Darienne

No toilet paper in our area. Fortunately a friendly vet tech lives up north of here in the middle of nowhere...really nowhere...and she says she can bring us some. Believe it or not, we were almost out. Our really sad news is that our son who blew in from Halifax unexpectedly a few days ago now is leaving tomorrow. He has 1,000 miles to go and we all thought he had better get home while the getting is good. He's also at risk...so I hope his area is better. As far as I know we don't have it locally...yet...but we are near enough to Toronto that it is inevitable and will be soon. Ed's not home yet so I don't know if he is going to be able to get the fruits and vegetables. He said that Costco was very, very quiet...as compared to yesterday when the report was that it was a zoo. Added: fruits were purchased. Not a scrap of toilet paper to be had.

So much for the quiet level-headed Canadian. A real problem is going to be the shortage of pharmaceuticals for those dependent upon them. It was already apparent in Britain with certain meds with the results of the Brexit vote and now ingredients from China will be impossible to get. No restocking of those 'shelves' going to happen over the weekend.

That's an OMG from me!

Is that in your area @Anna N? Bordering on insane. And we really are out of toilet paper at home. Bad planning on my part. But who knew the place was going to go insane?

Candied ginger dipped in chocolate is the absolute best!

OK. Just spoke to the produce manager in our local downtown FreshCo and he knows about the bean sprouts issue. He says ours are not on the contaminated dates but to bring them in if I felt better...and somehow I think I'll feel better not eating them. Thanks CD for always being there.

The dumplings look terrific. What are they made of please.

Yo back to you, brajaboy, and welcome to the forum.

You, sir, are a genius baker.

Welcome to the forum ChefJoshBanc. You'll find a lot of good answers here and no doubt you'll have lots to contribute.

Makes me long for the days of yesterday (well, a few months now) when Ontario libraries provideded free ILL and I could order whatever I pleased to read. Yes, I know that ILL is still available, but it costs the library mailing both ways and I cannot justify costing my small library that kind of money just for my satisfaction.

No photos but a recipe: Vegan Indian Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry from a Chef's Kitchen (online). I don't subscribe to Chef's Kitchen and can't remember where I found it now. It is a basic list of ingredients in this dish with no quantities given. It suggests in the notes section adding sweet potatoes and so I did. And then added even more sweet potato when Ed complained noted that he wasn't getting enough sweet potato in his. I also added a whopping amount of shredded pork (I follow more or less to Robert Rodriguez's recipe for Puerco Pibil . He wrote, scored, directed, photographed, edited, etc, etc "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". Dreadful movie (I thought) with Johnny Depp's bad guy killing one chef after another, either because his Puerco Pibil was not up to par or because it was so excellent that Depp's character knew he'd never have such a wonderful meal ever again.) Again Ed asked for more meat. We've eaten it on brown rice and on black beans. Right....you did ask about ginger. Well, ginger was in it. My last set of scribbled notes says it still needed more spice. We like spicy food.

Well, please, what exactly is it?

Sorry but I had to laugh. It reminded me of the times I have forgotten to insert the dasher into my little ICE-20 churn. Ended up with a bucket of frozen ice cream mixture. Fortunately it was all redeemable with some time and effort. Edit: Could not delete that extra top box. Very frustrating...

Why not make a simple spinach soup and freeze it? We've never had leftover spinach. If we can't get through the current fridge full of vegetables, I'll roast them and then freeze them...or make soup. I've even made lettuce soup and was stunned at how good it was.

Not baking...but some folks like those filled chocolate eggs.

Very good point. Ed and I have certain skills which we have offered on occasions to others. Some are delighted by the offer of help...others are not. At all. Added: I would say to let it go. Perhaps when his chocolate does not sell well, he'll be more amenable to learning.

Thank you as always, CD. It's always good to find out that the UPC code of the possible salmonella sprouts doesn't match the one you have in the fridge.

We built the kitchen in the farmhouse before I started 'COOKING'. Before that I just cooked. But then I also made beds and did laundry. So...the kitchen is too small for my newish obsession (13 years). My cookware is stored: in the kitchen, in the master bedroom in a cabinet in one of the closets, in the dining room cabinet, and in the outdoor hallway cabinet. (Some call it a breezeway...but Ed says breezeways don't have doors.) And aluminum pans are in a Rubbermaid container in the cellar. And I have only one non-stick saute pan. And that's my sad story...

Bosch dishwasher here. Wonderful unit.

Also done here. And it's easier to grate from frozen.

WOW! Double WOW! and triple WOW!

Ed was out doing groceries a few days ago and on the list was noted 'sliced almonds'. And he returned with slivered. Words were exchanged. The air was cool. Two days later, he returned the slivers to the store and bought the sliced at another. And in his wallet he carried the photo I had printed out as per his request:

I would love your version. Still searching for the perfect recipe. My Mother's recipe was lost in the sands of time I guess. I'll pass on the whipped cream. I still have a freezer full of apple sauce from last fall's harvest.

Glad of the smile...but here I go again. Whipped cream on gingerbread? I think not. I grew up eating gingerbread and the only topping ever offered was applesauce. I don't know about other Canadians. I've not made a study. In a similar vein, Canadians invariably (to my somewhat limited knowledge) always eat apple pie with cheddar cheese and yet I have yet to find one American sourced recipe which mentions cheese...only ice cream...and again whipped cream. Whipped cream on apple pie? A travesty in my not so humble opinion.