emmalish

I usually do very simple preparations of fish as well, usually just foil-wrapped and baked with a few herbs or some lemon. Or pan-fried with a tiny amount of oil. Sometimes I'll make my baked salmon with an herb rub recipe I got from a friend, which is quite good. 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 1 tsp cumin seed, toasted & ground 1 tsp coriander seed, toasted & ground 1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper Rub the surface of the fish with a bit of oil and then the spice mixture. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes, then bake. I only have one fish cookbook, Karen Barnaby's Halibut (which I bought because I looooove halibut), but I haven't had it long and haven't tried any of the recipes yet. I've paged through it and oohed and ahhed many times tho. There are quite a few recipes in it that I'm looking forward to trying.

I've finally gotten around to making Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies. OMG people, someone tell me why I haven't made these before!? Just look at this cookie! Seriously, the photo doesn't do it justice. These cookies are so chocolatey, they're almost black. I think I've just heard so many raves about them that I was afraid they couldn't possibly live up to all the hype. Boy was I wrong. The plan was to have a few myself and take the rest to work. Heh. That ain't happenin'.

Kalypso that was fantastic – thanks so much for sharing what you know. Most is exactly what I suspected but it's still shocking to see it all spelled out like that.

Buttermilk waffles with maple syrup...

That blew me away too, David. The fact that according to the official guidelines, the burger and fries is a "healthier" option than Jamie's fresh veg & noodles with teriyaki chicken. But again, the guidelines are a joke, based more on lobbying and politics than anything even remotely health related. Have you guys ever looked at how many servings of everything we should be eating a day according to government guidelines? I eat too much as it is, but there is no way I could ingest the quantity required to meet them. The woman who was overseeing Jamie's meal was saying he had to include 1-1/4 cups of vegetables, in addition to the other required components. I don't recall if she clarified what else had to be on the plate, but we know that at the elementary school he had to have 2 servings of bread per plate. That's a lot of food! No wonder there's so much waste.

Thanks! I don't really have a recipe – I was just winging it. But I can tell you what I did... Sautéed 1 large onion, a few cloves of garlic and an orange pepper until soft. Added a huge pile of mushrooms (mix of portobello and brown crimini). When those were done, I added a large can of diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, some red pepper flakes, and a package of fresh baby spinach and left it to reduce down. That was my sauce. For the cheese layers I mixed 2 cups of ricotta with a couple eggs, a pile of grated mozzarella and some grated parmesan. Then I put a bit of sauce in the pan, then a layer of noodles, a layer of cheese, a layer of sauce, a layer of noodles, etc., topped with a final layer of sauce and a ton of mozzarella and some more parmesan (yes, WW is out the window this weekend). I had bought a zucchini planning to thinly slice it and make a layer of that too, but I forgot. Wish I hadn't – I think another layer of noodles and something would have been nice.

Wow, Kim, looks and sounds like you had a delicious time! I'm stunned (in a good way) by the eggs benedict with an entire soft shell crab on the side. Wow. I'm also intrigued by the thai gelato. Sounds like a lovely combination of flavours. I've always wanted to visit NOLA. *sigh* one day...

Cold, windy and rainy in Vancouver (again!?), so comfort food is called for. I made a mushroom-spinach lasagna that should keep me happy over the long weekend.

Not a personal anecdote, but this quote from Overheard in New York illustrates the issue perfectly...

I've heard very good things about Pair Bistro. But I keep forgetting about it!

Joe's Grill - 2061 W 4th Ave in Kits

I did not know you were supposed to use liquid! I always just dust it on...

Hi tiramisu & welcome to the forums. Can you clarify, are you looking to learn to make a cake from scratch, without a mix? Or do you want to be able to make mixes, that you can maybe give as a gift or something?

Lots of good looking dinners in this thread! David, how was the chili-glazed salmon? Looks fantastic. Tonight I made a tomato lentil stew, loaded with vegetables, served over couscous.

I've even used that "no time" excuse myself when I've been working long hours. But it really doesn't take much time to throw something together. As annoying as I find Rachael Ray, I love the message of her 30-Minute Meals show – that yes you can cook real food in a really short amount of time.

I was appalled that the kids couldn't even identify basic vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes (but knew what ketchup was – duh). As I stated upthread, my mom was always a big fan of shortcut cooking when we were kids, however, she also made a lot of basic meat + potatoes + vegetable meals. A lot of times those vegetabes were just Green Giant Frozen Medley, but we also got fresh vegetables and I knew where they came from. I could go into a garden and identify and happily raid the peas and baby carrots. However, I can identify somewhat. Yes, we got fresh vegetables, but they were limited to the basics. We got potatoes, carrots, peas, & tomatoes. At Christmas dinner we usually got cauliflower and brussel sprouts too. But that's pretty much it. I distinctly remember a time after I'd moved out on my own, wanting to get a little adventurous with my cooking and going to the grocery store to get zucchini for a new recipe, but not finding it because I didn't know what it looked like. I ended up buying an illustrated encyclopedia of food (which I still have to this day – awesome resource!), just so I could identify these things in the store. But this brings home the fact that while I may not have gotten a great variety of vegetables at home, these kids must not be getting any.

During the work week, my breakfast is usually just a muffin and a smoothie, so I try to actually cook things on the weekend. These smoothies, however, are SO good that sometimes I don't want anything else. This one is made from banana, strawberries, coconut milk, soy milk, pineapple juice and nutmeg... thick as a milkshake and just as tasty...

I made cranberry bran muffins the other day. I try to keep a steady supply of these guys in my freezer. They're great with peanut butter for breakfast.

I've only watched the preview ep from last week so far, but I was bothered by this too. The school cooks really resented Jamie coming in and criticizing what they were serving, and honestly didn't see what was wrong with it. I think their problem is that they trust that the food industry is providing a good product and that the USDA has the kids and their best interests at heart in the guidelines, when in reality it's all more about politics and profit than health. I know far too many people who rely on processed foods and think they're eating healthy because the package says so. When Jamie tried to serve his chicken with rice, wasn't he told that the USDA guidelines specified that there had to be 2 servings of bread? Why on earth? I could see if it possibly said 2 servings of grains, but the principal was reading the guidelines and it said "bread" and the rice didn't count. Plus the quantity of food on those trays – I don't have kids but have friends with kids that age and there's no way they could consume the amount of food that's being dished out – it's no wonder they're picking and choosing their favourite bits (chicken nuggets) and the rest is going in the trash. I too hate the reality show drama that we're going to see, but I really hope Jamie is somewhat successful in this campaign. The entire food industry needs an overhaul (don't get me started on subsidies and the "food pyramid"), but I don't see that happening as long as people are buying what they're selling. Personally, I'm not sure I would have learned to cook at all if not for a home ec class in 9th grade. My mom cooks because she has to, not because she enjoys it, and she's always been big on cooking shortcuts – I'm sure she would love Sandra Lee – but as it wasn't something she enjoyed, she just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible and having a kid underfoot wouldn't help. I'd love to say that cooking classes need to be reintroduced in schools, but I'm sure they'd be governed by the same guidelines and budgetary constraints, and the classes would end up being sponsored by Campbells or Kraft and the kids would just learn how to cook all those lovely Campbells soup casseroles that my mom was so fond of. I think Jamie's got the right idea with this sort of grassroots campaign. Not everyone's opinions will be swayed, but hopefully enough for it to be passed on. How successful were his campaigns in the UK?

Hi therippa, I'm going to assume that you are asking the question of me. Upon re-reading the topic, I see that I never explained clearly just why I wanted that particular pan. Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I make this copy cat version of Enstrom's toffee...the best toffee I have ever eaten...which is coated with chocolate after cooling. If you cover the top and bottom of the toffee with chocolate and then break the toffee into pieces (shards), some of the chocolate can come off in uneven patches. If you cut the toffee in the pan, it's not that easy to get the pieces even and cut through although with experience I could get it right no doubt. Caramel rulers, which I don't own, might be useful for the cutting process. It just struck me that this brownie pan, with its set-in divider, might be the answer to our situation, two pans. We could just set the divider into the cooling toffee, and the resulting pieces would be small and even, and we could simply dip them right into the chocolate, sprinkle one side with chopped nuts and le voila! If you can't track down the brownie pan, how about a mini cheesecake pan? Would that work for you?

Yes, they're a great source for all the varieties of Neilsen-Massey. Never tried any of their other foodstuffs though (except their hot chocolate, which is really just grated semi-sweet chocolate in a pretty tin, and quite yummy).

Kindred spirit!! I have waaaaay too many bowls for my tiny tiny kitchen. How many bowls does one person need?

I second the ice cream maker! You could even get an attachment for your KitchenAid (I'm assuming that's what you have, since you mention other attachments). How about a nice cutting board, or pastry board? Any other tools you could use? Rolling pin? Whisks? Fancy-shmancy wooden spoons?

Apple-pineapple-peach cake, perhaps??

I have a few of these and quite like them. They bake very evenly. Cleaning isn't an issue for me, though, because I've gotten in the habit of always lining my pans with parchment paper.