Peter the eater

This is precisely the time of year I get excited about making a worthy haggis from scratch. Then I remember I can't get my hands on a good ox bung or sheep lungs. Then I wonder about substitutions and reinterpretations. Then I fantasize about veggie haggis, and then I reaffirm that such a thing is beyond oxymoronic and completely misses the point. Here's a pictorial that's not to be missed:Tim Hayward's step-by-step Haggis

Robbie Burns Day comes at the perfect time each year. End of January, freezing outside, it's time for a hearty feast of whisky and offal. For me, it's not about the poetry. Who is celebrating, and how? FYI here are two earlier topics from 2005 and 2009

When I visit the in-laws at Conception Bay, Newfoundland they make us traditional fishcakes using salt cod. For hundreds of years people in these parts would lay out the cleaned and salted cod on spruce flakes to dry in the sun and air. Cod is the reason why England made this place their 1st permanent colony in North America.

That guy on the Colon Cleaner label looks like he means business. Keeping with the alimentary theme, there is a hot sauce called Anal Armageddon. I saw it in a shop in upstate NY somewhere, maybe Saranac Lake? It was a few years ago but I recall the store was 100% dedicated to hot spices from all over the world, leading up to a glass cabinet containing a small vial of pure capsaisin.

A pound cake is a popular housewarming gift.

Great job Nick. I particularly enjoyed seeing the seafood from half a world away. It seems your monkfish (formerly sold as stargazer) is very different from the Atlantic kind I can buy -- different species, family and order. I love big shells on a pizza. Anybody who looks down their nose at cheese and seafood together, such as Ted Allen from Chopped, hasn't tried a pizza like that one.

So many ingredients, so little time. A few weeks ago I went to my local Frootique with the idea of making an exotic fruit platter for a pot luck party. The friendly staff guy was cutting open everything for me to see and taste -- it was a lot of fun. I brought home one or two of almost everything I sampled and took them to the party. Some of that platter went untouched but it sure looked good. I would like to go back and get more savvy with things like carambola, mangosteen, kumquat, pitaya, etc.

On the contrary, growing up with monotonous and unremarkable food could send you on a path of personal culinary enlightenment. To suggest that one can never be an expert because they don't have the right family background is absurd and offensive.

Fresh yuzu is completely unavailable here. All I can find is yuzu vinegar and yuzu tea from a jar. You need to talk to the folks at Pete's Frootique. I'm sure they'd bring some in for you! Of course, you'd probably end up paying even more than $5.95. I did, and they don't. Pete's Frootique has never carried fresh yuzu. Sad but true.

Fresh yuzu is completely unavailable here. All I can find is yuzu vinegar and yuzu tea from a jar.

I bought a new HomeMax toaster during the Boxing Day sales a few weeks ago. I paid $6.99 CAD plus 15% tax for this 2-slice model made in China. So far so good.

It's worth doing, no prick = spall.

I don't have the answer. Whenever I re-squeeze the goodness out of my tea leaves I think of Donald Pleasence in The Great Escape. He played the nearly blind forger in a WWII P.O.W. camp who got weeks out of a single scoop, and his other senses were probably heightened.

That's my kinda market. I didn't realize spatchcock is also a noun. Can you elaborate on the meaning of a size 5 bird? I'm used to the fryer-broiler-roaster concept.

I think most of us in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying a good foodblog from down unda. I like the Fine Fish shop but I have to say, I don't like those prices. Are they typical or is it a high-end seafood boutique thing?

It is a capable dough-maker/riser, but a terrible baker. Do follow your instincts and bake in the oven!!! I got an inexpensive Black & Decker bread maker and I love it. It's being used primarily for dough making -- I don't like the big brown cube with a hole in the bottom.

Now that you mention it, that was a Guffmanesque weekend. Eugene Levy has been making me laugh for 35 years. I'm proud to call myself a Lucy Maud Montgomery fan -- and she's a fellow Dalhousie University alum.

For the Terry Fox Run, we started on the NB side and, I think, at the Jourimain Nature Centre. Next time I'll spend more time there.

That's an excellent idea. The PEI Potato Museum is not to be missed!

How about a grapefruit granita/granité/slushy?

I'm of the mind it matters most when they're raw. Once cooked, the strong colors and flavors mellow.

As Bob Dylan would say, no, no, no, it ain't me, babe. That tree looks like it belongs in a warmer climate. My first thought was Table Mountain, South Africa. Who lives near Cape Town?

I would love to see a photo if possible. Do you plunge the bird in hot water first? When I'm at the inlaws' farm I use a rotating drum with dozens of 4" rubber fingers on the outside. It takes only a minute for me to pluck a medium chicken with this gizmo.

I will eat________________ healthy foods from sustainable sources I will make_______________ as much as I can from scratch I will learn______________ to manipulate hot sugar I will read_______________ all the good books and mags that come my way

What's your M.O. for getting the feathers off a Canada Goose? He looks pretty lean -- did you poach him?