SuzySushi

What a wonderful story!!! You really should publish it -- it could become a classic.

A wonderful blog, Rachel, lyrical and making me nostalgic for experiences that weren't even mine. Glad your husband is on the mend, and you deserve an award for continuing to blog at this difficult time without even missing a beat!

You don't need to replace sweetened condensed milk. Use the Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe and use your choice of milk substitutes (soy milk, non-dairy creamer, or coconut milk) to replace the evaporated milk. No need to adjust the sugar content then.

That's them! Thanks!!! There are so many varieties here (red iso peanuts, wasabi iso peanuts, even chocolate-covered iso peanuts!) that it never occurred to me that the defining feature is the presence of nori flecks.

I have a question for everyone here. Maybe the answer is already somewhere on eGullet, or even in this topic, but the word is too short for the "search" function to work. What is the meaning of "iso" in "iso peanuts" (etc.)? I know the snacks are covered with a crunchy arare shell. The snacks are tremendously popular in Hawaii, where they've become a local favorite, and they're always referred to with the "iso" prefix. Is "iso" a place name?

Book burner!!!!

My GOD, you are a beautiful writer. This is so lyrical, it almost makes me weep.

Eeek!!! You know when I first saw these pictures (when the thread was scrolling and I couldn't read the text), I thought they represented the front and back of a T-shirt!!! Well, why not???

Upscale private label is not that new. There's just more of it around these days. The first upscale PL brand I recall noticing was "President's Choice," originally developed by Loblaw's in Canada. D'Agostino supermarkets in NYC began offering President's Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies back in 1988, and other President's Choice products followed. A&P also developed its own upscale PL brand (whose name escapes me right now).

That's never happened to me (the candied ginger doesn't last that long!), but just a thought: would tossing in a couple of fresh apple slices help, like one can do to keep cookies soft?

Myojo (Thailand) does. ← Do you (SuzySushi and snowangel) mean "after the cooking"? ← Well, at the end of the cooking process (which takes 3 minutes max). I usually stir in the seasonings just before I remove the pan from the heat.

What cut of beef? I'd have a hard time justifying oxtails again -- they are really expensive! And, does anyone have any ideas for a Venison Daube? I've got to get my freezer emptied out because I'm prepping for two more deer later this month... ← The recipe I use calls for beef bottom round roast.

Myojo (Thailand) does.

No other responses? I'm in! I have a recipe for Daube de Boeuf I've been using for several years now... don't remember which cookbook it came from. The recipe says it serves 8; I've never had it serve more than 4... everyone laps it up. Will get the ingredients and try to make it over the weekend.

Miligai, I have a question for you that's slightly off-topic but not really: do young children in India (or from Indian families in the West) also go through a "white food" stage? When my daughter was 2 or so, she ate virtually everything that we did -- spicy Thai curries, picking up asparagus spears and whole green beans with her fingertips. Then about at age 3 that all changed, and she would eat only "white food" -- white rice, ramen, spaghetti just with cheese and butter (no tomato sauce), white bread (no crusts). From what I understand from our pediatrician, other parents, and reading materials, that's a fairly standard developmental stage in American culture. What about elsewhere?

It sure does! Too bad each chicken has only two. Who can wait to save them up? (They're my "cook's treat" before anyone else gets to them.)

Lucy, They're called "chicken oysters," and they're my favorite part of the chicken (or turkey!). Just the other day, I read an article online about how some chefs are saving up these morsels for their favorite customers and preparing them with luxury ingredients like shaved truffles. I can't find the link now, but maybe someone else here remembers it -- this particular article can't have been more than a week old. Maybe in Restaurants & Institutions or The New York Times.

There's hardly ever enough of it left around here to get into recipes... but, its great chopped into strudel filling with pears, wonderful as an ingredient in gingersnaps or gingerbread, adds oomph to fruit chutneys and salsas, and I recall one Christmas making chocolate ginger bark to give to friends.

Through no fault of my own, I am stuck with 8 Red Delicious apples (an oxymoron if I ever heard one). They're no good for pie. We're going to a potluck and I'd like to incorporate them into a dessert recipe. Suggestions, anyone?

Now, who among us is going to run out and buy a Healthy Choice frozen meal to see if they've succeeded?

Yes, it does sound redundant. Healthy Choice's website explains further, "Salt to Taste? We Prefer Adding Flavor to Taste." Googling the phrase "flavor to taste" finds a slew of recipes that use the phrase as a synonym for "season to taste," usually with seasonings other than salt. Voila! A new catchphrase.

The ong choi stir-fried with Yellow Bean Sauce served at Keo's Thai restaurants in Hawaii!

Has anyone tried the estate olive oil from Costco? How does that stack up?

Gizzard in French is gésier. It's the part of a chicken (or other poultry) that digests its food.

Japanese snack crackers -- the little ones often made from rice flour. Either they're popular in the Netherlands, or the Dutch make something similar!