CaliPoutine

Hereis one I made a while back. Its a recipe from the Houston Chronicle. The link is dead now though, so I'm not sure how you'd go about finding it. It was really good.

I imagine this is true in season, whatever the season is for a given vegetable. I've seen that in New York City as well: in-season vegetables at the Greenmarket can be quite cheap. ← This is definitely NOT the case in Atlanta. ← Nor where I live in small town Ontario. In March, I was at both the SF Farmer's Market and the Marin market. The prices were double or triple what farmers market prices are here in the summer.

LOL, I can't believe YOU actually tried it. Of course its going to taste like crap compared to the wonderful ingredients you have access to and the fabulous food you cook. If I lived in NYC and could cook/eat from the Greenmarket, I wouldnt step foot in a McDonalds.

This is a picture I took at the Ferry Plaza Market in SF, last month. Am I the only one who thinks paying 7.00 for a dozen eggs is ridiculous?

Could that be a corn stripper?

I never thought about using ramps for pesto. What a great idea. I have access to tons of free ramps. I know what I'll be doing next weekend!!

Hey K, I didnt realize you made these. I have the dough in the fridge and will boil and bake overnight. One one of my previous trip to S. Fl I got my favorite bagel shop to sell me some high gluten flour. I'm very excited as I've wanted to make this recipe for a long time. ( I bought diatastic malt about 2yrs ago, I hope its still good).

or 89.00 if you're a profesional chef( or have aculinary business card).

I really like theChristopher Ranchminced garlic( and pureed garlic). I too have arthritis so its easy for me to use. I also like it because its California garlic. The majority of garlic( fresh and in bottles) sold here in Ontario is from China. I brought back a few jars of the CR garlic when I was in Cali last month( I can also find it @ some stores in MI).

I got an order for 3 dozen muffins for tomorrow morning. Whats your opinion on baking them today? I always prefer them fresh so I was thinking about making the batter and resting them overnight and baking fresh in the morning. That is a lot of last minute baking though. I think I'll make the new blueberry muffins in the latest issue of CI, the morning glory muffins from KA flour whole grain baking and maybe my mom's sour cream coffee cake( in muffin form).

I made Cook's Illustrated Baked Ziti for the second time in 2 months. Omg, yummy and easy( compared to their other recipes). I also made a creamcheese pound cake from Smitten Kitchen's blog. It was crazy moist and delicious( and the beater blade for my KA rocks too)

I can relate to all your childhood memories. I always got a yoohoo at the bagel store in S. Florida. I'm assuming by Bodega, you're living in NY? I'm surprised you can't find it. I was just in SoCal and my sister had a case of it( I think she got it at Costco). Ok, I really want one now. Thanks!!

I'm not sure. I was asked the exact same questions as when I was first hired for the current position( 2x a month). Since I've filled in numerous times at the program they're hiring for, I expounded on how much they like my food, my budgeting and shopping abilities, etc, etc. But, and here is the big But. My coordinator told me that they want to hire an extra person because they just can't have 1 cook for both programs. ( which doesnt make sense because before I was hired, the current cook worked 3 programs). I asked them that question and they confirmed. So, I dont know what they're thinking. If they hire a new person, they'll be working 4x a month, while I'm only working 2x a month. That doesnt seem fair. I said that if they were going to hire someone new, I'd prefer to work at the location in my town that meets 4x a month and the new person can take the problem program( the one I currently work). We'll see what happens. This is all going to be a moot point eventually, because while I was in Cali, I picked up my transcripts from law school and will be sending them in to the law board of Ontario to be evalauated. I want to see what I need to do to practice law here.

Today I cooked for the smaller group in the neighboring town. I started "pot roast" yesterday in a crock pot, but it only had about 6hrs before being put in the fridge for the night. I gave it three more hours in the oven at the location, but It probably could have cooked all night. I'd love to brown the meat off, but I just dont have enough time. I used a bag of leftover diced turnip that I had in the freezer, onions, lipton onion soup mix, water and a box of the new mushroom cooking sauce. Everyone raved about the gravy. I made Greek Salad because I got a package of feta chunks with black olives on clearance for 2.00. I also got romaine hearts on sale for 2.49( for a package of 3). I made dressing using my own Penzey's greek blend w/ some country french mix. I made a dessert that was in the new Kraft food and family magazine. A layer of graham crackers, next is sweetened cream cheese mixed with whipped cream( the recipe calls for cool whip, but I used real whipped cream). The next layer is 2 boxes of jello, 1 cup of water and 3 cups of frozen raspberries. The final layer is more whipped cream. They liked it a lot.

If you chose to make Ina's recipe to sell, I'd go with the generic version of the sweetened condensed milk. Not sure where you live, but wal*mart, target and most grocery stores have a generic version. Its about 1dollar per can cheaper.

The sweetened condensed milk makes them more expensive for retailing but the difference in texture is worth it. ← Sweetened condensed milk is expensive in Canada. About 3 bucks or more per can( for Eagle Brand). In the US, Ruth can get the Target or Walmart or other store brand for about 1.30 a can.

Ina Garten's recipe is simple and really tasty. She's Jewish too!!

morning glory muffins from the KA flour whole grain baking book. I also love the maple oatmeal scones from CI. Not that healthy, but fantastic. The latest issue of Cook's Country has a low-fat carrot cake that looks pretty good too.

I freeze wine all the time. I pour leftovers into ziplock lined plastic glasses and then freeze. When its frozen, I remove from the glass and seal bag. I only use this wine for cooking and its fine.

As far as I know Carolyn, only at their store in Manhattan Beach. There's a store about a mile away from me, and they very occasionally will have a wine-tasting dinner event in the cafe (maybe once a quarter??), with tickets running about $50 to $75 per person, but never any cooking classes at the local stores. I've only ever seen cooking clasess at the Manhattan Beach location, and now not as frequently as they used to. It seems as though they used to be monthly, and now, in thinking about it, I can't remember the last time I saw a promo for one. I suspect when the brand was sold to Albertson's that was one of the cuts. ← I've taken more than a few classes at the Long Beach store, but that was at least 8 or 9 years ago. I took a class from Bruce Aidells and The Two Hot Tamales( Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger).

Last nights meal. Cesar salad( homemade dressing) bbq chicken mashed frozen veg w/ cheddar cheese brownie sundae's The chicken was on special for 99cents a pound. It was an entire cut up chicken coated in a BBQ spice. I just threw it on sheet pans and baked it. So easy and they loved it. I'd bought one for myself a month ago and absolutely hated it. I thought it was way too salty and just plane nasty. Even my non-foodie spouse didnt like it. I took a shortcut w/ dessert. I'd just arrived home on Wednesday after being in Cali for 2 weeks. Before I left, I picked up these frozen ready to bake brownies in MI( Duncan Hines). The dough was raw and in plastic pans. Once again, they liked it, I thought it sucked. The watermelon is the diabetic dessert. The cook who works in my town has resigned. I'm interviewing for her position on Monday. That program runs every single week and has about 50ppl each time. I've filled in there numerous time and they've always liked my food. In April. I'm cooking at another program 4x starting next Wednesday. Its a small group( about 15). I'm making potroast next week, Ham and scalloped the following week, and honey garlic sausage the week after that. I have one more meal to plan for them.

I saw these ziplock foodsealer bags on clearance at Target. I got 10 for 1.38. They're meant for the hand held vacuum device, but I wanted to try them with the foodsaver. They worked out fine. I brought back a bunch of corn tortillas from Cali and wanted to freeze them.

I just spent a week in the area. The Gelson's was fabulous and the Albertsons is pretty nice too.

I missed this when you first posted it. Personally, I didnt think the cake was that hard to make. I made the "glue" one day and the cake and icing the next day. It was actually once of the easier cakes I've ever made. I urge anyone who loves a good coconut( cake) to bake it. You wont be sorry!!

Mine are daily.... Bring NYC pizza and bagels to small town Ontario, open a breakfast/lunch only cafe with everything homeade and huge portions, start some kind of lunchtime only delivery type gourmet sandwich business, host ( paid) dinners in my home..... The list goes on and on. Then I remember how in the 6yrs that I've lived here every single restaurant that has opened is now out of business.