Deryn

I was under the impression that rapini has been trendy in the past ... but that was probably when the new crop of 'foodies' were babies so perhaps they have just 'discovered' it. I used to eat it a lot perhaps 20 or 30 years ago now. And I think I recall seeing quite a few Italian recipes over the years that called for rapini. I am pretty sure Mario Battali would attest to the fact that Italians in some part of Italy have been consuming it for eons now. p.s. I deleted 'broccolini' from my post upthread - those who said that rapini/rabe were not the same definitely are right. My bad. I loved the bitter rapini taste and was disappointed the first time I tried broccolini as I expected it to be similar.

I can't believe broccoli rabe/rapini is not available at all in Britain - maybe there is yet another name for it over there? I can't eat (much if any) kale or broccoli rabe any more but if I could, I would always choose the rabe.

No. Not yet. But it sounds as though I should be reading it. Thanks for the heads-up!

The Energizer bunny still has nothing on Kerry. Wow! What a schedule. Wishing you safe trips both/all ways. Sell loads of EZTempers!

Tere just about covered my uses for elderberries/flowers to date - and then some. Thanks. I have never owned my own bushes till now - so any elderberries I have had access to have all been 'foraged' or, in one case, a gift from a neighbour who had some bushes. A glass of cold slightly carbonated lemonade-elderberry cordial is lovely on a hot summer's day. I have never made elderberry wine but perhaps that will be in my future if I eventually have a decent crop. I have swirled syrup into ice cream and added it to a pie. I used some over a pork roast once, and if I had moose, I would definitely try that with an elderberry 'compote' of some kind. That lemon balm crème brulee with elderberry jelly sounds delightful. My lemon balm (last season's didn't survive the winter ) is still in a container awaiting planting. Would be nice if both managed to produce decently before fall so I can try that combo.

I will add to ElsieD's question - If one is using 'gelatin sheets', what 'strength' does one use for this recipe? Silver, gold? Or does it really matter? Has been years since I had any gelatin sheets (used to buy them in cake decorating shops in Ottawa, Elsie, just fyi) though so I too would like to know the equivalency. And yes, that cake looks more than 'good enough to eat' (which is why I will just gobble it up with my eyes for now).

No, haskap - for berries. Local nursery told me 3 which surprised me - wonder if that stipulation is because of our climate/area somehow (or guided by 'profit motive'). I may get some next time I go to town if I only need 2 and give it a shot. Tere - I expect I will be adding more elderberries (perhaps even in a week or two) for exactly that reason - having to decide if I would like the flowers or the berries.

I have quite a few tablecloths - many dating back to about 1967 when I first got married I think and some from my mother's era. I cannot remember the last time I put one on a table though. Closest I seem to get is runners, but primarily I now use placemats if anything at all. My, my, how life changes. Hope you post a picture of your new cloth when you secure one, Jo. Perhaps it will get me to use one or more of mine again.

Finally found an elderberry bush today. Next year, perhaps haskap bushes will find their way here too. I would have indulged in those this year but I was told one has to buy at least 3 varieties in order to be relatively sure of pollination. Now to get everything planted (also have many herbs and a tomato to be sited as well). My eyes and imagination (when it comes to both food and gardening) are often way too big for my energy level these days so I am trying to go a bit slow with the purchases in case I don't get to planting them before they outgrow their pots or wither up from lack of love and die. Today is mid-50s and it looks as though we won't be above 60 till at least the end of June. And rain ... well, we have had and will have loads of that, so digging and inserting are all I really have to do - no watering. Sun however we are lacking as yet.

Just fyi - Huiray's photos are not appearing for me - seem to have the crossed out circle as replacements. Thanks for the heads up on Lady and Pups. Wonderful storyteller/writer - and it is a bonus that apparently her recipes are good too. Those meat pies DO look delicious - just my cup of tea (other than the soy which I will have to figure out how to replace).

I recently gave a brand new SodaStream (was about 7 months old, purchased for a one night visit my daughter made last year but it had never been used) to my neighbour for her grandkids. I had inserted the CO2 container unfortunately but it was still making noises when the top was pressed. However it was soon evident that when the seal is broken, leakage occurs. I felt badly that the unit didn't 'deliver' the carbonation as promised so I went out and purchased another CO2 unit and several very large flavour bottles - and the cost came to nearly what I paid new for the unit. The 'accessories' that make the gadget work as advertised are not cheap. I am not sure that the plastic container that houses the CO2 bottle is worth too much more than what you paid to be honest (unless the cartridge was never inserted) - but I hope you enjoy it.

Shanghai Worchestershire sauce? Is that different from L&P for instance? Contains soy?

My mother's sourdough starter was stored in the fridge (and it dried out there 'naturally' in its container) for well over 20 years. I found it as I was getting my father's house ready for sale a few years ago and managed to revive it for a short time before I chucked it out. I made a few loaves of bread and some pancakes but decided not to keep it in the end. Not sure it tasted quite the same as I remember it to have been when Mom was alive - perhaps was a bit 'fridge-burnt' after all those years - but I was impressed that it had managed to survive at all for that long.

I have arrived back in Nova Scotia to barely spring temperatures (which is nice because when I left NC it was already hotter than mid-summer ever gets here). We have had mid-40s (since Monday) to (today) higher 50s - and rain every day except today. The 100 year old rhubarb that a month ago was barely peeking from the ground has blooms that I need to go out and get rid of asap. It is well over 3 feet high now and the leaves are gigantic. Too darned bad the leaves are dangerous or I would be using them to wrap very large fish I think. Today I took a trip to the next small town and picked up some berry bushes - blueberry, raspberry, gooseberry, red currants, and black currants. No elderberry at that hardware store unfortunately - I shall have to search further afield for those but I am determined to get at least one of those in this summer. Now trying to decide where to site them so they will get through this first winter and become 'native'. Just as I do in NC (where before I left I planted some rosemary, thyme, and basil to be left to nature's care) I give lots of love to my garden - for the first day - and after that it is on its own. Luckily I don't plant in a dry environment because I don't even water. I leave it all up to God and nature - and usually they come through for me. Did a big favour for my next door neighbour when I was down south (one which involved a significant cash outlay and 14 hours driving into WV and back) and suggested that perhaps he might drop over with his tiller soon (since I was not able to bring mine back this trip as I had hoped to do). Was told it was not working ... but then the wife phoned me later and said that suddenly he was out working on the tiller and would probably be showing up on a nice day in the near future - but I should act surprised when that happened because it was a secret. She is a sweet lady but definitely is the town gossip. At any rate, I will probably get a late start here but it looks as though the season is not lost for me after all.

Just binge watched the 4 shows from (perhaps what will be? it seems to be just Season 1) a series called Restaurant Australia. Excellent production in my humble opinion. Showcases the foods of Australia as 3 top chefs source, design dishes and serve them to 250 chefs and food critics from around the world. The first three episodes detail the search all over the country for the best ingredients for the 3 course dinner (each with 3 different dishes - one from each chef) and the last shows how it all comes together (on 2 different sites - the first for the appetizers, cooked in the open air, followed by a boat ride to the second location in an amazing 'gallery'). Well executed in every facet - and one actually got to see the way these chefs worked in putting the dishes together. Highly recommended. Has anyone else seen these?

Manitoulin blog upcoming again, Anna? I really need to read Food52 more often. Those hashbrowns look scrumptious. Thanks.

Thanks for that insight/story, Okanagancook. Sorry to hear that your husband has been through all this too however and that his culinary world has had to get a bit smaller as a result. I hope the 'allergy' thing is not true for me but I will be wary from now on. Not sure how to test that out though other than to eat more clams (though I think, as I said above, I will opt for the canned version). After all this I don't know whether to keep or toss the remaining chowder from this batch that I put in the freezer (before I began to feel lousy - which was about 2 or 3 hours after I ate). kayb - I am so sorry to hear about your accident too. I hope you will mend well and fast but that sounds like a very severe injury. Hope you are not in too much pain. I broke my ankle twisting it on landing from my first skydive many eons ago (I feel your pain and annoyance - laid me up for 6 months and 2 operations) - and can no longer wear any kind of heel as a result but I had been considering getting a pair of (low-ish) wedge shoes for 'special occasions' - figuring they might be more stable than a regular higher heel - till I read about your fall. I recommend Keen sandals (more or less flat) with wide rubber soles and reasonable support once you are able to hobble around again. They are pretty darned stable but I would not go a party (other than a backyard bbq) in them of course. eta: Read up about shellfish allergies and I guess I should go get a test done at the doctor's - just in case. Better to do that than try to eat them again if I am developing an allergy according to what I read. Do hope this is not the reason for this mess last night as I just moved to an area where seafood of all kinds was one of the primary enticers for me. If I can't ever have lobster again .. oh dear!

Never again will I buy local fresh clams and make clam chowder. At least I think that was the cause of a very awful night of 'up and down'-heaval. Tasted delicious but something didn't agree with me. Haven't had that kind of 'reaction' to anything since I was last pregnant 33 years ago. Luckily it seems to have been relatively short lived (I feel moderately better this morning) but in the throws of it all, it was far worse than the 3 month bout I had with salmonella many years ago. On the bright side though, the IP made great clam chowder including steaming the clams perfectly. Next time I will open one of the humungous (quart size I think) cans of clams I bought recently (never know when one - who lives alone - will have to make clam chowder for 40 - what was I thinking?) and forgo the 'fresh' ones. Oh and the bars below this post are probably a notation that belongs in the 'Tech - Welcome to V4 - redux' thread. Just opened a window to reply to this thread (and didn't hit the 'break' button on the left side - I swear I didn't!) and one appeared so just for fun and giggles, I hit it intentionally a few more times. Nice pattern.

I'll one up you - though you probably have to be Canadian to suffer from this disaster: Gusto's Fish the Dish

What though really makes for an 'exceptional experience' on a website? I honestly can't say I think I have ever had an 'exceptional experience' (which is what the OP asked I think - not really where to host the site or how/what to sell, etc.) in an online store - other than it was perhaps great to find they stocked whatever it was I was looking for and the site was easy to move around, gave me the information I was looking for, the price was right and the transaction was secure, and the merchandise was as high quality as it was touted it would be and was delivered as promised. Do all those things make those online store visits 'exceptional' though or merely meeting what I think the basic standard should be? I guess it is really all relative .. and a site will stand out especially if everyone else's sites are mediocre or bad.

I have been known to take on some crazy culinary adventures in my time and even in my prime I would never have considered trying to open/run/hoping to make a bundle of $ on a 'kit' meal delivery service. Even in today's world - ruled by the internet (and especially social media), 'trends', and overly scheduled 'dink' lives, I just can't see long term viability with that kind of venture. I agree with everything Anna said. Aside from the limited audience (and the difficulties of retaining a tenuous customer base for any length of time), the obvious need for necessary bottom line frugalities - you can't serve filet without charging for filet so menus have to be limited by cost/price and that may lead quickly to lack of variety which leads to eventual customer boredom/disinterest, etc. - seem to preclude the idea that this would be a 'good business' to invest in. Even if such a company does not actually cook the food and run a 'restaurant' per se, there are health concerns and associated regulations to comply with (added costs). Additionally, economies of scale are required to turn a buck long term (and employing x number of prep chefs costs money and probably leads to turn over issues - which means one begins to consider 'robots' as line 'cooks' or outsourcing the cutting job to China and injecting possible consistency/quality/safety issues as a result) - and whether one asks for people to 'contract' for weekly deliveries or not, the likelihood of retaining customers long term is very slim so one cannot count on needing exactly x # of meals to be shipped each week. How do you accurately predict profit based on that volatility in demand?. Add in ingredient acquisition and cost variability problems and shipping/environment/perishability issues and all these seem likely to kill this kind of business sooner than later unless you are only catering to celebrities with unlimited expense accounts - but then most of them probably have personal chefs. I don't get why the well known chefs are even attracted to attach their names, much less actually 'work for' these businesses - unless there is a BIG money being shelled out. Money laundering? I doubt these guys are naïve - maybe it is ego? Something other than smart business practice has to be going on here.

1) Don't name it RadioactiveCow. 2) Since your site will be one of hundreds of thousands of similar sites (and stores), don't expect people to have 'exceptional experiences' there. You will be lucky if they even happen upon your site (unless you are willing to put out large sums of money, search engines won't list you anywhere near the front page!) - and it is probable that however different or 'necessary to human life' you believe your teas will be, they will not be as unique as you think they are (but they better be top quality merchandise for a very fair price and not too expensive to ship - you will have to love this business because you won't get rich doing it!). 3) Be professional. Spend the time and money to make sure your interface and shopping 'system' are easy to read, complete/accurate, logical, clear and simple but comprehensive, and everything is spelled correctly and flows well. Test, test, test, and test again. Don't try to use a cheapie 'packaged' solution and open up after a long weekend of work. Additionally, you may want to spend a year or two first writing a blog (preferably about teas - which I hope you are an expert in) and garnering a large audience so they can be your first customers when you open this 'store'). p.s. For many (like me) buying online is about TRUST! A new crappy looking site with questionable merchandise is not going to get me to part with my credit card # and $. Ensure your site is SECURE.

Sadly, not much seems 'safe' any more. Just bought some Wondra the other day - it is now going into the garbage. Managed fine without it for years - won't buy any more. Not sure if all these recent recalls have been because there is actually much more of an issue with our everyday ingredients (but, if so, why is that?) or because there is a better reporting/investigation system suddenly in place and actually working or prophylactically (just in case) because companies are afraid of being sued.

What a heroic effort you all put out to get that amazing dinner on the table for so many people! I am glad it all went as planned and I am definitely not surprised that the plates were licked clean. Wish I had been there. Bravo - job well done! I once catered a wedding for almost 200 people, out of a small hotel room, alone - so I know exactly what kind of planning and execution nightmares there can be when one undertakes such a venture. Took me months to get over that one. Be proud but don't succumb to the 'let's do this once a month' thing, even if it feels good to hear it, but I am sure it feels wonderful to know you CAN do this and DID do it!

ROFLMAO, Kerry (to use a bit of 'web vernacular'). I needed that laugh this morning. Thank you.