Marlene

There was an article in the Toronto Star recently about the province gearing up to do something about plastic bags. here

Thanks! She usually drinks her whiskey straight, so that might be a good choice, too. Is there a particular one that's better than the others? MLCC only has danfield's private res whisky-williams and churchill. Does that sound right? It's just over $20. ← That sounds like it. It looks like this

There is also one more, Danfield's. I believe distilled in Alberta that is a lovely sipping rye whiskey all on it's own.

I have never heard of the paper bag issue with cockroaches and I always ask for paper bags at Whole Foods, which I re use when I go there again and also for toting many other things around. The oxo bag clips are nice and WS supplies a similar clip when shopping at their stores. I keep them and reuse them also. My old Subaru had the bag handles which was nice for holding plastic bags in place so things didn't roll around, but the X3 doesn't. And I always watch the baggers at checkout and redistribute myself before leaving the store if they are bagging improperly.

Sadly, there will be no smoking here until we get to the cottage in late June. However, the first long weekend of the summer will see us smoking the last of the very large pork shoulders I have left in the freezer. I'm already planning the smoked turkey for the first Thanksgiving at the cottage this year.

Never milk. Half and half or better yet, table cream. About 2 T. No sugar.

I am allergic to mushrooms, and there's only been once in my life that I reacted to truffle oil. Other times, when it's been used, no reaction which leads me to believe that most times it is fake. Just my two cents.

I also suspect a case of nerves would appear. I am expecting to host a chef for dinner this summer and already, I'm thinking about what this guy would think about my knife skills, roast beef etc. There's something about cooking for someone who does it for a living that just makes me feel dumb trying without ever having done it. Unless it's Anthony Bourdain coming for dinner, (who's more likely to tell you if he really likes it), I suspect any chef will choke down politely whatever you make, but that's not what I'm looking for. How will I know it really is good enough? I'm a decent cook, but when I was cooking for Chef at cooking school, I felt like I shouldn't be doing it. I like Fat Guy's analogy, because that's how I'm feeling about this upcoming dinner. I'm thinking of ordering in pizza.

I rarely cook pasta, but I dug out my copy of Molto Italiano and decided to try out the spaghetti alla gricia. Bacon, garlic, red onion, pepper flakes and parm. What's not to like? The recipe called for pecorino which I didn't have. It did not call for the tablespoon of butter that I swirled in at the end eitther! And biscuits from Fine Cooking:

Yes yes, Susan, we all know your preference for the kettle. However, since he specifically asked for gas, I'm going to suggest a couple. Weber is generally going to be out of your price range, but in the small gas grill department it is one of the best. This one is a little more than you want to spend weber Failing that, broil king does a pretty servicable job for the kind of grilling you're looking to do.

Thanks for sharing! We had been invited by a board member, but were unable to make the trip to New York. I'm really sorry I missed it. Maybe next year.

They were great, actually. This one is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. I think we pulled them off the smoker a touch too early, but they were still fabulous. We've bought another smoker to take to the cottage this summer and this book will be going with us!

I made extra baked potatoes tonight so I can try this dish tomorrow night.

I have never used shelf paper, but I think I may consider something for the cottage shelves. This sounds like a great idea, since I'm pretty sure the cupboards are pressboard.

Thanks David! This just went on my list to make this week. I am always looking for different ways to make potatoes.

Very nice David! Tell me more about the potato dish. Specifically, how to make it.

My steam breadmaker arrived the other day. I'm hoping to get a chance to play with it this week, or early next.

Thank you everyone. We ate out both Friday and Sat, and my son tried and liked tuna tartare and sashumi, and sushi pizza of all things. Last night was just steak and corn on the cob. No pretty grill marks since hubby did the grilling. He kind of rolled his eyes when I suggested it. When there is just two or three of us, I do my corn on the cob in the microwave. It saves boiling a pot of water and another pot to wash. Tonight, since we are having some nice weather again, it's likely to be grilled chicken, tomato, onion and blue cheese salad, and some amazing carrots from the market, which I will probably glaze.

I got some of the sweet and smokey mustard this time as well as XXX hot, honey garlic and hot garlic. I love their mustards.

The RV has produced some of the best memories I'll have forever. I have that picture framed and sitting on my office desk in fact, although the girl sitting beside him is his girlfriend, not me. For the last two summers, I lived in that RV while my brother was sick, and I think I made him every single one of his favourite dishes in that RV. I will never forget how much fun he and I had together. And my son. His first lamb, the first time I put a chef's knife into his hand, and the first time he made bacon on the stove. it will make parting with the RV, bittersweet, in many ways. But, yesterday when we were out shopping, my son picked out two cookbooks for himself. They are "teen cookbooks" but they are his first cookbooks and he said he wanted them so he could try out a few things at the cottage this year. I taught him how to make a smoothie this past week, so he now makes them on his own when he comes home from school and will likely make them all summer long at the cottage. And so, we will build new memories.

It is just about time to bring the RV out for this year's camping season. Except, we won't be. Well, maybe one more time. However, we're trading in our RV for a cottage, which we take possession of in June. I'll have a little more kitchen room, a kick ass BBQ, and almost as many kitchen toys as I have at home. The kitchen in the cottage is a touch "rustic". Guess what is almost first on the list of "improvements". I've spent today packing up stuff to take to the cottage when we "move" and it should come as no surprise that out of 10 boxes, 9 of them are kitchen stuff.

I have always done the horizontal cuts before the vertical. Seems to work for me.

Everything except the element itself, is dishwasher safe, and it's not that hard to clean the element. The pan comes out for easy pouring out of the grease, and goes into the dishwasher as does the basket and the lid. I think there's a filter in the lid, but I put the lid in the dishwasher and have never had to replace the filter.

Exactly. Then I just keep the bag closed with a chip clip.

Wendy, it all looks great, but I'm particularly interested in the chocolate pudding, as it's one of my son's favourites. Did you use a particular recipe for it?