ElsieD

I recently read an article about food trends for 2011. One item was a spice blend called (something like) vendaudam??? It is an Indian spice mix that has, as one of it's components, onion. Apparently, it is the next spice that chefs will be using a lot of this year. (Or so the article said.) I actually found a place that sells it but then........I lost the article. To make matters worse, I can't remember where I got the article or the exact name of the spice. I have spent a lot of internet time trying to track this down but have not have any luck. All I could find was vendhayam and vengayam and both referred to onion and nothing else. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I used to like Carnation Instant Breakfast, but only the chocolate one.

Eel. And that horrible Kraft "parmesan" cheese that comes in that green can. I worked in a place where the receptionist always seemed to microwave a frozen fish lunch. Then she would sprinkle that "cheese" on it and zap it some more. The gag factor was really high.

One of the things I would really like to learn is how to use coloured cocoa butter. I love the look of chocolates that have different colours. Can this be part of the course? i would likely not be going to Buffalo but would be joining folks in the evening.

As this will be my first conference, I'm not familiar with the usual itinerary. When we book our room, do we book for check-out on Sunday? Thanks.

Kerry, I agree with you but only on the out-of-town names. I have heard of some, but not all. I am, however, familiar with all of the Ottawa chefs and know some of them. I was talking to Chef Blackie and he was saying that this is the first time they have tried this and they plan on building on it to attract more "name' chefs in the future, as the event becomes (hopefully) more well known. In any event, I hope to pick up some pointers during the day and the eats in the evening look good. Foodietopo, Martin Picard was to have been the chef at a Winterlude event. As you probably know, he is well-known for his use of foie gras. That event, 450 tickets I believe, sold out very, very quickly. Then the foie gras protesters got wind of it and did what they do best - protested. The NCC, (a government body) who were planning the event, told him he couldn't use foie gras. So he said "sayonara". They are now bringing in Michael Smith but a number of people have requested, and received, refunds. We go to Marche Jean Talon several times a year so I will have to see if we can visit Mathieu Cloutier Kitchen Gallery. Thanks for the tip.

http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/whatson/event.cfm?ID=6533 Is anyone going to this event tomorrow?

I'm becoming more and more interested in cooking with grains. Right now I use chia, millet, buckwheat and quinoa but am interested in trying others. Does anyone know of a comprehensive book that goes into detail about the different grains available and also has some recipes to give me some idea as to how to cook them? Thank you.

I'm happy with anything except rabbit. I never did get over the Easter Bunny syndrome. Beef, pork, chicken, fish, seafood, lamb, it's all fine with me.

I use 4 ounces/125 grams of dried pasta for the two of us. When we have fresh pasta, which we make from time to time, I don't weigh it and inevitably, I cook waaaay too much.

I just had a quick look at both the White Oaks site and the Hilton. The White Oaks actually looks to be a bit cheaper, or am I missing something? Anyway, I'm fine with either.

We have 4 major food chains represented in this city. I went to the third one yesterday looking for the elusive Hunts ketchup. They had none either. I have one more chain store to visit. If I can't find it, I will hit some independents. Seems that we have Heinz in the house because my spouse couldn't find Hunt's. I now know why. I'm not giving up, though, as I want to do this test.

So on my way to the deli for my smoked meat platter I stopped at a large grocery store, one of the major chains. No Hunt's. Went to the deli anyway but it was closed. Went to the other end of town for a burg & fries and stopped at another grocery store, part of a different chain, no Hunts. So, I have to put this project on hold til next weekend as I can't get back to the deli until then. Meanwhile, I have the week to hunt down some Hunt's. I also like ketchup with mac & cheese so if I find Hunt's before then, I may try it with that instead.

Hi Darienne: I haven't actually seen any but Farm Boy advertised them in their flyer this week, although they did not give a price. Want me to keep an eye out? Elsie

Kerry, is there anything new to report on this topic? I just read that Chris has his plane ticket.

We need the extra calories because it's colder up here. I plan on doing my test with fries at a place where they make really good ones - made from REAL potatoes, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and a beautiful golden colour. (We spell funny, too.) Will report back when the assignment is complete.

I'm embarrased to admit this as I had previously stated that I am a Hunt's fan but I thought, I'll look and see if the ingredients in HUNTs is different in Canada than it is in the USA. So, what do I find? A bottle of Heinz tucked away in the pantry. All I can say is that it was not I who purchased this and a bottle of Hunts will find it's way into my shopping basket tomorrow. Meantime, here is what the Canadian version of Heinz contains: TOMATO PASTE (MADE FROM FRESH, RIPE TOMATOES), LIQUID SUGAR, WHITE VINEGAR, SALT, ONION POWDER, SPICES. The ingredient list is in caps. Interesting to see the ingredients are a bit different. Oh, and there are 20 calories per 1 tbsp.

I always buy Hunt's. It's way better than Heinz.

I also have a Foodsaver but I found the bags often lost their seal in the freezer. So far, I prefer these vacuum bags. Plus the ones I have state they are re-usable which is a good thing as they are not inexpensive. To you Canadians - where do you buy the Reynolds bags? I checked Canadian Tire & Home Hardware & neither listed them on their web sites. I see the Home Shopping Channel has Debbie Meyer bags that the Reynolds system uses and they are about 1/3 the cost of the bags I have. Course, they don't ship to Canada but there are ways around that............... (Corrected for spelling)

While searching the internet for something, I can across this. Does anyone use it, and if so, for what? The Ultra Gel can be used to thicken hot and cold items without cooking while the Thick Gel can only be used with foods that need to be cooked. It is derived from waxy maize corn, whatever that is. Thanks!

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/_/N-67lZ2pqf/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I4434545?Ntt=vac+n+store I have one of these systems except I'm in Canada and it's called Vac N Store. (I don't know if the link above will work or not.) I'm quite taken with it. I bought a box of frozen croissants at Costco and packaged them in these bags. The bag in the upstairs freezer gets batted about and I've removed croissants from that bag and re-sealed it a number of times. That little pump manages to pump all the air out giving you a very tight seal Also, the bags are re-usable. Hope this helps.

My original purchase was also a Bron which I only ever used, and rarely at that, when I first bought it. I found it cumbersome. I then bought an OXO V slicer and it works perfectly.

I bought a Kitchenaid toaster. It sucks. Then a bought a Krups convection oven/toaster. On the toast setting, it's even worse than the Kitchenaid in that it toasts very unevenly. Does okay toasting bread on the broil setting as long as you watch it like a hawk. Love the convection part, though. Sad thing is, many years ago a friend gave me a cheap Black & Decker toaster that he didn't need any more. The thing worked like a charm. I decided I wanted a new Kitchenaid toaster, so I gave my B & D one back to him. The worst toaster move I ever made. See the second line in this posting.

The only thing I have to add to this is to say that I am very interested in this topic. I used to love broiled grapefuit but have also been told not to eat it due to the statins I take. So, I haven'touched grapefruit at all since I started taking this drug. Yesterday I was at a large Asian supermarket and they had something called orange grapefruit. I had never seen one before and bought one. So now it's sitting on the counter looking at me and I'm wondering: Can it really hurt to eat this thing?.

I've never used salt cod but looking at those beautiful soaked filets, I'm wondering - can this be treated as fresh cod and pan-fried? Or is it still too salty and needing something to act as foil for the salt remaining in the fish? I'm also wondering what the texture is like.