Dianne

Orchid's Tangy Noodles is a family favourite here, too.

Here is my (very non-traditional) Vietnamese style noodle salad. There really are noodles under all that chicken and veg.You can see a little peeking out in the lower right corner. And look at the lovely tomatoes. The field tomatoes are finally here.

I, for one, will continue to shop at my local Asian markets. If I am going to buy coconut milk from Thailand I might as well get it at the good price there. It isn't local no matter where I buy it. I find citrus prices at Asian markets as you have mentioned , Jamie Lee. But they are equally good at my local Indian markets and Middle Eastern markets.I wonder if the demands of the ethnic communities they are providing for also influences the price. And here in Canada, citrus isn't available from local sources either. I do like to buy local when I can.

That is a very good question, the aswer to which I eagerly await. I suspect that methods of raising/rearing are more important than breed. But that presupposes that the pigs don't start out wih all the disadvantages of modern genetics.

Good piece, Jay.

Calipoutine, I buy enough of our own Ontario garlic from the farmer's market to last me the winter. I store it in a wire basket in my cold cellar. I am still using last year's and it is still fine.

That is a beautiful feast, Prawncrackers.

Yesterday was really hot here; so we had a cool dinner. White bean salad and fresh trout from our farmer's market.

I would like to be eventually, but our growing season has just begun; so nothing to pickle yet.

I took a number of classes with Diana Kennedy when she came to Bonnie Stern's cooking school in Toronto. She is indeed tiny and imposing and a stickler, and warm and generous and incredibly knowlegeable. I learned a great deal. I can't imagine that the course you are talking about could be anything but wonderful. Wish I could go.

Oh Lord. We left the dog at home once while we went to Parent's Night for our kids. She ate the sirloin I planned for dinner for 4. Her belly looked huge too!

I'm reading too. I love your blogs and your insight into "small town Ontario". I grew up in a succession of small towns and villages in ON. Now I live half the year in the Toronto area and half in the small town of Gravenhurst (well really outside town on the Severn river). I find it fascinating how much you still shop for groceries in the States.

Wow. Have you told us about this, and can you point me at that message?

Last night's dinner: Spicy noodles with cuke, asparagus, green onion and peanuts. Plated with roasted chicken thighs and extra sauce to doctor the dish to taste.

Rob Feenie has at least two books that would fall in the new Canadian cooking category. Lucy Waverman's books might fit in Canadian home cooking. You could look at The Cookbook Store's list too.

That sounds lovely.

Oh yes, the spinach sounds like the very thing. I think I would season the eggplant slices and grill them before building the layers. Do keep us informed as you go along.

How about a "lasagna" style dish with Indian spiced eggplant and crumbled paneer and a tomato sauce with Indian spices? Or a vegetable/lentil stew which is sort of a curry? With various breads for sopping.

Wow, you folks in Seattle really know how to live. What a fabulous looking meal.

On Wed. the local Farmer's Market near our cottage opened for the season Here is what we ate for dinner that night. Asparagus, rainbow trout and hot house tomatoes. This was our first complete dinner from local sources for this year.

Oh good; C. sapidus posted a link. That is exactly the one.

I am not sure that I can. It is a recipe from Into The Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen. If I post it I will violate copyright. But I do recommend the book!!

Last night I finally made a dinner worth mentioning. We started with smoked salmon on grits cakes, garnished with sour cream, capers, sweet onion and chives. This was with a watercress salad. Then main course of Vietnamese garlicy roasted chicken thighs, with veggie salad of red potato, fava beans, artichokes and asparagus. And a dessert of warm rhubarb/ strawberry pudding cake with whipped cream.

Oh that duck looks good!!! Do you think we could be related? I am D. Ross too. Dianne.

Good grief. My local farmers market in Orillia, ON. has them for 50 cents (Canadian) a bunch. I buy several bunches each week.