Beebs

I haven't been here myself, but Little Nest Cafe on Commercial Drive has been getting a bit of press for being a very kid-friendly restaurant. www.littlenest.ca You could also try various Chinese restaurants - they do quite well for larger family gatherings with kids, and tend to be more relaxed when kids get rambunctious.

Another vote for pizza, eaten slightly warm. Cold chicken wings.

Another question - can these heat up in the toaster too? Would the icing melt?

Wow! I am making this for a brunch next week! How many poptarts does it make?

I don't have any advice on beef liver that has a bubble wrap texture, but I'm intrigued by all the other stuff you got. What are you planning to do with the heart, feet & tails? Did you get any other parts like tripe?

I've been following Peter Green's terrific travelogue over in the "Elsewhere in Asia" forum, and all the good eats he's had in Seoul has given me a craving for Korean food. So, bumping this topic up, any recommendations for Korean restaurants in the Vancouver/Richmond/Burnaby area? BBQ or other. I haven't had Korean food in far too long!

I'm pretty boring when it comes to asparagus. Steamed asparagus dipped into soft boiled eggs really does it for me. Or dipped into Japanese mayonaise, the kewpie brand. Mmmm!

Pre-toasted and buttered toast. I forget where I saw/heard of this.

I have some in the office fridge right now for today's lunch! The ones I bought are the finger-sized ones, but I got them from a Korean grocery store. Fried up with cabbage, pork, and mushrooms. Oh darn, just remembered I forgot to pack chili paste!

Mmm...I bet it'd make a killer Bloody Mary or Caesar! *writes Clamato Juice on grocery list*

There's fresh rabbit at Columbus Meats on Renfrew. Unfortunately, it's way over on the East side.

We had this the other day for dinner: -Block of tofu, medium or firm, drained and sliced -Arrange in a layer on heat proof plate or dish -Slap a fillet of salmon on top, with a couple tablespoons of chicken stock (I used tinned salmon, only because I didn't have any of the fresh salmon) -Steam until salmon is done, unless you're using tinned, in which case steam till heated through -In the meantime, finely julienne green onions and ginger -Heat up in a small sauce pan about 1/4 cup vegetable oil, till hot -When the tofu and salmon are done, arrange onions and ginger (cilantro if you've got it) on top, drizzle of soy. Carefully, pour hot oil on top of the whole thing, it should sizzle. That's it! Or if I'm feeling really lazy, make a dressing of soy, sesame oil, touch of rice vinegar, grated ginger, finely sliced green onions, pour it over cubed soft or medium tofu, and just eat it like a salad. It's good hot or cold.

Yesterday I went to a Taiwanese restaurant that served this spicy salty daikon pickle. It was cut in small pieces and mixed with hot red chili paste and fermented black bean. I don't think there was any vinegar, so it's not the sweet & sour kind. Does anyone have a recipe or technique on how to make this kind of pickle? I especially like how the daikon was so crisp and crunchy - I imagine you'd have to salt or brine it? TIA!

Fermented black bean, chicken feet, and strawberry ice cream.

I cheat by throwing in a couple dashes of Japanese soy sauce and half a beef boullion cube. The soy gives it a nice rich colour, and I like how they both impart savouriness without being overly salty. How long does it last in the fridge, if it's in an airtight glass jar?

Where can I find Thai tea, the stuff used for making Thai-styled iced tea with the milk? I can't recall seeing it at T&T, but it could just be that I'm not sure what brand I'm looking for. Thanks!

I found the drip coffee contraptions in a Calgary T & T, but you can get that here too, if you haven't gotten one already.

My mum's had her Lu Shui for over 15 yrs. She used to store it in the fridge with the fat seal, but is now freezing it between uses after she had a jar of it go bad once. My favourite is braised duck, eggs, and dried pressed tofu. For years I've been begging for a jar of her Magic Lu Shui, but she'll only pass it on to us kids when we get married. Now that I'm getting married this yr, I'm holding her to that. Only a foodie gets excited over the prospect of a jar of old braising liquid as a wedding present!!

Yesterday I had some spaetzle at a German restaurant. I hadn't had them in awhile and forgotten how tasty spaetzle can be. Googled a couple recipes, they seem pretty simple to make, so I'm going to try my hand at them in the next little while (there's a Tyler Florence recipe I'm eyeing). Other than sauteeing spaetzle in butter as a side dish, what else can I do with them? Are they ever eaten as an entree, like pasta? What sauces I can serve them with? Anyone have a killer spaetzle recipe? Thanks for any suggestions!

A soft boiled egg with Maggi sauce. A humble grilled cheese sandwich, with a swipe of onion confit from the onion confit thread.

My refrigerator (Frigidaire) decided to crap out on us last year...in July, on Canada Day long weekend! It also happened to be the hottest weekend of the year.... Anyways, we dumped out all our food, because the repair guys wouldn't have been able to come in till after the holiday. When he did, he told us the compressor died, and there's no point in fixing it because it wouldn't have been worth the cost of replacing the part, as it was nearly 10 yrs old and at the end of its lifespan. We replaced it with a Fisher Paykel digital fridge, glossy white, bottom freezer drawer. It took 2 weeks to come in (yes, we were fridgeless for 2 whole weeks - in July!), but worth the wait. It has a higher price point (I think after taxes it came out to around $2400 CDN), but much longer lifespan (15 to 20 yrs). Pros: lots of freezer space, digital controls, large crisper drawers, very quiet. Cons: less shelf space.

I just threw out a small box of Chinese green tea. It definitely went bad. Not bad as in stale or old, but definitely off in a rancid kind of way. Tasted extremely bitter, oily, a little bit like how nuts and oil go rancid. I've never had tea go rancid on me before, but I guess it's not unsual given the naturally oils in the tealeaves. Anyways, the fishy raw-egg tasting tea mentioned above - I'm wondering if it got moldy or damp when it was sitting around in a warehouse before retailing. Or maybe that particular batch hadn't been fired or dried properly.

...people smoked on restaurant patios? (Err, well...not here in Vancouver anymore, that is...)

My beef curry is never as good as my mom's. Neither is my beef stew, for that matter. The beef never gets as soft and unctuous as hers, it's always kind of mealy and dry. Even though I follow her instructions to a T, my curry and stew is always missing that special something-something that makes mom's so delicious.

I used to work for a wholesale company that catered to restaurants. The answer that we frequently got whenever we tried to upsell a higher quality of tea than what they were using was that they don't do a lot of tea, they do mostly coffee, that a proper tea service requires more effort from the server, and they didn't want to spend extra cash to upgrade on something that was fine for what they do. Yup, there are plenty of arguments why they SHOULD serve better tea, but that's a whole different topic. I've essentially given up on getting good tea at restaurants and settle for coffee instead. It's easier to find good coffee at most establishments; I'll have my tea at home.