Pam R

How low would you go? I forgot to ask this is my last post. I baked some mint meringues (light and crispy, not chewy). I made some ganache (I think it was about 8 oz. creamy stuff (don't ask) to approx. 15 oz. chocolate). Waited until thick and cool - then piped some on and sandwiched. I only did a few because I wanted to see what would happen - and they got very soft and started to disintegrate. I don't want to use straight chocolate - but how much cream do you think would work without harming the meringue?

Was at Costco today with dad. Started off with 1/4 of a sweet chocolate brownie cookie and 2 bites of a cherry/cheese crumble (didn't like it). After paying - I went to get 2 dogs, 2 drinks and an order of fries (gravy with that? Nope!) - dad went to find a table. I forgot they also sell chicken strips here. Jason - they have Churros here too - and I dont think it has anythign to do with the Latino population

Sheesh. I meant to reply to this a few days ago. I would love to do it this way - I just really don't have the time. Baking is only about 1/10th of what I do. I try to set aside a couple of half-days a week to work on baking - and sometimes I don't even get that. So of I can do things that have a good shelf-life, it just makes life easier. The Jewish stuff lends itself well for this sort of thing - it's all dry and lasts a long time. But even with that stuff, I sometimes make a huge batch and freeze a lot of it - restocking every couple of days. My freezer is full of the stuff that goes into the cold showcase - mini cheesecakes that just need toppings and whipped cream - little cinnamon rounds waiting to be layered with whipped cream to become mini-tortes - other little cakes - tubs of lemon/lime curd and tart shells to be filled and topped, brownies - that sort of thing. I'm having a hard time keeping this stocked as well. I'll report back if I ever get that other showcase filled!

OK people. It's that time of year again. People are asking if they can order Hamantashen (why do they think I have more time to make them than they do??) - and I got a shipment of hamantashen in that are already selling. So I made a couple of batches this week - preparing a column that I then realized I wouldn't need - since the paper comes out the day after Purim. I made a pear filling - and a sour cherry filling. Loved both of them (especially in chocolate/ginger and lemon scented crusts). But I ran out. So I grabbed a can of that poppyseed filling off the shelf to fill the rest of them... and it is TERRIBLE. I like poppyseeds - when they are good - but this stuff is just tasteless and grainy. Anybody have a good poppy recipe that they actually like? Or should I just stick to fruit fillings?

First of all, Melissa - there's nothing wrong with a few marshmallows every once in a while! I've only posted in this thread a couple of times - but I love reading up on what you're all serving each week. When my grandmother was still alive, every Friday night there was a feast at her house. It wasn't just eating dinner - it was a tradition. Dinner always lasted for hours - with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins sharing wonderful food and talking about our lives. Baba hasn't been with us for many years now - and unfortunately we don't all gather as a family anymore. Dinner for my immediate family (parents & sister) has turned into whatever is left in the showcase that day at work. Now - that's not such a bad thing, but we've lost the special Shabbat feeling that I loved so dearly. So though I don't often post here, please know that I really enjoy hearing what's you and your families are sharing. Don't feel bad for me - I still eat well! Tonight we had options: BBQ Short Ribs Apricot Peri Peri Chicken Roasted Vegetables Lemon Potatoes Kasha Sesame Garlic Sugar Snap Peas Cole Slaw I think there were knishes too... I don't think there was enough of any one item for all of us to have, but we all had a good plateful for dessert: Gingerbread/Pear Hamantashen Chocolate/Sour Cherry Hamantashen Poppyseed Hamantashen With that, I wish you all a Shabbat Shalom.

Wow. You're day leaves me speechless! (well, not quite). I'd like you to take me on that tour the next time I'm in NY If you have the chance - I'd love to see a good NY Deli sandwich. Pastrami on rye - that kind of thing. If not, that's ok too. I'm enjoying what you're showing us anyway!

I agree. I also think you have to realize (it seems to me) that though they take the food seriously, they also tend to poke a little fun at themselves. Working in the family buz, I get a kick out of their little spats. As to the issue of the same 10 shows over and over - this seems to be a problem right across the board at FTVC. It is truly annoying, which is why I find myself watching a lot less of it. But if I'm flipping through and there's a new Made to Order, I'll watch.

Michelle - the Joyva halva is a similar type of halvah to the Achva brand. It's what I would think of as a typical Israeli style halvah. Scott123 - I'd give Anzu's recipe a try - and let us know the results!

Many threads have inspired me to try many things. But nothing has cost me as much as the smoked brisket threads (that's right - I can't pinpoint one thread on this topic, as they are all inspiring). I have smoked things in my time - mostly the poultry varieties. I used to have a trusty Webber Kettle - but it met it's demise a couple of years back. About a month ago I couldn't take it anymore! I NEEDED to smoke a brisket. So out I went to buy a smoker. Then I ordered a $100 brisket from my supplier . As I was prepping it... I was concerned. That's a lot of cash for it not to work. Up at 7:30 to start to coals. It was -20C. It was windy. The brisket, lovingly rubbed two days prior went on the smoker at 8:30 AM. By 9:00 PM it still wasn't done! I was concerned. I remembered reading on at least one thread that I could wrap it in foil and finish it in the oven - it would have absorbed a lot of smokiness in the .. umm... 13 hour it was already on the smoker. At 11 PM it came out of the oven - much too late for my dinner. But I had to have a bite... Oh my goodness! (this image makes the brisket look lighter than it was - it had a nice dark finish on the outside): Look at the smoke-ring!! Money well spent.

I have never been into Aeroplan. Since all the points I had from flying to Australia expired before I realized it, I don't think I have enough points to get a movie ticket (if you can...). But with Airmiles I've been able to book flights for 2 to Montreal, California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Florida (twice), New York (twice) and Toronto (twice) and flight for 1 to Vancouver & Florida. Funny, all but 3 flights were food related trips. All flights within Canada were direct - and those outside of Canada were to places that don't fly direct from Winnipeg anyway. A couple of times I had to change flight days by one day in either direction, but since you only have to pay tax - I worked around the restrictions.

These days you can buy everything at the movies. Burger King, Pizza Hut, NY Fries, hot pretzles, and all the regular stuff. Though it all costs a fortune, I almost always buy popcorn at a movie. How can you not buy theatre popcorn?? But - growing up we were always out of school at Passover - and our parents used to love to send us to the movies to get us out of the house. Not being able to buy any kosher for passover treats, this was the one time of year we would sneak food in. Special potato chips, strawberry and orange cream filled chocolate bars, toasted coconut marshmallows and Dr. Brown sodas. We used to feel so naughty - and it was even parent endorsed!

I also had frozen pizza on Thursday night. It's been about -32 C, -46 C!!!! with the windchill. After being at work all day - not arriving home until after 7pm - not only did I not want to cook anything, I didn't want to stop for anything on my way home! On the radio yesterday morning, they were throwing cups of boiling water outside to see how long it would take to freeze. The water froze before it hit the ground. It's only -22.6C right now... maybe I'll venture out to a grocery store.

Hmm.. it seems it's a trilogy - which means that I couldn't have a 4th unknown book...

Excellent. Eventually though, you'll have to get a book published after 1980. What exactly is the half-shell in this case?

First of all - just last year I inherited the 4-cookbook set. Kosher Italian, French, Chinese... and another one I can't remember. All in hard cover - I don't think they'd ever been used. They're lost in a box at the moment, but will eventually turn up. There are so many great suggestions - the problem now is which ones to buy first...

Yay! I really enjoyed your last blog. I'm looking forward to this one. We have some things in common so I'm excited to see what you do this week. Mashed potatoes sound great - how long are your columns? Do you do one recipe and explain all the fine points or do you include a few variations? A magazine I write for in NJ wants a 'Spring foods' article for next month, and it's due next week. I'm thinking spring hits earlier there than here. Anyway, I picked up a few bunches of asparagus and strawberries yesterday and I'm testing away in the kitchen today. I think we need a thread on cooking column ideas - because I always have a hard time deciding what to write about.

Great suggestions. I just picked up some new extracts and dyes (I have no idea where mine went in the move). I love the idea of sandwiches flavoured meringues with ganache. I'll be making some batches of curd tomorrow, so the whites will be whipped, flavoured, tinted, baked and sandwiched! Thanks. Florentines are a great idea - I haven't made them in years. I like the idea of making them into a bar - or 'fingers' and dipping them partially in chocolate. Funny I never notice these things when I go into Gunn's.... Rugalach. Over the years I've made many - but I'm not happy with my recipe. I'll do some experimenting. I don't know if I mentioned this - but I'm trying to keep all of the dry baking completely dairy-free. It causes some problems - like no cream cheese crusts. But I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks again everybody! If I ever get the showcase filled, I'll post a picture. -Pam

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions! I already own one of them, but have a couple of the others on my 'wish list' and will be adding more. Please keep the suggestions coming as you discover other great books. Melissa, I do this too. But I'm becoming more and more interested in the cooking of Jews from places like Spain, Morocco, Italy and more. You know, places my ancestors 'didn't know from'. Also, tell me one regular cookbook that will tell me how to make teiglach when my recipe doesn't work! I read both Hebrew and French fluently. Unfortunely, I don't understand most of what I read .

What are some of your favorite kosher or Jewish cookbooks? Most of mine are older than I am - it's time to support some new authors. (new to me would be anybody published within the last 30 years ) From starters to desserts and everything in between. Baking, holidays, everyday. Recommendations?

Though I'm not a Yankee - I'm telling you. The 12 lb. brisket I started at -20 Celsius cooked for 12 hours in the smoker, 3 in the oven. I added coal 3 times during the day, just wouldn't get hot enough. Tasted good though. edited to add that it tasted good the next day, when we ate it, because when it was finally out of the oven at 11:30 pm I couldn't eat it.

Hrm. What's a newspaper grill?

I am not the smoking maven that your fellow bloggers are - but - I smoked a brisket last weekend. It was on for 12 hours - and it was so cold outside it still needed a few hours in the oven to finish cooking! Anyway - I used wood chips like yours. I soaked a couple of cups in water, wrapped in foil and poked many holes in the foil. Placed the package on the white coals and not only was the brisket nice and smokey - my whole house was smoked for the next 4-5 days. (that's what happens when it's too cold to smoke on the deck and you need to smoke in the garage with the door open)

He should grow like an onion - with his head in the ground.

I'd be a little concerned about having a huge pork-butt Popsicle. (that's got to be one of the oddest things I've ever typed.) How long is it supposed to chill for? Til tomorrow? Will it fit in your fridge? Garage?

Maybe they're using the infamous Manitoba Hog Barn Lobsters here. Yummy.