Darienne

It's still too early for picking, of course, but this is going to be another fantastic apple year. Our farm has apple trees all over it. Oh, it's not an apple farm...they escaped from the first houses built here. We are a hemp farm.

Although they are not long beans, the proper ingredient for Szechwan Dry-Cooked Long Beans, you can use them. DH loves them.

LIsa, that looks brilliant. I don't make enough lollipops anymore to justify the cost, but if I did.... Boy, did I hate the packaging part!

Here's a photo of how I tie mine. I use that curling ribbon that you can buy at the dollar store. Simply a double knot on the package and then curl the leftover with the blade of a small pair of scissors. The ends don't have to be even or anything. These are double colors, but you could use only one color. It's still a bit of a pain and I often get Ed to help in the process. I've also used those precut gold twist ties.

No help from me I'm afraid. All I know is that some folks are very allergic to agave syrup. End of knowledge.

Good kind of neighbour to have. Would like one myself.

A friend came from Quebec last weekend and brought some fresh Montreal bagels. I could have died right there on the spot. Nothing, repeat, NOTHING is as good as a bagel made Montreal style.

What are the white cylindrical items in #62 please?

PanaCana, words fail me. Exquisite.

You constantly bake for the staff at your hospital and this is wonderful. Do all the other doctors take turn doing this? Do staff members? ...or is this simply that wonderful time of the year when that incredible doctor comes north and bakes yummy offerings every day while she is here?

Thanks, GR. You obviously have the beginning of a video career ahead of you. :smile: Life has intervened in the interim, but I am still going to order one of these gizmos on Amazon.ca. Thanks again.

Ugly looking tape...but have you tried Gorilla tape?

Lovely cakes. Beautiful.

Add roasted Poblanos and I'm in.

I'm going to try those Apricot Confections. Sounds good. Thanks.

Thanks to all who answered my question, and Jaymes, I await your report.

Yep, I am old and my hands don't work well any more. And I make a lot of dishes which take a lot of cutting and mincing and dicing and shredding and so on. Particularly salads in the summer. And nuts for muffins and anything else I can add nuts to. DH loves nuts in everything. DH Ed will do the cutting and mincing and dicing and so on for me whenever I ask. But then he's often not there when those cutting bits are needed...or I just don't want to ask him AGAIN. I have a food processor with no shredding part to it, a couple of those cutters which you bang on the top with the palm of your hand...that hurts the hands also. Knives, box graters, microplanes, etc, but they all hurt to use. And if they don't hurt while I am using them...they hurt later and sometimes for a couple of days. This is ridiculous. OK. This is not to gain sympathy, but rather as background from which to ask about the usefulness of buying a Salad Shooter...or some other utensil which works as well. (I always thought a Salad Shooter was one of the useless things which you watched some poor guy work at the Exhibition in the Food Building.) Apparently not. All advice is appreciated.

Middle East classic: Claudia Roden.

Check the thrift stores first. I see a lot of them there. Thanks, Kerry, but as noted before, there appears to be quite a difference between thrift stores in your area and in mine. I've never seen a Salad Shooter in any of our thrift stores...not to say that one hasn't turned up... Your area thrift stores remind me of the ones we have frequented in Utah. I might just buy one online.

I'm sorry I pulled this topic off center, but I am going to look on Amazon.ca (Canada) and see if I can find one to buy. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks furzzy, but I cannot get it to work.

Are you saying you like this machine?Yes! It grates anything for you and you put the parts in the dishwasherI always thought the salad shooter was one of those tv things which were of no consequence. Apparently not. I will get one. My hands don't work well anymore and cutting and chopping can mean much pain later. Just one of the possible joys of getting old. DH is always more than willing to do this job for me, but he's often not there when I feel like making something. This might solve all our problems. Thanks for the help. Anyone else have thoughts on this appliance?

And what about grape juice? I once thought Welch's tasted pretty good. I knew nothing else. And then one day I took the grapes from the supermarket...we are talking run-of-the-mill produce purchased from a large grocery chain in East Central Ontario which is about as diverse and exciting as a piece of cardboard...and juiced them. My tiny mind was blown. So THAT'S what grape juice can taste like.

Are you saying you like this machine?

My birthday. Guess how old I am. And I made the cake. Not fancy, but delicious. The cake base has cocoa in it. The top mousse is milk chocolate. The bottom mousse is 54% dark chocolate. The topping ganache is 70% chocolate. It should have white chocolate decoration on it, but alas! I have no white chocolate. I had better had another birthday next year to make up for that. The plastic wrap is because our daughter will take the cake home with her on the bus and train and we have to move the remnants to pack them. Today for lunch with Moussaka and Spanakopita. Which I also made. Happy Birthday me. Older than dirt.