CaliPoutine

Here are some of my pictures of Ronnie's Charcuterie. Absolutely amazing.

Hi everyone( and Chris) I'm enjoying reading Pookie's posts, I feel like a spectator instead of a contributor. Chris you're doing a fantastic job. We just arrived at Tammy's co-housing complex. We went this morning to Kerrytown Farmer's market. DanielleWiley and her kids and myself and Lisa had lunch at Zingerman's deli. Lisa and I split 2 sandwiches(Georgia Rubin and Kelly's menage a trois). Both were yummy. For the rest of the day, I'll be posting updates in the heartland thread. Btw, Steven Shaw is here as well. I'll be making fish on the grill and pasta primavera for my courses. See ya later

Hi all, Im checking in from AA. My friend Lisa and I are at the mall and I've just made a few purchases from Williams Somoma. A poblano grilling sauce, a roasted tomato sauce from Lidia Bastianach( sp?) and one of WS's bundt cakes. All were on clearance. I was curious about the mix since the regular price was 18.00(I'd never pay that). I got it for 3.99. The pasta sauce was 3.99 and the grilling sauce was 2.99. We had bagels from Zingerman's for breakfast and Qdoba burritos for lunch. We'd planned on going out to dinner, but once Lisa saw the Whole Food's she asked if we could eat there tonight. So for me I'll be getting their fabulous salad bar and a scoop of albacore tuna salad on top. We met the eGullet group at the Clements Library at U of M for the tour of the Culinary Archive. It was fabulous ( except for the fact that the A/C was broken). I'll be posting pics either tomorrow if I can get them uploaded and posted from someone else's computer. If not, I'll check in with updates. See ya later, Pottery Barn is calling our name.

Kerry, Don't apologize. I'm glad someone is enjoying the blog. Breakfast today is the same cereal I had a few days ago. I'm leaving shortly for Ann Arbor. I'll try to post when I'm there, but that wont be as frequently as I'm posting now. Too much shopping and eating out to do!! See ya later.

Christine, Now if you were in the states, you'd get blue cheese dressing with your wings!! ( sorry, I couldnt help that) PS: Chris and I go back and forth on where things are better, Here or in the good old USA.

We had an early dinner tonight as I'm going to Aquafit and Robin has a meeting. The corn is local peaches and cream. Huron County is a huge producer of corn, both cattle and sweet corn. I braved the heat and ran up the street and found someone selling some in their front yard. When I get back from MI, I'll buy some to cut the kernels off so I can freeze for winter. This is a molten chocolate cake. Another Epicurious recipe. They called it a mint-chocolate pudding cake, but I left out the mint extract. I garnished with some chocolate mint that I'm growing in a pot. When I first met Robin, her family and ( most people I've met here) would eat their dessert as soon as the dinner plates were cleared. In my family, we would always wait an hour or so after dinner. We started calling that " The Canadian Way" or "The American Way" for dessert. So now my niece will say " are we having dessert the Canadian or the American way". Tonight was the Canadian way because we both have to leave and I dont want to eat anything after aquafit. Last time I was in Port Huron, I brought back some Hagen Daz Vanilla bean and Mayan Chocolate ice cream. It was on sale for $2.50, It cost $6.99 a pint here( ridiculous)

What a terrific breakfast!!! Beans and rice and the eggs---we'll have to try that. Masa Brei, anyone? ← Or sort of a variation on chilaquiles (some are just bits of tortilla and sauce, but some include scrambled eggs as well). ← I've been making these for years then I forgot all about them and it just came to me a couple a weeks ago. I remember I got the recipe from the first Greens cookbook. I used to love going there whenever Id visit my friend in San Fran.

Here is the Blue Ribbon Carrot cake aka Southern Living carrot cake. Forgive me, but I just copied this post from my foodblogging post. I left off the glaze. So the carrot cake is finished. I just have to make the frosting. I'm going to freeze the unfrosted cake and frost it when I get home on Sunday. The recipe is called Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake. Its originally from the Portland Junior League. There is a buttermilk glaze as well as a cream cheese icing, but I usually skip that part. Here is the recipe. In my own words, of course. 2 c All purpose flour 2 ts Soda 1/2 ts Salt 2 ts Ground cinnamon 3 Eggs; well beaten 3/4 c Vegetable oil 3/4 c Buttermilk 2 c Sugar 2 ts Vanilla extract 1 cn Crushed pineapple; drained, - 8-oz can 2 c Grated carrots 1 cn Flaked coconut; 3 1/2-oz can 1 c Walnuts; chopped BUTTERMILK GLAZE 1 c Sugar 1/2 ts Soda 1/2 c Buttermilk 1/2 c Butter 1 tb Light corn syrup 1 ts Vanilla extract ORANGE-CREAM CHEESE FROSTING 1/2 c Butter; softened 8 oz Cream cheese; softened 1 ts Vanilla extract 2 c Powdered sugar; sifted 1 ts Grated orange rind 1 ts orange juice Combine flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut, and chopped walnuts. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350~ for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately spread Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers. Cool in pans 15 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely. Spread Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Store cake in refrigerator. Buttermilk Glaze. Combine sugar, soda, buttermilk, butter, and corn syrup in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Yield. About 1 1/2 cups. Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting. Combine butter and cream cheese, beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, powdered sugar, rind, and juice; beat until fluffy.

Triple Chocolate Cookies. I'm taking these to the Heartland Gathering. The original recipe and story suggests making these larger and using them for ice cream sandwiches. I made them a lot smaller so that everyone can have at least one. I can't wait to try these with Zingerman's Gelato. Hopefully, they wont get confiscated at the border.

So the carrot cake is finished. I just have to make the frosting. I'm going to freeze the unfrosted cake and frost it when I get home on Sunday. The recipe is called Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake. Its originally from the Portland Junior League. There is a buttermilk glaze as well as a cream cheese icing, but I usually skip that part. Here is the recipe. In my own words, of course. 2 c All purpose flour 2 ts Soda 1/2 ts Salt 2 ts Ground cinnamon 3 Eggs; well beaten 3/4 c Vegetable oil 3/4 c Buttermilk 2 c Sugar 2 ts Vanilla extract 1 cn Crushed pineapple; drained, - 8-oz can 2 c Grated carrots 1 cn Flaked coconut; 3 1/2-oz can 1 c Walnuts; chopped BUTTERMILK GLAZE 1 c Sugar 1/2 ts Soda 1/2 c Buttermilk 1/2 c Butter 1 tb Light corn syrup 1 ts Vanilla extract ORANGE-CREAM CHEESE FROSTING 1/2 c Butter; softened 8 oz Cream cheese; softened 1 ts Vanilla extract 2 c Powdered sugar; sifted 1 ts Grated orange rind 1 ts orange juice Combine flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut, and chopped walnuts. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350~ for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately spread Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers. Cool in pans 15 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely. Spread Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Store cake in refrigerator. Buttermilk Glaze. Combine sugar, soda, buttermilk, butter, and corn syrup in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Yield. About 1 1/2 cups. Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting. Combine butter and cream cheese, beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, powdered sugar, rind, and juice; beat until fluffy. Here are a few of the "bargains" I got yesterday. The coconut was 1.99 and the pecans were 5.99( I got the last one). Both packages are 1Kg, which is 2.2lbs. No- Name is the generic store brand product here in Ontario( and maybe other parts of Canada?)

Brunch today. I won't be eating lunch. Egg beaters mixed with chopped up corn tortillas. Exeter does NOT carry Corn Tortillas. I buy them in MI and freeze them. I just found some in Grand Bend ( the town where the beach is), but they are 1.99 for 10. I pay 1.00 for 30 in MI. I must get off this computer and start the carrot cake. I've been emailing back and forth with my friend Lisa. She lives in an even smaller town than Exeter and she'll be coming with me to Ann Arbor. She'll be my sous chef on Saturday. She is very excited. I actually can't wait until Tomorrow. As much as I love to cook, I need a break!! Edited to add the link to the Heartland Gathering. So you can follow along there while I'm in Michigan and Christine is holding down the fort.

There are also limits on eggs, dairy, poultry and I'm sure more. I went down for the day once and spent over $4 per liter for whipping cream, and then had to pay about the same for each litre in duty. For most other grocery items there is no duty. I always exceed my limits, but since it's usually grocery items I rarely pay duty. Always declare. How long will you be in AA for? Think of all the stuff you can bring home! ← I've never once paid a duty in groceries. Maybe they know your car. They ask me what I have, I say " groceries" and thats the end of it. I'll be there until Sunday morning. I can spend 200US on items other than food. I plan on hitting Trader Joe's and Whole Foods along with Bed, Bath and Beyond, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, etc, etc.

Because we have so many people, maybe name tags are in order. I know its lame, but if we put our real name and egullet handle, it might make it easier for recognition purposes. Just a thought.

Another busy day ahead. Our dinner guests cancelled for tonight. But I have the ribs rubbed and they need to be cooked, so I'm just going along with the original plan. Robin will have plenty of leftovers as I'm leaving for AA tomorrow. First, I made the beans. These are just dressed up canned beans, but the recipe is outstanding. I saw this recipe years ago on Martha Stewart. One of her guests prepared it. The original recipe uses some special bbq from Alabama, I just use some sauce that I made. You can find the recipe here. I've stopped buying prepared BBQ sauce because of the high fructose corn syrup. The latest batch I made was a Wolfgang Puck recipe. I saw it in Marlene's last blog and thought it looked good. Beans, chopped onion, chopped pepper( I used an orange pepper I had in the freezer), mustard, worsterchire, bbq sauce, brown sugar and some ketchup(my addition). I baked these idaho spuds and stuffed them with the reserved potato, cooked chopped broccoli, butter, white cheddar and some sour cream. I sprinkled them with some smoked paprika. I still have a carrot cake to bake and triple chocolate cookies ( for Ann Arbor trip) Now I'm off to clean out my car before it gets too brutality hot. It's already 79F at 8:26am.

But don't forget the limits. I cross the border frequently( for day trips) and you're not allowed to bring liquor back to Canada if you've only been gone for the day. Of course, my car has never been searched on a day trip. Honestly, though I wouldnt risk it and I never have. If you declare it, the duties are very high( more than you would spend buying a bottle in Ontario) so its not worth it. If you don't declare it and get caught, they could confiscate your vehicle. I don't drink liquor so it doesnt really affect me. That said, everytime I go to the states for 2 days or longer( such as this upcoming trip to AA), I will bring back something. I usually go to Trader Joe's and get the so called " cooking wines". Maderia, vermouth, sherry, port, marsala. The prices are so much better. Occasionally I'll stop at duty free. On one such trip, I wanted a bottle of Grey Goose for making penne alla vodka and some homeade vanilla extract. The bottle was $32.00 and it came with a free headcover( for golf). We put the headcover up on ebay and it sold for $39.00 . Needless to say, we were thrilled and amazed. In the past I've bought Frangelico, kahlua, and bailey's for baking. I would like to get Framboise and amaretto so maybe on this trip a stop at duty free is in order. ( I could buy them at any store in Michigan, but the prices are better( no tax) at duty free)

We don't have any fancy ice cream shops here in the country, but we do have Dairy Queen. We took the boys there after the beach. Robin and I shared a raspberry cheesquake blizzard and the boys each got their own " doggie cone". They give dogs a small cone with just a little bit of ice cream. Oliver is waiting not so patiently for his cone.

Wowzer, it sure was hot today. In fact, its still hot. It's 9:15pm and its still 83F. This weather reminds me of when I lived in Florida. Today was perfect for a beach picnic. As I said earlier, I made 5 salads. The shrimp noodle, cucumber onion, farro with chicken, broccoli salad and an orange, beet, watercress salad. They were all very good( if I do say so myself) We got this basket as a wedding present. I think we've used it 3 times in 3 years. This was easy. Just english cukes, red onion, pepper, vinegar and a little sour cream. For this I blanched some broccoli and made a dressing with sourcream, mayo and splenda along with some white wine vinegar. I threw in some grapes and raisins and sunflower seeds. This is a cooking light recipe. I should have taken a picture of each salad after I made them. The farro salad was good. I just used some Ken's light Italian dressing along with black beans(leftover from fajita night), corn and some jack cheese. Not quite southwestern and not quite Italian For this salad I used canned beets, clementines, goat cheese, watercress and some of the vinaiagrette I made. I topped it with some spiced pecans( trader Joes) The water was warm but refreshing. We're lucky in that we only live 12 miles from the Lake. We were at the beach for 3hrs and I think we only spent 30 minutes out of the water. Even the birds need to eat.

Wow, I've been busy. I've already made 3 salads and I have 2 to go. I know, I know, I kind of went overboard, but we can have them for lunch tomorrow and since I'm going to Ann Arbor, Robin can eat them on Thursday. I had two lettuce wraps for lunch. I made this shrimp noodle salad with rice vermicelli, shrimp, snow peas, scallions, carrots, cilantro and bean sprouts. I threw together a dressing with peanut butter, sesame seeds, chili-garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, soy, rice vinegar, ginger, and sesame oil. They were crunchy and refreshing. Just what I needed.

parm reggiano. Bought at Costco in London, Ontario. 19.99kg = 9.08lbCD

Sure is!! Some of the PC products are very good.

Pam, I only brought back 6 because I wasnt sure I'd like them. This time I'll bring back more!! And, I agree with you on the donuts, the tim bits are a lot better and only 1 WW point each. Cash only here too!!

I didnt really have anything particular in mind when I went to the store. I knew I wanted to make the cucumber salad that Pan and Mizducky suggested. We ate that salad a lot when I was a kid. I'm Jewish and my parents often took us to different deli's. I remember eating the cucumber salad that was creamy so I'm assuming it had sour cream in it. I thought a beet salad sounded good too, I knew I had some cooked shrimp in the freezer and my pantry is pretty well stocked( Christine can attest to that) with staples. So, I saw these and I thought they would be good with something. I absolutely love these( Has anyone else in Canada tried them? Pam? Marlene?) These wraps are a cross between iceberg and romaine which is funny because I hate iceberg. But, they are really crispy and refreshing. I'm going to make a rice noodle/shrimp salad for these. These were $1.99. A while back, the store had them for 50 cents each because no one was buying them. They are also good chopped up for salad. I'm also going to make a southwestern salad. I bought 2 boneless, skinless breasts. I would have bought a ready made piece of chicken at the deli, but they didnt have any yet. I grilled them on this le crueset skinny grill. I bought a 7 1/2qrt round from amazon and it came with this grill. I love this grill, but Robin HATES cleaning it. For the last two day's its been soaking in barkeepers friend because Robin could not get the stuck on turkeyburger off. ( I might have not used enough oil) I spread some Oxacan grilling paste on. I love this stuff. It was on clearance for $1.99 at Williams Sonoma( Ann Arbor) back in April. I wish I would have bought more. And, as full as my pantry is, I had no rotini like I thought. I do have this spelt aka farro which I bought at Trader Joe's. I'm going to toss it with the chicken, corn, black beans, and some cheese. I wanted an avocado too, Hansen's didnt have any ripe ones. I stopped at the other smaller grocery store and theirs were overripe. So, no avocado. I'd like to make a cilantro pesto. I have walnuts, almonds and pecans. Which nut do you think would be better?

Hansen's is our large grocery store. Sometimes I'm really surprised by the items they have. At times I've found mache, key limes and lemongrass. Today I bought some watercress for one of the salads I'm making. Hansen's is very civic minded. They do a lot of community donations. They donate all the groceries for the Community Kitchen I lead. hansens I dont know if you can read this sign, but it says " Blowout sale". My two favorite words. Blueberries and strawberries. The blueberries are from NJ and the strawberries are from California. and just to remind you, gas is way more expensive in Canada than in the US. that is per liter. There are 3.75 Liters to a gallon.

On the way to the store( which is 1mile from our house) I stopped at Tim Horton's for a bagel. I've spoken before about the lack of decent bagels in this area( including London and Toronto). I suppose I'm used to the NY bagels that I grew up with in Florida. I very rarely eat at Tim Horton's. I don't drink coffee except for the odd time I feel like having an iced coffee. Tim's has iced caps that are pretty decent if made with milk( they are normally made with cream). The bagels are usually spread on only one side with cream cheese and then put together and cut in half like a sandwich. Naturally, I dont like it that way. I once asked them to scoop out the insides and they looked at me like I was on crack. I had some strange looks today when I asked them to spread the cream cheese on both sides and to not cut it. When I go to Ann Arbor, I usually bring back bagels from Zingerman's. The last time I was there, I came across a Bruegger's bagels and I brought back 6. I actually liked those better than Zingerman's. They reminded me of the bagels I grew up with. This Tim's was recently renovated. It's been open for over a month and this is the first time I went in since the renovation. The brought all the cases to the front, enlarged the area behind the counter and put in new tables/chairs. I had a diet coke with it. The french side of the label is showing. Who could eat soup in this weather? Tim Bits aka donut holes. cruller, sour cream glazed and dutchie

Good Morning!! I've been very busy this morning. I wanted to get some things prepped for tomorrow's dinner and use the oven before it got too hot. I probably should mention that we do have central A/C, so I guess its just a mental thing with me. I totally forgot that I have to make a carrot cake to freeze for Sunday's BBQ and I'm out of carrots so I have to make a trip to the store. For dinner tomorrow I'm preparing a grilled cornbread salad with red onions, arugula and redwine vinaigrette, broccoli stuffed potatoes, baked beans and baby back ribs. I'm also making molten chocolate cakes for dessert. The cornbread has to be made 1 day ahead so it can be grilled. You can find the recipe here.. The dressing is a simple red wine vinaigrette. I bought the Evoo in London at Angelo's( a specialty grocer/deli/bakery). That bottle costs $9.99. The mustard came from TJ Maxx in Ann Arbor. I use another Cook's Illustrated recipe for the rib rub. I've made it so many times, I don't even measure it anymore. Brown sugar, smoked and regular paprika, kosher salt, garlic(my addition) oregano, cumin, ancho chili powder. The ribs were on sale for the ridiculously low price of $2.99lb. I let them sit in the fridge with the rub for 24hrs. I scrape most of the rub off and bake them at 300f for 2.5hrs. Then I finish them on the grill. Now I'm off to the store. I'll be stopping at a Canadian institution on my way for a bagel with light veggie cream cheese.