Kerry Beal

Getting lost scores again! I was heading out to Le Pain Quotidien after I finally dragged myself out around noon. I spend the morning struggling with the removal of 5 words (actually the same word 5 times) from iMovie - with no success - and with a second attempt to get my MiFi to allow me to get online - also with no success. After walking around in circles for a while looking for a street that had to be there somewhere (after all I saw the damn restaurant two days ago when I was lost the last time) - I came upon a memory from my last trip here in 2008. Sultans of Kebap - home of my very first lahmacun! Place hasn't changed a lick except for the construction out front. Just peeking out from it's foil wrap. Of course one must have frites and mayo with it. Stuffed with meat and garlicy/oniony salad goodness inside.

Yes it does - thank you so very much!

Gnocchi with nduja has a certain ring to it!

Don't actually have one - but have seen them at the store. A simple stainless bowl works fine for me!

I think it's just a simple Chantilly cream (flavoured if you wish), I'd probably stabilize it a bit and the shavings stick to the cream - let me attach here a ink to the page on Fred's website where you can see him covering one with cream and you'll see why the shavings would stick. The top meringue is buried in there rather than being a sandwich on top, http://www.auxmerveilleux.com/the-story/

For some reason I'm getting albino Cookie Monster in a snow storm - oops now I can see it - nice!

It's 12 V with an adapter that handles 100 to 240 - 50 or 60 Hz so it only needs a 3 prong appliance cord appropriate to the country you are in or a wall plug adapter to adapt US cord to your wall plug. I brought along a European cord with me here to Belgium for the unit I've repaired. There are 4 in Australia right now - none in Melbourne though (but not knowing the geography there could be one in the "Melbourne area").

Is that like a Rachel Ray garbage bowl?

Found my way (after getting just a bit lost) to Les Caves du Sablon for dinner. Here's the view going down the stairs into the cave - watch your head! They had G'vine Floraison gin - which is a favourite of mine - so I had him mix me gin, aperol and vermouth. Opted for the prix fix meal - Belgian waffle with stuff - not sure what stuff. Couple of lovely scallops with great mushrooms and other veg strings. A smattering of nice chunks of foie with citrusy little potatoes. Pigeon with a tasty little potato side - the pigeon was a little gamey - but if there hadn't been two other tables with people in them - I would have licked the plate clean of the sauce and butter from the potatoes. Dessert was more than a little disappointing - it had no softness to it at all and lacked any truly defining flavour. The waiter was alone - two rooms to cover - he rushed back and forth the entire evening - easy to see why he was so svelte. I was delighted to hear him explaining in his rather broken English to 3 Japanese girls at the adjoining table the reason that the pork was so good was that they cooked it in a bag in water and the fish was so good because they cooked it in paper in the oven with vegetables for the first bit - then ripped it open and finished it off. Interesting that being in cave meant some strange acoustics - there was a birthday group at another table - lots of talking and such - but one woman's voice carried as if she had a microphone and was using it to talk right into my ear. None of the other patrons at that table had the same effect.

I put recalcitrant chocolates in the freezer for 3 minutes at a time. Putting them straight in there tends to shock the chocolate and doesn't give you a better result - trust me on that!

They are for mussels - big serving and little serving. Did I mention that mussels were a twofer at the grocery store today. Cheap relative to everything else in there.

With my electrical tape in hand (which I found at the very first shop I went to to try to find a connector) I finished up my repair and put the injured EZtemper back together. Took me longer to get that one tiny little screw back in the top than to do the whole damn repair. But there is something satisfying about listening to it purr like a kitten over on the table.

I also wandered in and out of various antique and art shops - the last one kind of put a damper on that when I looked at the content of some of the art. Tintin isn't supposed to accompany a very large phallus is he? Ran across a housewares shop - Liked these - but didn't buy. Found a perfect beer/tea mug. Probably much cheaper than the one I would have got at the square given my negotiating skills. I ran across the frite stand that I have passed a few times in my travels but resisted. Today I chose to give in. Petite frite with joppe sauce. Need suggestions about sauce choices - don't know what most of them are.

Found a supermarket on my return - of course I needed to check out every shelf. Love the idea of square spice jars! On the left beef fat, on the right vegetable.

Wondered out this morning in search of electrical tape. And a mug for my tea. This was not on the street when I went out yesterday. It was attracting a lot of attention. I found myself in another square where the vendors had a combination of antiques and junque - I was rooting through some boxes and found a beer mug that would have worked for my tea - however it was beginning to rain again and the vendors weren't anxious to do business. So I took myself into Au Vieux Marche and had a Salad Niçoise - there were a couple of anchovies hidden in there that provided a salty surprise!

Very exciting e-mail this morning from one of my 'ambassadors' in Sweden - there was an article published about him in Journal Chocolat and he waxed poetic about his EZtemper. I first got to know Ryan when he purchased an EZtemper for the Swedish pastry team when they were competing at the Coupe du Monde in Lyon. He's an Australian and will be moving back to Oz in the fall and getting the team there ready for competition as I understand it.

@a_pinch_of - I'm curious to know how your freeze dried caramel turned out.

Knowing nothing is not an issue - someone will take you in hand and teach you the basics. Toronto airport to Niagara on the Lake is about 100 km - from the Buffalo airport a lot less. But there is a border in between. I will organize a block of rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn - lots of people have shared in the past. I've got my roomie already. I'll make sure to see if I can get a rate on both sides of the weekend so that people can spend longer. NOTL is a wonderful place to spend a few extra days - and you can always drive down the see the bride's second great disappointment.

Funny boy - you want mcgiver?

Not a huge fan of pumpkin pie myself - but often make it for others. This recipe from Ideas in Food made a very tolerable pie.

Attendees: RobertM gfron1 (tentative) pastryani tikidoc ChocolateMom Audrey Brown TandemChocoPC Chocolot

I didn't get anything at the cheese shop - I did look at some young Tomme cheese but realized I didn't have the ability to make aligot in my hotel room.

Oh my god - they've heated the milk (and foamed it I think)

They sent over cookies to go with my tea.

I recall my Clapps Favourite had good years and bad years - and the similar trees in the neighborhood followed suit. We lived in an area that used to be orchard