sanrensho

I wanted to thank Kouign Aman, and of course Rebecca263, for pointing me in the direction of the easy pizza recipe on Recipegullet. The recipe is indeed very forgiving and easy to whip up. For my older daughter's birthday party last week (turning nine), we ended up doing a pizza-making session from scratch. I had to nix the idea of making pasta due to logistical reasons. The kids had a blast, and ended up making and eating way more pizzas than I expected. This resulted in a mad rush to prep more toppings while constantly rotating four or more pizzas in and out of the oven. I need to be more prepared this time, but everybody had a ton of fun and hopefully learned a little bit about making dough. We spent a good hour making the pizzas and noshing away at our creations, and could have gone longer if we had also done calzones. The kids also took the recipe home with them, so hopefully they'll carry on the tradition at home. Next year, I'd like to challenge the 10-year olds with something more ambitious, that similarly doesn't involve knives.

Wouldn't it be East and East? Both the bread machine and rice cooker were invented in Japan, and you know how much the Japanese love their bread. Looking forward to the rest of your blog!

^^^Stunning presentation. Right now, we are working our way through a case of organic prune plums that the family picked just last weekend. Best...snacking fruit...ever. It remains to be seen whether any will be left for baking, but I'm not complaining.

Well, I can only agree about your point of using metric weight measurements. It's enough to dissuade me from buying certain books.

For inspiration, the Italian Nutella site has a couple of pages of desserts which you can view here. There's also the "Sensations Nutella" book (French only) by Philippe Conticini. If you do a search for "Conticini" and "Nutella," you can find info about some of the desserts that were served at his Nutella cafe (La Table Nutella). How about a simple trio of Nutella cookies, cake/tart and mouse?

Even a whipped ganache, as the OP is referring to? I am under the impression that a whipped ganache should be refrigerated for storage, which I always do. Also, I haven't found that whipped ganache (made with bittersweet chocolate) is "too adult" for kids. I've never had that feedback and I've baked for preschoolers, not just my own kids. If it's a question of sweetness, you can simply add more sugar to the ganache. When I use milk chocolate in my whipped ganache, it's to achieve a different flavor.

Here's a link that works: http://littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com/...jonnycakes.html I'd like to try making this bread. Can regular cornmeal be substituted for the white flint cornmeal? What substitute would you recommend for the white corn flour?

The whipped ganache will hold up fine overnight in the fridge. However, depending on how stable your recipe is and how you build your cake, you may experience some sliding around if frosted between the layers. A buttercream would be much more stable in that respect. Having said that, I would pick a whipped ganache over a buttercream any day, for a moist/dense chocolate cake like the double chocolate cake. In terms of portions, you might also want to weigh your cake layers and figure on a rough estimate of xxx grams per person.

I forgot to thank you about the clay pot info. I'll try it with my glazed nabe pot (Chinese made) and report back. My pots also have hairline cracks but have held together, despite using them both on a butane stove and electric coils.

Good call. My "change of pace" salad dressing (as an alternative to standard vinaigrette) is a light drizzle of sesame oil, a few good shots of fish sauce, pepper and freshly squeezed lime juice. And some cilantro if I have some lying around.

Let us know if you come up with a good recipe. I suspect that the eggplant bhartha at Handi's and Maurya might be of a similar style, which can happen in the same town. I also squeezed lime juice on the final product to wake up the flavors a bit.

Miso cucumbers. Partly peel some Japanese cucumbers and slice in half or quarters lengthwise. Spread the cut surface with a moderate amount of your favorite miso paste. Salty and refreshing.

My experience with Indian cooking is extremely limited, so I'm almost hesitant to post this. However, I've tried two different recipes so far and had better success with this recipe: http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Recipes/VegeP...tablePurees.htm My reference point is the eggplant bharta/bartha/bhartha served at Handi's, which may or may not be similar to the one at Maurya. The above recipe has a larger proportion of onions and less tomatoes than other recipes I found. It lacks garlic/ginger paste, which can be added to taste. I need to go back to Handi's to see if I can detect the garlic/ginger. The changes I made to the above recipe were to puree the eggplant and tomatoes, and I added peas and a bit more tomato juice. I also improvised by adding some cream at the end (before reading sazji's post). The taste was good, but I think the version at Handi's uses considerably more oil and perhaps more onions, or the onions are browned more thoroughly. Roasting the tomato might also be a nice touch to caramelize the sugars, although I don't know if it is typical.

I don't really follow what is happening with Tim Horton's, but they should do more "limited edition" donuts to generate consumer interest. Of course, this is a familiar tactic with the Japanese donut chains. The Lemon Drop donut would be just the thing to pull me into a Tim Horton's out of occasional curiosity.

I don't see the ratio listed on the product page, although it might be be buried somewhere in the site. It's probably listed on the box. Can you post a photo of the box from different sides?

Is the ticket price $15 for kids? If so, we'll be going for sure next year--as long as it doesn't interfere with my kids' soccer games/practice.

There's always honey toast (scroll down to post #22/24).

Somewhat along the same vein, Inn Cogneato on upper Lonsdale also makes a very nice Barbary bread that can be purchased for take-out. (They are mostly a casual restaurant but started out as a bakery.)

That's a great idea. I have a few glazed nabe pots, I might have to try it out. Have you experienced any cracking with preheating the clay pot? Any sticking issues?

Since it hasn't been mentioned, I highly recommend a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. You could easily spend a day in there with your son.

COBS is actually an Australian chain (Baker's Delight) renamed for the Canadian market. And the actual breads look pretty similar to me (COBS vs. Baker's Delight). http://www.cobsbread.com/about_us/index.htm http://www.bakersdelight.com.au/cms/docume...hp?objectID=102 I don't mind their basic white sandwich bread. But most everything else I've tasted has been barely a notch above Safeway bread.

I would avoid the Thai place on upper Lonsdale (I'm sure that Paul B is referring to the one lower down on Lonsdale). I almost gagged on the sickly sweet green curry. Indian Fusion on upper Lonsdale (across from London Drugs) is good and also a great value for Indian. Inn Cogneato two blocks down also has wonderful bread and does a good job of more standard fare. Personally, I would avoid all Japanese on Lonsdale and head to Westview instead. The Chinese restaurant at Westview is also decent for the shore. There are also a number of Persian restaurants, although I don't know which ones are best.

I've done large batches of raspberry and strawberry jam using Bernardin Freezer Jam Pectin. I like the results because it gives a very fresh, uncooked flavor to the jam, and I can cut the sugar down significantly (not a fan of super-sweet jams). Tastes something like a thickened puree of fresh fruit mixed with sugar. I've also simply frozen small batches of jam that were made using Chistine Ferber's method (usually no added pectin). Also a good way to go.

Whoops! You're right, sorry about that.

It sounds like your trip was a good one. Personally, I would like to hear what you thought about the pastries that you had during your trip (and which shops you tried), since you mentioned it was one of your interests.