Beebs
-
Posts
1,018 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Beebs
-
-
Some video from the Trattoria Italian Kitchen opening last night. Pretty place. Kinda gaudy for Kits, but I'm sure it'll do gangbusters.
Went there for lunch yesterday, and it was packed! By 1pm there wasn't a seat to be had. Had antipasti, bruschetta sampler, veal & arugula pizza, lamb pappardelle, panzanella salad (between the 6 of us - not all by myself!). Very good food, definately exceeded expectations.
-
Just noticed Cheesecake 101 on 4th has packed it in, ostensibly to focus on their wholesale business...
It's going to be a PHAT. From the Urban Diner archives, two months ago:
My favourite Vancouver sandwich spot is expanding to Kitsilano. Fans of Yaletown’s PHAT (an acronym for Pretty Hot and Tasty), and in particular their smoked meat sandwiches, will rejoice in hearing that William Kaminsky is opening his second location at 1859 West 4th in the old Cheesecake 101 location. They picked up the keys yesterday, have their plans sorted, and are putting in their application for a liquor license. Expect longer opening hours, a menu that is a carbon copy of the Yaletown location’s, a communal table, espresso bar, and garage door frontage for al fresco suppage. D-day is July 1st.
Mazeltov.
I spoke with Kaminsky just a few nights ago and they're on track, give or take a few days (probably give). I'm looking forward to it.
Awesome! They're only a block from my work - I guess that's where I'll be spending all my lunch money!
-
There's both a Save-On Foods and Superstore at Metropolis in Metrotown, Burnaby - that might be the closest to where you are. Save-On is at the Station Square side, but Superstore is in the mall proper. Personally, I prefer Save-On - it's tidier. They're going on strike though, in the next couple days, so Superstore might be a better bet at this time.
-
I'm looking for two completely different items:
1) bulk baking soda - I don't need a 25lb bag, but I'd like a largish quantity, say a kilo, hopefully more economical than buying little boxes;
2) I buy bulk beans in the Punjabi Market, and they're very clean and reasonably priced, but the stores I shop at don't have several varieties I use regularly, including split green peas, black and pinto beans, etc. Can anyone recommend a store that sells bulk beans that's known to be clean and free of six legged hitchhikers?
I'm in North-East Vancouver and on the bus, so location is somewhat important, but any suggestion will be carefully considerd. Please and thank you!!
Have you tried the larger supermarkets? Save-On and Superstore come to mind.
-
We've been having ours cold with a rice vinegar dressing lately! Steam/boil as usual till cooked but a bit crispy. You can shock in ice water, but I'm too lazy so I undercook a tiny bit and let it cool on the counter. Drizzle with a mix of rice vinegar, soy (I used Japanese), smashed garlic clove, ginger, sesame oil, a bit of sugar. Sort of like ohitashi - Japanese spinach salad.
-
But an even sillier incident took place at Charles de Gaulle - although it had nothing to do with customs, it was when I was trying to check in my luggage for a flight back to HK. The person at the check-in counter said, "do you have any chocolate in your carry on luggage?" When I said yes she told me I'd have to put it in the check-in luggage. When I asked why she said, "because it can be melted and turned into a liquid!"
I didn't know they made chocolate explosives!
That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. If they let you bring a bagful of 100mL liquids on board, then a box of chocolates shouldn't be a problem. I can fit at least 5 100mL bottles in one of those plastic bags they give you--they think I can't combine them all to make some kind of explosives?
Haha! This reminds me of an SNL skit where a bunch of customs/security agents were in a seminar about items prohibited on the plane and they were asking all these questions to stump the instructor. This one guy said couldn't a bunch of terrorists all have a few little bottles of liquid, then combine them to make a big amount of liquid.
My mom always loads up my sister with homecooked goodies when she visits from the US. This visit she brought home meat buns. In the past, she's also taken back entire meals - chicken curries and stirfries with pork. Hasn't been stopped yet!
-
I've always wondered what customs officials do with all that food they confiscate. Do they toss it? I know it's a risk to bring stuff in, but it makes me sad to think all that good food just gets binned.
-
'Fess up - we've all done it! Packing contraband goodies into your suitcase, hoping that customs officials don't sniff 'em out!
Check out this article in the Globe & Mail - "Is that a sausage in your suitcase?"
According to this article, there is actually a wide range of foodstuffs that you can legitimately bring into Canada, for personal consumption. Items like mustards, sauces, candies are all OK. Turns out you can even bring in cheese - pasteurized or unpasteurized - as long as it's under $20 in value, or 20 lbs by weight (yaaay!). Meats, of course, are prohibited.
So..what clandestine edibles have you all "smuggled" across the border? Have you ever been caught? Tell all!
-
What is "ants climbing a tree"? Sounds intriguing!
-
Canadian tomatoes are apparantly safe to eat...so far. Article here. Some Canadian fast food outlets have also taken tomatoes off their menu, but it's not nation-wide yet. Tomato sandwiches this summer aren't a lost cause yet, hopefully!
-
An episode of Martha Stewart showed her re-using pickle juice after all the pickles have been eaten. Instead of throwing out the jar & juice, Martha tossed in carrots, asparagus, other veggies, & cukes into the juice until they pickled.
-
I have stumbled into this discussion out of curiosity.
Although I don't generally drink mixed drinks, I am fascinated by the whole idea of mixing flavors.
The question of too much "tannin" comes up often. In China, tea leaves are often left in the cup and more boiling water added as the tea is drunk.
At lease some authorities say the second and third infusions are better than the first. Perhaps some sort of pre-brewing would make better infusions.
This seems to lead to two possibilities:
1) Re-drying the leaves to prevent diluting the infusion.
2) Use of grain alcohol to compensate for the water.
Of course there is lots of room to experiment with temperature and time, but I would guess that 1 minute in boiling water would reduce bitterness considerably.
BB
I'd recommend against pre-brewing tealeaves before infusing them in alcohol. Once I spoiled a whole bottle of vodka when in a moment of genius I decided to pre-brew some green tea before pouring the vodka over top, to speed up the process. Big mistake. It made an incredibly tannic, bitter, and scuzzy-coloured infusion.
I think tea infused alcohol works best when infused either at room temperature or even in the fridge. I guess it's the same principle as cold-brewed iced tea - it's much less bitter than hot brewed tea, the hot water pulls out the tannins quicker than cold water. The colder the alcohol, the longer it takes to infuse, but I find it tastes much better.
I used to work at a tea shop and it was a lot of fun messing around with tea & alcohol! (and tasting them!)
I recall one of our staff experimenting with smoked lapsang tea & vodka...something about coming up with a drink reminiscent of scotch. Don't remember tasting it though. -
Napolitan ice cream this month, which I haven't had in years. Ate almost the entire 1.5L bucket by myself.
-
I am a late comer to this topic. Just yesterday I bought a bottle of Campari and it was the new stuff with the artificial color. My bottle at home which was damn near empty was the old kind. I had enough left to do a taste test.
The new and old taste a little different to me when sampled neat. But not to any degree. And I would be more than willing to accept the Kinsey concept that the age of my open bottle, which certainly is into the years, would cause this.
In a Negroni, it would take a far more educated pallet than mine to taste any difference. I did not try a side by side with just soda as I did not have enough left.
I use Campari in cocktails, mostly Negroni's and I just don't think the difference, whatever the cause, is discernible.
I'm with you on this one. I can tell that they taste different when they're side by side, neat. I've also tried it in a Campari & soda, and a Jasmine, but my palate's definately not discerning enough to taste a significant difference mixed in a cocktail. Although the old formula cocktails tasted a bit richer to me. Haven't tried it in a Negroni yet, though.
My old formula bottle is around 6-8 months old, and I opened the new formula bottle about 4 months ago.
That being said, Campari & soda is one of my favourite drinks, and it is a pity they've decided to change it....
-
Ooh I love FreeRice.com!
I heard about it on our local radio station in Vancouver. They're doing a Free Rice Day on June 10, and encouraging everyone to play Free Rice for 4 minutes at 11am. Check it out...95 Crave FM.
-
Not sure if this qualifies for this thread, but Vancouver Coastal Health has just released their 2008 food establishment closures.
-
-
-
He might try Enterprise Paper, Unisource, or Great Little Box. I don't know if they've got what he's looking for, but they do custom work and they might be able to redirect him to someone else if they don't have the boxes. GLB would probably be your best bet.
-
Here's another vote for SBonner's recommendation! Their Imperial Earl Grey is my all-time favourite - much more bergamot-y and none of that weird sweet orange flavour that other Earl Grey teas have. You can order online.
-
I ate a chicken pie for breakfast just now!
Here in Vancouver the Asian bakeries carry little tart-sized savoury pies, usually chicken. It comes baked in a fattening, flakey crust typically made with a lot of lard. Puff pastry pies filled with chicken or curry beef are also very common.
-
My latest OXO purchase is one of those teeny tiny liquid measuring cups (1/2 cup, I think) that has the measurements on the inside, on that slanted part. Not that I need one, but it was just too cute to resist! I'm using it for cocktails.
-
Italian sodas - flavoured syrup, soda water, squirt of whipped cream.
Taiwanese-style pearl milk tea (bubble tea). Hmm...actually this one might be a bit too complicated, what with cooking up the tapioca....
There used to be a Italian coffee shop in my neighbourhood that made a concoction of sorbet and tea or juice whizzed in the blender. Kind of like a Slurpee but much, much tastier!
-
I don't know if there's a similar thread in the Pastry forum, so moderators feel free to move this post!
When I make cheesecakes, I always press a large sheet of heavy duty foil around the springform pan before placing them in their water baths. But no matter how I wrap the pan, water inevitably leaks through the foil and soaks through the pan, resulting in a somewhat soggy crust. Last time, I used TWO sheets of foil, but no such luck. Are my wrapping skills sorely lacking? What am I doing wrong?
Gout
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
It's much more common than one would think. My dad's had it for years, and at least half a dozen people I know have it too. Dad gets a flare up every now and then, especially if he's had too much red wine and other rich foods over a few days. Anyway, he swears by apple cider vinegar & honey, says it lessens the frequency and intensity of flare ups. Every single morning, he takes one tablespoon each of the vinegar and honey, stirs it into a cup of hot water, and drinks it all down. Dad's gotten a couple of his gouty buddies on this treatment and they say that it's doing wonders for them too.