FauxPas

I've had this little meal a lot over the last 6 weeks or so. The BC peaches have been so luscious this year and I always love banana-nut breads or muffins. I've been using a simple Banana Nut Muffin recipe from Simply Recipes, I use a bit less sugar and I always use 4 bananas! They freeze well, so it's easy to reheat one in the microwave. I've made several batches of these muffins because we seem to scarf them down pretty fast. Sometimes I use pecans instead of walnuts.

You definitely have skills. Did you just roast the tomato or use any sweetener? I'm thinking of tomato jams, etc. http://foodinjars.com/2013/09/classic-tomato-jam-sweetened-honey/ Edited to add: Am I wrong or has the boyfriend become the partner? If so, congrats and I hope you can spend more time together in future. Any plans to live in the same city? And please forgive me for being too forward/intrusive, if so.

My head exploded a bit reading this thread. You are not a timid cook, that is for sure! Even if I had the space and the discretionary income, I am not sure I would do all that you do, but Wowser, I do love reading about it!!!!

I think gfron1 wants the optimum fresh-roasted flavour for the restaurant and does all the up-front prep for that, but I bet lots of us just throw a pepper or two in the freezer, skin-on and un-roasted. I freeze peppers whole, diced or roasted, depending on time and availability. It's better to freeze them than leave them too long, I think.

Oh, this looks like a fun meal! What type of melon is in that first course? The dessert looks lovely, was it as tasty as you remembered/hoped?

Maybe that's been the problem with the cauliflower i have roasted - it probably needed to cook longer! This recipe definitely sounds interesting.

Sorta. There are no duties on some (most?) goods manufactured within North America. Is the Anova manufactured in the US? But dmg was being charged mostly for shipping and a brokerage fee. I don't know if the brokerage fee includes any duty or if it's just a fee for doing the paperwork. The taxes are still due when you import goods into Canada, but these taxes were calculated at a higher rate than they should have been. Still it's only about $5 at most, so not sure if it's worth the time and hassle to try and correct it. And I suspect it would fall onto the consumer to request the correction. And I think you would have to deal with CBSA in order to obtain a refund. But if anyone knows better, I'd love to know. The better way might have been to have someone ship the Anova as a gift to dmg, as some fees may not be assessed when the item is a gift. Still, I once sent a handmade quilt that I made from the US to Canada that was marked as a gift and assessed a value on it only for insurance purposes, but the recipient had to pay taxes and duty on it before they could receive it. Annoying. And it could have been cotton made in the US (Ok, that is pretty rare now but still). No one asked for details, but someone decided to charge the highest fees they could on that gift item. The whole process can be such a pain. (Better to bring something across the border with you as part of your personal exemptions, but that means you have to travel to the US to purchase the item.)

Anna N's suggestion is probably a good first step. I believe the legislative power for tax and duties on imports falls within the Canadian Border Services Agency. I don't know if Anova can request adjustments after the fact or if you would have to. Not sure how easy it would be to deal with CBSA, but you might be able to check out the Casual Refund Program. The Casual Refund Program Manages the refund and adjustment processes for duties, goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax (HST), provincial sales tax (PST), and levies under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), on non-commercial importations brought into Canada by mail, by courier or carried by travellers. See the website details here. Edited to correct clumsy wording due to severe lack of sleep. :-)

Serious Eats has a write-up on using mint - seven different chefs make suggestions for using or preserving it.

Ouch, and paying tax on the higher value must hurt. I wonder if you can dispute that - tax should be based on what you pay, not what the non-sale price of an item is. Not that it will make a huge difference, more of a 'principle of the thing' situation.

You know, I was kinda thinking the same thing!!!

I haven't tried it, but the Espro French Press has gotten some good reviews. It keeps the coffee warmer than most presses, it seems. It seems pricey but it appears to be well made and its double filtre system keeps the coffee nearly sediment-free. It's attractive, also. But $$$. Also available at Amazon and Williams-Sonomo, not sure if they have better prices. The main web site does offer some Seconds at a reduced press, also.

Here's a cute trick for cutting corn kernels off the cob. I bet some of the folks here have already discovered this or have a similar trick, but this was new to me - using a bundt pan to hold the corn in place (pointy end of corn into centre of pan) and then when you cut the kernels off, they fall into the pan, ready to be poured into a pot or whatever. Good way to approach it if you are cutting multiple cobs for freezing, etc.

I've tried roasting whole cauliflower with this type of coating, also. I think it was this one that started me on it. Yes, totally agree that marinating or cutting some slits or something is necessary with these recipes. They seem to dry out too much on the top or else they aren't really cooked all the way through. My next attempt is going to be using the Cuisinart Convection Steam oven. I think the addition of a bit of steam might help. But I like your ideas! Actually, thinking about it - I think I did marinate the last one for quite a while and it didn't really help that much. I am wondering if a pre-cook might be the solution? What do you think? Steam the cauliflower briefly and then marinate and bake?

I make lettuce wraps, using ground pork or ground poultry. If I'm making them for the two of us, it's a great way to finish off a small can of water chestnuts. Lots of variations are possible, here's just one (an attempt to imitate the PF Chang's ones).

That's the kind of information that might make a nice note to accompany the recipe. Or have the photo include two different finished products to emphasize the versatility of the recipe. I love stuff like that in a cookbook!

Salad of baby greens with fennel, celery, bacon, apple, pecans and a caramelized apple vinaigrette. Posted here on Apple thread also, but thought it fit well here also. Based on a recipe at Food52.

There are some early apples available here now - Sunrise variety at one of the local farms was a starting point for me for a summer salad. It's based on an older recipe at Food52 (from 2009). It has a touch of Waldorf salad, but it moves beyond it. The salad is a base of mixed baby greens, with fennel, celeriac, sliced apple, toasted pecans and lardons. The vinaigrette is based on caramelized apple + apple cider. I appreciate that it uses fresh apple slices in the salad and also uses apple in the dressing. It was very good, but if I was going to make it again I would juice/strain a cooked apple or two and use that in the vinaigrette with maybe just a bit of apple pulp. The recipe, as it is, makes a dressing that is too thick for my taste. But it was fun and tasty. The celeriac I bought was awful, so I ended up subbing regular celery. The original recipe is here.

Shelby, I'm looking for the Quickles recipe, did I miss it somewhere? Thanks!

I see the capers and the lemon supremes, but I'm wondering what else you have included in your lovely dish. Is there some dried fruit? Raisins or cranberries? Pine nuts? Citrus leaves? Is the fish sitting on a bed of pasta? And spinach? It looks wonderful!

Still hot there? Maybe some Fresh Mint Ice Cream? From BBC Good Food, with some suggestions if you don't have an ice cream maker: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2252644/fresh-mint-and-choc-chip-ice-cream

I know they use mesquite to make flour in southern Arizona, but I'm wondering if gfron1 does more than that with the pods. Edited to add: I was writing while the answer was being posted!

I picture you casually wandering out to the patio/deck on a moment's notice and doing this BBQ magic. You make it look so easy, but I know it's not! (definitely not easy for me)

I have her book and have several things to make, but the lasagna section is especially appealing. Did you make your own pasta?

rotuts, I have tried the Olivieri Lasagna Sheets and they work beautifully in the Cuisi Oven. They are fresh lasagna noodles, but they are about 6" x 9" and so they fit perfectly into smaller casserole dishes and inside the Cuisinart Steam oven. I can find them in the fresh pasta and sauces area of the local grocery store. Because they are fresh pasta, they don't need pre-cooking and they can easily be cut to fit an oval dish. Shelby, I made lasagna last night also! Didn't take a picture this time, but here is the last time I made some. I used the Steam Bake function on the Cuisi. This little dish makes 4 generous servings of lasagna and I round off the corners of the pasta sheets with kitchen shears.