SylviaLovegren

A meat grinder! I would never have thought of that. We are collecting for "our" Syrian family -- also a young couple with 3 little kids -- and we have a fairly comprehensive basic kitchen, including a blender, but a meat grinder would never have made the list. I will ask around.

I'd like to, but first I need a squirty thingy and then I need a waffle iron... One of these days.

Yum! The spheres do look very silly though -- wonder how long that particular fashion will last? Or does the sphere provide the ability to deliver something freestanding that ordinarily would have to be eaten with a spoon? A rhubarb eclair sounds like my kind of heaven.

Also, this. http://www.reddyraw.com/subcat_drilldown.php?subcategory=SIDARI+SALADS A bunch of Northeast area food places seem to carry these Sidari "salads" but danged if I can find out who makes them, or where. Maybe a call to one of the linked places might get you the ultimate source.

http://www.napolifoodsinc.com/products/main/Salads

You can't ask at the deli?

I always used a big old cast iron skillet to bake mine in the oven. Glass doesn't seem right.

What are the big squashy-melony looking things on the bottom of the picture, next to the figs (?) ?

A white coconut layer cake with white mountain frosting and drifts of coconut on the outside, lemon curd for the filling. I'd settle for a lemon tart if the layer cake was too much. Another thing I like for an Easter dessert is a Blitz Torte -- a layer cake with the egg white meringue baked on the outside, put together with raspberry jam filling, then whipped cream with raspberry sauce on the top cup of meringue. You don't have to use raspberry for Blitz Torte, of course, except in my house where you do. This King Arthur's recipe adds cinnamon to the meringue, which is just wrong. Also, I put the cake bits together, sandwiched with raspberry jam, with the meringue bits on top and bottom. Toasted almonds are traditional but I don't use them. Anyway, here it is: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/berry-blitz-torte-recipe

Can't wait. You always write about the most interesting things in the most interesting way.

There's also things like arroz con pollo, or jambalaya, or shrimp and grits (see above) or enchiladas. Lots of warm weather "casseroles". I do love me some bisteeya (sic), though.

Someone is blogging about dried bats? Looking forward to it!

Ha ha! And he's right!

Back in the 70s, this recipe -- often with red wine instead of the beer -- was very popular for marinating flank steaks and London Broil, steaks that needed to be sliced thin across the grain to be tender enough to eat without long cooking. I never made it with beer, but I sure did make it with red wine a lot, and it was quite tasty. I wouldn't use it on a premium steak, but for a tougher cut that could use some help, it's good.

Ah, sorry, I thought it was your sister's recipe. Tobe is a good friend and it's a good recipe!

Fava beans might be an accurate choice but as someone who loathes even the smell of favas, I'd vote for lentils! Not everyone loves lentils, but I don't think the smell of lentils brings up the gag reflex...:)

That's exactly how my Dad always made them. He did almost no cooking but mashed potatoes, as you describe, were one of his few specialties and no one else was allowed to do them. I make them that way, too, now, although I will change them up sometimes depending on what potatoes are around and what else is on the menu and whether I'm in the mood for sour cream, onions, butter, or sometimes plain mashed with potato water.

The pancakes sound just like what we used to call "Dutch Babies" in Seattle. And when I google Dutch Baby I find that it is based on a German puffed pancake (which is probably very similar to a Finnish puffed pancake), but the name was invented at a restaurant that started serving them in Seattle in the early 1900s -- ya learn sumpin every day. Limpa in Sweden is a rye bread and Jule is Yule or Christmas -- so a Joulu Limppu would probably be a Finnish Christmas rye bread. Loved that video. Can't imagine what the little breads stuffed with porridge taste like -- would love to go to THEIR house to find out!

What part of Ontario you in? In Toronto, we might be wearing our bathing suits and sitting out in the back patio, the way things are going!

We have usually hosted as the Americans in the Canadian group but the gang has outgrown our tiny city house this year. So Canuck friends with a bigger house are hosting -- but have asked me to provide the food! I'm planning a huge pan of baked ziti for the main with a very simple side salad, maybe cole slaw? We always have tons of super simple snacks -- olives, salted nuts, chips, dips, salsa, crudites, cheese and crackers, salumi, etc, and then the main is brought out at half time, if anyone is still hungry and they usually are. But if they've filled up on snacks, that's fine, too, and their problem. Then super easy desert -- brownies and/or blondies, ice cream if anyone wants it. Don't want to do much work during the game -- and not too much beforehand either!

Gorgeous food.

If you're looking for books online, try addall.com -- it's a consolidator site, shows every copy sold on all the major sites in North America and Western Europe. You don't buy from addall but you can click on the link on their page to buy from Biblio, Abebooks, Alibris, Half, Amazon, etc.

What are the other pizza places you like? Would love to find good pizza! How were the prices at Jamie's?

Looking forward to it!