SylviaLovegren

Ooh, yes, Seafoam Salad. My grandmother would make that for fancy dinner events. Mmmmm. Wonder what it tastes like now? And would anyone eat it if I made it?

Thanks for this. We're going to the inlaws -- he is Dutch and he's cooking this year, so it's an Indonesian Ristaffel potluck and I'm supposed to bring an Indonesian vegetable dish. Never cooked anything Indonesian in all my puff, so may try the salad. Growing up in our WASP American family, we had either a ham or sometimes a lamb roast with sweet mint jelly out of a jar. Always asparagus. Always a plate of black California olives with the holes. Always soft dinner rolls. Probably my mom's fruit salad with pineapple juice sabayon. Dessert would be -- if we were very lucky -- a homemade cake with coconut frosting, or my grandmother's Angel Food cake with pink glaze. Eggs would have been decorated by the kids in the family earlier in the day, but they would only appear as part of the decorations and would be made into egg salad the next day or creamed eggs on toast (I still love that -- can't get my own family to eat it). The Greek family always had died red eggs, some baked into the braided Easter bread. Leg of lamb with garlic roasted to death served with orzo tossed in the jus. Asparagus because it was spring, but also a bitter horta (boiled greens), probably escarole. Dessert would be the men's favorite galopita (milk, eggs, semolina pudding with syrup) and Greek coffee. If MIL wasn't feeling too harassed and was feeling fond of me (not always the case!), she might make my favorite diples, a delicious, addictive fried dough with honey syrup and walnuts. After dinner would always be the egg cracking contest.

The whole area is fantastic to visit any time. I highly recommend the Pie Plate on Niagara Stone Road in Virgil, just past 40 Mile Creek Rd. Outstanding pies, baked goods, sandwiches, and unusual but delicious pizza -- loved their cheddar/pear pizza and I tend to be a NY-style pizza purist. Coffee is good and they have fabulous beer from the brewery across the street, which is also worth a visit. ETA, a visit to restaurant Treadwells is also worth the time. Lunch is a good option if you're on a budget! They have sadly moved out of their spectacular location on the river and into downtown Niagara-on-the-Lake, but the food is still really good and they do a lovely job featuring delicious local wines.

Welcome! Sounds like you'll have some interesting experiences and viewpoints to share. Looking forward to it!

Here's some listed on Yelp with reviews. And here's the same for Tacoma, which is closer to Spanaway than Seattle, http://www.yelp.ca/search?find_desc=Asian+Grocery+Stores&find_loc=Tacoma%2C+WA Well, that was odd. The Seattle listings disappeared. Here they are again http://www.yelp.ca/search?find_desc=Asian+Supermarket&find_loc=Seattle%2C+WA

Welcome, indeed! Very curious what an "average" days meals would be like in Thessaloniki!

People's reactions to this are interesting. My take was that she hadn't considered that there might be milk residue involved when she ordered a completely non-dairy drink and was alerting others to this possibility. I would have made that same assumption but, for me, it wouldn't have been a problem. Still, I don't see why this makes people angry. Perhaps all bars should be off-limits to people with dairy allergies. But maybe some bartender might like to make a "kosher" bar. Why is this upsetting? As to dinner parties with people with varying food aversions -- we have a friend who has to go to the hospital if she eats gluten, another friend who carries an epi-pen for the accidental ingestion of nuts/peanuts, and a number of vegetarian friends. It can be very challenging if they are all invited together! But I wouldn't be serving my favorite Greek beef stew with walnuts on top of pasta, that's for sure.

I have no idea. But it usually is. Perhaps because the cheaper brands only offer the salted version, so if you want unsalted you have to go upscale. I was very surprised because I hadn't used salted butter for years and was used, as you are, to having many options at the supermarket.

I've always baked with unsalted butter but since moving to Toronto, I've found that my local supermarket charges a heck of a lot more for unsalted butter. So I've been buying salted. I was shocked at how salty a batch of cookies was with the salted butter.

I think it was Karen Hess's book, Carolina Rice Kitchen, that traced pilaf's origins to Iran, from whence it and it's variations in name and recipe spread east and west.

There are many varieties of pilaf with pasta. Here's one based on a Sephardic recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/basmati-pilaf-with-vermicelli-onions Here's a Turkish one: http://www.food.com/recipe/turkish-pilaf-with-vermicelli-sehriyeli-pilav-424105 And an Armenian one: http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/arm_pilaf.html And a Lebanese one: http://thelemonbowl.com/2014/10/lebanese-rice-pilaf.html

Gosh, I love pot pie. I usually make it with just a biscuit top crust, sometimes with a two-crust pie pastry with egg. The puff paste is good, but I prefer biscuit or pie dough -- seems to go better with the gravy. Yours looks beautiful.

I've found that if you cream the butter until it's white and fluffy and looks almost like whipped cream and THEN add the sugar, the mixture is much fluffier than if you started out with butter and sugar together. Now, whether that makes a difference in the final product, I don't know.

It's old but Patience Gray's Honey From a Weed is a wonderful book, with recipes, interesting anecdotes, and some history, all mixed up into a beautiful melange.

You can also get it on Amazon.ca -- but the price for 1.75 liters is $25 and the shipping to Canada is $97 -- so it doesn't seem a great option!

I love burgers, fries and shakes. Many years ago I decided to finally try a McD's, after refusing to eat there for years. I'd tried Burger King and found their food to be very meh at best, and Wendy's not that bad for fast food but still not great. So, finally, McD's. The burger didn't taste like beef and had a weird, dead, preserved flavor and a bad smell. One bite and that got thrown out. The "chocolate" shake tasted like salt and thickener, so that got thrown out. The fries didn't taste like fries, but their soft, greasy saltiness was kind of fun, so I ate those. Years ago a contractor friend was doing work on our house. He'd get a McD's burger every day for lunch. One day, I said I'd pick up lunch for him and thought I'd give him a treat: there was a place in town that did real burgers, hand-formed delicious beef, grilled over an open flame, on a homemade bun, nice chunky hand-cut fries on the side. He ate it, but asked me to get him a "real" burger from McD's next time because that one I'd brought didn't taste right.

I agree about broiling the steak. We've forgotten about the old broiler, in general, it seems. And a broiled steak is the closest to a grilled one, in my not very humble opinion.

Shouldn't you fry the skins in the rendered fat? Just seems more economical.

Raw pickled chicken hearts? Please to explain who prepared this and why you ate it.

The Japanese bakery at the huge Japanese market in Edgewater/Ft. Lee NJ had the most delish pastries (just stay away from the red bean paste if you're me). The almond paste filled donuts were sublime.

You will wait to top the panna cottas with the hearts until just at the moment of serving, won't you? I picture them disintegrating.

Yes, the sheer curtains between the heavy drapes and the actual window are called "glass curtains" -- but you use them in cooking? ! ? ! ? Who thought up that idea? And how do you use them? And how do you make sure they're not polyester and they'll melt?

I use the Eagle Brand recipe which is simplicity itself: http://www.eaglebrand.ca/recipes-details.aspx?rid=4251 Usually add more lime juice (whatever limes the supermarket has on offer) and definitely add zest from a couple of limes. Taste the mixture before filling the crust to see if it's zingy enough. Sometimes I'll use a couple whole eggs instead of just the yolks. I also slightly pre-bake the graham crust, which upon final baking develops a caramel taste which I adore. And, of course, real whipped cream. It's a very forgiving recipe!

The best way to liven up hummus, for me, is to add more salt and pepper, along with some olive oil. And a dash of Tabasco or similar -- not enough to notice, just enough to zing. But salt is most important.

I have a cheap Betty Crocker brand electric kettle that shuts off when it boils. I love it and use it all the time -- boils way faster than stove top kettles and I no longer fear burning the kettles I forgot on the burner (nearly burnt my house down on the last one). Would it be nice to have a fancy expensive one that does tricks? Sure. But my BC works great for us.