SuzySushi

Sent for. Will report back. Thanks!

Recipes? Someone mentioned recipes? Somewhere I have a recipe, passed along by a friend, for Easter biscotti made with multicolored jelly beans (Jelly Belly not specified). They look very pretty when sliced. Not sure about the texture, though!

Homemade sushi and sashimi: Tekkamaki (my daughter's favorite) and hamachi sashimi, served with homemade pickled cucumbers. Fresh lychees for dessert!

P.S., When I clicked the link today, it took me to a search page. I then found it again by typing in "True Lemon." The article's title is "Lemon Idea Crystallized His Success" and its complete URL is: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-b...,6066263.column

My father has passed on. We took my husband to A Taste of New York Deli, which opened recently in Honolulu. We haven't had a deli here for quite some time, and he really enjoyed the pastrami on rye sandwich (we split one -- it contains 11 ounces of meat!!!). 5" high cheesecake for dessert, from the Carnegie Deli's recipe. But we did stop in Chinatown on the way home, to buy some tea he likes!

Here they're called jin doi or jin dui.

How scary! Best wishes to you, and to your wife for a quick and full recovery.

True Lemon is a new crystallized form of lemon juice/lemon oil that its maker hopes will become as common a seasoning as salt & pepper. Has anyone tried this stuff? Clicky clicky

Chocolate Coffee Rice

Lots of interesting memories... and many of us seem to have started off with scrambled eggs or some sort of baked goods. The first "gourmet" meal I cooked was when I was in my early 20s, still officially living at home, but housesitting for a friend who was out of the country on business. I invited my boss over for dinner and made coq au vin (rather good, but slightly gray because I'd used my friend's cast iron skillet!) and lemon meringue pie.

How come we don't get that amazing rambutan here? Oh well, enjoy it. ← Because we eat it all!!!

Yuck!!! Blech!!! I don't think even Popeye would touch this one!!!

Raspberry!!!

Is veganism only for the wealthy? What about the many thousands of vegans in India?

Dinner tonight: Char shu-style lamb (guess I'm in a Chinese food mood ) made with Lee Kum Kee jarred char shu sauce base. Kasha (left over from the other night), and haricots verts (my husband's in a green bean mood).

Sake traditionally is not served with dishes containing rice (including sushi) because it's made from rice. It is served with sashimi and sakana (small dishes, the Japanese equivalent of tapas). Bowing to American custom, most sushi bars in the USA do serve sake, however.

I've heard about this before I still dont believe that it can be done, I heard about from a chef who provided the mangoes, he tried and never could replicate this, he reckoned it only worked with certain varietys!(Whenever I've tried I just end up with mango puree) Another way is to cut wedges out, two cuts opposite angles and pop the wedge out then just run the knife next to the skin to remove it, perfect wedges and the sweeteness next to the skin with the mango not the skin. ← We do it all the time. It works with Hadens and Tommy Atkins, which are the most widely available varieties here. Haven't tried it on some of the others. (Believe it or not, there are at least 143 varieties of mangoes, as depicted in this poster!)

My husband devised a quite different method, for when you want to eat the mango with a spoon out of the flesh. Cut around the middle of the mango crosswise -- not following the seed. Now hold both ends (or top and bottom, and twist in opposite directions as if opening a jar. Voila! One half of the manog will pop off without the seed, and you can use a paring knife to trim the seed out of the other half.

A recipe I picked up a while back from an Australian magazine (maybe AU Women's Weekly?): Steam or microwave 2 bunches baby bok choy until crisp-tender. Combine 1 T grated ginger, 1 T brown sugar, and 1 T honey. Sprinkle over bok choy. Sprinkle with 2 slices crumbled cooked bacon. Serves 4.

Last night: Stir-fried pork, long beans, and mushrooms in black bean sauce. Served with fragrant brown jasmine rice. More watermelon for dessert.

Wendy, the Hawaii forum has a photo thread on Papa Beard's cream puffs. skchai couldn't get their "secret recipe," but maybe you can figure some things out from the photos!

I'm looking forward to your blog, too. I've actually been to Edmonton -- to see the Mall, of course! -- and will be curious to learn more about the area.

White cardamom and green cardamom are essentially the same, except the white ones have bleached pods. The seeds (which are the part that's ground) are brown. Black cardamom is a different type with larger pods and is used primarily in savory Indian dishes. Scandinavian bakers have a preference for white (bleached) pods, but since cardamom doesn't grow in Scandinavia it all comes from a tropical source. The ground Guatamalan type will be fine.

I buy the thin-sliced ones and use like scalloppine. I also slice them up for stir-fries.

Great solution! Now, if everyone did this...