Peter the eater

Now you've got me wondering if I've ever had a truly good sausage roll.

Can you taste a difference? I can tell low sodium salt that's half KCl but I don't think I can detect iodine -- not in the levels one gets from iodized table salt.

What's not to like about pork in pie form? The best ones I've had were in the UK, although the British Butcher at Pete's Frootique here in Halifax are pretty damn good. The key is to get one fresh out of the oven. Day-old cold chicken or beef pies are fine -- pork pies not so much.

Try making foil or paper pouches ahead of time. I love the en papillote approach for ease, variety and convenience. It's hard to beat a fish bag.

Recipes are helpful, but good beef stew is very forgiving regarding times, temps and ingredients. I like the use-what-you-got stews this time of year. Try an inexpensive beef blade roast (or a pork shoulder) slice it into 1" slabs and sear on the gas grill for a few minutes. Cube the meat before going into the slow cooker along with all the other good stuff. I usually prefer this way to meat browning on the stove, and it requires no extra oil.

I've never ever seen it for sale -- it's always been a home canning kinda thing. What did you need it for, and was the online product up to snuff?

Bloody brilliant!

It's just like bread. A loaf can be highly virtuous with all the grains and outer layers intact, but a steamy soft slice white as snow is unbeatable. I wonder what the breakfast diner stats are for white versus brown toast. Same goes for pasta -- I'd rather sprinkle wheat germ into the sauce than go with whole grain noodles. Wild rice is not brown rice, but there are many places in the Americas where it's central to the diet.

warning: use a safe search filter when googling that company.

Not USA but very good stuff: Clearwater and The Fisherman's Market.

Right you are, lamprey aren't even really fish. Eels and lamprey are slender aquatic chordates belonging to totally different Classes. If a creature swims in the ocean its bound to have a zillion different names depending who you ask. I suspect the quote's author was calling on an archaic use of the word. I think highly of the much maligned eel, but the lamprey I know living in Lake Ontario are quite hideous. I've caught salmon there with lamprey attached that were almost twice as long as the host. That's like me with a 500lb 12' leech sucking my blood.

That's the way its usually done here. I posted a few smoked eel pictures here on post #2. Unless you catch them yourself fresh eels are hard to come by. I had them fresh many years ago -- a bit like catfish. Home many do you have? Don't forget King Henry I of England never recovered from a 12th century eel bender: -David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History Website

I'm skeptical about that machine. I suppose having one would keep the coffee grinder free of peanut residue. The smoothest peanut butter is not made by spinning blades but by pressure. From experience I can tell you that if enough pressure is placed on a bunch of peanuts they will go from solid to liquid in the blink of an eye. Velvety smoooth.

How unfortunate. I'd die in a world without onions. Garlic's okay though? I wonder what onions have that garlic lacks in terms of bladder irritants. A family member had something that sounds similar but she went back to normal after giving up her "big three vices": booze, smokes and coffee.

I get a Tim Horton's coffee twice a month which is probably less than the provincial average. It's decent and consistent coffee but I rarely get the other stuff. As a grad student in the early 90's I went all the time. I recall they sold something called a fudge buster and a long john 8" which still makes me snicker. Surely someone could come up with more appetizing names for these bake goods.

Looks like fun, as usual. Is it legal in Maine to drive around with a truckload of booze? Here's how we do it:

We've got tons here, too -- wild and seedy with great flavour but not much sweetness. My suggestion: 500 ml berries 250 ml sugar 750 ml vodka Put everything into a big glass jug with a lid, stir once a week and drink at Christmas.

Basil quality is the most important factor, I find. This time of year I can grab just enough deep green leaves from the plant outside and then use the mortar & pestle for that night's dinner. If it's the end of season and time to make a big batch for the winter, I'll use the food processor and freeze cubes. I'm really into purple pesto this year.

As if there already weren't enough reasons to visit Canada's Ocean Playground, here's what the official certificate looks like: Note the four dandy dudes drinking and smiling. They're actors from the 1970's recreating the very first Order of Good Cheer which included a play called "Le Théâtre de Neptune en la Nouvelle-France" -- believed to be the first theatrical event in North America, written by Marc Lescarbot and performed by his fellow settlers at the Habitation in 1606.

Maple syrup, corn syrup, honey, molasses, mustard, ketchup, hot sauces, peanut butter -- none of mine say keep refrigerated. Soy sauce does.

I've never made paprika but I've done the dry & grind with many veggies and a Ronco dehydrator. I've tasted home-made paprika that was also smoked -- very nice. I imagine it's a lot harder to powderize dry bell peppers with a mortar & pestle than it is with an electric grinder -- unless it's a tiny batch. I've dried sliced hot peppers to the point where they simply crumbled into the jar. I'd get them as dessicated as possible before the grind. Your horses must have flowing flaxen manes and tails?

It's one of those truly international songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" or "Happy Birthday". Dozens of countries have adopted "This Land" to suit their own language and geography. Personally, I'd like to hear a version for Cuba performed by Ry Cooder, Juan de Marcos González, and the rest of the Buena Vista gang.

That's a good point. These things tend to be overly complicated, at least in my experience. Living in Vancouver years ago I learned of two issues: people in the East End didn't have enough food while the people in the West End were complaining of a Canada Goose infestation. I unwisely phoned in the obvious solution to a talk radio show and was totally shot down. There have been clashes between Native and Non-Native hunters and fishermen here in Eastern Canada. It's a tough one -- there will always be problems when people aren't all treated the same. I think the market for gull eggs needs to be developed.

That sounds very appealing to me.

A pleasant view to you, Rachel. There's an official chain that's used today by the Province. It looks like something a Mayor would wear to work, or like a successful Olympian displays on the podium but with a dozen more medals making up the strap.You're quite right to identify the duality it must have embodied for the men -- accolade or noose? It really was a matter of surviving the winter -- the other six to eight months were spent exploring the Gulf of Maine, Cape Cod and beyond. Several ships from France would arrive during the summer but from November through to April it was damn bleak. The native Mi'kmaq were allies and quite literally saved their bacon. Chief Membertou was the leader who shared the local medicine with the French, and he was the first Indian to be baptized in New France. I would've welcomed him!