Pookie

The Carrot on Danforth? They always have a huge range of every bossible health food know to man.

I hate cleaning the toaster. All those little crusty crumbs get everywhere. They burn and stick and some how seem greasy eventhough the toast doesnt get buttered until after........

I love the concept of Breakfast in Bed. But I really don't like the reality. I prefer to be up, showered and at a table for my breakfast. Or in my jammies and messy but by my self. Breakfast in bed might be okay IF I had advanced warning and could shower and be clean first. But the perfect menu would include a fruit cup and some form of Hash Browns. And a light puffy omelette. And french press coffee or my own pot of tea.

For me KD is a Once-a-Moon kind of food. Actually I think it's fake cheese powder that I crave monthly but some months that takes the form of Cheetos and sometimes KD. The Husband always nods sagely when the KD makes it in the grocery cart and plans a night away from home so I can indulge without guilt. I never dress it up. Mom never made it for us, I think I only ate it once before I moved out. Now it's more often than that. I like to tink of less as a food and more as a rare element that my body needs every once in a while to keep functioning. Cheeztronium!

My two Grandfathers passed away before I was born, but I did get to know my Grandmothers. They were very much a study in contrasts. My maternal Gramma was very much a country cook - jell-o salad, cold sliced ham and bread with butter were sunday lunch staples. The food was never fancy (spaghetti was strange and exotic) but it was always good and fresh and filling. She was an excellent baker and I have yet to get my butter tarts turn out with the filling at exactly the right stage between runny and chewy that she managed every time. She also did a lot of canning and preserving evey summer and it was lots of fun to run down into the basement and pick out a jar of home canned green beans for supper. She died when I was sixteen. It's been fun hanging out with CaliPoutine because she lives in the next town over and I get to see lots of the places we went together. My paternal Granmother hated to cook. I think she actually hated to eat. We found several years old salad dressing in her fridge when she moved. She once served my oven baked fish and chips with Catalina dressing, because she was out of ketchup and since they were both red I could "pretend" Actually those fish and chips are the only thing I ever remember her cooking. Every other time we were with her we went out or my Mom cooked. My father is a very good cook, a skill he says he honed in a effort to have himself and his sister not starve.

Saffron-Vanilla-Pear Ice Cream Made this for dessert last night. The Saffron flavour and colour really came through in the finished product. The pears just gave it a nice texture. Whoo! My first cookoff post!

Indeed. The Hot House is not too far removed from Kelseys or Applebees and the like. If you want a nice brunch, Hello Toast or Bonjour Brioche are both much more fun and better food.

A few thoughts from the other side (yes I run the food service dept for a Hospital!) Most of the food is indeed pretty crappy. At the hospital where I work - in an effort to cut staff and costs they have moved to a retherm system. That's where the food is brought in cold and already prepared and heated on the plates. Most menus these days are constructed with the idea that people are in and out of the place so quickly that one or two meals is all they will get. There are also very strict food safety rules and regulations in place. That lovely steak that you got Bruce would have been brought to 75C and kept there for at least a minute. No bacteria, but no flavour either. You dont even want to think about the minced and pureed foods. We do our best to make them taste good but there is only so many things you can do with puree peas, beef and potato. More and more hospitals are offering butter as the dietitians are still arguing hydrogenated vs saturated fats. I prefer butter. I don't know how it works in the States, but here in Canada you can request to speak to the food service supervisor and they will do all they can to make your meals work for you. We can even authorize Cafeteria vouchers. Sometimes all it takes to boost your mood is a trip to the cafe. We try our best we really do. But we are constrained by bugets and staff cuts and the limits of our equipment. That said I plan to have a few cans of fruit and some good Korean instant noodles with me if I ever end up in hospital.

We have a Garlics here in London. The food is fine, Nothing spectacularly special but not bad. I think we have been twice. The cost is pretty reasonable. No Idea what the service is like at the Stratford location. Which shows are you going to see? I got my playbill in the mail yesterday and am already plotting.

I could mail you some if it's cheaper than ordering from somewhere. They are availble at the corner store so it's no trouble.

Yup, they are much more like Jujubes than anything else. But much much stiffer to chew.

You can get them pretty much anywhere in Canada too. There are a couple of different brands but Maynard's are the classic and the best. I like the lemon but Black is a close second.

Moving away for College I went to a sandwich shop in the basement of the St Lawrence Market in Toronto. Where I ate the most sublime veal and eggplant sandwich at the insistance of one of my newfound friends. It completly blew my mind. I thought I hated eggplant! It was crispy and juicy and meaty. It opened my eyes up to the possibility that eggplant might just be good......

Mmmmm Duck and risotto. These are probably some of my favorite things in the world!

My Dad always called me "Turkey" when I was growing up. I kind of miss it. The husband was refered to as "Squirt"

We ate at Inn on The Twenty for our Honeymoon. It was great and I really reccomend it, especially if you are staying there. (more wines to tase if you don't have to drive somewhere else)

I have made the Ham in Co-cola from Nigella too. We all loved it. I also do ribs and such in a cola marinade. I did see once where someone made a coke reduction and served it over ice cream. And Boiled coke is supposed to be good for sore throats.

Bonjour Brioche on Queen. It past the DVP going East, but the french toast is great.

JUst got back from a trip to Stratford and had dinner at the Belfry. I have to agree with the person upthread who said the service was sub-par. I have never eaten at the Church so I really can't sompare there, but I have had better service in much cheaper places. We had to ask for refills on our water, and were only offered one slice of bread each. And it took almost 45 minutes for our appetizers to arrive. As for the food I was actually kind of disspointed. I had the tomato and mozzarella stack and while the menu claimed charried tomatoes, I had under ripe cold ones. The husband had the poutine that was very tasty, but found the fries lacking in crispness. They had not been soaked and blanched and were very dark. The mains were also a slight dissapointment. I had the Bison, and asked for medium rare. I got what was obviously the end of the roast and it was more like medium. But the panko onion rings were superb! Dessert was great, but I was again not pleased with the level of service. I had mentioned that it was a birthday celebration for the Husband and would have thought that would have at least meant a candle or a little something, I don't know maybe I am expecting too much. I don't think I would rush to go back. I have had much better dinners for a lot less money. And I don't feel that the prices are in line with the atmosphere. It was much too casual for what we were paying.

I have a fabulous bean pot with lid that makes the best. baked. beans. ever. At a garage sale for .50$ Plus some housekeeping manuals from the 1910's in a box for .25$ Mom picked up a Paderno sauce pan, never been used at an acution for 5.00$ (normally around 75$)

I hate ranch dressing too. At least the bottled and dry package stuff. I have never made it at home. The Husband laughs at me but I can't even stand the smell. And I agree on the sub for mayo idea. Plus it's a sneaky way to pile lots of fat on your salad and still beleive you are being healty.

gee... i don't know.. use judgement--if it's available to you? if you've eaten any of the dish, it's useless to them... so, I would pay for the whole item. ← But it was cold and inedible! So Sam should have to pay for a meal that was not up to standards and that he barely tasted and that he tried to have fixed? I realize that the food is useless to the restaurant now, but it was cold it was usless to Sam too. Leaving 50cents on the table would have probably been even more confusing, not to mention pointless. If I had received a meal that was no good, and tried to have it remedied to no avail, I would not be paying for any part of it.

How do you calculate the value of two bites?

Fresh blueberries and Ricotta. Yummy and enough protein to get me through to lunch.

Things that go over well here (retirement home) are salisbury steak, Stews, meatloaf, and chicken thighs in sauce. If there are hydration issues, a stew would be great and can have lots of veg. You could even make and freeze some biscuits to go with. Or a nice thick pea soup with garlic bread. Even some yogurt popsicles would be nice for the hot summer, plus sneak in some nutrition.