Darienne

When is a chain not a chain? In Moab, our home away from home, the recycling station has huge...I mean HUGE mountains of cardboard boxes. Dozens and dozens and dozens from Sysco. Eat out...eat Sysco. Yummm.

I really did enjoy reading your post, Anna. It gives me quite a lot to think about... Bread and potatoes. I could give you a run for your money if the potato chips were Kettle cooked. We just don't have them in the house. Can Club Soda fit into this diet? I am not a water lover. Can do it with lime juice...but only if coerced. I think 5 pounds in two weeks is really quite a lot, especially for a woman. It's tempting to simply 'drop' the weight, but on the other hand, the slower pounds off will be more likely to stay off???? I tell myself that and with some vehemence. It would be good to eat from the permanent low-carbers, should they be out there. (I did Atkins low-carb once many years ago, but I was in a hurry and the end result was a thinner crabby me who didn't feel all that well. No doubt I overdid it. It was MANY years ago.)

Now this BRILLIANT! I don't normally toss things...am feeling very guilty about throwing away the syrups...but we don't drink cocktaily things and don't have syrup on ice cream and so on and what on earth could I do with all that syrup? I've even made candies...which we can't eat more than one or two. But! flavored sugar! Not only could we use it, but what a lovely gift to give to friends!!! Andie, you have done it again!!

Ya gotta love the 'dead cat' dish. Thanks so much for the information about the Pacific Mall. Barbara (confectionery partner) and I have been planning that outing for ages and we would have turned up long before anything was open.

I would if you would give me the eastern Ontario time. (We just switched satellite providers and I can't use the new system properly yet.) Thanks, David.

Thanks for the information, mkayahara. So many wonderful products are available...but not in Canada. Pity. I'll think about your idea of buzzing freeze dried strawberries...

Thought I would start here. Chef Eddy van Damme has a recipe for raspberry-flavored chocolate couverture using freeze-dried raspberry powder. I can't seem to find such a product in Qzina or online for McCall's...doesn't mean they don't have it. Can someone point me in the correct direction for a freeze-dried fruit powder? Thanks. Anywhere in Ontario would do fine for mail-order...or Canada for that matter. ps. Phoned McCall's on Monday, got a mature adult and got some excellent needed information. Thanks again Kerry.

Well, cteavin and Andie, you are both correct. And I have been wasteful. I guess after keeping a number of containers of sugar syrup around for what seemed like a long time, I just gave up and disposed of them. Didn't realize that they would keep almost forever. Should have known. Like jam or honey. OK. Won't do it again. I promise.

I still haven't received the Cheesemonger's book...we are allowed only two books on I.L.L. at a time and I am already over my limit by mistake. Yesterday, at St Vincent de Paul's I bought the following for $1: You Eat What You Are: People, Culture and Food Traditions. Thelma Barer-Stein. It's a huge handsome book and I could not resist. Went to Amazon.com to see what reviews were there...only a few reviews and all except one said it was terrible. The terrible reviews each came from a different country and said basically the Barer-Stein was so off-base and so out of date as to be truly almost without redeeming qualities. So far I haven't checked out Canada...

Hot & Sour soup is my favorite way to eat tofu. We eat a lot of mapodofu...but honestly I am not that crazy about it. DH loves it and that's enough for me. But I make a large pot of Hot & Sour (leaving out the bean thread noodles for freezing) and freeze it in 'enough for two for supper' portions. Tofu does not improve for me in the freezing, but it's not all that prominent in the soup to make a huge difference. Then I would add fresh bean thread noodles each time.

Lovely pie. And served properly. Yesterday was clean out the freezer day and amongst the other surprises was a container of 'tortiere' makings. It was leftover from DH, Ed's, annual tortiere pie at Christmas event. Never would we ever consider eating tortiere with anything but Heinz catsup/ketchup. Good flavor pairing!

Andie is the resident Ginger Lady and can give you the last word on it all. I keep my peels in airtight containers and not in the fridge. So far, so good.

No problem. And you are correct. They just keep on finding melamine, and no doubt other contaminants, in one food item after another. As for liking the White Rabbit candy...I had never even tasted it. I had just bought the Anita Chu candy book and learned of it in one of her recipes. I bought some to taste at our local Asian market and then decided to make it, just for the sake of making it. Milk is not a common ingredient in candy. Gave both the commercial and homemade stuff away...as I give away most of what I make. Not generous. Just devious. - keeps me from getting fat - makes me friends - allows me to experiment and make all sorts of stuff. To me, candy making is almost magic. But then so is bread making and a number of other things. - ingratiates me with our local libraries who sell my stuff for small change. Last week they didn't charge me for my over-dues. - no doubt a number of other things too which won't come to my currently tired mind. However, if you ever do find my mystery candy...please let me know. Thanks.

Hi cteavin, This has been covered to some extent on other related topics a couple of years ago. I know...I asked the same questions. Got a few answers...sauces, drinks, on ice cream...can't remember much today. However, what I finally did is just throw most of it out. Held my nose and dumped it. We simply don't live a life that will encompass that much syrup, no matter how delicious. Sorry. That's not what you wanted to hear.

Hey Peter! Didn't know you were THAT cute!!!

Thanks Paul for all your help. I think I am going to make a cheat sheet for sugars and their names until I can keep them straight in my head. It's still all so new for me.

Thanks David, but I can get one at Hendrix in Peterpatch for about $26.00 Firstly I would want two...no way am I paying $50.00 for two pans, and secondly I can buy them in the States for $20.00 should I decide to go ahead. All in all, I think I'll jettison the idea totally. I have my DH, Ed, who is very handy with a knife or wallboard spatula and he has offered to cut the toffee for me. Also I am going to investigate the idea of metal ceiling grids which could be cut down to divide a cookie sheet of toffee into small squares. But thanks again. Hmmm...it's all a bit like being a food detective. The chase is more important than the solution.

Good point. I use the corn syrup only in ice cream and other confections, like toffee...most of which I give away...and we don't eat processed foods so it's all pretty much immaterial where we are personally concerned. And the verdict won't be in for a long time, if ever. Thanks for taking the time to keep on top of this one, O Ice Cream guru (still haven't tried it with invert sugar...)

Thanks DocDix, but I did say that the candy 'looked' like White Rabbit Candy, but was in a large red plastic tray. I don't think White Rabbit makes these fancy red tray assortments popular at New Year. I have purchased White Rabbit candy and made it also and this was NOT White Rabbit candy unless they now make a 'toasted sesame oil' flavor. The following is the list of current White Rabbit flavors from the official website: "In addition to the original vanilla flavour, new flavours such as chocolate, coffee, toffee, peanut, corn, coconut, lychee, strawberry, mango, red bean, and fruit have been added. The butter-plum flavour, characteristic of China, was also among the new flavours added through the years." None of these flavors would taste like toasted sesame oil as far as I can see. I also believe that currently there is no recall of White Rabbit Candy for melamine...but I don't know for certain. I wanted to taste it and so I did. And then made a batch using a recipe from Anita Chu (Pastrygirl on eG) book, Field Guide to Candy: How to Identify and Make Virtually Every Candy Imaginable. So I am still mystified.

The best I can do is to ask at my Asian market. No doubt you have already gone that route. However, I hope you don't mind if I add a second 'mystery Asian candy' to the question. I asked it long ago on an Asian favorite candy topic but received no useful answers. This candy is white, small cylinder to squarish, chewy, tastes of toasted sesame oil, wrapped in waxed paper, looked like White Rabbit Milk Candy, but was not, purchased by a Chinese friend in a big red Chinese New Year multi-varied box 2 years ago. Intrigued me no end...in fact, I ate them all. The combination of toasted sesame oil and sweet was so different. I should add: they were NOT crunchy, there were NO sesame seeds, they were NOT thin like wafers, the sesame oil WAS the familiar toasted kind you use in dishes such as Hot & Sour soup, Hot & Sour cabbage. Thanks.

Found this link today concerning HFCS. I have no idea of the legitimacy of the claims that hfcs is bad for you...Princeton scientists seem to think so. I thought I should post it.

The omelet looks wonderful and the pan also.

Do check the ingredient label on the can to see what % is fat. Some cans are labelled 'cream', but have a very low % fat. And vice versa. However, as HeidiH pointed out in the topic "Coconut milk vs. coconut cream vs. Coconut Water", the labels on these cans are NOT to be trusted .

Too kind...

Somehow I feel a strong kinship with rooftop1000.