Darienne

Thank you for all that good information. Would that we never have to use it. We have lived through two house fires, our last one in 1995. None of this information appears to have been well known in our area back then. I guess we were just lucky. Both fires were at the end of the house farthest away from the kitchen. I would not wish a house firs on anyone. Thanks again.

Lunch today for DH and me: defrosted Jasmine rice with sour cream (bought by mistake instead of cottage cheese), citron syrup (from the candied Buddha's Hand I made in Moab, UT), and pecan pieces, sprinkled over with cinnamon & sugar (mixture made for tortilla roll-ups). Zapped in the microwave. Delicious. :wub: Must cook and freeze some more rice.

There is also a process from David Lebovitz by which you put the condensed milk in a pie plate, covered and in a bain marie, into the oven. Less to be concerned about.

And some chopped nuts of your favorite kind. I have a container of frozen rice in the freezer. Maybe for breakfast tomorrow. Oh, and of course, we have maple syrup from our next door neighbors.

Avocados in provincial East Central Ontario seem mostly to come in two varieties...either rock hard or 'gosh, I would have thrown that one away' 'why isn't it on for half price'? I've yet to see an overripe avocado on for a reduced price. Fact of life here. Instead of throwing the past their prime ones out, I make guacamole and freeze it in small bags. It freezes very well and thaws equally well and at the price we have to pay, I can't afford to throw these little gems out.

Right away, I'm adding some kind of chile powder, ancho or chipotle, to the mix.

Hi Lebowits. A good idea to try the ganache at the chocolate conference. (Wish I could ever get to one.) Hi Tikidoc. I can get the powder in the Toronto area so I might to buy some. Let us know the results of your experiments with it.

Muffins. Canadians seem to be the chief muffin eaters in the world. My favourite is Orange muffins made from the entire orange. Muffins freeze well. Empanadas of almost any kind would be my other thought right away. Good luck.

Soon I will no longer have an excess of applesauce in the freezer. Between making PanaCan's apple cake and the Aplets, suggested by Sylvia Lovegren, I have used up quite a lot of applesauce in the last two weeks. Made a second batch of PanaCan's cake and it made 24 large muffins. Added 25% to the raisins and walnuts. Here's another batch of the Aplets: the divided pan in the making is half with pecans and half with walnuts. The finished photo are what's left of the pecans. Most tasters had no preference as to nut, but I liked the walnuts better. The pecans are for my confectionery partner who is allergic to walnuts...that's if there is even one left by the next time I see her. They are extremely delicious. Can't eat just one!

The husband of a friend with whom I took a class in Mexican cooking made wooden tortilla presses for us all, copying the wooden one our teacher had brought back with her from Mexico. But these ones are lovely! He's a wood worker and couldn't just fasten together a few boards...these are works of art. (Haven't used it yet. )

That which is old is new again...?

Are the "parts" by volume or weight? What are the right and wrong kinds of rice? I'd like to try this one. Probably add cardamom. And some nuts. DH would eat nuts in an omelet I think. Our current 'go-to' dessert is an open faced apple tart, courtesy of Mark Bittman, the Minimalist. Any kind of fruit pretty much would do I think. Whipped up pretty quickly. So far, only apple, and with old-age cheddar (we're Canadians).

And so I shall. For a Gourdpatch meeting on Monday. Sounds wonderful. The trick in this house is to make the dessert or confection...and then get it out of the house quickly!!!

It might also be good with a mixed milk/dark chocolate ganache. I think a white shell or a dark shell decorated with white/orange/green would be a worthy experiment. Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I are making the ganache tomorrow along with Greweling's mixed color hard candy from the big book (a la Minas6907). Busy day ahead. Probably won't get the ganache dipped though. Barbara is bringing the white chocolate. Of course all of this depends upon whether or not we get the threatened freezing rain!!! So?!? Results please! Alas, we got the freezing rain. If the school buses are cancelled...then you don't bother. We live about 45 country minutes apart. Rats. I need a cooking/baking/etc next door neighbor. I will report back when we get it done. In the meantime, did you try your own recipe? Tastes would be better than photos, but photos will have to suffice.

Sounds as if you are having a good time. Maybe it's time for another chocolate lesson for the three chocolateers. I'll ask.

And they often have nuts in them or on them. ...think I might have to go and make a coffee cake right now...what kind?...O, what kind? ...and with a streusel topping, I think.

Totally anecdotal and I would add: - you can eat coffee cake for breakfast - you can make the recipe into muffins added: I usually prefer coffee cakes over 'formal' cakes

It might also be good with a mixed milk/dark chocolate ganache. I think a white shell or a dark shell decorated with white/orange/green would be a worthy experiment. Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I are making the ganache tomorrow along with Greweling's mixed color hard candy from the big book (a la Minas6907). Busy day ahead. Probably won't get the ganache dipped though. Barbara is bringing the white chocolate. Of course all of this depends upon whether or not we get the threatened freezing rain!!!

Your Margarita ganache sounds like a good bet, lebowitz. I'll buy some white chocolate next time into the city. Thanks.

Is that aluminum foil lining the burners on the stove? Thanks.

Googling Margarita truffle or ganache does not seem to yield a plain Margarita ganache. Can anyone direct me to one? No extra fruits, please. Preferably in dark chocolate (I never keep any white or milk on hand). However, I'll buy whatever I need. Thanks. ???Perhaps Margarit's lime, tequila, etc go better with white chocolate???

Thanks Minas6907. I have both Greweling books in my pile currently to find 'the' recipe which we'll make. I'll look in C&C next. Your confections are wonderful!

Had forgotten about those. I do mine a bit differently. Butter & sugar both sides. Cinnamon too if you like. A long piece of chocolate at the bottom of the roll-up procedure. Into the oven 375 degrees for a few minutes. Yummm :wub:

You'd be surprised and it may seem counterintuitive, but those don't really go with a meal like this...to a group like this. A few pumpernickel bagels might be in the mix, but they will be left at the end. We secular Jewish New Yorkers eat sesame bagels, onion bagels, poppy seed bagels, plain bagels, everything (gasp) bagels and bialys (and I may throw a bulka and pletzel into the mix). Now, if I was to make some tuna salad and or some egg salad, it would be a totally different story. Hmmm.... The great joy of my childhood in Montreal was real dark pumpernickel, torn to pieces in a bowl with cottage cheese and sour cream, salt and pepper on top. My Poppa (what my Mother called her Father) ate that and so then did I. Needless to say, pickled herring was not one of my favorites. | Can you still buy real pumpernickel in Montreal now? Is there out there a recipe for the real stuff? A small round loaf, with cornmeal on the bottom, very moist, very dark, almost sweet...my mouth is watering. I'll eat a bagel as noted above in your post, but they are only pale commercial attempts and fall far short of a Montreal bagels...but then we've been there before. Have a joyful party. You are a good son-in-law.

Real pumpernickel.