SusieQ
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Posts posted by SusieQ
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The prices seem really high, though.
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5 hours ago, liuzhou said:
What a gifted artist.
(Today is my mushroom day, apparently. Had three -- this is the 4th -- encounters one way or the other with mushrooms today. What a blessing to me. I consider mushrooms to be one of the most mysterious beings on earth.)
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On 12/13/2023 at 10:39 AM, Duvel said:
so after two days of his beloved chicken soup
And then he gets "something else" -- a feast for (anybody) recovering from an illness. What a lucky little boy!
Also, I'm impressed that he will eat those mushrooms in the soup. (You've trained him well! )
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On 12/13/2023 at 3:57 PM, liuzhou said:
Yes. They are available online here (somewhat expensively). Their origin is "interesting". Some vendors describe them as Swedish made in Germany; others as Dutch made in Italy.
One describes them as "Spot Dutch import Italian German import WASA Vassa crackers Original multi-fiber sesame recommended" then says the factory is in the USA!
I'll call them UN Crackers.
UN Crackers -- appropriate for that description!
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26 minutes ago, liuzhou said:
Thanks. I mostly guessed right! Only the crackers eluded me, but then I am not familiar with that brand.
WASA is probably my favorite cracker. This is the light rye version. Whole grain rye flour, salt. "May contain wheat, milk, and sesame." Cover says "Swedish style" but the back says product of Germany. I used to like the full rye version but I can't chew them anymore. 😒
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10 hours ago, liuzhou said:
What is everything? I could guess but I'd hate to insult you by getting it wrong!
Walnuts, avocado/green onions/hot sauce, cheddar cheese, Wasa rye crackers, and a glass of milk! The glass the milk is in used to be a German mustard jar.
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11 hours ago, liuzhou said:
The fish are served whole, ungutted and with bones.
I thought you had to take the guts out or the fish would spoil rapidly. I know hardly anything about fish, though.
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On 11/9/2023 at 7:50 PM, AlaMoi said:
okay. word origins aside -
. . . .
physically. . . . in USA terminology . . .
"to grill" is exposing the "target" - supported on some "structure" - to heat from the bottom, heat intensity 'undefined'
"to broil" is exposing the "target" - supported on some "structure" - to heat from above, heat intensity 'undefined'
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In my USA terminology,
"to broil" is what you say, the heat is from above
"to grill" is what you say, the heat is from the bottom, BUT that's because the meat (or whatever) is on the barbeque grill and the fire is underneath. In other words, we grill on a barbeque grill 😄
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9 hours ago, Duvel said:
What is that meat product ?Boar's Head Strassburger liverwurst. (The deli person took the casing off.)
It's OK but I only buy it because I can't find traditional Braunschweiger at my local stores. The German place where I used to buy it closed down a long time ago.9 hours ago, Duvel said:
What is that meat product ?- 1
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3 hours ago, liuzhou said:
When I was a kid, my father’s great-aunt was still alive and about once every couple of months or so we would be required to get on our finery, adopt our best behaviour, and pay an official visit. She was a true relic of the Victorian era and lived stubbornly alone in what I was certain was actually a museum, rather than a domicile.
The sitting room where we were received by her majesty and treated to afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches and buttery scones (not together) was littered with bric-a-brac of all sorts. Some were fascinating, some scary. I particularly remember being intrigued by what I think were clams shells containing miniature replicas of famous buildings of the world – Rome’s Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower, St. Paul’s Cathedral etc.
And, of course, there was a dresser full of highly decorative plates and serving dishes, including several examples of Willow Pattern.
This, I was told, was what everyone in China ate from. (I remember being confused as to what they ate from these plates, because I was simultaneously being lectured on not wasting food and eating the more nasty things for dinner because the starving Chinese would lap them up.)
Also, my great-great aunt would tell us the ancient Chinese story behind the design.
Sadly. years later, but long before I ever came to China, I learned the truth.Chinese Willow Pattern ain’t Chinese, at all. It was invented in the late 18th century in England, probably in the famous Spode pottery works. Back then chinoiserie was a huge fad, prompted by Queen Victoria's husband Albert. It is unknown in China.
And the story? Yes, English, too. It, too, is unknown in China.
If you want genuine Willow Pattern, go home. There is none here.
P.S. If you are interested in Chinese pottery which is from China, then I recommend a trip to the town of Jingdezhen (景德镇 - jǐng dé zhèn) in Jiangxi Province. The town is famous for its 1,700 year old porcelain industry. There are dozens, if not more, workshops where you can watch the craftsmen and women at work. And, of course, buy the results of their labours. Be careful. Some prices are astronomical, but there is also plenty of choice in lower price brackets.
I’m not particularly interested in porcelain, but I found the place fascinating. On the edge of town there is a large pottery workshop operating as a living museum, where they only produce their wares by the ancient, traditional methods. I spent hours in there watching the artists patiently and carefully decorating and carving. And yes, I did buy some.
There is more information on Jingdezhen porcelain and the different types here.
Thank you, Liuzhou, for this Willow story. I love history and find it especially fascinating how things go from one culture to another, anthropologically speaking.I'm not particularly interested in pottery, either, except for Rosenthal pre-WWII German porcelain, but seeing your photo of the young woman hand-painting such an intricate pattern reminded me of how much I admire the skills of those who do such work.
As an aside, I can just about see you as a child in your great-great aunt's sitting room, your description is that evocative. I bet the cucumber sandwiches and butter scones were delicious.- 2
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On 9/9/2023 at 8:08 AM, liuzhou said:
@Suzie Q By coincidence, my Cantonese friend called me and so, I asked her to record herself saying wontons in her language.
Here it is.
The link expires in 30 days but if you or anyone else still wants it after that, just ask.
If the download is too slow you can PM me with an email address and I can send it.
Thank you! I just listened to it. It satisfied my curiosity. 😁
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5 hours ago, liuzhou said:
鲜肉大馄饨 (xiān ròu dà hún tun), large pork wontons (in broth). The menu on my app offered a choice of adding chilli oil (or not), the same with scallions and four different wonton fillings: pork, pork and shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), pork and shiitake, or pork and some atrocity consisting of yellow kernels of misery. I chose chilli oil, scallions and shepherd's purse.
Apologies for the dreadful image, but I had a bad night, it was early and I was starving. Same excuse for eating them straight from the delivery container rather than putting them in a nicer bowl.
P.S. In 95% of China wontons are known as 馄饨 (hún tún) or, less often, 云饨 (yún tún) with the letter u pronounced 'oo' in both names - hoon toon and yoon toon. Wonton is from the Cantonese, only spoken by about 5% of people in China, mainly in Guangdong province and neighbouring Hong Kong.Fun to know about the wonton pronunciation variations. At first I missed that "won" had changed to "hún"!
I'm curious about how Cantonese say "hún tún" -- is it like "Juan tawn"? That's more or less my pronunciation, which I think is pretty common.
I had to look up shepherd's purse. The name rang a faint bell, probably from something I've read, but I've never seen it. According to Wikipedia, it's the second-most prolific wild plant in the world. Used in cooking, cosmetics, animal feed, and traditional medicines. Also, "Shepherd's purse was used as a pepper substitute in colonial New England." I will be on the lookout for Shepherd's purse!
p.s. I agree with you about the 4th choice of filling -- gross!
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Happy healing! (now that you have a proper diagnosis)
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On 6/17/2023 at 7:39 AM, Ann_T said:One of Moe's favourite breakfasts is leftover roast beef with gravy and scrambled eggs.Leftover steak from last night's dinner worked just as well.Also baked eight small baguettes from dough that had been in the fridge since Tuesday.Taken out last night at 8:30 and left on the counter until 4:00 AM this morning.
My kind of breakfast!
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2 hours ago, liuzhou said:
I realise this is a very old topic, but as David Ross reminded us often, Cook-Off topics are not time limited. And anyway, I'm sure there's more to be said on the subject.
I just came across this one today and feel I must point out a couple of oft-repeated errors and attempt to resolve some unresolved confusion.
The errors both involve the name. First of all, @alanamoana claimed twice that xiaolongbao literally means 'little dragon buns'. No. It. Doesn't. 小笼包 (xiǎo lóng bāo) literally means 'little basket buns'.
The confusion has arisen here from the Chinese for 'dragon' (龙) being a homophone (having the same pronunciation) of the word for basket (笼). Different, if similar, characters. I see that Ah Leung also addressed this but disagree that the confusion being anything to do with 'mainlanders' being too lazy to write the character correctly. I've never seen it mis-written in Chinese. Only seen mistranslated.
Then a different member says that XLB are soup dumplings. Again, no. Soup dumplings are XLB, like dogs are animals, but animals aren't usually dogs. There are many types of XLB which aren't soup dumplings.
Then there is the wrapping confusion and the question of whether these should be of the pasta-like variety or more bready like found in Baozi or steamed buns (often made with high gluten flour). Here in China both can be found. Soup buns, more properly known as 汤包 (tāng bāo) or 小龙汤包 (xiǎo lóng tāng bāo) tend to be of the former type, but certainly not always.
Finally, Ding Tai Yung is a Taiwanese chain and their soup dumplings slightly different from those found in Shanghai. Not that they originated in Shanghai either.
Hi liuzhuo, thanks so much for this linguistic dive. To me it's fascinating.
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5 hours ago, Bernie said:
Most prawns wild caught commercially here are captured in the tropical and subtropical regions and are processed (cooked or blast frozen) on board ship.
In order to avoid oxidation, they are cooked or "washed" in a solution containing sodium meta bisulphate and if done poorly in cooked prawns leaves a residual somewhat unpleasant taste.
The blackening of the prawns is simply the oxidation of the blood and fluids within the prawn. These fluids are concentrated in the head end and may also be present in the "vein" down the back of the prawn.
The only shrimp I ever buy anymore and then only very occasionally when on sale are shrimp labeled "raw wild Patagonian shrimp" shell-on headless deveined with "Sodium Metabisulfite (as A Preservative)." They taste pretty good. However, the last couple of times there were black segments in some of them and I asked about this. The fish person told me it was harmless. But I still cut it off.
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On 5/27/2023 at 4:47 PM, Kim Shook said:
egg salad this week. Jessica made a batch and I’ve been making fold-overs
What are "fold-overs"?
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14 hours ago, liuzhou said:
Well, Happy Birthday! Everything looks really good. Oysters, yum! That soup looks very interesting--I bet it's delicious. Good for you for celebrating! Too many people in my life don't like celebrating birthdays
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Garlic Presses
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
This is the best I've ever had. Cleaning is a breeze. No, really.