TicTac

How big are the mini's? In our house 'wraps' of all ethnicities (cant believe the plural is not a word!?) are often enjoyed - with many bowls of various fillings to be customized at ones delight. Be it traditional Mexican, Greek, Thai, Chinese, etc. We often will get some nice big lettuce (preferably red leaf or red bib) and use it as another base layer in the wrap to give a nice crunch. If you want any further ideas pertaining to the various ethnic incarnations, let me know.

Little baker's tip I learned with bread when toasting/reheating... Wet your hand with water and then wipe it over the bread, then toast. The moisture will help revitalize the bread and produce a great (near fresh, out of oven-like) product. I do this with frozen Rahier baguettes and (fresh and frozen) Blackbird breads and it works great.

Yes - I know those concoctions well. We do many variations with the savory pinwheels, very versatile. Interesting - I did not notice they changed their formulation. It has been a while since I bought any, will have to take another look next time. I hate margarine and all its cousins!

Nice Tart. PC has a really good puff pastry in the freezer which we keep on hand for various applications. Many tarts - but we also like to make pinwheels. Take a slab of pastry & roll it out thin - put some toppings (our go-to is black olive paste, carm onions, parm, and thyme) and then roll everything into a log. Slice 1/2 inch rolls and place them flat down on a tray and bake. Puffy Pin wheels - great with a cocktail (or 3)

Curious as to why you roasted the veg in the oven vs just saving on cleanup and caramelizing them in the soup pan...? Also, for me - nothing beats blistering mushrooms in a pan with some butter and finishing with salt and pepper (and occasionally shallots/herbs/wine). But those do look delicious.

The seafood selection is unreal. Something we rarely, if ever, see in Canada.

I couldn't help but laugh at the need for interpretation of our fine Dr's scratch!

If you want a bit of a splurge meal, Coi was very good when I was there 4 years ago.

Indeed. Which is why it is our responsibility to be mindful of such things and endeavor to each do our part in lessening the environmental impact. I have yet to throw out a cloth napkin. Once they are no longer suitable, they get turned into 'shmatas' to clean with. Don't get me started on the paper plates and plastic utensils!

It's not just the killing of trees which one should be mindful of when considering the environment, it is the processing footprint which has a significant impact as well. Then there is the waste or recycling which also has an impact.

Manager note: This post and the 5 that follow it originally responded to the OP of another discussion. Though perhaps my response might not be the desired one - I would suggest considering our environment and using a reusable cloth napkin. Far stronger than any paper and minimal environmental impact.

Anna - I have to ask..... Who is this mystery person who is so generously 'donating' a consistent stream of quality Cumbrae meats!? And....where do I sign up?

Amazing. I adore eel. I would adore it even more if there were no bones! Also, those bay Mackerel....unreal. Never seen those before. Can only imagine!

Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your fantastic travels and delights with us. Curious, were there many bones in the eel (hard to tell from the photo). I love eel, but after an incident as a child with a fish bone caught in my throat and a trip to the ER, those little elusive calcium needles have always frightened me!

Love these blogs. Looks like I was far off, but that's fine by me. Doubt I will ever get to that part of the world, so this should be fun.

Incense or a really strange looking doobie

Yes - thank you, Shelby. My vote is now official

Though unfortunately I do not remember their alias - the person who bakes often and lives in South America - believe they are an ex-Canuck.

Love this blog. I think the spirally things are banana shoots/blossoms. A few years back we found a local place that does some awesome Vietnamese, including a great BBH, served with the spirally things, oddly enough, no mint, which might be nice. They also serve with congealed blood (not my preference) and the home made pork sausage - which itself is quite addictive. Thanks for all the additional 'work' in sharing your trip.

Picked up a 6 week Deckle End Rib Eye and a Chuck Eye (no specified age) steak which one of the butchers kindly cut to order for me. Shockingly enough the price was 1/3 of the Rib Eye. The Aged Rib Eye had gorgeous marbling, the Chuck Eye minimal to none. Equally amazing was how the Chuck Eye nearly rivaled the Rib Eye surely in tenderness (cooked the same way as the RE - turned every 2 minutes over coals) though not AS flavourful (has to be the age variable). Thank you for turning me on to this cut. So glad you made it and enjoyed. Hopefully you enjoy your haul (would love to hear!). I too can't get out of there for under $100....

Shelby - are those cheese slices my eyes spy adorning your dog!? Never tried nor heard of that combo! Though I have heard of chilli cheese dogs, so it makes sense...

ElsieD - Truth be told I have only been to the Bayview location as I am coming from Thornhill. I have heard that other locations have more prepared food options, but my guess is the meat selection is fairly similar. They do sell heritage pork. The $11PP was for the Chuck Eye. If you have specific request I would suggest calling ahead - i.e. if you want an 8 week aged steak, call ahead. I often have them vac pack lots of meat for me and call ahead as otherwise I would be waiting there 20-30 minutes easily - and that is never a good recipe as I just end up browsing and buying far more than what I had intended! Edit - If you are going, I would also highly recommend the churned salted butter from Quebec that they sell - get that, then go down the street (if you go to the Bayview location) to Rahier and buy a few baguettes (and perhaps some dessert for later on) and thank me later

Happy to ask next time I am there. No harm in taking pictures of what I bought though - might do a mini-blog of our trip to the cottage so I will ensure to include some. Interestingly enough, they don't age the chuck eye steaks, but typically use them for chuck (cubed) meat or ground for burgers. Not nearly as much marbling on it as the Deckle heavy rib eye I bought, but I can't complain at $11 (vs $30 for the 6 week Rib Eye).

rotuts - I typically do not buy deli meats as they are full of (imo) crap that my kids don't need. Typically I will make extra chicken and use that for sandwiches, etc. Back to the Chuck Eye topic - was at Cumbrae's today and chatted with one of the butchers. He basically said a Chuck Eye is essentially the end part of a Rib Eye. He said preparation methods should be the same as a Rib Eye. Loved the fact that it was 1/3 of the price of the 6 week Rib Eye I bought as well. Going to do a side by side comparison and will report back.

I hear you, rotuts and most likely your observation is accurate. However with 2 boys under 4 and a third on the way, time is scarce and my ability to dive into new toys/projects, similarly so. Perhaps one day....