TicTac

I like my hosta's too much to eat them!! Lots of wild edibles popping up, as you said, ramps, asparagus along with dandelion, garlic mustard, fiddle heads, wild celery, etc - least for us N. E. Coasters!

Tacos al Pastor

The GTA is the most culturally diverse city in the world. Something many do not know. We have many of the worlds cuisines within a 40 minute drive!

There is a great salad that I make around this time of year that includes: - Roasted Beets - Avocados - Ramps - Roasted Garlic - Some form of acid

Joel clearly knows his food - but as you said, even that is a bit extreme. Fresh cut spears into cool water do the job nicely for a few days, at least.

So jealous of those fresh Asspergass (sorry, it's what this household - aka the rugrats - refers to them as...!) They are one of the veggies that truly degrades the moment you pick them - hence why keeping them in water is advised. Then again if it is a 2 minute walk to the kitchen, who needs water!?

You have no idea! With the most diverse population in the world, comes some great cuisine!!

This one's easy.... It's used to scratch all those hard to reach places!

I wish I could do more of this. Part of my plan for retirement is moving north, on water, to be able to hunt and fish for what we eat. It is how life was meant to be lived, which humans have sadly strayed too far from. The only 'hunting' I do is for wild edibles (black raspberries, mushrooms, various edible greens, etc). Would love to see more so I can live vicariously through pics, for now; at least

Though we do not eat a ton of pasta, lately in the rotation have been: Carbonara (always in the rotation!) Cacio e Pepe Tomato reduction with good quality tinned tuna Porcini/Truffle Pecorino Very soon however... Ramp/Asparagus (get your rear end in gear, Mother Nature!!!)

Corn Husk Scraper!

Perhaps to scrape the meat/fat off of a (small) hide?

I bet if you fed your patients this stuff instead of the gruel hospitals pass off as food these days, recovery times would be halved!! That bread....!

Any chance on getting the recipe for your potato dumplings? They look great and I think my kids might just love them!

Overthinking. At the end of the day, so long as you do not arrive empty handed, you are in the right. There is no wrong here (unless you go bat-shit crazy and bring a complete wine and cheese spread, trying to trump their offering, that might be construed as slightly insulting....). People often bring wine to my house and I already have one open or decanted, leaving theirs if we want another bottle. No eyes batted, no feelings hurt. Just bring....something!

Chag Sameach Lekulam! That looks fantastic, Shain. My mom made quite a spread last night for 15 of us, some fantastic duck fat (typical is chicken fat, this year she tried my idea on for size!) matzah balls & chicken soup, confit duck legs, beef brisket, meatloaf, braised red cabbage, tzimmus (shredded carrots / raisins ), cucumber salad, pureed spinach, beet salad, sweet potatoes, and the list goes on.

Any particular type of apple? Very interesting combination, I will have to give it a go! Oh, and if you do not already, buy your pickled herring pieces at Costco! For around $1 more, you get a huge jar of the beasties...my 2 year old loves them, so this size should last a bit longer than the last few.

Interesting - would love to hear a bit more about said spread. Just made some schmaltz, perhaps that + apples would work....

Curious what you slather under your herring, Anna... Lunch today, simple but delicious - Rahier Baguette Cumbrae's fresh churned Quebec salted butter Copious amounts of Prosciutto Di Parma

Oh this excites me! The snow has melted and my little crocus's and yellow doodad flowers are popping up, along with tulip leaves and a few others, a sure sign that spring has sprung and soon us North Eastern'ers will be able to forage for delights as well. First up, wild asparagus and ramps!!! Curious to see how my transplanted ramp patch does this year.

From the flesh and skin patterns, they almost look like a species from the Mackerel family.

Picked up another 200g of this White Peony from a local tea importer - fantastic stuff. No more pu'erh for me! That stuff did a number on the gut (and others who tried it as well!). One point to note for someone who mentioned cold tea and brewing with hot water - an unnecessary step, and truth be told, actually negates a significant amount of the beneficial antioxidants found in tea. Check out a study done by an Italian university teamed up with a Korean university and compared hot brew of green/black/white vs cold brew of the same. Results were very interesting. Cole's notes version - White cold brewed tea has the highest level of antioxidants of any method/type of tea, interestingly enough, green tea wins in the hot brew category.

Looks good! Cooked celery is totally underrated!

Who has abducted our gourmand formerly known as mm84321!?

Looks great. I love perilla - very prominent in Japanese cooking (see; Shiso - unless I am mistaken). Recently grew some this past summer, saved seeds - fantastic in salads - very unique flavour. Great blog - thanks for sharing. As an aside, if only EG local boards were busier, then I wouldn't have to go to the dreaded CH (cant stand that place and its dictatorship rule!)