ElsieD

Beautiful loaves, Norm.

And what about maple syrup? My current bottle, and all the ones that preceeded it, say to refrigerate after opening. I wish I knew why - native Americans certainly didn't have refrigeration.

We went to Syracuse on Friday so we could go to Trader Joe's and Wegman's. We bought a bunch of the stuff we know we like that I have not seen here, along with some new-to-us items. One of the items was the Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits, shown below. These are bad. They are like eating slightly blueberry flavored sawdust. Really bad. A purchase that won't be repeated. On the way back, we had an experience going back through Canadian customs. We were asked the usual, what did you buy, any liquor or tobacco, etc. We said we bought groceries only and handed over our two receipts. Well, says the customs officer, you are over your limit for dairy products, please go over to that building and park under the canopy. Which we did and two customs agents came out. It seems we are allowed to bring back no more than $20.00 each in dairy products which in our case would have amounted to the grand sum of $40.00. Our crime was that our purchases came to $40.30. We were 30 cents over our limit. So the two customs guys are standing there looking like what they really want to know is why the agent bothered to send us over for .30. However, I guess they felt we needed a lesson in how duties applied so it seems that we are allowed $20 each in Canadian funds which meant that we were actually over by about $12 each. Duty is 270% which meant that, if they chose to apply it, we would have had to pay about $33.00. Expensive butter and cheese. Anyway, they simply suggested we brush up on our knowledge of how much of what we can bring back. They said that since we have Nexus cards, we are obliged to know the rules. So, we said we would brush up on them and they sent us on our way. My husband now thinks we will forever be flagged as smugglers or some such thing.

Tonight I made a recipe called Sweet and Spicy Shrimp with Rice Noodles. Except I used Shiritaki instead of rice noodles in the interest of saving some calories. I also made double the sauce as we like sauce. Which meant that I used a 1/4 cup of sambal oelek and, having finished my share a little while ago, I still have steam coming out of my ears. The recipe also called for a Thai chili which I smartly deseeded before it went into that pot. I think I'll leave that out next time.

Sorry, Shelby, I wasn't very clear. What I meant was, did it arrive in the U.S. from some other country? I am Dutch and my parents immigrated to Canada and they brought some stuff with them from Holland. So if your grandparents immigrated from some other country, that may be where the China originated?

Any idea where the set originated?

Excellent. Thank you, you covered all the points. I'll do it this way next time.

BD, I have the instant pot. How do you cook it in the IP? How much water do you use?

This rice blend is really, really good. I plan on picking up a few more bags when next we go. The first first time I cooked it, there was a lot of water that had not been absorbed. I cooked it again tonight and cut back a bit on the water. Much better. Does anyone else buy this?

Sous vide chicken breast stuffed with Italian sausage with marinara sauce, green beans and TJ's rice medley (long grain brown rice, black barley and Daikon radish seed).

Is there a recipe for these somewhere?

Shredded pork stir fry with sweet bean sauce, rice and cucumber marinated in seasoned rice vinegar. The pork recipe came from The Woks of Life website and oh my, was it ever good.

I had never heard of putting salt in coffee until I met my husband. As I was growing up, my parents always drank coffee twice a day, using beans my mother ground before she made it. He insists on a pinch of salt in with the coffee before brewing. We buy coffee that is ground for us when we buy it. I can't tell the difference between the salt added and no salt added.

Strip loins on the rare side of medium rare with a red wine pan sauce, roasted potatoes and asparagus and red pepper sauté. The potatoes did not take over the plate as much as it appears.

Couscous salad with corn and red pepper, sweet chili sauce, sriracha and ginger glazed chicken and a small tomato and cucumber salad. I seared the chicken a tad too long but it didn't affect the taste.

I've been working on getting my recipes together in one place, from two tablets, a lap top and the main computer. While doing this, I came across a recipe for Indonesian-Style Ham Stir Fry which I had not made in ages. I had the ham and here is the dish. Underneath the stir-fry are Shiritaki noodles. I made a flan today so I figure having the Shiritaki noodles means there is room to indulge in dessert.

When I read the first couple of words I thought you were referring to the man who met saw. My first reaction was "wow!".

They sure look good, though.

Here is the third and final meal, pork chops with a maple/mustard glaze, oven fries and rapini. I was worried about the pork chop drying out as it wasn't very thick but it actually turned out rather well, nice and pink and fairly juicy. I remembered from the dinner thread to soak the spuds which I did and the fries were excellent. They were tossed with olive oil, s & p and rosemary. The rapini was okay, we liked the stemps best. We find rapini bitter so are not particularly fond of it but that is a personal taste thing. It was tossed with olive oil and s & p and roasted. I would rank the dishes as 1) pork chops, 2) salmon and the Kofta last. I thought the freshness of some of the ingredients could have been better and a bit more care taken with the packaging. The quantities were bang on. I may try a couple of other meal services and if I do, I'll post about it. I have found only one such service in the city I live in but they charge $40 which is more than I care to spend. I know Montreal has another one so may give that a whirl.

We had a pre-lit Christmas tree that we bought at Costco. We used it for three years but in the 3rd year the lights stopped working. They took it back and gave us a full refund. The same thing happened with a PVR that stopped working. They took it back as well. I love Costco.

Well, now, this was interesting. I was at a store today to pick up yogurt starter and they had kefir grains right next to it so I know where to buy that should I decide to give this a go. I have never had keffir (I really should get out more), does it taste anything like buttermilk?

I just heard back from Costco and there are no problems with any of the other Nature Touch products. They are making the Hep A shots available through to the beginning of next week.

So here we are, the beef and lamb Kofta. I did as Kenneth T suggested for the rice. That is, the aromatics went into some oil in a pot, the rice was toasted and then cooked. The recipe said to put some of the taztziki over the Kofta but I served it in a bowl alongside. Uncooked, there was 10 ounces of minced beef and lamb. After it was cooked, I poured just over 1/3 cup of fat into a measuring cup. The fat weighed 2 7/8 ounces which is a lot of fat coming from that amount of meat. Also, we both love lamb and eat it fairly often but I did not care for the smell of this while it was cooking. I'm wondering if it was mutton dressed up as lamb. It had a peculiar fatty smell, which I have not noticed when I cook lamb. The taztziki was very good, and the rice saved the meal. I missed having some veg. My husband liked the meal, me not so much. As far as the plate goes, it wasn't much to look at. I don't think it would have looked any better with the chick peas instead of the rice.

Thanks again. I'll get some starter as I just found a store not far away that carries it. I'll be curious to see if it makes a difference in the finished product.

Dinner last night from one of those meal kits. Mustard crusted salmon with basil and tomatoes on top, roasted asparagus and roasted potatoes.