Darienne

And for different surfaces...a plastic or a stainless taping knife (which is also called by many other names: trowel, scraper, mudding knife, patching trowel, dry wall spatula, etc). I have little ones and big ones. Stainless for stuff which doesn't scratch and plastic for stuff which does.

Someone asked for photos. Here are most of the muffins. They are delicious although they don't look very exciting at all. (Not to mention a tad fuzzy.)

OK. In answer to your question: I do not like and have never liked iced tea. Not unsweetened or sweetened. Could be the Canadian thing. Now...iced coffee buzzed in the blender. That's delicious!

I have Fany Gerson's My Sweet Mexico which has an entire section on the confections and pastries of Puebla. Thanks.

You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. I will return to your post when I have some sitting time. I was disappointed that the dancers were so 'fuzzy'. Their headdresses were spectacular and it would have been nice to see them up close. An additional problem is that I have no Spanish and could not read the Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Puebla ZACAPOAXTLA. I might try to figure out how to get the title back to the stage where I can ask for a translation. I'll check out those foods later. I am happy to say though, that I did know about the holiday from before. Thanks again.

It's still an unknown quantity to me, but I suspect that it's not much. The fresh and refrigerated sections in Perola's didn't have much. Most of the store was canned, packaged, etc, etc. According to the City of Toronto (googled) stats: the Latin American population is 64,860 or 2.6 per cent. Don't know if that is Toronto only or the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Haven't done the math. BUt stil, not a lot of Hispanics of any kind. So you wouldn't expect to find a lot of Hispanic type foods say compared to Chinese ingredients. Even in my small city, 60,000, we have three or four Asian markets. Nothing Hispanic at all. Thanks for all the information. You are really a big help to me.

Reviving this thread...well, just because I am on such a Mexican roll these days. I'll make something suitable. I want to try a new ice cream recipe from Gerson's My Sweet Mexico, Helado de Queso / Requeson Cheese Ice Cream. Never had cheese ice cream. Does anyone celebrate this unusual holiday and what are you making/eating?

As for Rancho Gordo and beans...you'd pretty much have to package beans. I was speaking more of stuff that you would rather get unpackaged. Meant to mention the brand El Paso. It's the most common brand of 'Mexican' foods where I live. And so incredibly expensive you can't believe it. Never buy the stuff...so I can't comment on it. I brought home with me from Utah Herdez tomatillos and Hatch chiles but have nothing to compare them with. Since then a major Canadian grocery chain, Sobey's, has started to carry poblanos and I was able to buy fresh tomatillos in Toronto. However, we seldom get to Toronto and less often to the very heart of the city where Kensington Market is. Going on Saturday tho... I must say that canned chiles and canned tomatillos are about the same as canned asparagus vs fresh...

I've heard that all of the Rancho Gordo products are pretty good. I think I've heard of that place....

Because we cannot get a lot of fresh Hispanic type ingredients in Canada, we can end up buying a number of ingredients which are as noted: boxed, bottled, canned, plastic-containered and packaged. Oh, and dried and frozen... And my generous friend from NJ brought me a fair selection of said from NJ last summer. Right now I am looking at a bottle of Goya Sofrito, and Rogelio Bueno both Adobo and Pipian, both in glasses. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Do Mexican cooks use a lot of pre-packaged stuff the way North Americans increasingly do? Obviously Mexican cooks in North America must. Are there any good products? Brands to look for if you must buy pre-packaged? Brands to avoid?

Thanks for all the information. I do have a Salton scale and inexpensive as it was, it appears to be accurate. Two American nickels weighed 10 grams on it yesterday. And I am working up to larger amounts of vitamin C, not a 1/4 of a teaspoon only. 1/4 teaspoon is the amount listed on the container. And powdered C costs a fraction of the tablets or capsules. And I have a huge bottle of it purchased for a dog who is no longer with us. So none of this is critical...I was just shocked at my discovery, which obviously, the rest of you knew all about. Not to forget that taking an unaccustomed large dose of Vitamin C can cause a very significant problem, one which I, when still an ignorant lass, suffered many years ago and which I will NEVER forget. If I could ever get my hands on the health store employee who gave me the advice...

Just went back to look at my crockpot with the frieze of vegetables. Is it old!!! It has NO controls at all. Just plus it in. That's it. My four crockpots come from four different eras and are three different sizes and that one is the least sophisticated. Perhaps I haven't used it for meat...can't truly remember. I wasn't thinking when I answered yesterday. However, the one I do use for small roasts has a non-removable pot and only 'on' and 'off' and it's fine.

Sorry, had to go look. They're Cuisipro. Got on the recommendation of other people here a few years back. Thanks, PR.

I have that exact crock pot and while I have never done beans in it, I have done a lot of other dishes, including pulled pork. And on low, and without any problems. I think Heidi is correct.

And your better ones are....

Thanks, natasha1270. Fortunately I have a cache of US coins.

Dhardy dropped me a post yesterday about a new confectionery cookbook just out: Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes, & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar. Gesine Bullock-Prado. Found it this morning in Chapters while looking for May's Saveur (thanks Pierogi) on Mexican food. It looks like a pretty useful book EXCEPT (and I did read this in the Amazon review) it has ALMOST NO PHOTOS. ARRRGGGHHHHHH! I didn't have much time to look at it and I wasn't going to buy it at full price. Has anyone looked at it? David, have you looked at it extensively? What do you think of it? Thanks.

An idea although I'm not sure where to get one where I live. It might be something which I'll get around to...or not. Thanks.

Vitamin C crystals. And the one spoon was off by about 1/4 I would say.

In another thread, I think it was Andie who suggested that you can verify your scale's accuracy with a US quarter or nickel. I'll google that point. Thanks.

Two excellent points. Thanks. ...that assumes my scales are correct...

We have that at our bulk food stores also...I just never remember the containers. I should put some into our Rubbermaid containers!!! Duh...

Just got the shock of my life...well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration...when for some unknown reason I decided to check one set of spoons against another. They don't match! What do I do to find out which is accurate? I thought of the pharmacist and DH said no, that won't work. This is Canada so our scientific types don't use Imperial measures. In fact, we are officially on the Metric system. Which I have trouble with still. Who should I ask? Where should I run? Well, walk. Thanks. Five minutes later: OK. I called the pharmacist, thinking he might have metric measures as in one teaspoon is also 15 ml. Nope, it's all by weight.

One more: lacquer thinner, my go-to sticker remover. Of course, it's toxic as can be but I have it handy in my studio where I used to use it with regularity. Can't use it on some plastics...it takes the plastic too.

Am lovin' this, Heidi. Using all those garden goodies: I will cook and freeze anything which seems to be likely to go beyond its best use time. Colored peppers were on special last week at an unbelievable low price here and so we bought a passel. I roasted them all and into the freezer they went. A dozen uses spring to mind. Also I envy your having neighbors who are also interested in food, preparation and eating. The best part of living in Moab two years ago for 6 months was sharing with my next-door neighbor/landlady/friend our interests in just this. First and only time in my life to have a next door friend. (I really don't even have next door neighbors now.) Actually, I suppose that's why eG is so important to me.