Pam R

I have no idea where the purple cauliflower comes from or why it's purple. But it also comes in light green and orange. One of our grocery chains here has been selling them this year, but they never look good enough to try.

ummm.. eh? spiedie sauce? what's that? (I don't want to know what the puppies are!)

I soak them. Oh, do I soak them. I'm too lazy.. I mean short on time to wrap them in foil. Honestly, the burning isn't a huge issue. If I'm making them for myself or the family, who cares? But it would be nice to not have charred ends! I'm telling you.. I think the metal's the way to go. Unless I try them and find they suck.

My bamboo ones burn up about 90% of the time. Ground chicken is soft and falls apart easily - the thin bamboo have a tendency to pull right out of the chicken. Since the metal are wider, it seems they may act less like dental floss when you try to lift them off a tray when still raw(you know how you can use dental floss to cut things? just pull up?). I have no idea if they do work better - but it seems like a good time to try it out!

I'm in too. gus_tatory - I worked on a recipe similar to the one you've linked to last year. I think you may have helped me with it.. here. Last week I was working on some marinade recipes, and went a little crazy. Three versions: On the left: Lamb shoulder, marinated in garlic, lemon juice, cumin, turmeric, sweet paprika, ground ginger, grated onion, olive oil, a little salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. In the middle: Rib-eye marinated in garlic, soy sauce, fresh ginger, orange zest and juice, brown sugar, canola and sesame oil, Mirin. On the right: Chicken breasts, garlic, salt, black pepper, oregano, sweet paprika, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. All were skewered on bamboo. I used the gas BBQ to grill them. Had some guests over to taste - the beef was hands-down the favorite. Lamb was great, chicken flavourings were off. Because I wasn't thrilled with the chicken skewer, I tried it again a couple of days later: This time I used a mix of breast and leg meat - same ingredients, just different proportions. Much better. Much better! (Ignore the rosemary and bones on the left - they belong to some lamb chops) I keep saying that I need to get some flat, metal skewers. This may be the thing to make me get them!

Folks .. in town means Vancouver. Let's keep Seattle recommendations (and Colorado!) in their respective forums. Thanks!

Tonight dinner was pizza. We ordered two - a thin-crust (similar, but different from Rona's) - with their marinara sauce, spinach, olives, roma tomato and the feta/mozzarella blend. I was going to have the olive oil/herb sauce - but chickened out. I wasn't sure if I'd like the herbs - having asked and been told that they were dry. The marinara on this pizza was good - but a little sweet. I liked this crust - a little chewy (but not too chewy) and the edges were crisp. The second pizza was mushroom and olive on the Moosehead crust. I don't think we specified a sauce, and it arrived with a tomato sauce (which is what we wanted). I don't know if it was the same marinara that was on the other pizza, but it was overwhelmingly sweet on this one. I didn't think this pizza was anything special - in fact, I prefer the pizza from Calabria (on Scurfield). I much preferred the thin crust to the special Moosehead crust. But I'll try it again. I may like it more with a different sauce or different toppings. It wasn't bad, I just don't think it was as fantastic as it should be. But, I've only had it once - I need to give it another shot before I decide whether I'll give it another shot .

Mazel tov! Great write-up. Pastrami, chopped liver and cole slaw on a sandwich - what more could you want? How's the bread?

OK. If tomorrow goes as planned, that'll be dinner! Looks great - and I love spinach and feta on a pizza - so I'll probably try something similar. I will probably try the Moosehead crust - it's the one that won her the 'best pizza in Canada' title, so I figure I should give it a shot. I'll report back after I've tasted it!

Ann, Thanks so much for sharing the week with us. Your food is beautiful, your photography skills extraordinary and your choice of locations to live in is stunning. I've only had the opportunity to visit Victoria - but can't wait until I have a chance to see more of the island. Add me to the list of Manitobans that could see coming out there for the winters in the future. (It's true - we love it here, but it doesn't look so bad there )

Earth Balance margarine sticks are the best sub. If you can find it, Manischewitz makes a decent non-dairy cake mix. Sorry - I've never heard of a Wowie Cake - but I love the name! Good luck!

Thanks for the report Rona. I still haven't had a chance to get there - but I will soon. Any idea how far they deliver to? Am I good in L.W.? This may be dinner at some point this weekend. Or I may wait to see your pictures first Did you have the Moosehead crust?

Where would one pick up one of these culinary ghost-writers .... if one was so inclined? I would never assume that a celebrity chef was doing it all on their own. But I would like to think they contribute something - the voice of the book, so to speak. I know I've been working on a book for over a year now, and it's very slow-going. I have a real-life job too .. .and .. well.. eGullet! Writing a book.. and even more importantly, proofing and editing a book, take a lot of time. If you're busy with your media and restaurant empire, I guess you need help.

Hmm.. you may need to scoop stuff out of it - rather than pouring stuff into it. I don't know if all traps are created equal - but ours needs to be emptied.

Yep... we call our plumber and they send somebody out to clean it. I'm surprised you don't have one though.. Are you sure you don't have one that just hasn't been cleaned out?

Not in a box, but: Still make my mouth pucker. Turns out you can't buy them at 7-11 - but Mac's carries them. I also saw them everywhere I went in North Dakota/Nothern Minnesota this weekend - Old Dutch that is, but not salt and vinegar.

That's them A thing of beauty.

I believe the wrappers on the ones I have are completely in Hebrew - I'll take a picture tomorrow if I get a chance. On my order form they are "Milk Chocolate with popping"

Are they meant to be disposable?

I import the boards from the US (can't find a Canadian supplier) - so I'm paying quite a bit already. The problem is that with these small desserts, you can't really go too expensive on the board. If you're selling a dessert for $6, how much should you be spending on the board? If it's more than 15% ($0.90) of the selling price, it's too much.

I use them. They are the best 'disposable' available - good price, look OK, slide easily into a pastry box. Pastry shops need everything to be disposable, 'take-out' ready. Are there any other options out there?

Do you mean that you'd prefer something else be used when they're served in a restaurant?

You had me up to here. You talking kosher or treif? Ah hell, it doesn't matter - you're not getting any briskets from here bubeleh - we're not cutting off the good parts and sending you the dreck. Anybody in Vancouver who wanted the whole thing, not just the singles could order it (I mean butchers, not consumers). Treif - ain't coming from here. Kosher - I don't know if there's a shochet in BC, but as of now, there isn't one in Manitoba. I'll tell you who to order from in Toronto or Montreal if you want. Nice post I don't know if they're the best .. I think they're just laced with something that makes us buy them in -40 weather . We will always rule the Slurpees Arne, but will never claim to rule the smoked meat. When I had a deli/restaurant, we brought smoked meat in from Montreal - Levitts (which I believe supplied Snowden). Unfortunately, they went out of business.

I'll be on the road this evening, and won't be having a 'real' Shabbat dinner tonight. Just picking up something along the way. I just wanted to wish everybody a safe, peaceful Shabbat Shalom.

Actually, I've used olive oil too. Depends what I'm using them for, or what I feel like. But butter is good.