CaliPoutine

Hi Lior, Long time no see. Krispy Kreme is a donut. Here in California, they were so, so popular. When a shop would first open, the lines were so long. They used to make the donuts( they are famous for a simple raised glazed donut) in the shop and you'd get your first one for free. They've stopped making them in the shop now. For some odd reason, they make me burb. I think its the oil they use. When I lived in Canada, I used to buy my milk in the bags. It was a lot cheaper than the plastic jugs. Do you eat cottage cheese and egg noodles? My mom always made that for us when we were kids. We'd eat it cold, with lots of cracked pepper. Are you a sephardic Jew? My family is Ashkenazi.

I need to make some things ahead because our kitchen renovation is starting the day after thanksiving and I need to pack up the majority of the kitchen. Can stuffing and sweet potato casserole be frozen? I know gravy can too.

We are about to start our kitchen renovation( day after Thanksgiving, yikes). The last kitchen I did in 2007 was great, except when I came home after a day away I saw that they installed the wrong floor. I got the floor of someone with the same last name. The cabinets were going in the next day, so the correct flooring had to go over the wrong floor and around the cabinets. We picked a vinyl flooring. This time we're going with tile. I'm acting as the general contractor whereas last time, we had one who picked the subs( we also put an addition on the house at the same time). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes as planned because I start my class for the bar exam on Dec 10th. Its all supposed to be finished by then. We shall see.

I love swordfish( its my favorite fish). I grill it or when I get chowder pieces, I pan saute it. I once had a swordfish picatta at a restaurant that was so great. It was a thin piece, breaded and pan sauted.

You may be in the minority, but you're not alone. I wouldn't eat one if you paid me. But then again, we've basically boycotted the place since... I dunno, the 90s sometime. We call McDonald's "Scottish food" after that line from the underrated movie "Time After Time" (1979). H.G. Wells: This is delicious, far superior to that Scottish place I breakfasted. Amy Robbins: Scottish? H.G. Wells: McDonald's So, when road tripping, I'll ask my wife, "What do you want to eat." The usual reply is, "Anything but Scottish food." I wouldnt eat one either( if you paid me or if I was starving on a deserted island). Just the thought of it makes me feel ill.

That box has the word Mumbai on it. Could it be someone in India? Is Jenni in India?

I have a huge fear of frying. Maybe the induction burner might be in my future. Anna, I know you dont bake, but try the tall and fluffy buttermilk biscuits from Cook's. They are amazing and would make a fabulous egg sandwich for breakfast. PS: are we going to see any foods from your country of origin?

Anna, Why the lack of love towards Cook's? Every recipe I make of theirs comes out fantastic. I love them!!

Lucky you. Here in Ontario you can order a burger cooked any way you want it so long as it is either well-done or carbonized! Since I dont eat red meat, I had a turkey burger at Dotty's. It was very good.

Anna, How do you like your induction burners? Do you use them in addition to or in place of your regular stove? I keep seeing them in stores/catalogs, but the ones I've seen are 399.00. Kinda hefty price tag.

We do have frozen custard and it's quite good but I know of only one place: Michael's. It always has a long line. If you drive around Wisconsin, you'll find independent frozen custard places here and there. They seem to be all over the place. Did you try the Leon's when you were in WI? I've never had theirs, but I've heard good things. Yes, I tried it. I found it better in July than in November. Something about eating cold dessert when its cold out..... The flavor we bought in November was cinnamon to have with pie. Julie used to work there when she was a teen so she is partial.

Julie tells me that Leon's is the gold standard for frozen custard in Milwaukee( I found it to be pretty fantastic too). Do you have any great frozen custard in Madison?

Dinner tonight. We went to La Strada on 2nd street( Belmont Shore) in Long Beach. I bought this groupon for 30.00. It came with 1 app, 2 entrees( up to 21.95 in value) and 2 glasses of wine. We subbed soft drinks for the wine. The appetizer section was kinda sparse. sauteed mushrooms, eggplant parm, caprese, brushetta. I chose these shrimp that were in a lobster cream sauce. It came with 4 shrimp. I enjoyed them although I didnt detect any lobster flavor. For the mains, I had a chicken dish that included tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, garlic, rosemary, basil, olive oil. It was tasty. There was a huge chicken breast underneath all the veggies/pasta. Julie had spagetti and meatballs. She said " its not as good as your sauce". Sweet. I never went to La Strada before, even though I've walked by it a million times. I'm glad I bought the Groupon to try it out. The restaurant was packed, when I went back to see how much I paid for the Groupon, I saw that they sold over 1,0000. I wish I would have bought another one. Sorry I didnt get to post the boob cake. I have to figure out the logistics re: making it. I need it for next Sunday. I'll post it in the dessert thread when I finish it. I'm also sorry that I didnt give you more cooking. Like I mentioned, my culinary life has really changed since moving back to Cali. I hope when the kitchen is finished, I'll be able to do more cooking at home.

In my previous home( and relationship), we had a GE Profile dual fuel. We were both scared to run the self clean feature. Finally, after a year, we ran it while we slept. The oven was so clean in the morning. We both said " why didnt we do this sooner". My ex got a nasty chemical burn on her arm from using easy off.

Cherry, but it tasted like canned pie filling. The actual cookie part was bland. J didnt like it( either did I).

I took a pic of the dogs this morning when we fed them. We have our 4 here( the two big dachsunds, the cairn and the westie). My aunt has 3 mini dachshunds and she is watching 2 others doxie mixes( not in the pic). The white stuff on top of their food is a Tbls of plain yogurt. My vet recommended that for their digestion. After breakfast we went to Los Alamitos. We went to Katella Deli so I can order Julie's Retirement cake. I'm having a party for her at my aunts place on Nov.`12th. She isnt retiring until January, but I will be deep in the middle of bar study by then. I ordered her a 1/4 sheet cake, one layer of white, one of chocolate with a chocolate pudding filling and a whipped cream frosting. I had the same cake when I graduated law school. I'm going to either have an edible photo put on top or the air force emblem. Not sure yet. We bought 2 rolls to make lunch with( turkey sandwiches), some macaroni salad, a hamantashen( J's never had one) and some macaroons. The macaroons were 35 cents each. The last one I got in Santa Monica, I paid 2.00 for.

just regular ones. I buy them for Long Beach because we are here a lot. Todays breakfast was a groupon for Cafe Lafayette in Seal Beach. 2 Breakfasts and 2 mimosas for 15.00. We both dont drink( for no other reason that we dont like the taste) so we had sodas. My entree was normally 11.95 plus 1.25 extra for egg whites. Julies was 9.95( or maybe 8.95). I had to pay the tax and the extra money for the egg whites. My omelette had bacon, avocado and jack cheese. The whites were coooked perfectly. I despise brown on my eggs. The potatoes were awesome too, creamy inside and crisp on the outside. This came with sourdough toast. Julies was a baked french toast with a mixed berry sauce. Another of Jules's food quirks is that she doesnt like syrup, so if she orders pancakes or french toast, it has to have a sauce or a berry. I thought maybe she didnt like syrup because she never had real maple syrup. I had her try that and Nope, she didnt like that either.

Outstanding. My partner is from Wisconsin and I made my first ever trip to Madison last Thanksgiving. We had lunch at Dotty's Dumpling Dowry.

Here are the dinner pics. salad polenta with mushroom sauce stuffed pork chop The gentleman at the next table ordered this mac n cheese w/ham( for you Kim) His wife ordered mahi mahi with a mango salsa. She said the fish was bland. Complimentary bread pudding. This was meh. Cold inside and warm on the edges. Ive had much better bread pudding. So, overall, a somewhat dissapointing meal. I've eaten there half a dozen times, but only for lunch so not sure if this was a "dinner" issue or what. The total cost of the meal came to twenty nine dollars and change( without tip) I have two groupons to use today. One for breakfast, the other for dinner.

Dinner tonight( my pics are taking forever to upload, I'll have to try again tomorrow) Julie and I shared the "house" salad(5.25). Mixed greens, pecans, bacon bits and mozzarella. I didnt realize there were raw tomatoes in here too. I asked that the greens be changed from spring mix to romaine. I had the polenta appetizer(6.50). This is the dish featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. I get this every single time. Julie ordered the stuffed center cut pork chop. I had a few bites too. It was dry, which surprisd me. I think this is another dish that was on the tv show. You can watch the video of the show on You Tube. I told the waitress that it was dry, but that we would still eat it. She brought a complimentary bread pudding for dessert. I LOVE bread pudding, but this wasnt that good either. It was cold in the middle and hot on the edges. I took a picture of the food from the table next to ours too.

For most things, yes. For eggs, I use a silico spatula, but only one that is made in the USA. Either Le Creuset or Williams Sonoma. For chicken, I use tongs.

lunch today was in Seal Beach. I didnt really want to go to Seal Beach because of the salon shooting on Wednesday, but we were both craving pizza and this place has good NY style pizza( which is sorely lacking in our town). 2 slices and a drink are 6.50. I had mushroom, J had pepperoni. We wanted a little treat so we proceeded to Belmont Shore for a cupcake from Frosted. I've tried lots of cupcakes from all over LA and Frosted is one of my favorites. Julie always orders a choc. with vanilla frosting. I had the chocolate with toffe frosting and we shared the hi-top. Salted caramel( 1.45). The cupcakes were 2.95 each. We have a 6pm reservation tonight @ At Last. Btw, its about 82F here. Perfect weather to enjoy the pool. See ya later.

Hmmm, not sure. Maybe Pam knows since its Empire Kosher turkey. They were good and the small slider bun was enough. My blood sugar was perfect this morning too. Btw, I bought those black and white checkered papers at Restaurant Depot. I use them when I send baked goods on platters to J's work. I also use them to line plates. Easy cleanup and the papers were cheap. Coffee today.

How did you make the cake? I was thinking of baking a 9 x 13 and then using two stainless bowls to make the boobs. I was going to attach the boobs to the body, and frost it with flesh colored frosting. What kind of cake did you bake

Dinner tonight. I cooked some onion, garlic, spices, carrot and celery in evoo. I added 1lb of of ground turkey( breast). I then added organic tomato puree, worsteshire, brown sugar and cider vinegar. I also added a Tbls of tomato paste. We had this on small slider buns from Trader Joes. I dont think Julie liked it very much. She asked me how I was going to make the sloppy joes. She said " are you using tomato soup"?, and I said " Ummm, NO"?, I dont use canned soups. She then replied " just dont tell me whats in it". Sigh......