Darienne

Love sesame seeds, sesame candies, sesame oil, both toasted and now untoasted, tahini, hummus, halvah... One year, at Chinese New Year's, my friend who gives a big feast each yea, was given the usual boxes of New Year's candies, and in one, only one, was a compartment of chewy candies, with NO seeds, but the distinct smoky toasted sesame flavor. No one else liked them, so of course I ate them all. Tried everywhere to find out what the candies were and how to make them, with no luck. Tried on eGullet too under Chinese candy. Maybe I'll post my question again...might be some new members there who would know. (Maybe not. My question was the 3rd last post.)

I never noticed that there were recipes...will return to the website. Thanks.

Apologies, must have missed that. Any chance you can post a picture? I'm confused that an unrefined sesame oil should be so clear. Hmmmm my mistake also. When I actually poured some out for the photograph, I realized that it was more amber than I had thought at first tiny pouring.

Ditto to all of that. I wash up my dishes as I go so I don't have a big pile to wash at the end. But like you, I just shove all my peelings and cores off to the side of the cutting board. But it's all clean, right? So no problem. Right? Oh, and Anna, I do the thing with the broom too. But not just in the kitchen. As I noted far above in the posts, my kitchen always looks as if a tornado went through it when I am cooking. DH often points this out. So many of us are in the boat, or kitchen, so to speak. However, framed on my kitchen wall is the following that my departed Mother said long ago about my kitchen habits, and keep in mind, my Mother had little or no sense of humor or whimsy...she was dead serious: Keeping a dirty kitchen is better than living a life of thievery and killing What more is there to say?

Thanks for the suggestion, but DH wants a couple more, that's why I am chasing this one down.

Ah! The simple uncomplicated joys of second-hand shopping!

When I was a little girl, my Aunt Eileen made butter balls with a cross hatch design on them. I was enchanted by the process and loved to go to her house to watch her make the butter balls.

Very sad to report that Amazon does not carry very much in its Canadian version, and no kitchen stuff. Had I but known when I was in Moab... I will look at the Oxo chuan, but seeing as Ed does most of the lifting part of the cooking, he may prefer the stainless steel one. Thanks all.

This sesame oil IS unrefined. Strange that the directions on the clear, untoasted, unrefined, bland taste, etc sesame oil say to keep it in the fridge after opening...while the toasted, pungent, etc sesame oil says not to put it in the fridge.

Thanks all. Turns out Ed has not been looking in his twice weekly visits to the second hand stores looking for some other bits and bobs. We do see the occasional used wok so we might well see the wok spatula. Plus we are heading out for a major tour of Markham (north of Toronto) which is predominantly Chinese very soon. Thanks again. Who knew?

This stainless steel utensil with missing handle came into our lives at some point during the last 50 years...well, March 2010 will be 50 years for us...probably from a second hand outlet. It's DH's favorite. Good for taking Chinese dishes from the pan to the dish. DH would like to find/buy another one, with handle, but so far I have been unable to find one anywhere online, in catalogs, etc. Can someone help? (This sounds like a job for Wonder Ginger Lady, Andie )

Hi Jenni, Clear: I should have specified both untoasted and colorless, like water, that kind of clear. The bottle says: 'medium heat', thus not for deep frying.

Ed loves spicy things and although I would doubt that I could get gochugaru locally, I see that according to Wikipedia regular chili powder would make a suitable substitute. Thanks.

The sesame oil is completely clear. Uncolored. Expeller pressed. Unrefined. 100% sesame oil. Company: Spectrum. Imported by Hain Celestial, British Columbia. Refrigerate after opening. www.spectrumorganics.com. I'll look it up. http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=6#p65 No idea of where it comes from...

Thanks Tim. We eat a lot of roasted vegetables, summer and winter varieties. Will try it next time. Maybe a smallish amount first time round. The DH is pretty easy going as to foods...but not completely.

I googled the completely unknown 'Bibimbap' to find out what it is and while it does look good, I am without the requisite stone bowl. It's true, I was looking for something which wasn't Asian...like salad dressings, etc. Humdrum, perhaps, but useful.

Gotcha. Thanks.

I bought it to make a version of Halvah which was a disaster...mine, only mine, no doubt...which ended up in the trash. Now I have a goodly number of halvah recipes to try, not to mention a gift of Israeli halvah coming from Ilana (Lior), and a nearly full bottle of sesame oil left. It's not familiar dark amber, pungent Asian sesame oil which one uses in Chinese cooking. You could never mistake it for that sesame oil. However, the label on the side says: 'adds potent flavour to your Asian dishes'. I tasted it and it's quite bland although definitely 'sesame' and clear in color. It says 'medium heat'. What else can I use it for? Salad dressing? Other? Thanks.

Thank you,jk1002. I had found the Wikipedia article before but was in no mood to plow through it and you sent me back. I read it this time properly. However...do you use to thicken anything? Or is it mostly used commercially in large manufacturing situations? And what exactly is 'molten' ice cream? Do you make it? Buy it? As one question leads to another..........

Nope. But I would be interested in hearing the results.

Oldest daughter is always sure that whatever I make has been designed to make her fat. Oldest son is thrilled with anything made by Mom. Youngest son cooks for his wife, but I make him supremely happy when I make cheese blintzes. DH loves beyond all reason Chinese food, especially Szechwan dishes. Lunch today was Egg Foo Yong, Orange Beef and Mapo Dofu with Jasmine rice and tea. Ed is my willing sous-chef.

I am assuming that the above Greek yoghurts cost more than regular yoghurt...supermarket or not. Here's my puzzle: In Canada there is a dairy, Astro, which produces several kinds of yoghurt: regular fat, medium fat, low fat...I don't know. Granted this is all supermarket yoghurt and thus not meant for dedicated foodies. Our dogs have yoghurt every day and they are not fussy. However, for the same low price as the other varieties, Astro also produces Balkan style yoghurt which tastes much better than the rest. How do they do it? And do I really want to know in this case, seeing as it's the same price...

I have used both for making gumdrops...a total disaster - no doubt my error...and chocolates. My quarrel with them is that they are so deep and take a considerable amount of chocolate, which is more than I usually want to use.

Looks divine. There is nothing more wonderful than warm fresh bread with cold butter. Would you please be a bit more specific than 'cream'? Was it heavy cream? Thanks.

I think the topping is coming right out of the computer and into my greedy mouth!