Beebs

I think he's kinda cute...imagine him with beady little eyes.

It may have been mentioned upthread already, but I find it significant that as far as I'm aware, there are no bloggers' professional associations. Now, I'm not saying that anything considered a profession must have an related association, nor that one must belong to a professional association in order to be considered as such (like "real" chefs!) - but it certainly places some distinction on journalists vs bloggers. Professional associations have codes of ethics & conduct that members must follow and are made accountable for what they do. Screw up and you get fined or suspended or have your designation stripped or otherwise disciplined. Bloggers - well, in a nutshell, they can do whatever they want and are not accountable to anybody, laws and other legal stuff notwithstanding. And yes, while it's in a blogger's best interest to be accountable to his/her readers as far as not publishing utter garbage and putting off their readers, they most definitely do not need to be. So IMHO, professional journalists - as do doctors, realtors, lawyers, engineers, housing contractors, etc. - are willing to subscribe to certain codes & practices that go above and beyond the requirements of the state/federal laws.

Dried bamboo leaves for zong zi - sticky rice + sweet or savoury fillings, wrapped with bamboo leaves. It's soooo good!

Actually.. in the Fujian province of China they make a tangy, very salty cow's milk cheese called Nguri which is used to condiment plain Congee... I could see a combination of Yogurt, Rice Vinegar & Soy Sauce working well with Congee as well. In Yunnan they make a flat, leathery cheese called Rushan that is grilled then rolled with various syrups including Condensed milk... it would not be a stretch to blend Yogurt with Plum preserves or wine to make a dipping sauce for Rushan I thought about this a bit more after posting - changed my mind, sort of. I can see yogurt working with Chinese dessert-y applications - red bean soup, mango pudding, tapioca coconut soup, pastries & baked goods - that sort of thing. I can also see it as a substitute for mayonnaise in certain dishes that use it - seafood fruit salad, sweet sour pork chops w/ mayo (personally, I don't think mayo goes with those dishes either - bleeeehh!). Yogurt + plain white rice would be ok, as would be with curried things. Might also be fine as a dip for deep-fried spicy salt & pepper chicken/pork ribs. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of "standard" Chinese dishes commonly found in restaurants. Yogurt + steamed scallion ginger fish? Ick! Yogurt + red braised pork? Eew! How about yogurt mixed in to chicken chow mein? Or with gai lan & beef? Vile!

Yogurt goes with hot wings/buffalo wings. Doesn't go with soy sauce. Or hoisin. Or fermented black beans. Actually, I can't think of any Chinese dish that would go with yogurt.

What's your recipe for curing this? Looks delicious.

Wild Pacific spring (chinook/king) salmon. It's so rich and oily and delicious. Especially the toro, the stomach part. Mackerel is a very, very close second. Most fun fish to eat is whitebait prepared Chinese-style - battered, deep fried, with hot chilies and garlic.

Poached medium soft or over medium soft, if I'm dining out. At home it's soft boiled, so that the whites aren't runny.

There was a husband & wife thing here several years back. Husband & wife ran a small napolitan pizzeria (it was very good), did good business. Wife found out husband had been carrying on with another woman. Kicked him to the curb, she kept the pizzeria. Few months later, he opened up another pizzeria a few blocks down the street. Ouch!

Someone might have mentioned this one already, but caught it on Food Network this weekend & it's been bugging me ever since... "With au jus" - arrrggh!!! It's "au jus" only. Or "with jus". Not "with with jus".

Tourtiere. Mini or full-sized, and they taste good at room temp. Sugar pie, apple pie, pecan pie. California rolls.

Extra virgin olive oil or almond oil for dry skin, especially if your skin is sensitive to fragrances and chemicals. Takes a little longer to absorb than skin lotion, so for the first 10 mins or so, careful not to touch anything that you don't want greasy.

There are some good suggestions back in the earlier pages, about page 3 I think. I had the same problem with the cassis and apricot brandy, didn't know what to do with them.

S'mores, toasted in the toaster oven. If you don't have chocolate, peanut butter will do in a pinch. Or Nutella, or caramel sauce, and I bet condensed milk or jam would be delicious too. If you're homicidally desperate, just have at the Nutella with a spoon. Or a finger.

On the subject of cupcake makers, I saw these at the London Drugs: Cake Pop Makers I've never made cake pops, but I can't imagine it being all that difficult to squish a bunch of cake crumbs into a ball.... Also, these seen-on-TV things are just weird: Eggies The eggs are pretty funny-looking when they come out of the contraption, not even egg-shaped.

I rather envy your position, Chris Amirault. Ever since my cookbooks broke our bookshelf a couple years back, my DH has banned me from purchasing any more books. I went cold turkey for about six months thereafter, but have since started sneaking in new books. Until our bookshelf breaks again or we run out of room - at which point I will have "done" forced upon me.

Bumping this topic up. Article in today's Vancouver Sun on modernist cuisine in Vancouver: Vancouver chefs embrace modernist cooking. It mentions Hamid Salimian of Diva at the Met and Jefferson Alvarez of Fraiche employing modernist techniques in their dishes.

I have a GIANT bag on my counter! Go to Costco, snacks aisle. The one in Richmond or Grandview Hwy should have it.

Another one for sushi. Because there are more sushi joints than burger joints here (or so it seems). Most sushi places here are generally above average quality, given their low price point. Cheap, plentiful, fast. I don't need to be bothered to make my own sushi. ETA: We do sushi takeout a few times a month, in addition to dining in.

+1 for congee. Also miso soup. The packets of instant miso soup paste works in a pinch - squeeze it into a mug, add hot water.

I bring all my odds & ends of cheese to my parents' house and dump it in their fondue pot for cheese fondue (I need to get my own pot).

Christmas/fruitcake + slice of sharp cheddar.

EVOO. Running out of EVOO induces a panic attack and dropping everything to madly dash to the store to restock. I can do without butter for an (very short) amount of time, but not EVOO.

This is it. Sick of complications, sick of going out, sick of rich food, sick of everything. Toasted cheese sandwich and soup. Perfect. Ditto. Simplest comfort food is best for when DH & I are sick of eating. I gravitate towards easy pastas like carbonara or aglio e olio, pita pizzas, grilled cheese sandwiches, pan fried steaks, green salad, ramen noodles from a packet. Or takeout sushi & a bottle of sake.... I can see this is going to be our January eating.

Argh! People who do this make me so angry! Also the jerks who help themselves to the bulk nuts and candy. Makes me want to shove their heads into the olive brine & pickle them. My Whole Foods & Safeways have signs at the olive bar saying that the clerks would be happy to help customers with samples. Why people don't just ask for the samples is mind-boggling. Once at another supermarket chain I saw a store manager berate a jerk for digging into the bulk nuts and kicked her out. That was great. Anyway, as for whether I buy olives from the olive bar - I try really, really, really hard not to think about the germs. Usually that succeeds. Especially if I really, really, really want olives. Usually I scoop the olives from the back & bottom of the bin because I think that people mostly reach for the olives at the front and top. And yes, I know that doesn't make a bit of difference because the germs get stirred around anyway. But mind over matter and all that, right?