SylviaLovegren

I think some wine or lemon juice is really key for beef -- that bit of acidity really makes the flavor pop.

We love the Queen & Beaver Pub on Elm Street just off Yonge (Elm Street is just north of Dundas). It's an upscale pub with a nice bar/sports upstairs, bar and dining room downstairs, food is upscale Brit pub, organic locavore. Very comfy and the owner and staff are really nice. It tends to be a bit crowded at peak dinnertime so you might want to call for a reservation just to be safe. Here's the website http://queenandbeaverpub.ca/ Depending on where exactly you're staying, you could walk up Yonge to the pub and be safe, but it's a bit of a hoof and it will probably be cold and snowy so a cab would be a little more comfortable. Another place that's right in downtown near the St. Lawrence Market (which is a fun stop itself) is Le Papillon On Front -- a Quebecois crepe place that's great for brunch or dinner. Moderately priced and pleasant, food is not amazing but solidly good and you can sample some French Canadian classics or stick to a nice simple crepe. http://www.lepapillonfront.com/en/

Well, how'd it turn out?

They'll cook fine at 325, should take about 30-40 minutes, shake occasionally. If they're not browned enough for you, crank the heat up for a few minutes at the end. (I've never had this problem, they've browned fine for me at 325-350.)

If you're asking on an internet forum about safety tips for foraging mushrooms you are in the wrong business. You could kill yourself and lots of other people if you don't REALLY know what you're doing. I hope I'm misreading what you're asking.

Wine and thyme, bay leaf. I put a few veggies under, then the meat, then the rest on top. I'll usually give it a stir if I can ever few hours and flip the on-top ones to the bottom so that everything gets an equal chance at the cooking juices. Do you brown the meat first, then deglaze the pan and use that as part of the cooking juice? That really seems to step up the flavor for me.

Nutella milkshake? Oh my, where's my plane ticket to Chicago?

Waterless/greaseless cooking fads come and go. I've seen a number of them since I was a kid and have read about waterless cooking in the 20s and 30s magazines I've used for research. The cookware tends to be sold outside the normal venues and used to be peddled door to door. The idea always seemed to be that the cook is getting something special that most folks don't know about (and the standard manufacturers don't want you to know about!), so be smart and buy this fabulous, unique cookware and be the envy of all your friends. Apparently "Royal Prestige" or "MLM" is the latest to try the marketing technique.

What was the best or most interesting thing you ate? Most typical? Never been to the Caymans and right now a tropical island sounds delish.

Ebay and Replacements, Ltd. are both good sources.

Guatemala or Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans have a warm, chocolately, nutty flavor (as opposed to the bright, citric flavor of many other beans).

You have cream that is not ultra-pasteurized and contains no fillers? Wow. Whole Foods used to carry that, but then they went to ultrapasteurized. Regular supermarkets haven't carried not-ultrapasteurized for years. Where do you live?

Not limited to food shows. It's a modern thing, apparently. You don't "change" things anymore, you "change them up". You don't "switch" something, you "switch it out." It's odd, isn't it?

Picardie tumblers are the best. Nearly indestructible, handsome, stack beautifully, versatile, pleasant in the hand. On the rare occasion they DO break it's spectacular -- hundreds of little glassy rocks.

Does this work for eggs where the shell sticks like crazy?

Our local store marks meat 50% when it's the sell-by date. We buy it all the time, except for ground meats and offal. Always give it the sniff test first. So far, no problems, but I don't SV.

Why not buy all three and do a side-by-side taste test? You could even invite some friends...

That is a great idea. Had an aunt who did that and I'd forgotten all about it.

I use them for a few things, especially sopping up grease. Otherwise I use cotton towels.

I was curious about my old friend's St. Joseph's pie so I googled a bit. It was very similar to this stuffed torta rustica http://www.cookaround.com/yabbse1/showthread.php?t=49359 My friend's family was from Calabria.

We have? What's the secret?

My Italian friends in Hoboken always used to make an enormous savory St. Joe's pie filled with layers of eggs, cheese and salami -- the ultimate not-fasting but feasting food.

I agree with Michaela: ask him what he DOES eat and then have lots of that around. You can try some variations while he's there, just to see if he'll go for it. The problem with most picky eaters that I've known is that they have a very high "ewwwwwwww" factor going on and they get disgusted very easily. One of my son's friends stayed with us and he only ate things like pizza (plain!) and hot dogs with mustard. Well one day some mustard dripped out of his hot dog onto a corner of his slice of pizza...he was so grossed out that he couldn't finish the hot dog or the pizza and ate nothing for the rest of the day. You can't fight that kind of sensitivity, you just have to respect it and give it lots of space.

Most of the people I know who store their drinking ware upside down have shelf liners. I'm too lazy to have shelf liners to I store my drink ware right sight up.

I like the early 70s version. It may be dated but the basic info on everything is really useful.