emmalish

Anybody have any new recs on the blender front? I've finally reached the point where I don't care how much I paid for my KA blender, I'm sick of it. I don't have the problem with it leaking from the bottom as many of you have, but it just doesn't blend well. Plus I have one of the older ones without a spout, so when I pour it always dribbles down the side. So I'm sick of it. Sick of it I say! I checked out the test kitchen thread posted upthread -- great info there. Anyone else have a blender they absolutely love? (bonus if it looks good too)

It's replaying on Wedneday. Here's the schedule.

Chocoholic the zucchini loaf sounds really good. Could you post a recipe?

Heh. That's one of the reasons I can't stand her show. Plus the shaky camera-work gets on my nerves. Added to that, I'm not entirely fond of her techniques. Last night I saw her making some icecream. She was using a microplane to zest some citrus, but she wasn't really turning the fruit as she worked. Every once in a while she'd pull the fruit away to turn it, and you could see a flat white area where she'd grated right down into the pith. Then she halved the fruit and juiced them in a glass juicer, then up-ended it all into the mixing bowl, seeds & all. They panned to a shot of the bowl with its contents, and you could see the pips floating in the mixture. Riiiiight.

Yeah, the fake flowers were lovely, but let's not forget the skewers sticking out the top and the stupid holes drilled in the pumpkin. Why were there holes in the pumpkin?

is not the only time the challenger had equipment that didn't seem to function well, IMHO. ← It doesn't seem to be just the challenger who has equipment problems though. Wasn't Morimoto having trouble with his oven that day too? And last night, Flay seemed to be the one having all the troubles (his sous chef kept complaining about the burners being too slow). I don't recall any problems on Armstrong's side, but I was only half-watching.

I agree. I've made the Godiva recipe many times and it's excellent. Ling, thanks for that link! I'll check it out (with all this experimenting, I'm going to have some very happy co-workers!)

Thanks yellowmnm81. (off to check my Baking With Julia now...)

I went to Granville Island Market today and picked up a few things. For dinner tonight I had a halibut filet, baked with just a bit of salt & pepper, and some fresh spaghetti tossed with garlic sautéed in olive oil, nicoise olives, chopped roma tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, freshly grated Romano and a bit of fresh basil. Yum. And now I'm baking lemon-pistachio biscotti for a late dessert/snack.

I agree. But it was fun to see Flay almost wipe out a few times, not to mention the burning himself and the flying knife. Is it wrong of me that I giggled?

Resurrecting an old thread to ask a biscotti-related question. Which do you prefer: recipes with butter or without? I've only ever tried recipes with butter. Right now I'm tweaking a lemon pistachio recipe and I'm finding the dough is a bit too wet. I'm thinking of switching to a butterless recipe, but I'm not sure I'll like the texture (I've heard other people say they think they're "hard as rocks"). I do like my biscotti quite crunchy -- which is one of the reasons the wet dough isn't really working for me. They're taking forever to bake to the appropriate crunchiness. Opinions?

El Patio's nice, but I prefer La Bodega. If you want to get away from the crowds, get a table upstairs. Same tapas menu, plus a dinner menu. Reservations usually required though. La Bodega definitely has the best sangria, and that's reason enough to go!

Thanks! Yeah, buying a preconfigured set was certainly not my first choice. But even if I only get a couple pieces out of it that I like, I still figure $199's a pretty good deal.

because part of the taste is also perceived in its presentation? so far as im concerned that does include the right plates too ← ...when you don't have a complete set of dishes, but individual pieces so you can choose which dish or plate will look best with any particular food? My friends all love getting to choose their own dishes when they come for dinner.

I have one Calphalon pan and one old Cuisinart pan... I always get which is which mixed up too! Well, I went back up today and they were down to their last set, so I bit the bullet. Hey, it's only $199 right? I'd still like to hear opinions though. Don't be afraid to tell me I just wasted my money!

I hope it's ok to repost this here. It's already posted in the best non-stick thread, but after five days with no bites, I thought I'd give this a shot. Do you know anything about or have any experience with the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Non-Stick Hard Anodized cookware? I just found it this week at one of my local stores, and it's pretty nice-looking cookware. According to the package, it's a hard-anodized exterior with "Quantanium" non-stick interior (titanium reinforced). I checked Cuisinart's website, and while they don't have it listed in their cookware product directory, they do have it listed in their cookware selection guide (with not a lot of information about the line itself). Cuisinart lists it at 50 microns thick. I googled and found a description at another site that lists a 3mm thickness. (same thing?) The store just got it in and it's already marked clearance. They had an 8" skillet for $24 Cdn (which is probably about $2 US, so how can you go wrong?). They also had a 10-piece set for $199 Cdn. Amazon has a 7-piece set listed as 62% off. To me it sounds like it's an old line that's being discontinued. But I asked them at the store and they said they were under the impression that it was a new line that Cuisinart was trying to get out there with a special promotion. Well at $24 I had to pick up the skillet. I used it the other day and was pretty impressed with its performance (nothing fancy, just pan-fried potatoes). It heated up quickly, retained heat well, and it seemed to have pretty even heating. The handle stayed cool, and was comfortable to hold. The cookware I already have is a mix of several lines, with the basic pieces being Berndes, which I've been happy with for the past 7 years or so except for the fact that it's only oven-safe at lower temperatures (because of the non-metal handles). So I started thinking... it's only $199 for a full set, which includes 8" and 10" skillets, 1.5 qt and 3 qt saucepans with lids, a 3.5 qt sauté pan with helper handle and cover, and an 8 qt stockpot with cover (pic). At that price I can justify replacing a good portion of my existing cookware (only Berndes pieces would be replaced). I guess the question is do you think it would be an upgrade? Whaddaya think?

Heh. I think that one goes without saying! Tinned black olives too. Bleah.

I was searching to see if there were any threads about vegetarian food/restaurants and came across this thread. It's an interesting subject and for unfathomable reasons seems to get tempers fired on both sides. Yes, I'm a vegetarian. I first decided to become vegetarian way back when I was about 17, the first time I decided to prepare a farm-fresh chicken (my roommate's family had a farm). I grew up in a meat & potatoes household, and had cooked all manner of meat before. But all the chicken I'd made previously had been store-bought, with the giblets all nicely packaged in the body cavity. Farm fresh? Not so much. I suddenly realized that what I was holding was a dead animal, and I was totally turned off meat. I kept up the diet as much as I could, but I was living in Alberta at the time (big meat-eating, beef-producing area), so it was hard going. I eventually started eating meat again after a few years. When I moved to Vancouver several years later and saw the proliferation of veggie restaurants and food choices, I decided to give it another go. I still eat eggs & dairy & fish, but the thought of eating land-dwellers just grosses me out. I can't break that "dead thing" connection (oddly fish don't count because I just can't relate to them like I can land-dwellers). The meat aisle at the supermarket just smells like death to me. Anyway, I've now been a vegetarian for about 15 years. I hear all the time about others who have gone back to eating meat with no problems, but I don't seem to be able to digest it anymore. Every once in awhile I'll eat something that I've been assured is vegetarian, and I find myself getting sick from it (it just doesn't digest -- 'nuff said). Invariably, I'll ask about it and be told, "oh yes, it has chicken stock in it" or "but it's just a little bit of meat for flavour." Gah! I'm not a militant vegetarian. If you want to eat nothing but a rack of lamb for dinner, go for it. I'll sit beside you and won't comment -- it just doesn't bother me in the least what other people choose to eat -- in fact, cooked meat (especially bbq) still makes me salivate. But why do so many non-vegetarians feel the need to grill me on my choices, or try to sneak meat into dishes just so they can say "a-ha! I'll betcha didn't know you just ate meat!" Obviously I'm not saying all meat-eaters are like this, and conversely yes, I have run into vegetarians who are all in your face about the choice to eat meat. I just don't get why so many non-vegetarians feel like it should be their life's mission to get me to eat meat. I probably eat a healthier diet than they do (not saying meat isn't healthy, but in terms of variety many meat-eaters I know limit their vegetable intake to potatoes). Is it a pro-active strike because they expect me to get on their case about eating meat? It's almost as if it offends them on some level. Okay. Now I'm just rambling, so I'll stop.

Yes. That would be my favourite place as well. I have a friend who loves going to coffee shops to read, but I find the goings-on too distracting. Kits beach off-season is very soothing.

Great topic. Being a vegetarian, meat is obviously top on my list and all of the aforementioned "meat parts" are off my list anyway (thank god!). I will however, eat pretty much anything else, seafood included. The one thing I won't eat though, is roe. Bleah. Just the thought of it...

Spaghetti tossed with: garlic sautéed in olive oil, diced tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, and a bit of asiago.

Nope. It's now a nightclub/drinking establishment called The Pumpjack. ← Damn. I loved Doll & Penny's. My friends and I would always head there after a night out too. In addition to the deep-fried mozzarella sticks, they seemed to have the best stuffed jalapeños.

No kidding. I'd be fighting you for that job.

What colour are you getting? I was watching Moving Up on TLC last night (shut up!) and one of the couples had a green one on their stove. Me want!

I would never hesitate now to contact the health department for a major bout of food poisoning (as I said, I was much younger when it happened earlier and it just didn't even occur to me). But would you still contact them even for something so minor that you weren't really sick, but just feeling a bit off? Do you have to be so sick that you're throwing up or running to the bathroom every five minutes to justify a call to the health department?