Darienne

Indy Rob, there is no doubt, your trash can is prettier than our trash can. However, your trash can also costs a lot more than our many trash cans which are everywhere in the house now. Plus we got them on sale. So far, so good with Kyra, the canine 'raccoon' Rottie in her quests. She will outgrow this, yes?

Smitten Kitchen's (adapted from A Good Appetite) "Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake" with Honey-blood orange compote and thick cream. Compote and cream are added later to the finished cake. The cake was nothing short of fantastic. So moist, such a wonderful crumb, delicious. I was in heaven and 5 of us for lunch ate almost the entire cake. Now I would like to make this cake into muffins. Currently in a 9x5" loaf pan at 350 degrees F, it bakes for 50 to 55 minutes. So I would bake it at the same 350 degrees? in large muffin tins with papers for roughly how many minutes? 35? (That's the timing for large Morning Glory Muffins.) Anything else of import that I should know before I set off to do this thing? Oh, right, I am going to add chopped walnuts to the batter.

Posted on this topic very early...post #2...that we had similar setups and that come the summer, you may hate yours also. The door is shut: all is well. The door is opened and WHAMO the garbage smell is released into the kitchen. We did have lids on ours which also helped, but not enough. Now we have other garbage units...not because I loathed them...but because we have a new youngish pup who gets into everything and we needed a more secure lidded unit. Actually everywhere in the house now has secure lidded units. Never had a dog like this before, but then her very sad background might explain it. Good luck with yours. Maybe your garbage will smell less than ours does.

That was an amazing score! I despair of our poor second-hand stores around Peterpatch. 90% microwave cooking books. Your quesadilla looks HUGE. I cannot imagine scarfing down a whole one. And we would kill...well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration...for a decent Chinese restaurant in our area. As it is, DH likes to have Chinese at least twice a week, which means...making it ourselves. He does sous-chef for me, so I can't complain. Too much.

What? They're easy on the feet, easy on the back, easy on dropped items, and they take a bit of water much better than a lot of people worry about. Reiteration of BIG POINT. They don't show the dirt. And they really look nice!

OK. Asked the DH who replied that some of our floors are semi-gloss and others are satin finish. We have pine plank floors throughout the house...the replacement boards are all roof planking...and I assure you that the urethane is not a factor. Perhaps it's because the level of distress in 100plus year old boards. Ed has made all the new boards look as old as the old. When we redid the floors...boy were they in ROUGH shape with holes and huge gaps and some floors almost 5" lower on one side of the room to the other...the real estate agent whom we asked about what to do...Ed wanted the modern 'stuff' and I wanted planking...(I was right. Ha! Ha! ) said definitely go with the planking. Keep the place looking old and "charming". Kiss the hem of her robe, I did. ps. I guess I forgot to mention that the farmhouse was like a garbage dump (and I have the photos to prove it) when we moved in and that Ed, master and obsessive renovator that he is, has spent much of the last 16 years rebuilding the house from the inside. He had to rewire the house before the insurance people would even insure it.

Our wood floors...ours is a century farmhouse so wide-planked wood floors are almost de regueur...are finished in non-18th century urethane, quite a number of coats and so they are fine with water. The best feature is that they don't show dirt!!! (DH says 5 or 6 coats now on pine floors, not tongue-in-groove.) The worst floors in the world for me are a greyish-white vinyl (or whatever it is) flooring. In Moab our floors were a terra-cotta vinyl (or whatever), the very dirt color of the area. East Central Ontario dirt is brown.

Ne'er were truer words spoken. I would almost sell my soul before I gave up my kitchen wood floors...even though with two huge dogs and many dog friends for dinner regularly the floors must be redone every few years. I love the placement of your stove, sink and fridge. Very nice.

Found the actual recipe here. Sounds divine!

Gotcha. I'll move it up to the top of the very long list (which includes non-Mexican dishes also).

Good Heavens, you really are a very new member of eG. Welcome and you are correct, I was at Perolas. I shall look for Segovia Meats next visit for their chorizo and also remember to ask for Epazote. I have both Masa Harina and a press and making my own tortillas is on my list. I confess that it's not very near the top right now. It's all so new to me that I have a lot of easier things to try first. Thanks for all the suggestions and enjoy yourself on eG. Darienne

We did didn't eat meat for about 30 years. Then we became less meatarians. We are not big meat eaters, but we do enjoy some, particularly pulled pork. Yummmm... I didn't eat ice cream past childhood. My parents got one of the earliest freezer plans with big containers of ice cream...which I learned to loathe quickly. Thus I never ate the stuff. Then I bought a 2nd hand Ice Cream maker two years ago for $5...I have no idea why...made my very first homemade ice cream and was away to the races. OMG!!! :wub:

Just reading Anne Easter Smith, Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV) at her wedding to Charles, Duke of Burgundy. The wedding feast included: roast swan, peacock, egret and pheasant, venison, beef, mutton, car and bream. decorated jellies and custard. Yummm. I suppose it's also the wrong century for eel. BTW, Margaret attended the feast without Charles, a custom in Burgundian propriety.

Thanks for the list Andie. Printed out for my next visit to Toronto, Actually I have Tamarind paste on hand for other cuisines but you are so right.

Thanks all for all the useful ideas. I'll have a few items to add to my pantry next time I go to Toronto.

Your cupcakes are adorable, Kim. You are quite the cake and cupcake maker. Not too mention an incredibly generous lady, both with your constant creations for your workers and others, and also with your words of encouragement and praise for others.

Hello Douglas and welcome to eGullet. Just watched the entire video and am in awe of that cake and of you for setting out to make it. Alas, I have no advice for you, but would like to see your finished product.

I like your post, kayb.

Kensington Market in Toronto is where I have to shop. (I bought nothing I can find in Peterpatch) There are some fresh vegetables, fruits and dairy products and most of the rest is canned, boxed, packaged. I shopped last week and spent over $100.00 in about 10 minutes, but my mind went blank when I tried to think of what I should be buying. The small store was packed to the rafters and I could scarcely concentrate. I was too tired to find the tortilleria shop and I don't know if any meats are available in this area. What I bought: tomatillos, queso panela, queso fresco, Oaxaca cheese, real chorizo, banana leaves, corn husks, crema, chicharones, cajeta from Argentina, white hominy, Mexican oregano, ground canella, Pisco sour and assorted stuff. In Peterborough I can buy: poblanos, jalapenos, dried and ground chiles (most), Mexican vanilla, annatto seeds, corn and flour tortillas (not fresh). A few canned things: chipotles in adobo. I have already / or don’t care about: Mexican chocolate, piloncillo, Champurrado and Horchata mixes, Should have bought some Mexican limes and jicama and chayote. We see these occasionally in Peterpatch. Next time...2 weeks...please help me with my shopping list. Thanks.

I don't know...is there life without cumin???

HERE is my go to Marinated Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad. Can't believe how good it is. (This is not my original source...but it's exactly the same recipe)

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Thanks, Dougal. The ice cream is at least not slushy, just soft. I haven't taken a bowl out to see how quickly it might become 'slush'. On Saturday, I'll simply tell our guests to eat it quickly. I currently have no plans to experiment any further with the ice cream really. It was a one shot deal to see how it worked. We'll drink the tequila from now on in slushy Martgueritas.

Thanks Paul and Pastry Girl for your comments. Of course I agree with both of you on the subject and just wondered what could have been Mz Gerson's thinking. She does have a website, so I'll write to her. In the meantime, as noted before, the ice cream is delicious, full of booze...what's not to like? I'm not serving it to the public, so we'll just eat it with joy! And Helado de Cajeta for those under 21 and Empanadas de Jitomate for all. Thanks.

Two days ago I made Helado de Pasitas con Tequila / Tequila-Raisin Ice Cream from Fany Gerson's My Sweet Mexico. Alcohol doesn't freeze well and you can put a tablespoon or so into your ice cream base to make sure it doesn't get too hard. But this recipe calls for 3/4 of a cup!!!! It's sitting in our very cold (dog food) freezer and it's still pretty soft. Edible, but very soft. I can't imagine that one quart of ice cream can include that much booze and be hard enough to satisfy. Did I mention that it's pretty darned tasty??? I can't figure out what Gerson could have done to make this into a more conventional ice cream in terms of firmness. She says nothing about the ice cream being soft or hard. Any useful thoughts?