Anna N

Eggs scrambled with cream cheese, jalapeno and basil on crispbread with a side of Culture magazine.

I used 80°C for 16 hours back in 2011 and my notes say that it was great.

Be still my heart.

I finally made @shain‘s garlic soup. I have known about garlic soup forever but I admit it never appealed to me in the least until I saw shain’s. I mean really. What could possibly come out of nothing but garlic in making soup? Apparently those inhabitants of France (and likely other countries) can’t be wrong. This stuff is transformative. The downside? I should’ve started it before my cleaning angel showed up. I am still chasing garlic skin all over my kitchen and elsewhere.

Carry on.

I don’t know. I’m confused. Are we talking about french fries or are we talking about potato chips. Did I miss a beat? Or are we just separated by a. common language? See the Brits know what they’re doing when they call the paper thin discs crisps and the other kind chips. Although it was always very hard to say Smiths Crisps more than once!

We certainly have access to a wide variety of cheeses but many of them are completely out of my price range. I love nothing better than to a accompany @Kerry Beal to Mickey McGuires At Christmas or just before we head north in the summer or in the fall. We have a Whole Foods that carries a respectable variety of cheeses and even some of our higher end supermarket selections have improved exponentially over the past few years. But when I have been to Trader Joe’s in Buffalo my heart aches for those prices. I can get twice as much of many of my favourite cheeses for the price I would pay here. But I count my blessings as a Canadian resident — they extend far beyond the price of cheese.

LP Is often the only option in certain areas. We had it to run our range in northern British Columbia (Fort Nelson). The cottages where my husband and I used to stay on Manitoulin Island have only LP as fuel for cooking and heating water. If treated with respect I don’t think it’s any more dangerous than natural gas.

You are right. 30% less at Costco. $5.57.

Nah. It was an impulse buy yesterday when I was in Costco with @Kerry Beal. It’s only about eight dollars at Costco much more expensive at most other places.

Crispbread, cream cheese, and vegetable confetti with a side of Fine Cooking magazine.

Today Kerry had some business in Grimsby and so we lunched at Grimsby Thai. Upper Canada dark ale for me. Ginger tea for Kerry The “must have” calamari. Panang curry. Spicy beef salad. (I think their cook was a farang!) Sticky rice and peanut sauce.

This It is a waterbath type unit similar to the Sous Vide Supreme with the added function of cooling. The idea here being that you can put a protein in there before you go to work in the morning and it will keep it cool until it is time to cook. It is controlled from an app. The review did not exactly give it top marks

One (wo)man’s clam chowder is another (wo)man’s fishy tomato soup.

I think postings such as this should be verboten until Trader Joe’s expands into southern Ontario.

Obtaining fresh clams is not an option for me. These canned clams are added long after the soup base is cooked and are only reheated. They are never subjected to any pressure. I am glad you enjoyed my kitchen shenanigans. Being happy in the kitchen is my main aim in life.

Love to hear what you think. I am not and never have been a donut fan.

It looks delicious but I cannot do the beans. I no longer even try but simply accept that I don’t like dried peas, beans, legumes etc. I wasn’t always this way because I used to love canned baked beans on toast when I was a child. And I still have a taste memory of giant butter beans and lamb in a casserole. I think I need to discuss this with my therapist.

Already did. Sorry but it was a failure and I did detail it in the modernist bread topic.

These or similar can often prove useful in removing the guck.

Yup.

I had such great hopes for this recipe for New England Clam Chowder from the recipe book that accompanies the Instant Pot. I was so disappointed. Boring doesn’t even begin to describe the flavour. Except for making half the recipe I followed it to the letter. No amount of added salt and pepper could redeem it. Reading through it there is not much that is likely to overcome the flavour muting role of milk and cream. Here’s a link to an almost the identical recipe. The only difference being the option of using fresh clams. I am going to try to convert my favourite chowder recipe from the Canadian book Looneyspoons. Here is the ingredient list: 1 Tbs olive oil (original calls for spray PAM) 1/2cup chopped onions 1/2cup chopped mushrooms 1 clove garlic, minced 1 can (5 ozs) clams and their juice 1cup low salt chicken broth 1/4 cup dry white wine 3/4 cup peeled, cubed potatoes 1/4 cup chopped celery 1/8 cup chopped green onions 1/4 lb fish fillets (cod, haddock or salmon) -- cut into chunks 3/8 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 2 drops Tabasco 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper 1 Tbs chopped parsley 3 Tbs 35% cream 3/8cup sour cream More ingredients certainly but still using canned clams and it is delicious. Thanks for listening.

And perhaps therein lies the rub! Pizza to me has always been a spur of the moment, last-minute food choice. It is not something I know I am going to want on Monday and won’t be able to eat until Wednesday. And as I said it maybe just me.

Modernist Bread.