Panaderia Canadiense

West of the rockies, it's Save-On; east of the rockies it's Overwaitea. They're both the same Vancouver-based company as far as I know (Overwaitea Food Group), and now that I think about it, PriceSmart or some similar horror of a name is what they are in Ontario. Hmmm.

Oh, Mom just pointed out to me that Overwaitea in the east is probably called Save-On or something similar.

Sylvia, I'm amazed that there's no condensed milk in Toronto. You're looking for sweetened, yes? What you need to ask for (and they should have it at Overrwaitea or Loblaw's) is Eagle Brand. Don't even mention that it's condensed milk.

I'm afraid to ask what you frosted it with.....

Ok, looks like the only real "problem" (and it's something we've all done at least once, if not more frequently) was not enough grease on the baking pan. You wouldn't think that bread would stick as badly as it does to baking dishes, but I've found that it's best to butter even nonstick receptacles (excepting silicone mats) to avoid sadness. What is it about the loaf that makes you think it was a failure?

You haven't been to Ontario lately. Quite true. When I go back to Canada (which is rarely if I can avoid it) it's to Deadmonton. Fabulous Asian groceries, totally lacking in LatAm specialties. Which reminds me. I can't get Ping (mung bean thread noodles) here. *sigh*

Soba, that's not a bad first loaf at all - you've got a lovely crust and good crumb. Whole wheat? Also, I totally want in on the fried paneer.....

If it's a catastrophic earthquake, your survival supplies are moot - they're buried under the rubble of your house. If you made it outside and aren't seriously injured, you'll expend more calories than you'd gain by digging those canned goods out to eat them. For me, disaster preparedness has more to do with knowing what around me is edible, how to catch water and make it potable, and how to construct shelter out of limited materials. That and first aid. My earthquake kit consists of a bowie-type knife, a small shovel, a bottle of water, and a water catchment basin. I should mention that I live in what's normally termed a 3rd world country, within spitting distance of an active volcano, on sandstone cliffs, in an area that is periodically reduced to rubble by quakes of 6.0 or higher; it's made me terribly pragmatic about survival. The upside is that the country has no winter to speak of, and I was raised near the arctic circle, which makes me extremely resistant to the elements here - as far as I'm concerned, it never gets really cold, which is the largest killer next to dehydration.

Not in the same way, because the heat is distributed evenly across the broiled meat, rather than in specific hotspots the way it is on the grill. Properly broiled meats have only a hint of char on them, as compared to visible strips of char on grilled things. This said, it doesn't stop me from grilling and otherwise charring my meat - I like the flavour. I'm going to die eventually anyway, and the point isn't to come to the finish with a perfectly preserved vintage vehicle. I'll be the one screaming in on what's left of the rims.

Only if you consider that the entire bunch is an "arm" (brazo) and that a single banana is a "finger" (dedo.) These are the trade terms, folks! For me, the oddest ones are from Ecuador. A single clove of garlic is a "tooth" but a whole garlic is a "fist" (and a fist of garlic is very difficult to come by - most places just sell peeled teeth.) And don't get me started on the customary units of weight! I buy flour in arroba sacks - the definition of this being one quarter of the amount a donkey can carry. Arbitrarily, it's either 25 lbs or 25 kg, depending on the merchant. I buy other things by quintales - the quintal being the full donkey-load, 100 lbs or 100 kg, again depending on the merchant. I buy salt in "fistfuls" (5 lbs), and cacao in a unit that I still don't fully understand, but which translates as "grains" - which is odd, because I end up with an even number of pounds, but that amount varies from merchant to merchant. Edit - that should have read "cacao" not "cocoa" - I buy the latter in kilos.

I'll speak up from Latin America. Orange marmalade, the bitter stuff that all Canadians are familiar with, doesn't exist here. Neither does mincemeat in big jars, or real maple syrup (Aunt Jemima is, inexplicably, here.) Equally, in Canada I find myself pining for 10-oz tubs of Manjar de Leche, fresh herbs at the supermarket (I'm with you Matthew), and there's no achiote in the (pitifully small) dried-spices section.

I'm also spoiled absolutely rotten; where I live I can (and do, in great volumes) buy butter freshly-churned by the farmer, and milk straight out of the cow or goat. Last time I was back in Canada, I bought a block of butter expressly for use on potatoes and corn (much as I would down here in Ecaudor) and I nearly gagged. It was awful! I shudder to think what it would have done to baked goods. If you're interested, I've got some oil-adapted recipes I could share with you, for cakes/goodies that would be edible by both you and your DH. In particular, I've got a cinnamon roll recipe that's whole-grain, uses olive oil, and is low in sugar, and is actually much better tasting than it sounds.

I admire your dedication. I don't think I could ever give up butter! Then again, in all other respects I'm a very healthy eater, so I think I can get away with it now and again (and on my potatoes... )

Nope, THIS is a conical whisk. It's used by plungering it up and down, rather than whipping in a circular motion. They're dead common down here for making mayo and frothing egg whites for espumilla.

Fish fish fish. I use much the same method as Hassouni describes above. I also use it in a pinch to put extra browning on the crowns of my bread (which I really like), and to boost oven heat when I need to go over 450 F (which is where my gas thermostat maxes out).

They're cute - how did they taste? I often find that subbing olive oil for butter introduces an extra flavour, which is why I've started to use (incidentally very heart-healthy) sunflower oil in these cases.

Norm, omg, I want that cake in very undecent ways. Your son's got a very lucky GF. mm, are those truffle medallions in the veggie mix? Care to share your technique?

There is a particular timbre to properly cooked bread when rapped, sort of like the sound of an ideally ripe melon or squash. FWIW, I'll tap both the top crust and the bottom when sounding the loaf, as I get a better idea of how the loaf is done that way (especially since I normally use an egg wash to stick seeds / grains to the top of my loaves). I'm thinking it might be something that has to be learned when quite young - I was taught to sound bread by my great-aunt, using loaves from her wood stove.... I still listen for that distinctive tone when tapping my own bread, even though I'm baking in a gas oven. The sound is exactly the same.

Sounds ghastly to me, but by all means let him try it. Preferably when he's hung over.

Kim, that is indeed my recipe! Too funny.

Kim, the name is misleading. Slimecaps are almost never used fresh, where the texture is more than offputting, even for a diehard fungus fan like myself. In the Ecuadorian kitchen, they're exclusively a dried mushroom, which process allows their marvelous flavour to develop and concentrate. As ingredients go, I'd consider them less in the range of a mushroom, and more in the range of magical umami chunks; I generally rehydtrate them into whatever I'm using in lieu of cream - last night, that was yogurt cut with milk. I've also been known to powder them in my mortar and pestle and add them whenever I think a dish lacks that certain yummthing. I'd be hard-pressed to actually describe the taste of Suellius, though. They make creamy things taste creamier, rich things taste richer, and overly salty things taste less salty (and hence they're a go-to when using bacalao.)

This is a pretty common trick down here in Ecuador, whenever something needs to be cooked a la plancha but no proper plancha is to be had. I'd wager that 99% of sheet pans sold here get used as griddles.... Definitively, this is the method for cooking delicacies like llapingachos over charcoal. Shalmanese: if you oil your cooking surfaces properly, there's no problem with stickage. Griddle cooking is very, very different from baking in that way.

For me, the obvious thing to do with that cooked stuff would be to strain out the seeds and pulp, and add neutral gelatine. Then serve cubed blackberry with rich cream or vanilla icecream. Then again, I'm very fond of simply giving blackberries a whirl in the blender with some sugar, straining the pulp and seeds off, and blending with vanilla yogurt and coconut milk - it's the ultimate smoothie.

Like Soba, I've been remiss in actually posting my own food here (largely because I've been so busy that I've been eating truly awful things....) Unlike Soba, I don't have a whole lot of yum to show you. Here's the first respectable thing I've cooked in nearly a month: Beef Stroganstuff (using yogurt, not cream, so not a proper Stroganoff) with dried slimecaps (Suellius luteus) and king bolete. I had sirloin scraps, which made all the difference.

What is that, mm? It's gorgously modern-artesque....