Rhea_S

Made tea but forgot about it, as usual, until I was in my car and on the way to work. Had approximately half a cantaloupe sometime around 10:30.

Your nickname is inspiring. I just remembered that I have to go to the used bookstore today at lunch because I spotted a Nero Wolfe novel on sale for $1. Not in the best shape, but all the pages are there. On-topic: Herbfarm Cookbook, A Real American Breakfast Off-topic: Potter 5 (last week), Mapp and Lucia, So Big. I've been exploring the older section of the local library.

Chex Morning Mix, Earl Grey's Lemon Biscuits, low sodium wheat thins, Girl Scout Animal Treasures, GS Thin Mints, GS Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Tangerine Sour Altoids, two flavours of green tea, ranch flavour organically-grown soy nuts, orange-herb Ricola, Tommy Atkins mango, two peaches.

Congratulations! Great results for a non-diet!

I'm bringing a Boston Cream Pie to a dinner party this evening. I'm using the recipe in Carole Walter's Great Cakes. It uses a hot-water sponge cake, a vanilla custard filling that uses only 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk and a chocolate glaze that combines unsweetened and semisweet chocolate. It doesn't look as rich as other recipes, but most cakes from this book are usually delicious. I made the filling last night, the cake this morning and I'll assemble when I get home from work. If I have time to go to the store this afternoon, I'll pick up some cream to lighten the filling and to make ganache instead of the glaze. I'll post a review tomorrow.

They're really easy to make. One batch of crackers usually only takes me 30 minutes total working and baking time. The hardest part is rolling out the dough, but none of the recipes I've tried have stiff doughs. Favourite store-bought: Stoned Wheat Thins. I have a bit of a giggle when I see the "Imported" label on the boxes here in the US. (cheap thrill, I know)

Pan-fried tilapia with chervil and garlic Corn, tomato and basil risotto cakes ( I had the risotto the night before and formed the leftovers into patties last night and coated with a little panko) Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

I've never thought of Joe Forte's as a place to go for food, at least not when I was living in Vancouver. It was more of a "see and be seen" kind of place - women in short skirts trying to catch the eyes of men with fat wallets. I was never tall, blonde or skinny enough to feel comfortable there. Nevertheless, Ellen's photos almost make me brave enough to venture into Joe Forte's next time I go home.

Those photos are excellent. They look incredibly 3-dimensional on my monitor. The clams and mussels in saffron were reaching out to me. Please keep travelling, eating and sharing with all of us.

Mini sourdough boule that I baked during my lunch hour and a slice of saracino cheese.

Corn and cheese ice cream -- I remember liking it although the cheese part is most likely some sort of processed cheese (e.g. Velveeta).

That's exactly what I want for lunch, but it's already 1:23 and only a few more hours until I can go home. I am nibbling on a rather disgusting bar of chocolate -- milk chocolate with banana flavoured filling. Major yuck. I just discovered a bag of soy nuts in my desk. They're amazingly not stale and still edible. I'm too embarrassed to say how old they are.

Yoplait Peach Nouriche -- not bad if you like yogurt although it's a bit too sweet and the chunky fruit bits are a little off-putting for something so liquid.

Central Illinois: fuji apples bananas navel orange feijoa (pineapple guavas) tommy atkins mangoes strawberries

Thanks Suvir! I've never had real parathas, so I didn't know what I was missing.

I buy a Malaysian brand, Kawan. I like both the plain and the onion parathas. Suvir: I've seen recipes for paratha, but they always look too simple. It doesn't seem quite possible for something that flaky and delicious to have so few ingredients and steps. Are they truly simple to make at home?

What would you use for frosting? I can't think of any at the moment that have no eggs and/or dairy.

About once a week. All cooked at home since I don't think there is a Japanese restaurant where I live. There's one place with Tokyo in it's name, but it's more Chinese with a little teppanyaki-style cooking for show.

Tzatziki or cucumber raita or any other yogurt-based sauces.

I currently only have Indian food about three times a year. There's a decent Indian restaurant here in Springfield and I like their food too much. I always eat far more than I should. The main problem is that I usually have to go on my own because none of my friends here like Indian food. I have great difficulty ordering for one at this Indian restaurant because they don't have a thali plate. The closest thing is to order several dishes of Midwestern proportions, eat 1/8 to 1/4 of everything, take the rest home, eat leftovers the next day and throw out the remainder. It's expensive and wasteful, but I need all those different dishes. I don't cook Indian at home for the same reason.

Amazon got it to my door yesterday, and I must say it appears to be all Nightscotsman says. I am terrifically excited about baking form this book. Have you tried anything yet from this book, Maggie? I made the Jeanette(?) Pepin pear cake this morning and brought it to work. It's fast to make and delicious. It's definitely more of a clafouti than a cake.

Grilled eye of round with spicy yogurt-walnut sauce (June F&W) Spinach sauteed with garlic and lemon zest Mushroom pilaf The leftover beef will be turned into yam neua(sp?) for tonight's dinner.

They were also featured in the latest Saveur.

Schielke mentioned body fat analysis already, but another route is to take your measurements (waist, hip, thigh, etc.). Weight can mean very little for some people and can be discouraging. I've gained about 20lbs in the last year and half, but my measurements haven't changed all that much because most of my weight gain is muscle. I pretty much avoid scales because 130lbs on a 5ft frame sounds like I'm overweight but I'm not. I hope you feel better soon!

Langka, as it is called in the Philippines, is used both in its ripe and unripe stages. The ripe fruit is added to sweet, sticky rice, halo-halo (similar to ais kacang) or a dessert soup made with coconut milk and sweet rice dumplings (similar to Japanese mochi). The unripe fruit is cooked with shrimp, coconut milk and hot peppers to make a delicious curry-like dish and it's one of my favourite dishes even with its unappetizing grey colour. We also roast the nuts. I'm sure there are lots of other uses for jackfruit, but those are the ones I remember.