CaliPoutine

When is your mom coming to Japan? I could mail her some barkeepers friend ( I dont think they make the power disolver anymore)

Wow, Kathryn. Sounds so good. Wish I was there, I'd pop over : ) What are family stuffing balls?

I think the OP is referring to Fruitcake as its often called christmas cake here in Canada.

I'm having 16 ppl for my ex-pat Thanksgiving in Canada. Its also my spouse's bday so I'm making a salty/sweet cake from a bakery in Brooklyn. I might add a pie for the older folks who think pie is traditional for Thanksgiving( even though they're all Canadian and its American Thanksgiving). I'm buying my turkey tomorrow in MI. They're a lot cheaper there than here. I'll probably buy an extra turkey breast too. I have to figure out the rest of the menu. I just hope the weather holds out so people can get here.

I think that has to be the worst name ever!!

egg noodles w/ cottage cheese( small curd) and a Tbls of sour cream. A little salt and lots of fresh cracked pepper. I think this is a Jewish thing as I've never seen anybody other than Jews eat it.

I had some great desserts at Boulevard in SF. This was about 10 year ago though so things could have changed.

Go back on this thread a few pages. I asked for inexpensive options for meals. I got a lot of good suggestions.

Woot! Compliments, my dear! The two old crabs were probably complaining that others were complimenting you! PS That chicken parm looks really good, and I'm starving right now! Could you fed ex some leftovers to FL? ← I took the leftovers home. Because we're going out of town for the weekend, I'm going to dice them up and freeze them. I had a wonderful Chicken Parmesean calzone in Buffalo that I'd like to recreate.

Yesterday's meal. Cesar salad Chicken parmesan spagetti cooked carrots garlic bread apple/pear crisp w/ ice cream. Chicken is expensive in Canada. These boneless skinless breasts were on sale for 3.79lb. I knew the rest of the meal would be inexpensive, so I spurlged. When I got to the store, the butcher had changed the price to 2.49lb because he over ordered. I spent 40$ on chicken. I told the coordinator that I would buy 20 breasts and split them lengthwise. She told me to buy more!! Of course, I was right. We had about 10 breasts leftover. I was expecting 34ppl and 25 showed up. I had one of the volunteers bread them. She's 72yrs old and she said she has NEVER breaded chicken before. Wow, thats surprised me. I topped them with jarred sauce( classico) and mozz cheese. I baked them for 25 min and they were perfect. The volunteers were concerned I wasnt giving them enough oven time, but I assured them I've made chicken cutlets at least a thousand times and they're almost cooked when they go into the oven. I was right again!! I sauteed a ton of different color peppers( on clearance for 1.49 for 4) and mushrooms with some italian seasoning. I added that to the sauce and pasta along with more mozzarella cheese. The pasta was .99 for 750grams. I bought 3, only used 2. I could have probably used 1.5 packages. There was a lot left. I made store bought garlic bread. The veg was cooked fresh carrots. I got 3lbs for .99. I made 6 lbs, probably could have only made 4lbs. I forgot to get a picture of the crisp. I used empire and cortland apples( on sale for 47.lb) and bosc pears(.47lb). The topping was butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal. I had lots of compliments and 6 take-outs. I heard those same 2 ladies talking amongst themselves. I'm sure they were complaining about something. I asked my coordinator if we could switch the next meal to noon(we switch to noon Jan-March because of the weather) so I could have my Thanksgiving in the evening and she said NO. So, I took the next meal off so I can make a Thanksgiving ( Its also Robin's bday). I dont have to cook again until Dec 11th ( Their xmas meal).

Its that time of year again...... They're are a lot of new products and some returning products from as way back as 1993.( A memories of mushroom sauce) eG member Pookie bought the new sea salt caramels and I sampled one over at her place. I enjoyed them, but we both felt the salt grains were too big. I tried one of the new imported from Italy fresh filled pastas( expensive @ 3.99 for 250 grams). I bought the tomato/basil/ricotta flavor. I served it with sauteed scallops and homemade pesto. A nice meal for 2 ppl for 8.50!! The PC version of Toblerone is good. I made a fondue with it last year. Its a bargain @ 3.99 for 400grams. As per usual, there are tons of frozen appies for the holidays as well as lots of condiments. Have you tried any of the new products?

Last week we heard scratching in the wall. We set traps in the basement and every night for the last 5 nights( except last night when we set 2 traps) we've caught a dead mice. We use a trap that is reusable and you dont need to see the mouse head( just the tail). With 1 flick of the lever, you dispose of the mouse into the trash and reset the trap. I bought them at Target for around 4.27 each. click

I see the spoon trick in Canada ALL THE TIME. My spouse does it as does her family. I grew up in S. Florida and we NEVER used a spoon. I find the spoon trick really awkward.

Ina Garten has a recipe in her new cookbook for Whitefish salad. Good with toasted bagels( that have been cut into 3rds).

Dude, that is totally rye bread, unless white bread now comes in rye bread shapes. And, imo, turkey is OK with cheese, but it's mustard over mayo. ← Its rye bread and yes, we did have mustard. What is wrong with the soup? It was freezing cold and raining on the Tuesday we were there and it totally hit the spot.

Kim- All your fudge looks great!! Robin found the platter for 1.00 at a yard sale!! I'm testing recipe for my holiday baking( for sale). These are S'more bars from Cuisine@Home Holiday cookie magazine. Pretty simple. The crust is crushed grahm crackers, butter, flour and egg. Its pre-baked and then sprinkled with halfed mini pb cups, marshmallows and choc. chips. Part of the crust is saved and crumbled over the top. I cut the recipe in half and it fit in a 8" pan.

Have you tried See's Scotchmallow? If so, how does this compare?

The shortbread recipe I use is pretty stiff( Ina Garten), I cant imagine making it in a bowl with a spoon. But I guess if you're using margarine, its not as stiff.

Andie, you must try the mustards from Kozliks ( Canadian Company). He makes over 60 varieties and they rock!!

There is a good no-bake cookie recipe made w/ chinese noodles.

See's makes a similar candy called ScotchMallow. I love them!!!

Remember I live in the sticks too!! Its hard for me to price my ingredients, because I buy all during the year. Butter/Eggs/Flour I can do, but I have tons of choc. chips, dried fruits, sugar, etc that I've bought at all different times. No one blinked twice regarding my prices last year, but those were for tins. I fit a lot less in the tin than I wanted to. This year I want to add cookie trays( 3 doz and 5 doz) and fruitcake. What does a good fruitcake normally cost?

I want to revise my pricing for this year. What do you think is reasonable for 3 dozen and 5 dozen cookies/squares on a tray. My tins normally contain about 2 doz.

There is another Latka topic where I posted this picture last year. This is a Cook's Illustrated recipe. The best I've ever had. Part of the potato is ground up in the food processor. The other part is shredded. The starch is drained out and added back in( IIRC).

Thanks Shelby. I counted the tip wrong( it was dark in the car). It was actually 100.00 so I guess they really appreciated it.