Darienne

Just because I managed to reach the exalted age of 72 without ever having made real honest to goodness chicken soup... I do have some trouble eating chicken because of all the little extra bitsies which are involved unless you eat straight chicken breast meat which is not fascinating. . Used a leftover gifted B-B-Q chicken with Martha Stewart's recipe leaving out the bay leaves and the garlic. Incredibly delicious. Was blown away.

DH and I have yearly experience with the stuff the van to the gills on the way home kind of thing... About the Hawberries. Do you have any first hand knowledge of the eating of them? We have Hawthorns (and the dark blue berried Buckthorn) in profusion on the non-cultivated part of the farm. Because there at least 'seems' to be so many Hawberries on the trees, I had the impression that the birds don't eat them and therefore we shouldn't either. I'll take a better look this morning on the perimeter walk and also see what I can find on Google. All information and recipes welcomed. Thanks.

Looks interesting. I may have missed it but is it battery-run or electric? I can't find an answer at this point. Thanks.

Exciting topic, specially for those of us learning to cook Mexican and Latin American dishes. Thanks so much. I'm wondering if we might ask the posters to add to the obviously foreign words and phrases (e.g. colada morada, Prelncan, sahumerio, palo santo, etc) a word of explanation in English of those words and phrases. I know, I know, I can Google them, but I can always ask...

Safe driving home. I always enjoy your adventures together, up at Manitoulin, thrift shopping, lunches out, cooking and baking... What a wonderful friendship you both have!

DH's Mother was French Canadian and this is his yearly Christmas specialite. (It's no use, I can't remember how to make an e acute)

Nothing exotic in that market picture.

And so the local staff is overjoyed that you are back... :wub:

Welcome back, Anna and Kerry. Always enjoy your blogs. You purchased tomatillos? In Owen Sound?

Wonder why they picked the particular families. Virtuous Canadians have only a few cans of pop. ????

I'm with dcarch. DH has a favorite knife which he keeps urging me to use...it's so much better than the one I use, he says. BUT I can't handle the handle. It's just too big for my hand and that's that. I like my own two knives. And I don't want to switch.

I'm 1/3 of the way through Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, Signal/McClelland & Stewart,/Random House, 2013, ISBN: 978-0-7710-5708-3 and I'm finding it fascinating. I just finished reading the section on sugar and now am on to fat. We don't eat a lot of processed food and never have. And we are both WWII babies so grew up before these foods existed. Kraft Dinner is the first processed food I can remember from my childhood. It's very packed with facts and figures and I just keep on saying...'Gosh, I didn't know that'. That is, when I'm not saying. 'OMG, I didn't know that' in a very discouraged or outraged tone. Not an encouraging book so far...

Thanks for finding that article on industrial hemp, Heidi. I shall save it. Our hemp is French in origin. It is not grown for the fiber as it has a very short staple. It's used for hemp seed as in granola, etc, and also for the oil which in this case is mostly for horses I believe. We have given it to the dogs. It may be for people also. I am no longer keeping up with the line. We live in an area which has a lot of horse farms although many of them are closing down because the government subsidy (who knew?) has been rescinded and horse racing is disappearing to a great extent. The production process is done a few miles from where we live by the farmer who cultivates the hemp. He also leases many other farm lands in our district. Its THC content is .00000000 I don't know when the zeros stop. You'd have to smoke an entire field to get high. No one would grow marijuana hemp in an industrial hemp area because the industrial hemp cross-pollinates and you'd lose the THC content. We had to be investigated by the RCMP before we were allowed to have hemp on our lands. The government agencies have the right to drive onto your property at any time without telling you to check on your crop. And they do. And also planes fly overhead to do this checking. Apparently pot has a different temperature than does industrial hemp. And even though our hemp has no THC to smoke, a USA government agency sterilizes the seed so it can't be grown. The hemp is being harvested right now with huge combines.

Well, our apple crop this year is a complete disaster. Our immediate backyard has two trees: a Mac and a Northern Spy. Thousands of wonderful blooms turned into thousands of tiny apples, all scabbed and horrible. Glad we don't rely on this crop for anything. Strange. Some years the apples are amazing and plentiful. Two years ago we had a gazillion apples and we spent days juicing them and cooking apple sauce. Then last year our two backyard trees had exactly 7 apples on them. And this year...total disaster. Our farm, when we moved here 18 years ago, had a total of 19 apple trees on it, all over the place. I think there are many more now and in fact this year one of them produced wonderful apples for the first time. (Apple pie was supper tonight.) Some of the apples are very old varieties which you can't find now. Always exciting. Not to mention finding bear scat on our perimeter path, full of chewed apple. Oh, we are a hemp farm, with our lands leased to a neighboring farmer.

Thank you Mitch. An early morning laugh. We used to shop together before DH retired. Now because I don't get much time alone...and I need time to be alone...he goes by himself. And besides, I hate shopping with him now as he is SOOOO slow as he looks at everything on the shelves for its unit price. And I argue that inexpensive (aka cheap) is not always a bargain. Does no good. Never did. He's a good guy...married 53 years now ...and I love that he does most of the shopping. He's not an impulse shopper so we don't end up with "canned curried octopus from North Korea". However, if I send him for something we haven't purchased before or for a long time, invariably he gets it wrong. But then, I am always very nice about it. We shop from a printed shopping list which we have compiled over the decades and which hangs on the side of the fridge with a red pen for circling items which are needed. Sure helps.

It looks stainless and seems to be the one to which gfweb is referring. I really like the double mesh and it's also very strong. Can't tell you how many strainers I've broken in a lifetime. Bought it at a restaurant supplier (Ontario).

http://www.amazon.com/Browne-Foodservice-9198-Medium-Strainer/dp/B000UBGE5E I have a couple of these now and really like them.

Hmmm...my Mother was an Ashkenazi Jew. Father mixture of French, Irish, etc. My cholesterol was the worst on a fairly high carb vegetarian diet. (I was making the most delicious bread and we were really eating it.) I've been on several statins...20 years ago...and they did NOTHING to alter my numbers. Something is gonna get ya in the end.

Eliminated supplement. Don't like bananas and don't eat them. I think the supplement should do it. Thanks.

Not sure to whom the various advices are given. I'll assume they are directed at me. - see my doctor. I have have him and a heart specialist. Not all doctors are equal. And we do eat simply and well. - yes, by all means, lose 20 pounds (and keep it off) - we do walk around the perimeter of the farm twice a day with the dogs. I can't always do two. Nothing to do with my heart. I'll go back to my actives when I am able. - don't eat licorice. Have no more than 2 drinks per WEEK. Don't smoke and never have. - my blood potassium is too high - my glucose is fine and so is my homocystein - the jury is still out about statins and my cholesterol levels are apparently genetic according to my GP - there are no others who salt my food. Thanks for all the advice. One of my best friends laughed at me once. His cholesterol was now under control and mine wasn't, not even on maximum dosage of a statin. In fact, I had to go off the statin because of rampant side effects. He was slim, played squash three times a week, etc, etc. Unfortunately he was also dead of a massive heart attack two days later. He was 56 then.

It would be nice to have a doctor with whom one could take up anything of a dietary or exercise nature. I wish. OK. Weinoo's post could not have been more timely for me. Just very recently I gave up my now 6-year passion making chocolates and other confections. Loved it. But it didn't fit into the new high...and I do mean high, very high...BP problem. Am now on two drugs, Mavik and Amlodipine. (Must check those names against the ones mentioned by Weinoo. Canadian and American names for the same drug often don't match.) And must read the rest of the article cited by Okanagancook. Mind you, it's pretty much the way we eat and have eaten for decades.) I know nothing of my Mother's heart. She lived till 97, demented for the last 10 years after lots of TIAs. My Father had high cholesterol...and so is mine...and no, I don't take Statins. He lived to 83, after a mild heart attack at 60, changed his life radically to basically the life DH and I have always led, and died of a non-heart-related problem. He could have lived much longer. I have no idea of whether he took statins or not. So where do I stand? And what on earth should I eat? We don't eat commercially prepared food...never have...and don't eat out much either. And now practically never. And yes, I could lose 20 pounds in my case. And the BP meds are not controlling my blood pressure very well. It's between 180/70-80 and 135/70-80. Diastolic never goes above 80. OK. Someone tell me what to change in my diet, besides giving up sugar completely. Thank you. I might have added that I have an excellent BP machine at home and take it a few times a day.

We've seen Foodsavers in thrift stores, but I never know how to tell whether they are worth buying or not. What do you look for when you go to buy one, please.

lindag, I'd love the Polish potato and cabbage soup. And thanks, Pastameshugana for the sweet potato soup. We'll try that one soon. Yesterday I was hit by the fall bug and made lentil and spinach soup. Died and gone to heaven. Love soup.

First thing I thought of was bacon and eggs, fried or scrambled. A useful start. My Father couldn't even make toast.

Roasted fall vegetables. Don't forget the Brussels Sprouts either.