FauxPas

I don't like mint juleps either. Not at all. Something about that combo just tastes off to me. But I do like Mojitos, which also have mint and can look very pretty. Would that be an OK substitute? Or maybe make a Mint Julep Cake? Not sure if this would be great or not - and even the recipe author said she might do the frosting differently. But I kinda liked the idea.

@ElsieD, can you give me an idea of how much of the MacLaren's you use for your halved recipe? I suspect you'd use less per weight than you would with the regular grated cheddar, if that makes sense. 😃

Ooooh, I love MacLaren's cheese, your recipe sounds really good and I will have to try it! 🙂

Good point, @rotuts! Looking closer at the photo, it just says whole olives, so there's a good chance they are not pitted. Here's the olives at the website, they cost more if you buy them online. https://www.costco.ca/asaro-farms-organic-castelvetrano-green-whole-olives%2c-1-l.product.100728816.html For some things, I have been willing to work with unpitted olives, but it's a real pain if you are just blending them into something.

I noticed that Costco Canada has a 1 litre bottle of Castelvetrano olives on sale for $7.49 (reg $9.49) now and until May 2, for Canadians who might be making Little Green Dress. 😃

This is a disappointment, I was looking forward to some more puzzles! 🙂

Do other Canadians remember Cuban Lunch chocolate bars? My brother and I used to like them now and then when I was really young. They were always good for sharing because they seemed so dense. Lots of chocolate and peanuts! I think they stopped making them some years ago but I found out they are now being made by a family in Camrose, Alberta and my husband found a couple at our local London Drugs. We shared one as a snack. Unfortunately, they aren't quite what I remember. The originals were more milk chocolate and this one is darker chocoate which I know will make them more appealing to some people, but not to me! 😒

Sending healthy vibes his way! And maybe a tall, cold glass of brew. 😀

I know some other Canadians will be familiar with China Lily Soy Sauce. It may be a bit coarse, but I have been known to have some in the cupboard and get the odd craving for it. A bit of a panic when it seemed to be in short supply last year, more pandemic buying? https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/china-lily-shortage-1.5817336 https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2020/11/toronto-soy-sauce-factory-shuts-down-neighbourhood-wonders-whats-coming-next/

A couple more places that are very local to me and easily shippable. BC Tuna (also salmon and smoked oysters) Clever Crow farms (Lia's products vary through the season, she used to do her own salt harvesting and salt blends, as well as herb blends from her farm)

It has lard in it and I can always taste the lard. To me, it's not a great taste but I know people who love that soup.

Will they be shipped within Canada? Which province? Some things would be a problem to ship outside of the country. Will they be for Canadians? I'm just wondering if things like Canadian maple syrup are desirable, it's pretty easy for Canadians to come by, but I've sent it to friends in Israel, ha. I like Saltwest for various products made from hand-harvested Canadian sea salt here on Vancouver Island and it's the type of thing that is easily shipped. https://www.saltwest.com/ There are lots of small farms that produce different things and their offerings can vary during the year. For example, here in the Comox Valley, Shamrock Farms currently has available goat milk soaps, lavender (including some culinary lavender) and seeds. I've never bought from them but Vancouver Island Gift Basket has gift baskets with locally made products. I recognize some of the products. Lots and lots of other things in various provinces and regions, but depends on what type of product and where you want to ship. For Canadian chocolate, I think @Kerry Bealis your best bet. There are commercial chocolate makers like Roger's and Purdy's but not sure that's what you are looking for.

Never tried them, don't think we see them in stores here though I probably saw them in the US. But I'll always remember them from an early episode of Breaking Bad, when they are first setting out in the meth lab RV and Walter White asks Jesse to bring some food for their time out in the desert. Jesse brings Funyuns, it's a funny little exchange, as I recall.

Dairyland here and $3.49, but still a good buy! Thanks!

The question was about Jersey Royals, which are purportedly the UK equivalent to the Warbas in some ways. Though they don't look the same, maybe it's just that people really love them for whatever reasons. I was wondering if you were familiar with them? I know you haven't lived in the UK for some time, so apologies if this is a silly question. https://www.jerseyroyal.co.uk/

Are you left handed? We've met a few times, but I can't remember! Or maybe you just need to hold things in your left hand to leave the right hand free for the camera photo? Not that it matters that much with this kitchen helper, but it does matter with some kitchen items! 🙂

I think it's tough to identify a specific variety sometimes. I know here in BC, a lot of the potatoes I buy may be identified as grown in BC but lack any specific varietal information. The exception is the Warba nugget potato, which many people here are MAD about, there's a buying frenzy when they first come out in May. They are my favourite potato for several kinds of potato salads. They are a very early potato and I think they are grown in Ontario also? I'm not finding a specific answer to that online, maybe you can ask around or check online yourself if you think you might be interested in them. We have a couple of farms right here in the Comox Valley that grow Warbas and the farm markets are very busy when they first show up, sometimes as early as early May or a couple of weeks later in a cooler Spring. In Ontario I would guess maybe in June? They are usually available for a couple of months but the earlier, the tastier! They aren't storage potatoes, they need to be kept in the fridge and should be eaten fairly soon. I like to steam or steam-roast them in the CSO. I like my potatoes in potato salad to be firm so I don't overcook them. But everyone is different in terms of their preferences. What I love is different from someone who likes a softer potato. If you do a search on eGullet for Warba, you will see a few posts where I have photos of the Warbas and some salads I made with them. Here's a standard potato salad, for example. (you'll have to scroll down) Here's another one with beets. One more, a warm salad with tomatoes and feta and green beans. Ha, now you don't have to search. 🙂 Sorry to go on about the Warbas, but they are one of our fave Spring foods! I hope you can find them in Ontario. If you do, please let me know, OK? (Also, I hope you get vaccinated soon, I think you said you are eligible now!) Edited to add: Somewhere it said Warba potatoes are similar to Jersey Royal potatoes or they serve a similar role to people in BC, @liuzhou, are you familiar with those? How would you describe them?

We acclimated our hardwood floors, engineered hardwood and laminate in various places we have done renos over the last several years. I think it's very common. Wood and wood products seem to require it.

Looking really nice!

The website is great, also. There are updates to the Regrettable Food gallery but some of the other sections are also terrific fun to peruse! https://www.lileks.com/institute/index.html

I've read about this a few times also. I know we can avoid some of it here because we can catch our own or buy it off the boats in the harbour or from the oyster farms, but grocery stores and restaurants can still mislead us (I think a fairly common one is a restaurant passing off farmed salmon as wild). I trust some stores and restaurants more than others, but they may not even know what they are getting at times. I know that Thrifty Foods had some initiatives to try and trace fish, but it's probably still open to manipulation. https://thisfish.info/generic/article/14/ https://thisfish.info/trace/

Oh, I see what you mean! You are quite limited in counterspace. I'll second @ElsieD and say how impressed I am with what you create in that kitchen! You must be pretty organized. In fact, your space does look pretty well organized. Do you love lots of other things about your house? Do you think about redoing your kitchen and giving yourself a bigger workspace?

It's here! You've probably already noticed that Thrify Foods is doing a Halibut'fest to celebrate the start of the season. They have some tail pieces (if you don't mind those) for a fairly reasonable $2.49/100 g. I keep meaning to go check them out to see if they have any nice fat ones! Fillets are usually nicer, of course.

We've still got quite a bit of sockeye salmon in our freezer thanks to our generous fisher neighbours. Most pieces are lovely thick fillets but one was slightly less, so decided to make salmon en croûte with some frozen puff pastry. Using up chicken thighs from the freezer, made a chicken mole with Tucson's Mano Y Metate mole dulce starter. I love this stuff, it's so well made, all the blends are awesome. Served with my fave Instant Pot Spanish Rice, beans and a salad.

Someone has probably mentioned this before, maybe even several people have! But I really like making a quick Spanish Rice in the Instant Pot (from Pressure Cooking Today). I'm afraid the colour is a bit 'off' in the photo, it looks a bit less orange than this. 😀