TicTac

Interesting line of thought.... When I was younger and a less experienced cook, I would love going out to nice meals (Michelin 1* type of setting). I still do (but I am far pickier where we spend our limited 'kid free time'), but I find as my cooking prowess has grown over the years, my desire to shell out $300-$500 for a dinner which I could (more likely than not) reproduce nearly as good (at times, if not better), lessens. We now gravitate to more ethnically driven finds which I would not typically make at home. For example, in our rotation we have a fantastic Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, North Chinese and Malaysian place. All of which can feed a family of 5 for under $60 quite nicely (OK, perhaps not the Japanese joint....). That trend will continue, I believe.

Perhaps, as @KennethT eluded to, some cultures around the world do, but in the grand scheme of things, I believe you are mistaken. At least, you can extend your statement to North America (much of the English speaking world), as technically there are 2 separate entities. Perhaps in England they and other English EU speaking parts they bunch them together.

But Which one do you love? Cilantro are the leaves, Coriander are the seeds....you are allowed to love both (but we want to avoid a lovers quarrel!), but differentiators are significant!

Those sunset photos are spectacular. Thank you for sharing with us, as always!

Anna - So sorry to hear you are not well. Here's to a speedy recovery and exodus from the pits of food hell!

As I have learned from a few in this thread, Mangosteens are 'ripe' when the circumference feels soft to the touch/press. This practice has led me well to find some fantastic beauties this season. $10 USD/lb is pricey. Here I am paying $4-5/lb CDN. My trick to open these whether ripe or slightly past (then the skin gets tougher) is to cut off the stem with a tiny bit of the rind as well, then make one big slit across the side and over that top sliced section, and sort of pull it open in 2 halves. Usually works.

You should not be jealous! Surely you can get your hands on some good Niagara or other local beauties?!

What are those yellow slices under the tomatoes?

Another attempt at cooking mostly from the garden. Had a few zucchinis get away on me so I made vegetarian lasagna with zucc's as the pasta sheeting (salted and grilled) and made a orange garden tomato sauce, accompanied by a ricotta/bocconcini/parm mixture. Layered with a few slices of mortadella for good measure.

A lower caloric diet (which fasting typically impacts) has been documented to have life prolonging effects. There was a documentary I saw recently on a village in India and a number of individuals who follow a low caloric diet and have average life spans in the 100's.

Looks like some nasty mold to me (I hate mold!!) Personally I would toss it, but others here will have far more knowledge/info than I on the matter!

Sad to say, if you do in fact come back positive for Celiac, you cannot ingest *any* gluten, be it at the detriment to your future health (you can read about what prolonged gluten exposure can lead to for someone with Celiac). Once confirmed they will want to see your stomach lining heal and your numbers come back to 0 - meaning zero gluten. Any exposure subsequent to this will cause (most likely) severe reactions. My little guy sadly had his first major exposure after an egregious oversight on his mothers part (poor girl felt absolutely horrible) and was throwing up for over 2h, could not keep liquid down, had to take him to the ER to get a strong anti-nausea and get him hydrated again. Happy to help should you wish for any further insights/advice based on our experiences thus far.

Cod Cheeks....oh my, be still my heart! Slightly surprised that it did not make an appearance! Fish cheeks of any sort, how I love thee....

Jewish Rye?!? What prey-tell makes your Rye, Jewish? Has it been snipped???

If I could give 2 'reactions' I would - thank you for the kind words and sorry to hear about the environmental challenges. I recall you mentioning the same thing in the gardening thread. Here in Ontario it is the opposite, it has been too hot for basil plants and they are bolting sooner than usual. I usually try to time them so they are peaking during tomato season, but that did not go as planned this year!

Interesting. Or perhaps is not as strong as kosher or pickling....due to its unrefined nature? Experimentation is needed.

Interesting. I have never seen a peach that has (what appears to be) smooth skin. Every peach I have seen (and we have doughnut peaches here) has a soft fuzz. This almost looks more like a flat nectarine!

That lunch looks absolutely awesome! I could so go for a bowl (or three) of that chowder right now. This really makes me want to take the 3 youngins' on a road trip out east. Then again....10 hours in the car with 3 little rug rats under 7 y/o...............

Another dinner post, sans pictures (apologies). If only there were a 'Post to EG' button from my ipad! Room temp broccoli soup (garden pesto added part way through). 95% garden grown dish of - Zucchini noodles, served with a sauce of various colors of cherry tomatoes, young garlic, bunching onions and topped with a roasted cashew pesto (a recent find, which I believe might even be superior to the pine-nut version). Cashews, olive oil, and cheeses - the other 5%!

Figured I would pop in here with a find - @Shelby reminded me to make pesto with her post above, so I did. Unfortunately no pine nuts at home, so I substituted roasted cashews, and I have to tell you, I think it might be even better!!! Question for you pickle makers out there... When creating your brine, do you add any vinegar do the liquid, and if so - how much? Furthermore; an interesting discussion came up between my uncle and I (one of the people who I learned much of what I know about cooking from) as he noted in his experiments as of late that he believes KOSHER salt is required for proper preservation and sea salt alone will not suffice. Not sure if anyone has any thoughts on the matter...

The one place I get it from occasionally does it with green onions, msg (my guess) and some chili. I do not believe it is blanched. They so a similar preparation with thinly sliced tofu skins - that prep has chili oil as well.

In Chinese cuisine, particularly at dumpling houses (perhaps it is a Northern thing) you will often find shredded potatoes (raw) with some type of salty dressing on them. Often quite tasty.

I know 'Canner season was about a month or so back. Not sure exactly, but you are in the right place if there is anyone who will know! Have a great time, thanks again for taking us along with you (it is much easier on my wallet this way!)

Agreed - I would be in for a dip daily and nightly! Sunsets are indeed a special thing. One of the very few things I miss from living at our loft at Yonge and Sheppard on the 20th floor facing North / East / West - the most unreal sunsets.

Maybe your moose had some IBS...the ones we have seen camping are a very large version of rabbit turds - well formed nearly golf balls. Back on track - that is so upsetting one of your meals was a dud, and some nice local fish to boot! Curious to hear about shellfish reports (assuming you enjoy these items!)