Darienne

There aren't many baking recipes which cannot be improved by a handful of poppy seeds or chopped walnuts or pecans. (Yes, I know that's an exaggeration, but it is Saturday).

Seeing Kim's post reminded me to thank you Shelby for the cracker pie recipe. Mine did not solidify correctly I must say and that was a disappoinment. I have no idea why it didn't work. DH and the guests loved it. I found it on the sweet side for me, but then that's simply personal taste. It was fun to have our guests try to guess what it was made of.

Salmon and peanuts. Boggles my mind. Must try it sometime... Thanks.

Hello from Canada and welcome. I hope to read your posts in cooking and baking in India. Canadians traditionally love Indian foods of all kinds.

Chris, I think I would like to come to your house for dinner for a few months or so.

Looks delicious, Chris. What are the visible green bits in the rice, please.

Jaymes, that quickie bread pudding recipe is brilliant. Thank you.

We have something different at our home: Dessert as Dinner. This way, dessert is not on top of dinner, but rather only dessert for dinner. That way you get a honking big amount of deliciousness at once. No stinting. Not chocolate cake or baklava of course, but a dish which includes fruit, grains and dairy like fruitpancakes or fruit shortcake or cheese blintzes. The 6-month period we lived in Utah 6 years ago, we invited our next-door neighbor/landlady/good friend to dinner every Wednesday night for Dessert as Dinner and I never repeated myself once. It was a pleasurable challenge.

Are those red Twizzlers dipped in milk chocolate and drizzled with dark and white chocolate? Were they a success? I can't imagine Twizzlers in chocolate...

PanaCan, I think if I read you correctly...and I did...you made 60 cakes to deliver over 2 days and they were all fancy? I think I have to go and lie down and have a coffee now. You are amazing. And a wonderful baker and cake artist. :wub: Love your chef's jacket. Very classy and very Canadian.

Glad to see you back on eGullet, PanaCan. You've been missed. As usual, your array is breathtaking and delicious.

I don't have the Bayless book nor am I likely to buy it, but I certainly am enjoying your blog, Chris. I'm tempted to try the mango drink, being currently overwhelmed by an embarrassment of mango riches, but I think I'll go for ice cream instead.

Either eGer's are not buying cookbooks anymore...or we are not reporting them for the official count. Latest two cookbooks (from an avowed non-purchaser now): - quick & easy thai: 70 everyday recipes by Nancie McDermott. A wonderful gift from a fellow eGer. - The Joy of Ginger: A Winning Selection of Taste-Tingling Recipes by Margaret Conrad & Heather MacDonald. A second-hand store purchase. I've never seen a cookbook before devoted to ginger...which I adore. Written by two Canadians from Nova Scotia who grew up after WWII in a province which gives importance to ginger in its history and cooking.

Could you not take the fresh smut from growing corn and use that? We had our fields planted in corn quite a few years back and they had lots of the stuff on them. At that point, I had never heard of huitlacoche and just thought those stalks of corn might be ruined.

Red Hots, grilled until burnt, on the cheapest fluffy type bun, with cheap yellow mustard, French's with sweet relish. Kettle potato chips too please. DH likes his with Dijon mustard and sour pickle relish, but what does he know?

Deryn spoke of potential changes in cream cheese and ricotta. Oh yes, and also sour cream and cottage cheese...and I bet the list goes on forever........ :sad:

We are with Radtek. Don't eat out anymore. Except for fish and chips. And only one place in the small city near us. The downside of this is the constant cooking of Chinese food which the DH loves above all. So much work. Oh well. And no more breakfasts out. Are the restaurants all falling down on the job? Or are we becoming too choosy? The worst disappointment occurred about 5 months ago. I loved, loved, loved Apple Fritters from a local coffee place. Talked about them regularly. Hadn't had one in YEARS! Such self-control. Finally gave in. Such anticipation. Mouth watering. Almost drooling. Gack! Horrible. You needed a magnifying glass to see the apple bits. Enough dough to sink a ship. I was devastated. Torn up inside. (Well, I can be a bit overboard at times.) That's it for me. I've tried them all across the USA to Utah and never found a good one. If you know of a place that makes good Apple Fritters off I 70, 44 or 4o, please let me know. And no, I don't want to make them.

Made these squares yesterday: Caramel Crunch Bars by Dorie Greenspan for a workshop I was supposed to attend. Barbara, my confectionery partner, who so kindly bought me the Heath pieces on her way home from a bigger city would love them. The meeting is at her home and I always bring goodies. It's only fair. However, unexpected issues are keeping me away. Now. What to do with these scrumptious cookies which I cannot afford to have in the same house as I live. Or DH either. I wonder if they would freeze well? Or maybe the neighbors up the road would like them. They have three school-age kids. Still, I have to say I could easily do without the Heath pieces...or use real caramel bits.

Thanks for the video Chris. Talk about real time.

We must be living in some kind of unreal bubble. My parents never made me eat food I didn't want to eat...although I can't remember anything I refused to eat besides soft-cooked eggs. (Still do.) And we never forced our children to eat things they didn't want to eat. But I don't recall any problem foods. We have folks over to eat a lot of the time and many of them have allergies and intolerances...we are mostly quite advanced in years...and they are always very clear about that. And so am I. If it's really difficult, they bring their own food or don't come for meals. Or I make food around their problem areas. I don't know why it's just never been a problem. But then I don't run a catering business or a restaurant or cafeteria. I guess we've just been lucky. There are a few things I won't eat. And that's that. And I always tell people if we are eating at their homes, and luckily seafood is so expensive around here that no one ever minds not feeding it to us. And honestly, we tend more to have folks to our home because we have two huge dogs who go everywhere with us and if you come to our house, you can bring your own dogs. We are known as "Dog Heaven" to friends. We are neither of us 'super-tasters' although DH likes more salt and more sugar than I do. (I sound quite self-righteous, don't I? Although I don't mean to. )

DescriptionSmilax herbacea is a vine with alternate, simple leaves, on climbing stems. The flowers are green, borne in spring. The plant at first looks like asparagus when it first sprouts out of the ground. The plant can grow over 8 feet tall without support, but will eventually fall over unless it successfully finds external support. As flowers start to develop, at first they look similar to small broccoli florets on thin stems.[5] One last thing about Canadian Smilax. Just found this passage in Wikipedia. Fascinating. 'looks like asparagus'. Love it.

Finishing up my story on Asparagus: For a few years now I have been following a wild plant on our farm perimeter walk called Smilax. It's an unusual plant in that it forms perfect balls of berries which start out pale green and eventually change colors to navy blue. I had never heard of them before and was very interested each year in following their progress. Even our local go-to naturalist did not know of them. So what I discovered this spring and thought was wild asparagus as it popped up in the field. is actually the young Smilax plant even though at first the stalk looked like an asparagus stalk. Yesterday I saw the miniscule clusters of berries and thought...oh my! that's Smilax. I had never been able to identify it in the spring before. And again I missed the flowers...they must be tiny?...which are noted as smelling like dead animals, thus giving the plant its nickname, the Carrion plant. So, thus ends my discovery of 'asparagus' out on the farm. Thanks for the help. Here's a photo of a Smilax plant, fall of 2013, for those who are interested.

Wonderful post, hbk. I particularly like the duck mousers.

Speaking of Churro vendors. The best I EVER had was extruded into an old cement mixer at la Bufadora in Mexico sometime in 1970s. :wub: It's the ONLY time in my life that I saw my Father make a pig of himself...I OTOH am accustomed to doing this when confronted with yummy stuff... We didn't save even one for my Mother who stayed by the car.

Our main supply of seeds in Ontario other than the most 'common' ones available in the 'normal' outlets would be Richter's. They carry only three kinds of tomatillo seeds: Cossack Pineapple, Purple de Milpa and Verde. And only one in plugs: the Cossack Pineapple. There just isn't the market for tomatillos in Canada I guess. So tomorrow, I'll order the Verde and just pay the charges. (Keep in mind that I have little idea of what I am talking about and may be all wrong about the entire subject. Thanks. )