Darienne

Wonderful looking goodies. I would have liked to attend that tea. You went to a lot of work, SLS.

Their Dark Chocolate Dreams is wonderful. I make sure I never buy it. It's too wonderful.

Am I to assume that one can make straight apple leather? I've never made any fruit leather at all. We had such a huge crop of apples last year, we finally gave up processing them. Fruit leather sounds like an excellent idea. Of course, our apple production is purely in the hands of Mother Nature so this year may be a sparse one.

The "grating frozen ginger" so excellent that I never grate fresh any more.

Wonderful. How good of you to offer classes to young people. First laugh of the morning.

Wow! I'll try it. (To be eaten just before the 3-minute chocolate cake, no doubt. )

No photos...but we had a wonderful lunch. Our daughter's BF (Grenadian) cooked it. He always cooks when he comes. A spicy orange dahl soup with Callaloo and Jasmine rice. This man can cook!!!

Ketchup on fries? Mayo on fries? I think not. Vinegar. Not malt, not wine, not fancy schmancy...just plain white vinegar and salt (and pepper for me). (fixed up 'schmancy')

FYI: I live not all that far from Anna and Kerry...less than 100 miles...but it might as well be on the moon. Calipoutine can attest to this as she used to live even nearer to them than I do. Interior Ontario is a gustatory wasteland.

Do keep in mind that if you are driving the 401 East, there is next to nothing ON the highway all the way east. And what there is??...half of them will be closed "to serve you better". Driving on Canadian major highways is not a treat. Make sure you have food and drink with you unless you are keen on McDonald's and Wendy's. American Interstates are fascinating cultural experiences compared to those in Canada. Also, should you in Montreal, be on Decarie and near the Orange Julep, give it a try and report back. The original Orange Julep was the first 'modern' drive through I recall about 65 years ago and I'll remember the drink forever.

Thanks EdwardJ for this information. I did buckle down and start doing some research into the subject of added liquid (and SALT!) to pork, beef and chicken, and the results are staggering. And yes, they do inject solutions into the meat. And yes, this is legal and quite popular amongst consumers, according to the manufacturers. Butterball Turkeys are the best example of this practice. Still the amount of liquid and salt injected can be disturbing...to me at least. Certainly the added salt is a danger to those with heart and other medical conditions. As for the labeling. I suppose that in the USA your federal laws govern this? I have noticed that American laws and regulations seem to be much stricter and with luck more adhered to than what we experience in Canada...as far as I know...which isn't really all that far. But it certainly has been brought home to me quite forcefully that Americans are more careful and regulated in this area than are Canadians. I do know that most of the States have much more stringent codes for selling homemade items than we do here in Ontario for one. I've skimmed the Canadian regulations for water in meat and if I get it correctly, then 20% of the final weight can be non-meat originated and it does not have to be labeled as such. Enough for me. Thanks for the help.

Ditto for me. And that photo looks near enough to get a taste.

I go along with ChrisZ, but then I am neither an expert and I live far away from other than Callebaut and Belcolade. A friend picks up Lindt somewhere north of Toronto when she goes by. The local (Canadian, NOT American) Walmart has a huge, cheap, plain line of chocolate bars and I use them too. I guess we live at a lower taste level and a lesser snack bracket. 'oi polloi, we are.

Hmmm...yes the taste and texture of the hot dog bun leaves a lot to be desired. I have made a wonderful breakfast savory bread pudding. I'll look for the recipe. I think it came from Smitten Kitchen. http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/12/new-years-day-2001/ Boozy baked french toast

That is EXACTLY what it is about.

Mexican Capirotada. We love it. My recipe (as a jump off point): http://patismexicantable.com/2011/11/going-nuts-and-bananas-for-capirotada.html I didn't use prunes, but apples. I didn't use Mexican cheese (can't get it locally) but Cheddar. And don't start with 8 cups of water for the sauce or you'll be there forever waiting for it to reduce. Good luck.

Two nights ago I slow-cooked a [sale] Pork Shoulder Picnic. Called "All Natural". State of origin: VA. Also: "Contains no artificial ingredients and no more than minimally processed". 3.5 kilos. Did it in my 6.5 quart slow cooker on low. No water added. In fact, because of the extreme heat and humidity we are currently having and my laziness and tired state, nothing was added. Imagine my chagrin the next morning, when I found the done roast swimming in liquid, quite high in the pan (not unusual...I know they inject meat and poultry with water), but also a large crusted pool of liquid under the pan in the body of the cooker. Now, that's a new one. Just how much water are they injecting into meat and poultry anyway? It was a cheap cut, and on sale. More than the usual amount of fat. I didn't expect pork tenderloin. I guess it's too hot for a rant, but I don't like it. Yes, I know I can buy 'air-chilled while frozen' or something meat. It's not quite in my 'snack' bracket.

Midsummer has always been important to us, living in Ontario. Both our birthdays are in this time slot, June 22 and 25. Also we live on a large hemp farm and every day walk our dogs around the perimeter of the farm. Well, one dog walks and the other, old and very lame, rides in splendor in the back of the John Deere Gator. And now we do it once instead of twice a day. We are getting less able also...well, I am.As for food, there are always birthday type considerations: special favorite meals, outside if it is suitable, with a cake or two cakes sometimes. There's not much in local food to be eaten yet but we are great salad eaters all the time.This year we have daughter and boy friend coming and their food preferences are paramount. Daughter wants apple pie and Chinese food. She's a vegetarian. BF won't eat North American food, but he will eat Chinese. He won't eat sweets...more pie for us. OK.As for the day in question, Midsummer's, we are going to what is purported to be the best new local felafel outlet for our personal birthday lunch. I know I shall order fatoush also. Not your usual Midsummer's fare, but it pleases us.

I've really cut down on buying cookbooks. No, really, I have. Still I bought one recently, second-hand, Bakers Best Chocolate Cookbook, 1995. Why you ask? Well, for reasons which don't make sense, I have amassed a large collection of 'those' kinds of chocolate books from Nestle, Hershey, etc. For fun I guess.

Beautiful cake and Happy Birthday to Beth From PanaCan: I'm actually not responsible for the baking itself (it's bad luck to bake your own birthday cake) .... Who says it's bad luck? I always have to bake my own cake. Who else is going to do it?

Surely you'll have homemade ice creams???

I made yoghurt for years a long time ago, using powdered skim milk. Perhaps you can get that.

Oh my! I LOVE them! So beautifully done.

A photo of the cute towels? A source? Thanks.

Interesting. We don't do 'dinner parties' very often because normally we eat our big meal at noon. Also we live very casually and are dog ridden, way out in the country in the middle of nowhere, with no traffic between us and most people...just country roads. Friends often bring their dogs for a walk and then a meal. My problem is with folks who are already at the house. I am announcing that dinner is served. But I have already announced five or so minutes earlier that dinner will be served in five or so minutes. So as I am serving, either buffet style or from the table or directly from the kitchen onto the table...then the 'offenders' go off to the bathroom to do their ablutions, etc. Sometimes this is family & relatives (none of whom live at our home), sometimes friends. Frustrates me and I'm not sure what to do about it.