Pam R

I have terrible Costco (and Sam's Club) Sample Karma. Every time I go, I hold off on purchasing anything to eat, hoping I'll be able to sample some stuff while shopping. No matter what day nor what time I'm there, there are never ANY samples available... other than trail mix. Pheh. So I usually need to buy something on the way out to nosh on in the car. The hotdogs used to be Sinai - I liked them. Mad Cow happened and they no longer allowed Sinai to cross the border. They now sell an 'all beef', non-kosher dog. Tried it once, didn't like it. Weird texture. I like the berry sunday... cloying in what sense? sweet? or just nauseating? I don't find them too sweet - have even remarked that they almost seem to be unsweetened. Maybe they're different here. I've also enjoyed the 'frozen coffee drink'. Though it's not a drink at all. More like ice cream - but almost malt-like. And all I have to say about the Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich is that once was more than enough. They serve it on a ciabatta. And it's kind of ... mushy. Pheh.

OK... shortbread and meringues. Michelle, I'm already doing a cinnamon cookie - but I'll keep this one in mind for when I want to give my other one a rest (poor thing - it's very popular and is constantly in demand). I have a column due tomorrow - and what I planned on doing didn't work out for a variety of reasons - so I've tried a couple of new cookies today, and will do some more tomorrow. If they work out and have a good shelf life, they'll make it into the case too. Matsu - I'm already doing brownies - and I have several 'squares' on my to do list, but I tend to keep them in the refrigerated case. I've thought of doing cupcakes many times... but for some reason never seem to get them done. I'm not sure if they'd sell well with my crowd...

Could you send me some of that through Canada Post? What an amazing blog the three of you are treating us to. Thanks so much and good luck to all of you.

Congratulations! That's really exciting - but you must be exhausted! Please keep us updated - either in this thread or start a new one. I haven't been to Saskatoon in years and I'd love to do a trip out there this summer.

Broker. ← When I have to get my customs broker involved, I'd say I'm sourcing.

I'm smacking myself now. During the holiday season I had trays of 'icebox cookies' in the showcase. They sold like crazy. Different versions of shortbread would be good. I'm wondering if people would buy meringue cookies? I make them for passover... but for the rest of the year? hmm.

Bump. Just wondering if there are any new prairie posters out there... Anything interesting going on in the prairie food world?

When we moved our business last summer, I inherited a dry-baking showcase that is front-and-center in between my two refrigerated cases. In the old location I baked my 3-4 different dry cookies and kept them on top of the refrigerated cases on plates or trays with lids. I'm much busier in this location and I don't have time to be baking fresh things for this case on a daily basis. Luckily the things I'm already doing have a good shelf life and can stay in the case for a good 3-5 days (if they last that long!). So far I'm doing Cinnamon Twists, Almond/Chocolate Mandelbroit, Nothings/Keichal and occasionally some large peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies. (The first 3 items are all dry/crisp traditional Jewish cookies.) But my case is looking empty. Does anybody have any ideas for a good, dry cookie that has a long unrefrigerated shelf life? Thanks, Pam * Mandelboit = Jewish Biscotti (sort of)

You'd think that wouldn't ya? I have to hound some of my suppliers to get them to send me things. Honestly I don't care what you call it - sourcing/buying/shopping. But it takes a hell of a lot of time and effort to purchase food ingredients. I don't know if the word 'shopping' does it justice though. Finding suppliers in New York, Montreal, California, Toronto, Iowa, South Dakota and more isn't as easy as hopping over to the grocery store or calling my Sysco guy to order stuff. Never mind the fact that I haven't even SEEN my sysco guy in over a year - it's like I'm twisting arms to get them to sell me food.

The marketing board quota systems. They can be annoying. My poultry supplier can ship poultry to the US and charge them much less than I pay because of the boards. As an individual (not a business) I am limited to the amount of dairy/meat that I bring in from the US when returning from a trip. Most grocery items are tax and duty free when I return home - but any dairy I buy over $20 or 20 lbs. I will be charged duty - the rates vary but it can be more than 100%.

I realize it's probably too late... but I bake pecan chiffon cakes in loaf pans (for a log cake) and on baking sheets for a jelly-roll type cake. Both work fine - just remember to turn them upside down over something that will keep them at least 1" off the counter to cool.

How is that mock shrimp? I've been getting the mock crab in and it's been selling like crazy... but I haven't tried the shrimp - for some reason I'm scared of it.

I find the most mistakes at 'wholesale stores'. Being charged for extra cases of items can add up. My mom has a reputation for punching things into the cash register incorrectly. Luckily her mistakes tend to be a minimum of $100,000 - so it rarely goes unnoticed.

thanks I don't think I've EVER made a stretch dough that didn't tear in at least one place - I always want to get it THAT much thinner ... and it tears. But the great thing about using a stretch dough is that you roll the dough around the filling several times, so holes almost always gets covered in other layers of dough. If not, it patches really well. No sense in pretending otherwise You have no idea how happy I would be to come over and give you a lesson! I'm available for private lessons.... no fee, just cover the flight I forgot about the mustard thing! We used to have a customer - from Memphis. She was the first person I ever knew who would eat her knishes with mustard. I thought it very odd! The perfect combinations for me: Potato knishes - sour cream Kasha knishes - naked Cheese knishes - sour cream and strawberries Meat knishes... I always thought naked but I'm thinking these would be good with mustard. Any other good condiments I'm missing out on?

You're doing just fine.. your pictures are beautiful, your words are delightful and your bagels are inspirational! I've spent a lot of time in N.D. myself. Living in Winnipeg and going to University 20 minutes east of Grand Forks (Crookston,MN), I'm there several times a year. Did you find the food... somewhat lacking in ND? edited to wish you a happy birthday!

Mock away my friends - but Winnipeg has a long Jewish food history It once had a very large Jewish community. Back in the 50's there were 11 kosher butchers and many bakeries and delis - nothing compared to NY, but considering the population of Winnipeg back then (even now) it's impressive. To this day we get more than 50 orders a year for knishes 'packed to travel'. Our knishes have flown to both coasts of Canada and the US and everywhere in between. Our population is made up of immigrants from across Europe, the Middle East and now South America. Yet I've never seen a fried knish here - which makes me wonder if it is an American take on the knish - though this doesn't explain why Toronto has them. I think that was my point

I agree completely... and that's how we make 'em. Along with the important fried onions.

Years ago I had my first fried knish in TO - it was completely round - the size of a soft-ball. We refer to it as the cannonball knish . This past November while in Toronto I saw some that were more of a torpedo shape. I've never seen a fried knish here in Winnipeg.

We do make cheese knishes with the same dough - but we don't make them sweet. We use cottage cheese and serve them with sour cream and (thawed) frozen strawberries.

You can still feel them eh? That's the problem with fried knishes!

There are lots of fillings. Some that I have tried or seen: Potato & Cheddar Broccoli & Cheese Cottage Cheese Spinach & Cottage Cheese or Farmers Cheese or Feta Potato & Chicken or Beef Potato & Liver Kasha/Buckwheat (my favorite) Sweet Rice Pretty much anything with potatoes - potatoes are a good filling because they are inexpensive, so they stretch the more expensive items - and they bind other ingredients.

Thanks Doc-G. My issue with the casings is that they must be kosher. this limits the options. But I'll ask they guys if I get a chance. They sent me these as a gift - so I'm trying not to bother them with too many questions!

Thanks Chris. They are quite different from most of the NY knishes I've seen (though in November I had one at Zabars that was the closest I've had there - though still not the same). A few years ago I tried one at Katz's ... and let's just say one was enough. I'm not sure why two very different things are both 'knishes'. If you stuff the same filling into a dough and boil them, they're perogies. In a puff pastry pocket, they're burekes. I've tried to find some more info about the fried knish and haven't been all that successful.. but I'm not done my research. Who knows? There may yet be a posting from me with a fried knish demo. Though I can't find much info, I do think it's a tradition thing. Perhaps the fried knish was popular in another part of Europe (one side of my family is from Russia, the other from Poland - both sides made them this way) - perhaps it was an American take on a knish (I read somewhere that a fried knish is a 'Coney Island knish'). I just don't know. If I find out though, I'll let you know.

Doc-G - first of all, thanks for the help. While I had some problems stuffing the casings, in the end they tasted so good it didn't matter! Your guidance was a great help - though I did deviate somewhat from your instructions. The recipe: 200 g chicken skin and fat 1 kg chicken meat (2 breasts and 6 or 7 thighs) 18 g kosher salt 2.5 g black pepper 1 g allspice (I added some more after a taste test - but didn't measure) 2 g onion powder 4 sage leaves (and added another 4 after taste test) 230 g Granny Smith Apple, peeled and diced (2 apples) The meat - It never fully thawed - and I kept popping it into the freezer as I was working so it remained cold throughout the whole process: One pass through a course grinder - ready for spices and mixing: So I mixed it for a while... then back through the course grinder. I decided that since I was going to grind it a third time, that I would just keep it course (I don't know why I decided to grind it 3 times, nor do I know why I kept the course plate in - but I did). Rested in the freezer while I was prepping the apples and then I added them and mixed: Here's the casings my meat guys sent me... I still don't know exactly what they are. I thought that they told me that they were the same casings (synthetic) that they use to make their hot dogs and sausages... but they remained plasticy after I cooked them and their products do not have a plastic coating. I have a few left in the fridge - I thought I'd try boiling a couple to see what would happen to the casings... we'll see. The problem I had was that the casing was too small for the feed tube on my grinder ... by the end I had a system down - but the first few (or more) were really wretched - involving a lot of string to fix! They went through one more course grinding as they were filled. Here they are: By the time I was done it was after 8 PM, so I took them home and fried up a few for dinner: They looked much better in person! Can you see the plastic? I took a picture of a beautiful peeled one, but it was so blurry you couldn't really see anything. I wish I knew more about the casings I used - but all in all it was a great experience... they tasted amazing! Seasoning was wonderful and the apple, though I didn't get a great apple flavour, contributed to the overall flavour and added a hint of sweetness. Thanks again!