Okanagancook

@liamsauntFive Stars for a healthy lunch!

Crab bisque from Peterson's Splendid Soups. Needed a squirt of lemon though. Salad on the side, not shown.

Crab cakes from Cooks Illustrated. Ridiculously big. I KNEW they would fall apart turning them in the pan. Here's a picture before frying. The final dinner plate looks like the cat's breakfast but tasted good. Next time I will make them 1/3 the size, these were 4 oz each and made with crab, a very small amount of bread crumbs, mayo, chopped green onion, spices and some egg. They were left in the fridge to 'set up' from 12 hours.

@HungryChrisThose tacos looks wonderful. I'm with you about the shredded lettuce. I just checked and I have some taco shells in the cupboard......hummmmm, lunch.

Page 189, I know because I've made that recipe so many times the pages have separated themselves from the book. In fact, I love that book. I bought it in 1982!

We love Mulligatawny Soup. Many moons ago I was able to buy 'Bolts' Mulligatawny Soup Paste but it has disappeared. I spent quite a bit of time searching for a recipe that duplicated that flavour and I just made a couple of batches. Mine is just finely chopped onions; a little tomato peeled, seeded and chopped; the paste; lemon juice (in the soup and usually a slice in the soup bowl that the eater squishes to get the amount of tang they like); good stock (chicken or lamb) and a little chopped cilantro to finish. Additions sometimes include those little red lentils or rice; chopped lamb cubes that have been browned (this is probably my favourite addition); chopped chicken (usually left over). I could have a bowl for breakfast!

@sartoric nice looking chapatis! Did you dry fry them and then brush with butter/ghee?

We have the same exact juicer. An awesome old machine.

Thanks. We were lucky to find a 1.7 acre parcel with nothing on it and a lake view to boot. Been here 12 years and love it. That said the yard is a lot of work and can get away on you, hence the massive pruning job this year.

Pictures from the veggie garden coming up but here is the mother load pile of clippings we have awaiting a trip to the dump. In the second picture is the pile of vine clippings from our little vineyard. Weather here is still got the locals grumbling 'where the heck is spring???" The wineries are opening, it should be warm.

Kayb, squid needs just to be kissed with heat other wise you have rubber bands. Tonight I made a pasta dish with squid and fennel. The instructions were to cook the little 1/4 inch slices of squid for 3 minutes! Not. I put them in a hot, hot pan for maybe 30 seconds. Took them out and proceeded with the rest of the recipe which had you add the squid back in to heat with the linguine and they weren't rubbery at all. May 2015 Bon Apetite recipe for A Light Linguine recipe. It was 'meh'. Wouldn't make again. Here is the mis and then the finished dish.

Curry dinner from the other night. The plated dish wasn't pretty so here are some prep pictures! Using The Indian Family Kitchen cookbook to test a few recipes. My SIL was here and loved the curries I made and I taught her some basics. Then she emailed asking about spices and wanting the recipe for dahl that I had made when she was here. I decided I would just buy her this book seeing it is really friendly towards those cooks new to Indian cuisine and the recipes are easy, well described and delicious. She got her spices and some basic ingredients and made the dahl which she said was fantastic. Even her meat and potatoes hubby liked it. I decided to try two more dishes: the spicy lamb chops (marinated in about five spices and grilled.....I burnt mine a bit which is why you only have them when they first when on the grill pan) and rice pilau. This is a really good recipe. The rice is cooked in a similar fashion to the pasta method..extra water/ then drain. This was really good and so easy which is perfect of SIL because she doesn't have a lot of confidence in the kitchen....her first husband was a MasterChef in Germany.

Enjoying the postings as well. After watching the last video I now know I could not live there. Just too crowded, however, it is a very stimulating environment. So many things competing for your attention. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Yellow-mellow! Looks fantastic! cuury tonight, hope I can get some pictures.

ElsieD, there will always , always be sales so resist!

I made Fettucine in Creamy capsicum (pepper) sauce on page 52. A very easy recipe to make except one needs some cream to finish the sauce. Mine turned out a little on the spicy side maybe because of the red chilies I used (from my garden and dried)...I did follow the recipe. Sweet and subtle flavours with the red peppers and tomatoes melding well. I used frozen garden tomatoes. The recipe called for canned. I would make this again and it will freeze well without the addition of the finishing cream.

Are these what you are looking for at the Superstore, online https://www.realcanadiansuperstore.ca/search/1490310506188/page/~item/Fresh+noodles/~sort/recommended/~selected/true

Pathetic pizza out. One could not call it a crust. More like cheap bread. An utter waste of calories

Awesome score!

@RobynE Thank you for providing a more detailed description of your book. Sounds very interesting especially now that the price has dropped as per @Anna N Congratulations are in order.

I have a Wolf gas stove top and the lowest setting is low BUT only in one spot so I don't feel it cooks very evenly. I bought a heavy duty diffuser for use on this low setting and it works fantastically well. I use it with my clay pots also.

I made some bangers using bulk sausage meat from my butcher. There didn't seem to be much filler, just fatty pork. For the filler I used Matza meal which I found at a local grocery store. I hydrated it with chicken stock and the following spices: salt, pepper, ginger, mace, nutmeg and sage. The whole lot was put in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment to mix and then stuffed into casings. I pouched them to 160F then gently browned them. Deliciously tender and moist. I cut one up for my DH who only has one arm to use due to surgery on his rotator cuff.

Excellent. Have fun with them! Anything is better than prepared pastes from a far away land!

Well, that's interesting. From the freezer? I have seen them and always wondered what they would be like.

No pictures but friends and I ate lunch at a busy Thai restaurant in Kelowna. My friends are hot food fanatics so when Don said "is 8 out of 10 heat level ok with everyone?" I thought why not. The food is gorgeous. Freshly made with quality ingredients and cheap ($10 for each dish). The chicken satays were nicely cooked with a smooth mild peanut sauce and fresh little salad...that was ok. We also had spring rolls which were shatteringly crisp...that was ok. Then the chicken ginger curry over rice, the shrimp/tofu pad thai and the beef with veggies over rice arrived. We started eating and very soon Don's nose began to run and my eyes started to smart and Susan's 'yum, yum's turned to 'oh my god this is hot'. I went through three tissues clearing my nose and wiping the sweat away from underneath my eyes. Don pretty well demolished his napkin. We all began to pick out the slices of hot red chilies scattered throughout. But, I have to say after my tongue stopped burning we all thought it was good but next time Don wants to go down to a 7! We couldn't eat it all. I think there was about 3/4 of a dish left so very cheap. And, this is in a trendy part of Kelowna. Don't know how they do it.