SylviaLovegren

Are the baby octopus tender? I'm offput by the chewy texture of octopus, usually, unless it's prepared by the Greek method of bashing the meat before cooking. But your salad looks beautiful. One of my favorite seafood salads is still the old-fashioned but delicious Crab Louis -- if prepared with fresh and beautiful Dungeness crab.

A good fresh bagel should not be toasted. Toasting destroys the delicate wheaty flavor and the interplay of textures between the dense crumb and the chewy crust. However, a good bagel that is a few hours past its prime may be toasted, particularly if toasted under the grill with butter on it so that the butter bubbles and browns. That is good. But a primo virgin bagel? No toasting. I speak as someone who lived in Hoboken, NJ, for many years and spent most Sunday mornings at Hoboken Bagels, a very good bagel shop. I love "Go to hell, that's what you are!" So far, the bagels I've tried in Toronto have been bread baked in a circle. Haven't tried bagels in Montreal yet but will next time we're there -- we have been converted to smoked meat big time!

Butter tart squares?!! Oh my! Do you think I could sneak those past my no-carb husband?

If she called it "stock" then she was technically incorrect, but it certainly is "broth" and a thrifty home cook trick. I do it all the time. If there's time to let it cook longer, I will, and if I have the budget and the luxury of having some fresh chicken to add the pot, I will, but otherwise for everyday home cooking, Judith's method is it.

Yes. Exactly. Yes yes yes.

I think the Time-Life Foods of the World Italy book had that version of Alfredo -- one of the best things I ever ate. Parmesan frosting!

No butter, real maple syrup. Or sliced fruit AND maple syrup. My mom, depression-era housewife that she was, used to make brown sugar syrup with butter and vanilla that was real good, as I recall, but I haven't had it in a thousand years. Would try it but low-carb diets and pancakes and syrup don't go together very often. My dad was a big proponent of sugaring pancakes, but my favorite way of his was to spread with butter then top with a thick blanket of brown sugar. Very crunchy and sweet. Yum.

Agree, although it would be hard to explain the difference in smell. I've also discovered that I can often tell by smell whether something has been salted enough. Again, no way to describe. But, so far as as I know, I don't sniff food before I eat unless there's something odd going on (unusual spicing, "is this off?", etc.).

How big is that rotisserie? Must have the motor of champions.

Melons grow on the ground and if there is animal manure used as fertilizer, they can easily pick up germs, hence the washing. The "embroidered" melons (what we North Americans call cantaloupes) with their rough skins are particularly prone to picking up bacteria. There have been a number of outbreaks of e.coli poisoning in the US from melons.

I wash the melons as soon as they're home with soap and hot water. Other fruits I rinse with cold water just before eating. Perhaps I should be more vigilant.

Wow, never heard of these badboys. They sound fantastic. Aren't jalapenos small to stuff? Or am I just a wimp?

Oh, but a sauce made with good tomatoes tastes SO much better than one made with dull supermarket maters. Ditto salsa. It's really not worth making salsa with produce out of the supermarket, at least once you've tasted the homegrown stuff. But I agree about lack of respect for the chocolates -- that's a totally different thing.

"Who's on First" meringues are a tribute to the legendary comedy team of Abbott and Costello, and their most famous routine. I incorporated ballpark flavors - pretzels, peanuts, caramel (no, no hot dogs or mustard ). The cookies have received rave reviews, so when the weather dries out a bit I will be tinkering with the recipe. Salty, sweet, crunchy? Yum!

We always called them snaps.

Sounds good! What are "who's on first" meringues? I'm intrigued.

Particularly love the translucent amber one with the martini glass. Neat collection!

Now you're making me feel like a complete slob.

You made me pull out my copy of The Gold Cook Book (a reprint) which I got at a garage sale a while back and hadn't gotten around to really looking at yet. It's loads of fun, all kinds of amusing little stories woven into the recipe headers, which I didn't expect. It's very much a French-American mid-20th century sensibility, but there are massive numbers of recipes -- something like 30 for poached egg dishes alone, some of which look very much worth trying. Also eyeing the lime ladyfingers and the almond fritters, lo-carb be darned.

I guiltily confess to using a Swiffer. So easy!

If you're still carbing, you could make some fun grated squash fritters or pancakes, flavored with some of that basil. Cucumber either in sour cream/yoghurt with mint and dill, garlic optional, or chop the cucumber with the onion and the basil, toss with salt and pepper and some vinegar/oil and chill, just before serving toss in the chopped tomaters. If it's super hot outside, add some crumbled feta and black olives and eat with that sourdough bread and some wine, makes a complete meal for too hot to cook days.

My mouth is watering.

Noise, for me. Either too loud music or too loud noise in general. Makes me think of Sam Goldwyn's "no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded". The fad for tin ceilings was a terrible thing.

Peanut butter cookies and lemon bars always sell well. Oatmeal cookies are good, too, for chocolate avoiders. Shortbread? Various biscotti,as fancy as you like to make them. For gluten-free, what about coconut macaroons?

Where? I have a great place in Toronto, they sell grass fed beef at reasonable price, and the steaks are extraordinary. But if you're not close by...