feel better soon. At least we have a soup theme.. and not a.. oh.. sushi theme? (Sushi when I'm sick is not a pleasant thought.) I never buy mussels - but I would never have thought of Costco. Did they have any Susan? This morning I had to stop at Safeway on my way into work - so I sat down for a couple of minutes before I left the house to write a grocery list (and a 'take home from work' list'): While I was there I picked up a Pom Wonderful lychee/pomegranate Iced Tea. I like it - I can really get a hint of lychee, and it has a bitterness I don't mind. Next - pictures from lunch.

Sorbet would work - or a granita. With a splash of the limoncello, it would be lovely.

Let's play the Good News (GN) Bad News (BN) game. GN - not only do I have soup cooking at home for dinner, I made a pot of soup for lunch. BN - The batteries in my camera died and I forgot to bring extras. GN - My cell phone has a great camera, so I took pictures with that. BN - I need my regular camera to upload the photos from the cell phone. Potential GN - I'm going to try to run out and pick up some batteries - and at the same time I may get a treat that Winnipeg is known for - even in the winter (hint hint). Any guesses?