Darienne

Here's our current favorite meatballs recipe: Taco Meatballs Recipe (Pinterest is NOT where I originally found it but can't seem to locate the original source at this point). I add a package of Goya Sazon Cilantro & Achiote and double the cumin and go heavy on the ground pepper. And use hotter chiles than the mild called for. Etc...as cooks do. I like the fact that there is no frying...just bake in the oven. And I use a small scale to get them approximately the same size...and I make them very small. I usually make a triple recipe so all that work lasts quite a while. They can be added to just about anything which takes ground beef.

For Elsie: here's where to buy it in Ottawa: Canada in a Basket 55 Byward Market Square Ottawa (613) 241-2088 Alas, the Canoe Museum does not have birch syrup in stock and Whetung's (where we sell our decorated gourds) no longer carries it. And it's not carried in the Cambridge area. I think we'll stick with Maple Syrup until our next unavoidable trip to Toronto. Thanks to you both.

Thanks so much Kerry. Not sure how I missed this. I'll try them both tomorrow.

Thanks Elsie. I imagine you could also find it in Sudbury. We went there to teach a workshop about 10 years ago and I couldn't breathe from 100 miles out until we got back to that point...birch pollen. I know I can get it online...I wanted to see if I could pick it up somewhere. I've phoned a lot of local places which you might think might carry it...but they don't. My friend who lives in Cambridge spent a year in Finland in high school and is looking forward to having Pannukakku when she next comes to visit. So I thought I'd try for the birch syrup. Online would be a last resort at this point. Might not even like the stuff...

Terrific gfron1. I envy you.

Pannukakku has become a new favorite in the McAuley household. (LCBO Food & Wine, winter season 2016). We've been using Maple Syrup...made with DH's help in a local sugar shack...but the recipe actually calls for birch syrup. Does anyone know where to buy it in Ontario? Any grocery stores carry it? Specialty stores? Toronto? What about in the Cambridge/Kitchener/Waterloo area? Thanks.

I watched as far as the lip on the cylinder and gave up. Fascinating stuff...but definitely not for me. (And it is Saturday which means laundry, meds, next week's breakfast assembly, soup making, pulled pork making, bed remaking, dog hair vacuuming, etc, etc...not time to sit and watch extended cookie making videos... ) But thanks for bringing this wonderful cookie maker to our attention.

And here am I (and others) a War Baby. No sugar in our cereals. My favorite was always Grape Nuts. Haven't had it in decades. (American and Canadian Grape Nuts have different formulas...the American ones are not quite so hard as the Canadian and are sweeter.) I should have said...no sugar coating on our cereals...

Dear Andrea, My heart goes out to you in your loss. We have lived through 2 terrible house fires in our city home (we live in the country now and heaven help us if we ever have a fire because it all has to be trucked in) and it was years before we drove up our road without my heart being in my mouth. Our insurance company was so good to us that I could scarcely believe it. I don't have a chocolate room or special counter tops anywhere, but perhaps you can ask the Chocolate Doctor, Kerry Beal, for photos of her chocolate room. It is wonderful and I loved working in it when friends and I took a chocolate course. (If Kerry gives the OK, I can post you all the photos I took from that day.) All best in the future rebuilding.

The photos of the market are absolutely glorious! We certainly don't have anything like that in East Central Ontario, Canada!

Many replies spring immediately to mind and in the interest of peace and good tidings, I'll leave all of them untold.

Our early morning coffee is partly set out the night before in our elegant Hamilton Beach coffee maker. DH puts in 6 'cups' of cold water. Sets out a filter and the caff coff cannister. In the morning, I put in the filter, add the coffee grounds and hit the on button. Done. So what could possible go wrong...go wrong...go wrong...??? I forgot to check for the evidence of water and turned on the machine. After a few minutes I notice that no coffee was coming out. So I did my usual: turn off the machine, take the carafe and partly fill it with cold water, pour the water into the machine...etc. It's always worked before... This time I guess the machine was hotter than usual...or the water colder...or something... As I added the water, the entire filter full of coffee simply blew up into my face, the walls, the counters, everything sitting on the counter, the floor..you name it. Scared the daylights out of me. Left the water compartment of the maker full of grounds. Took me a long and unhappy time to clean it all up. And then I still had to make the coffee... Meanwhile, his Lordship slept on through it all. Note to self writ large: Always check the water compartment in the coffee maker...

In Peterborough, I found banana leaves frozen in our local Asian store. That would be the only place. Good luck in NS.

I googled the name of the recipe and came up with a notation in a book called Santhal Worldview which may or may not have anything to do with the recipe as posted. Haven't gone further than that and am hoping to hear from the OP.

This is a tribal food from what country and what tribe please. It sounds very interesting.

Lasagna and other such dishes, eg, Moussaka, Bobotie, Impossible Pie, are our favored ones. Ploughman's meal would be another...all laid out ahead of time. Roast turkey is a familiar one for visitors at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Never make last minute stuff...can't do it with grace.

Thank you Lisa Shock. That post is a saver for sure. I'll have the ice water at hand from now on. And I like the clingfilm idea. My candy pots are mine only and no one will ever/has ever/ used them except for me.

This will be for us tomorrow. I have been wondering what to do with the extra sweet potatoes and this soup just caught my eye and my taste buds. Thanks, shain.

Hello and welcome Bakerchic. When I read as far as Sebastopol...I thought WOW! Someone is writing from Russia. Interesting name for a place in sunny California. Welcome to eGullet. If you've been baking since 9 years old, you must know a lot and I look forward to reading about it.

Good question. Sometimes I have that problem also. And then out it all goes.

I'll try making the karjalanpiirakka, but I won't promise to eat it. Hard-boiled eggs are not my thing at all. I had a bad encounter with an egg and a very ferocious British woman during WWII...now that's a long time ago but some things stick forever...and it's not for me. But many thanks, EsaK.

Hi ChocoMom, and what is the main difference between the Pannukakku and the Kropsu? Not sure I see any really, except the Kropsu has more milk in it...which may just be the main difference? (and what's the difference between the V3 and V4 emoticons....oh, probably Version 3 and 4?)

Pannukakku has more eggs and more milk to start with. Haven't googles German puffed pancake. I also cannot imagine the stuffed breads with porridge, but my young friend LOVES them beyond belief and she's a dessert lover for one thing...so I have to make them for sure. They don't sound particularly tasty to me.

Dear ChocoMom, thanks for the recipes. And please, you can keep Fish Head stew, Head Cheese (DH is of French Canadian extract so already has had that one), Blood Sausage and I have the Squeaky Cheese on fline. No fish recipes necessary. We already eat salmon so unless it's salmon, don't bother. Very kind of you to offer though... Hi ThanksfortheCrepes...you may have TJ's maple syrup...there are no TJs in Canada...but our maple syrup is the result of DH's helping hands and is straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Mostly unsaleable for some superficial reason, but excellent. Hi EsaK. Thanks for the video and all the other help. And thanks to all the others for help. I'll get at it all when life here quiets down. Now that's funny.

Didn't even recognize the word when you posted it. I would be delighted to know how to put the pies together if you can find this out. Thanks, EsaK