ElsieD

Thank you all for responding. After reading your responses, I did some more digging and have concluded that while the Excalibur may be the Cadillac version for home use, it is more expensive that what I want to pay, as I don't see me using it a whole lot. I looked at the Lee Valley one then had a look at Costco. Both have Nesco models, Costco has the FD 80 which is a square one and Lee Valley has the FD61, a round one. The Costco one has 700 Watts, the Lee Valley 500. Both have a temperature control. Coatco charges $84.99 and Lee Valley $74.50. Sorry to sound so stupid, but how does the difference in wattages affect the drying times? Is it quicker with the higher wattage? Is square better than round? The main thing I want to make is jerky. Beth, I will keep that book in mind. There can't be many cookbooks that deal with dehydrated foods.

Maybe that's why I couldn't find it - I was looking for the wrong thing. I'll look again.

So I put a 1 1/2" strip in the fridge to thaw. My fish sauce is Red Boat 40. It is an unopened bottle and I have never used it before as I previously used Three Crabs, I think. If as Rotuts said it is pretty pungent stuff, should I use a bit less than if I were using Three Crabs?

I'm thinking of giving this a shot. Can I use a defrosted steak or does it have to be a fresh one?

Continuing on with our mini reviews, we have now tried four more items. The milk chocolate salted caramel butter cookies were pretty good but not so special that I would buy them again. The problem for me was the base as it was very dry and if it had any butter in it, I couldn't taste it. The topping, however, was delicious. The mango ginger chutney - well, I could just sit there on my chair with spoon in hand and eat the whole dang jar. It is delicious, and has gone on the Trader Joe list for next time. We also liked the basmati rice medley and will stock up on a few of those also. I understand that there is a frozen basmati rice medley but they didn't have it so I got this one instead. I bought the cold brewed coffee to have on hand for those mornings when circumstances did not allow for making the usual pot. It was good but again not so good that I would buy it again. It has been fun trying the different products I picked up.

Thanks. Neat app.

Ann, the pans I use were these. I like them very much. They make hamburger size buns. http://www.amazon.com/USA-Pans-Round-Panel-Wells/dp/B001QXW3Q4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431449647&sr=8-1&keywords=USA+hamburger+pan Paul, I had not thought of savoury flavourings. As I am sitting here thinking about that, slivered sun dried tomatoes and cooked diced pancetta comes to mind.

Today I made some fruit buns based on paulpeggs easy focaccia dough outlined in post# 244 on Feb. 26. I increased the water a bit and added about 280 grams of raisins and dried cranberries. These are very, very good toasted with butter dripping into the nooks and crannies.

Nice looking loaf you have there.

I have one of those jars and use it all the time and it works quite well. I keep the whole bulb in there and just break off what I need. I store it in a kitchen cupboard.

I used to swear by Kumato but the last time I bought Kumato they weren't much better than what we call Mexican bullets so I stopped buying them and switched to Campari. I am still buying Campari but will have to try the Kumato again in case the last batch was an anomaly given that people on this thread seem to like them.

I had an Electrolux induction range and really, really liked it. But then we sold our house and the range was sold with it. While it had two ovens, it sensibly had the larger oven above the smaller one as opposed to many other ranges I have seen where the smaller oven is above the larger one. Where I am now I had a Thermador cooktop installed and while I like it, I do believe preferred the Electrolux.

Yeah, pretty awful, wasn't it?

We have tried a few of the things we bought at Trader Joe's and thought I would report back. The Chile Lime Chicken Burgers were very good, the Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels were good, the Dark Chocolate Speculoos Cookie Butter Cups were good and the popcorn was dreadful, absolutely dreadful to the point that they will be binned. The burgers were recommended to me and I would definitely get them again. The other three items were impulse buys and while two of them were tasty enough, I would not bother to get them again. No need to mention the popcorn again.

I am thinking about getting a dehydrator as I would like to make various kinds of jerky and possibly a few other things as I get used to using it. Fruit comes to mind. Any recommendations? I would also need a book so suggestions for that would be appreciated as well. Thank you!

Could I add: could you also please include the amount of porky goodness?

And here is my haul....thanks for all your suggestions. Not shown are Korean Kalbi Chicken Sausages, Chili Lime Chicken Burgers, Turkey Corn Dogs and some heavy whipping cream. I don't know if I got the right apricots but either way, they will get eaten. I don't eat a lot of ginger but I bought it to put in cookies. The majority of things I got were on the list I made from reading this thread back to page 12 and your suggestions. Some of the items were impulse buys like the dark chocolate speculoos cookie butter cups. There were a few items that I wanted that they did not have. I did not find the store in Syracuse to be all that big but since it is the first one I have ever been in, maybe that is the size they are. Also, before any of you tsk tsk my choices, you should know that I am not solely responsible for what ended up in the shopping cart. Anyway, it was fun and I saw a number of items we don't have in Canada or at least not in my city.

That's brilliant. I have never been able to buy it here unless I want to buy it in commercial quantities which doesn't make sense for my needs so I never thought of that. I have written to my niece to see if she knows where we can buy some. We are going to Trader Joe's in Syracuse, NY and it is a 3 to 3 1/2 hour trip home.

A few people have mentioned this so it is on my list. Thanks!

I am hoping that the border guards allow us to bring some wine back. For a stay of less than 48 hours, you are not allowed to bring back any adult beverages. That will be us, come Monday. The border guards have always allowed us our couple of bottles maybe because we are upfront and voluntarily declare it before they even ask us. If they do charge you duty and taxes it is about 60% of the retail price (near as I can tell). After 48 hours, you can bring back 2 bottles of 750 ml (that's a quart to you) without having to pay any duty or taxes. It makes more sense to bring back the more expensive wines as the savings are greater. One of the wines we like which is for us a special occasion wine is Pouilly-Fuisse so we look for that. A good quaffing wine that we buy for consuming in the States is Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio. It costs twice as much in Canada as it does in the States.

Actually, your plane food doesn't look that bad on it's own, but it doesn't compare to what you have been eating. Nice to see they served d'isigny butter - I used to be able to buy it at a shop in Ottawa until the Feds clamped down on the poor guy. Supply management and all that. I greatly enjoyed reading about your trip and also enjoyed all the lovely photos.

Thanks for your suggestions. I have been going backwards through this thread and although I am only at page 12 I have come across a few things I have never seen in Canada, such as cold brew coffee concentrate, Uncured Sweet Sriracha Bacon Jerky, pumpkin croissants and Sriracha &Roasted Garlic BBQ sauce, among a few other things mentioned above. I see they also sell Frozen Kouign Amman and it's a bummer I can't bring that back. Or maybe I will if it is sold frozen but unbaked as I can bake them when I get home and re freeze them. Butter is another thing I would like to get as the choice is much greater and the prices are much more reasonable. My butter of choice in Canada is now $6.49 a pound and I can't really justify spending that much for a pound of butter. Other than that, I am mainly interested in the things I have never seen here. It really is a shame I can't bring frozen stuff back. We only drink wine and so will likely just get a couple of bottles of the more expensive wines which are way more expensive here. If anyone has more suggestions, I would love to get them.

Tour of the test kitchens.

I'm lucky enough to be able to shop at a Trader Joe's this weekend. I have never been to one of their stores and am looking forward to it. I have started reading this thread and have been making notes as I go along but it is a very looooong thread and I don't know if I will be able to get through it all. So I am looking for suggestions - what should I absolutely buy? It will be about a three hour drive home from there and while I have a cooler with me, I'm thinking frozen items won't be practical but some refrigerated items are fine. I am particularly interested in items unique to Trader Joe's or of a particularly high quality that you won't find in your average grocery store. Thanks!