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Badiane

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Everything posted by Badiane

  1. I second that recommendation! Rowena's is really lovely. The golf course at Cultas Lake has just refurb'd the Bistro...it's not terrible. And as I won the golf clubs in the Safeway Lucky Break contest thingie, maybe I will see you out there :-)
  2. You might try booking a table at an equally nice restaurant, of which I am sure there are many. Then on the day of, call the French Laundry and see if there is a cancellation you can scoop up. If so, call the other place and politely cancel. Might work. And at least you would have a backup to go to if not.
  3. Badiane

    sage

    Sage is very estrogenic...Sage tea is a great way to relieve, well, woman issues Cramps, bloat, that kind of thing...also extremely good for hot flashes and other menopause type symptoms.
  4. That was my wedding cake! My husband made three of them and unbeknownst to me, iced them 'british' style - where the filling/icing between layers is as thick as the cake layer itself. They were HUGE! I still don't know how he did it, as I was off getting pampered that day. Ling, you would have loved it. I dunno how you eat what you eat....but may you never be afflicted with the metabolism of a 40 year old mennonite woman.
  5. Y'all know that Taco Bell is owned by the Purina Dog Food people, right? Think about it....
  6. Nope...hoisin is a bean based condiment, also called Duck Sauce. Plum Sauce is that stuff you put on egg rolls or dip chicken fingers it - basically a vinegared plum jam of some kind.
  7. I throw a couple of tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding into the cream if I need it to keep well for longer than usual. Works like a charm, and it's barely detectable.
  8. Just wandered back to my desk from the cafeteria here at work...we have about 2000 employees serviced out of an obviously low budget cafeteria operation. So I wandered back and talked to the manager, who kindly showed me the roster of things they put out on a rotation basis, and believe me, if they didn't sell, they wouldn't bother Individual cups (clear plastic drink cups, about 10 oz size, with lids) contain variants of the following: Pudding - chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch and lemon Cheesecake cups - Jello cheesecake mix with various flavours - often they use things that have gone a bit stale, like brownies and cookies, as stir ins. Sometimes swirl in fruit, depending on what they have on hand Jello - sometimes with fruit in it Mousses - usually strawberry or lemon or chocolate. Probably from a mix. Also popular: Muffins Banana Bread and other loaf type sweets. Zucchini season cometh! Cupcakes Cinnamon Buns Baking Powder Biscuits - ham and cheese, cheese, raisins, varous mix ins for variety. Pies - instead of individual pies, I would do a big 'sheet pie' and cut it in squares Sheet cakes of all kinds Butter Tarts They also make a thing I call 'church cake' because it's at every church function I have ever been to. Basically, you make a baking powder biscuit dough, but instead of just milk, you add an egg to it also. Spread that in a pan, top with chopped apples, or plums or whatever fruit you have on hand, then top that with a butter, flour, sugar crumb mix and bake. It's great - very homey and comforting and looks good. You can do a million things with biscuit dough! Also, I would go out looking for donations. Lots of big companies will donate things, particularly if your cafe and such are geared to feeding the less fortunate. Best of luck.
  9. Badiane

    Mom's 50th

    So many ideas!!! Since you have never cooked duck breast before, I don't think a party for 20 on a special occasion is the place to try and develop that skill. You could, tho, if you wanted to include duck, whiz down the the chinese grocery and get a bbq duck, or to Oyama and get some confit and make this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/108327 I make a modification of it sometimes...you could change it up to fit your timeline and skill level and tastes. Nice hand held recipe. I already put my crab suggestion in the Vancouver crab topic...so I won't type it again. I seem to be full of Asian style stuff today...I like a nice poached or steamed shrimp wrapped in a snow pea and skewered with a toothpick drizzled with a nice sesame soy or nuoc mam type viniagrette. Or, you could wrap the shrimp in bacon, pancetta or prosciutto, skewer it and grill it. A nice tomato viniagrette would be good. You going to bbq the chicken? I'd stick with thighs or legs...but that is just me. Or do a nice salad with the chicken in it. Good make ahead. New potato salad, a nice pasta salad, maybe something with couscous or another grain? I could go on for hours. For salads,
  10. You really are a miserable SOB, aren't you? Geeez Louise. You are going to end up a bitter, lonely old drunk if you aren't careful. I know I can get away with saying that because you have a finely honed sense of sarcasm, of course
  11. Oh probably not - I think she didn't even open the business until the 80's...I doubt that she actually invented them, since I remember eating them at Christmas time as a kid...one blurb in a cookbook I dug up from the trunk of forgotten cookbooks says that she 'popularized' them. In other words, she was probably the first one to slap them on a catering menu and sell them for five times the cost of the actual ingredients.
  12. I believe, and of course the opinions will vary depending on who you ask, that the Nanaimo Bar is the culinary creation of one Susan Mendelson of Lazy Gourmet fame...God knows I made enough of the damned things when I worked there a hundred years ago.
  13. Crab and Mango rolls...crab, mango, little scallion, hint o' wasabi, bit of lettuce, a few sesame seeds, wrapped in either Nori or Rice Paper wraps... Mmmmmm....crab. Must go to the market this weekend.
  14. Thanks, Lemon Curd...I might have to buy some in an exotic flavor and give it a go...I loathe chunks of fruit in my jam, so probably I wouldn't mind them. As for the shop in Chilliwack, it's a section in Dicken's Sweets, a British food shop, tea room, bake shop and museum. I wouldn't say they have anything that you can't get at Michaels. If you were here, it would be a good stop, but to make the trip, well, depends on you, I guess. They have cake rounds of all shapes and sizes, as well as a good selection of cellophane bags for candy and boxes for choccies and little paper cups and things. They also have some premade candy fillings in piping bags, but I don't know the quality of them, as well as lots of candy making supplies. They have a good selection of cake pans, for sale as well as rentals, and disposable piping bags, food colorings and the like. It's really just one aisle in a bigger shop, but if you are looking for something specific, just call Dickens Sweets and ask. Does anyone know a supplier for dry food coloring powder?
  15. Did you see what she had for breakfast yesterday???? Chocolate shortbread with walnuts! I wanna go live at Ling's house. But only after I adopt her metabolism. Sigh. And thanks be to to Lemon Curd for the Qzina link...and I am wondering - all those wonderful frozen fruit purees - do you know if they would be suitable for making jam with? Do you know anything about or have you used the product?
  16. Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that myself I think Ling would be a pleasure to cook for...and I will forever be jealous of her apparent ability to eat like a linebacker, all the while maintaining that trim little figure. Life just isn't fair sometimes.
  17. Actually, if you are looking for a Cake Taker, check out second hand stores and garage sales...I have some interesting vintage items that are fun and funky. They aren't airtight, but they are good for transport and service. I got one at Value Village that is a crystal cut plastic...very 50's - tacky and all that, but it's a great conversation piece. I like going to sales of the 'Granny passed, let's sell her stuff' variety. You can find the coolest stuff.
  18. I have been getting really great plastic rounds for my cakes...totally washable and only about a dollar each, which is nice, since I am a reuser. I get them from a cake shop here in Chilliwack but I believe they are Wilton products. Michael's Craft Stores have a shocking amount of cake decorating stuff - at least the one in Abbotsford does, as well as acetate and rounds and a huge selection of food coloring paste and pretty much any Wilton item you might want. They have locations in West Van, North Van, Langley and Poco as well as a bunch of others. Here's the link: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home If you want to order online and don't mind dropping a few bucks, here is a great place called PCB that I sometimes order things from - they have the most beautiful transfers: http://www.pcb-creation.fr/ As for the Tupperware... http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/home They have a Round Cake Taker, a Rectangle Cake Taker and a Pie Stacker. And you can buy online... no party, no tupperware lady harassing you. and no, I am not a Tupperware Lady.
  19. If the crowd can handle it - like if they are adventurous eaters and not a group of 80 year olds, I LOVE this Black Pearl Cake. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231449 it really is fantastic...and not the least bit wierd tasting. It all just works.
  20. Have you been reading Bon Appetit's BBQ issue? I just posted this same thing on the Vancouver board...but am going to be in Seattle in a week or two so will be interested if anyone can recommend something nice but not horrendously expensive.
  21. I am also a Dubrulle grad from the Diana Becker days...I trained under Olivier Andreini (now at the CIA) and La Feenie himself. Misled? You betcha. Prepared for a job? Not even close. I came out with excellent classical techniques, but didn't actually know anything. I was a very accomplished cook when I enrolled, and it did hone my skills. But some of the students in my class couldn't cook! Nothing! I don't actually know if any of them managed to make a career or not. I sure wouldn't have hired any of them. Looking back, I can't believe Karen Barnaby didn't murder me on the first day, never mind that she actually tolerated me for 6 full months. Karen, I am so sorry for being the worst freaking line cook in the history of your restaurants As for Feenie...he went to Sweden when he was in high school and that made a big impression...a few flying visits to France, Chicago and NYC, but as far as I recall, he is local through and through...from Dubrulle to Le Crocodile, back to Dubrulle, back to Le Croc and then he opened Lumiere, which was in the works for a number of years before it got off the ground.
  22. Gawd, that could not be truer. You just practically summed up my first year out of Culinary School! If I'd had any idea what I was getting into the first day of culinary school... Rob Feenie indeed!
  23. Okay, I'm not a wine person, so I'm not even going to pretend I know what I am talking about, but I would like to get ahold of some sparkling Shiraz for a party I am having. Of course the liquor outlet here only sells either Baby Duck, the best of Quails Gate and the odd bottle of Calona Red, so a trip to the city will be in order. Can someone tell me where I might find a sparkling Shiraz, and perhaps recommend a not over the top price wise type to try out?
  24. Oooo...we were there too! I thought they had a nice selection of things, but hey, it's way overpriced. But that kind of thing generally is. I picked up a bag of 50 toothpick sized skewers made of bamboo...figured I'd get a couple of bags because the local dollar store doesn't get them anymore. Yeah, right. I dropped them like a hot rock when I saw the $15 price tag. $15!!!! for bamboo toothpicks!!! Who are they trying to kid?
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