Beebs

Cheetos, the puffy kind. I am its slave. Bread and cheese, especially gorgonzola and rustic bread. I rarely buy gorgonzola now, because I will eat it till I throw up.

You could also try experimenting with tea or herbal/fruit infusions as a substitute. Some teas, surprisingly, have a lot of similar characteristics to wine and liquors. You could try replacing whisky with lapsang souchong, strong Assam-type teas for beer, or a fruit & berry tea in sweet applications. Or find a scented tea like almond or blackcurrant to replace amaretto and cassis. I recall a thread somewhere titled "Cooking With Tea" (I think), but I can't remember whether that's in the Tea & Coffee Forum or this one....

What about things like pita pizzas, quesadillas, or hot grilled sandwiches for your nephew? These are fast food alternatives that can easily and quickly made at home.

Other than rubs and marinades, I use it for seasoning panko crumbs or cornmeal for coating chicken. Also for meatloaf, burgers, and chili (along with "real" garlic).

So my fall/winter project this year is to cook with more grains - barley, spelt, and the like. First on the list is wild rice, which I've never cooked before. What's the best way to do this? What's the ideal rice to water ratio? I've dug up a bunch of differing ratios - 1:2, 1:3.... Can I do this in a rice cooker or is it better to stick with stove top? If I use a rice cooker, would I need to change the amount of water needed? I like it slightly chewy - mushy wild rice is nasty. What's the best cooking time for this? The stuff I bought is from a bulk food bin at a supermarket, with fairly quick turnover; I don't think it's been sitting around in there for too long. I'm not sure whether it is paddy grown or canoe harvested (but probably paddy grown). Thanks!

I like "salmonella surprise" and "spit in the eye".

Quesadillas are great vehicles for leftovers in the fridge. Leftover steak, roast chicken, pasta sauce...it all goes into quesadillas. One time I used leftover Chinese steamed pork patties! This weekend I roasted a pile of fall veggies. Veggie quesadillas are on the menu for tonight. I like to cook the fillings separately or zap in the microwave to warm up a bit before putting it in the tortilla. Cheese goes on tortilla, with the filling on top so it sticks together better.

I've had a lovely squash ravioli that was topped with crushed amaretti cookies, and another one with toasted hazelnuts.

Gaia Bistro just opened in Kerrisdale, in the old Cco Cco Chicken space on W 41st. It looks like they are focusing on Mediterranean/Israeli/North African cuisine. It's right in my neighbourhood, so I'm looking forward to giving it a go soon.

Recipe! Recipe, please!I'll trade you three double chocolate clove molasses cookies. ← Ooh those cookies sound lovely! Ok, I've finally had a chance to wrangle the recipe out of my mum. Unfortunately, her instructions are pretty vague ("A little bit of this, a handful of that..."). -Get between 1-4 pork hocks. The ones that are cut down to rounds will cook faster, but the whole entire hock looks better on the plate. -Remove any bristles -Blanch in boiling water till it's no longer red, and pour out water -In a pot, add fresh cold water to hocks till it's just barely covering the meat -Throw in one whole star anise, one chunk peeled ginger (around 1.5-2 inches) -Throw in cleaned dried mustard greens (if using). To prep mustard greens (mei gan cai/tsai), soak in cold water till soft, and rinse very well, a couple times to get rid of any dirt. Drain & chop. You can find this at some Asian groceries. -Low boil for 20-30 mins. -Add dark Chinese soy. Mum is really vague on this point. Her exact answer to "How much soy?" was "Just pour it in until it looks right." I'd say start with 1/2 cup, and add more later on in the cooking if you prefer saltier. -Throw in 4-6 nuggets of crystal rock sugar. Add more later if you like sweeter. -Simmer till the meat is tender and the fat is sticky and soft, about an hour or so. You'll need to turn the hocks over now and then, so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Reduce the sauce if you want it thicker. It should look shiny & sticky. -Serve with steamed rice or Chinese steamed plain buns. I'm probably leaving out a whole number of steps - sorry - but the Chinese cooking forum can probably help out with additional details.

You could try tofu skins/bean curd sheets. In a well-stocked Asian market you might even be able to get a variety of textures. Or rice paper sheets (like those used for Vietnamese salad rolls), which won't be carb-free, but should be less carbs than pasta. Or use egg to make very thin omelette wrappers.

Moose Pork jowls Pork neck Tripe Halibut cheeks Goose Another vote for rabbit and wild boar.

I find that from-scratch is much more superior than mixes & concentrates, mainly because I find the packaged stuff is much too sweet for my taste. At least for chai - I haven't tried packaged matcha latte. It's not much more time consuming to do scratch iced chai as hot chai. Here's my quick-and-dirty-at-the-office iced chai latte: In a mug, steep a chai teabag, using either 2 teabags or half the amount of water. Add sugar or honey. Fill a glass approx 3/4 full of ice cubes. When hot chai is ready, pour it right over the ice cubes, till you get about 1/2 glass of chai. Top with cold milk. That's it!

I've just gotten a brand-new Le Creuset French oven, and I am dying to break it in with my mum's soy sauce braised pork hock with dried mustard greens. Never made it myself yet, but I can't wait to try my hand at this fatty, sticky, porky goodness!

An Italian restaurant here serves olive oil with a sundried tomato pesto mixed in. What about something like romesco sauce?

I've seen these travel mug/tumblers that have the built-in press where you toss in loose tealeaves, add water, press down, and drink directly from it. I believe Bodum brand has a couple models specifically for tea. Downside is you can't remove the leaves until you've finished drinking it (although you could pour it off into a separate cup). For myself, I tend to use disposable tea filters. They're a teabag-type material with a slit cut in the top. Fill with leaves and drop in your cup, toss out the filter when you're done. You can even pre-fill a bunch of filters, roll them up, and tuck them away in your carry-on luggage. However, like tea balls, these don't allow for as much expansion of tealeaves, but for portability purposes they are perfectly adequate.

Quick and dirty for me is brewing tea in one of those basket infusers (mine's from Teeli). Looks like a coffee filter basket, but fits in your mug. Toss a couple tsps tealeaves in it, hot water, pull out the basket, you're good to go. It doesn't take much more time than a teabag.

I had a surprisingly delicious pizza at Epicurean Cafe (1st & Cypress). Incredibly thin crust (thinner than Lombardo) and just the right amount of topping. Mine had prosciutto and arugula. Italian Kitchen does a good thin-crust pizza too.

S&W looks like they've closed. Either that, or they've undergone a name change. It's now called Szechuan something or other (sorry, can't remember the name). Noticed the change a month or two ago. Anyone been since then?

Are there any opinions on Shaughnessy Fine Meats in Kerrisdale (W 41st & Yew)? I've walked by a couple times, but haven't bought anything yet.

This was sometime ago.... Finished making drinks, tossed a shot glass into the sink with a garburator installed in it to be washed later, forget about said shot glass, forget that shot glasses are cylindrical and have a tendency to roll, turn on garburator a couple hours later..... Yup. Not much fun sticking a hand into a garburator to clean out bits of glass (I did, however, remember to cut the power to it). Also completely fried the garburator.

And serve some kind of sake, shochu or plum wine beverage - call it "Pillage & Plunder Punch" or some such. The cocktail forum people might have some ideas.

Laughed so hard, nearly sprayed coffee out of my nose.... My contribution - find a sushi boat and decorate it into a pirate's ship. Along with maki roll cannons and salmon roe cannonballs. Add a nori flag. Be sure to take pictures for us!

With the heatwave here in Vancouver, it's iced tea for me. Tonight I will be making iced lapsang souchong, with lemon & a bit of sugar. Sounds bizarre, but it's astonishingly tasty!

Baking soda's great - mildly abrasive enough so it shouldn't scratch your teapot, and doesn't leave odd flavours behind. Rinse out with plenty of hot water. I use it on my mugs too. Don't use it for anything else other than ceramic. I also find those little tiny brushes used for cleaning out the turkey baster works well for getting into the teapot spout.