Darienne

Thanks Kerry, I'll look for it. We have no Loblaws in Peterpatch, but we do have Superstore, so maybe they will carry it.

A friend recently gifted me with a small jar of this incredible Bomba Calabrese. I thought I'd died and gone to spicy heaven. :wub: This particular brand is made by Gigi and is a product of Italy. The ingredients are: eggplant, pepper, hot chili peppers, mushrooms, artichokes, sunflower oil, olive oil, spices and salt. It is also not in chunks or pieces, but is easily spreadable. I found a few recipes for Bomba Calabrese online, but would like to try one that someone from eG recommends if possible. Barring that, I will make one of the found recipes and blenderize it perhaps. And also try to locate the product locally. I've contacted the distributor but not heard back yet. Thanks for any help.

Oscar is 9 1/2" tall and 8" at his widest.

As I have reported on eG, with each year adding one year, it's almost 8 years since I discovered "COOKING" ...as compared to just having to cook meals...and over 55 years married. The biggest mistake I made kitchen-wise was ridding myself of all the stuff I inherited from my Mother when my parents moved to San Diego in the early 60s. Thus almost nothing I own and cherish goes back in ownership more than 8 years, although much of this is much older in years. My best purchases have been from 2nd hand stores in Utah during our stays there. My first real purchase was the ice cream machine at Wabi Sabi, our favorite 2nd hand store, 7 years ago for $5, followed by a number of stainless steel frying pans and pots with heavy bottoms, made in Japan and Korea. Wonderful items. And second-hand Pyrex ware, complete with borosilicate...much work to clean up, but well-used since. An all-metal (you remember metal?) reversible waffle iron, General Electric made in the USA...now that's old. Purchased new in Utah: two sets of rainbow-colored acrylic bowls from a condo-owner and a set of stainless steel mixing bowls with wonderful rubber bottoms which (gasp) with considerable use have not even begun to separate from the bowls. Purchased in Canada: my wonderful Trudeau spatulas, my Paderno pots and a used acrylic yellow tool turntable which I coerced this dear old gentleman, who was minding the store while his wife stepped out, into selling to me, knowing full well that he'd be in trouble as soon as said wife saw what he had done. It was a 'store container', not to be sold. To finish up, and sorry for the length of this but you did ask, is Oscar, a rare Ditmar Urbach Czechoslovakia Art Deco Pottery Toucan pitcher, who oversees the entire kitchen. Oscar predates my birth and comes from my parents' house and I will treasure him forever.

A lot is forgiven for muffins...and cakes and ice cream and butterscotch dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with almonds...and so on and so on.

When we are in our 'other' home in Utah, we go to yard sales and second-hand stores with regularity. Great fun. However, at home...not so much. If at all. But yesterday, I had a sudden urge to stop at a local yard sale. No reason. And then I saw them and fell in love and had to take them home. I cook a lot of Mexican food and every August we host the Dog Weekend and much food is eaten. These will come in handy, and in the meantime, have a place of honor on the dining room table.

No idea Shel_B, but I too am curious about this. It was only blueberries and almond milk? Nothing else at all?

My answer to this problem is to box the offending confection and tie with knot and bow. That will keep me out of the stuff until it can be delivered to always grateful friends and acquaintances. Leave it unsecured...and I am lost

Would it be possible to ask once again for that Summer Torte recipe. Is it already posted somewhere in eG? Thanks.

You said you wanted to stay away from plastic, but in our farmhouse cellar, where much is stored, I don't feel I have many alternatives. Flours, sugar, and many other things are stored in Rubbermaid bins of various sizes. For example, we buy sugar in mammoth Costco bags...we have a flock of hummingbirds which we feed every summer...and the bag goes into an 18 gallon (US) bin. I've never had any troubles with them over the past twenty years so for me it's a viable answer.

We've had 55 years of nothing but chest freezers and still own two large ones...one for us and one for the dogs plus a few bits and bobs of human stuff, like the ice creams. I'd kill for an upright freezer...but these old...and I do mean old...chest freezers just keep on keeping on so this is probably unlikely to be until we have to sell the farm and move into the city. I hope.

Never used them in the first place. All our pans are heavy stainless steel with extra heavy bottoms, purchased at second-hand stores. Mostly from Korea and Japan. Dates them, doesn't it?

What a wonderful trip you had and such sumptuous food layouts. As Sylvia says: Yum. And thanks for going to all the trouble of sharing your trip, your food and your friends with us. I really enjoyed reading it all. We travel through Indiana twice a year at least and I had no idea of the delights which we knew nothing about.

And, we, your loyal fans are delighted to read the news and to follow along on your adventures. :wub:

Ah, car snacks. Well, yes, on our long trips...Nova Scotia and back or Utah and back...there are always car snacks. Usually I make them in tiny muffin pans. Plain dark chocolate with raw almonds in them. Tastes good, keeps you going, but not so delicious that you eat more than necessary. Mixed nuts (no salt...salt makes them too tasty). Coffee stops along the way. The trick, as noted, is to make the car snacks tasty, but not too tasty or we'd eat too much.

We eat chip wagon French Fries in the car. DH eats them while he drives, and I eat them and feed bits to the two pups in the back of the car or van, depending upon which vehicle we are in. I have napkins, salt and pepper in each vehicle to refresh the fries as we go along. When we are on the road for long trips, we might eat in the van when it's too hot to leave the dogs in the van because the sun is too high and there's no shady parking. DH eats in the car when I'm not with him. He gets a coffee and a muffin at McDonald's which he splits with the dogs...the muffin is shared...not the coffee of course. When we are together, it's Starbucks coffees in the car. Most American coffee on the road is dreadful. (Sorry, but it's true. I once talked to a lady server in a Colorado Starbucks and noted that Americans are supposed to be the great coffee drinkers of the world but how Canadian coffee is much better no matter where you go. 'Yes', she said, 'most American coffee is like weak weasel p*ss'. Never forgot that one.)

weinoo reminded me of one of my old favorites...can you get it anywhere now?...real pumpernickel. :wub: From my childhood in Montreal, of course.

Brussels Sprouts seem to qualify as tiny cabbages and they are delicious roasted. (DH drowns his in a curry sauce to block out the taste...)

"My" city is Montreal and the bread is the Montreal bagel. :wub:

I did notice that by dessert suppertime, the bottom of the little mousse bowls had gone back to liquid. Also, I perked up the flavor by adding some raspberry/Chambord sauce. A little liqueur never hurt anything.

Ed liked the chocolate mousse although he would have liked it to be thicker. Don't know that this is possible. He's always been a lover of the thicker, richer, sweeter, etc. His jaw literally dropped when I told him what it was made from.

So here's my first attempt: Chocolate Chickpea Mousse: http://kelliesfoodtoglow.com/2015/04/23/magic-chocolate-mousse/ Haven't told DH about this Mousse and it will be a surprise to him. And then it will be another surprise to him to learn what's in it. I'll report back.

I am, as the Brits would say, gobsmacked by this one. Watched the video with the look of distaste on my mouth...I could tell. Don't know why. It just seemed sooooo bizarre. And yet, chickpeas are my favoritest in the world almost. Want to try the chocolate mousse idea... This is what I am going to make first: http://kelliesfoodtoglow.com/2015/04/23/magic-chocolate-mousse/

Thanks Kerry. I used a combination of 70% and 54% dark chocolate and did not have any trouble with bloom. Didn't put them into the fridge either...didn't realize that I should have.

If I might return to this post and ask a question of Kerry. The Rice Krispie treats do not present a smooth surface but are full of nicks and crannies which when I dipped them took up an inordinate amount of chocolate. I gave up in frustration partway through, having exhausted my supply of tempered chocolate. A few days later, when I had some leftover tempered chocolate after dipping some pretzel logs, I tried brushing the chocolate onto the krispie treats with one of those small silicone pastry brushes and it worked well...but would have been too much work for the entire production. Now the question: did you simply dip the treat into a container of chocolate and this worked well? Thanks.