Ling

Could it be your recipe? I tend to prefer biscotti recipes that call for a bit of butter or shortening (as opposed to no fat, except for the fat in the yolks) as they produce more tender biscotti. This is my favourite recipe...I've never had cracks. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/contentmgr/...ls.php/id/47458

I'm going to a bbq on July 1st and another one on July 2nd. I don't know what 's on the menu for Canada Day, but I'm bringing brownies and a pecan pie. On July 2nd, my friends are going to buy 2 dozen fresh oysters per person, and grill the standard sausages/burgers/steak. I'm bringing a caramel cheesecake to that bbq.

Glad to hear that. I am eating brownie batter of the Scharffen Berger variety now. (The recipe is posted in Recipe Gullet: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r1291.html ) I'm 22. edit: typo

some recent indulgences : -cream cheese frosting. like, a bowl of it. -pecan cream filling from an excellent carrot cake recipe. again, I make extra just so I can eat a bowl of it. -uhm...the coconut cream filling I made for a cake today -the Costco-sized jar of peanut butter. A big spoon. A bag of good quality (but not too expensive) dark chocolate chips (like Callebaut). Scoop, sprinkle, eat. I do this daily. -picking off all the struesel on the cake...and the pie crust edges. not because it's bad for me, but because I feel a bit guilty stealing all the good bits... -any type of cookie dough (I usually prefer this over the actual baked product) -I fry sausages almost every morning for breakfast, and scramble my eggs in the leftover sausage grease. Mmm...smoky, porky, eggs. -I like anything that I describe as "fat on fat"--examples: fried prawns smothered in chili-mayo, poutine (fries, cheese curds, gravy), fried chicken skin and gravy, dense cheesecakes with homemade caramel sauce (making this in a few days for a bbq....looking forward!) -I've posted about this before, but I often eat sour cream like most people eat yogurt (straight out of the container). In fact, I ate a container yesterday. So much tastier than the healthy stuff.

Wow, thanks, browniebaker and Ann_T, for encouraging my sugar intake. Today I made the Peninsula Grill coconut cream cake for my friend's birthday. I ate the cake scraps when I levelled it, along with the extra coconut cream filling I made. Also had an apple struesel muffin. This is my second time making this cake--it turned out quite well the first time. Here's the recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105698

Those are my favourite things on the tea tray too!

Yesterday: C Restaurant for the amazing Sustainability Luncheon. Amazing food, great service, beautiful view. My favourite dish was the seared scallop with the pork shoulder and morels, followed closely by the sweet English pea soup with BC spot prawns and pickled ramps (the slight tang was the perfect foil to the sweet shellfish...just incredible.) HSG: tastes of Daddy-A's brisket, and an oyster wrapped in grated Yukon Gold potato, fried, that someone couldn't finish Morton's of Chicago for a late dinner. We had the Caesar salad, the shrimp Alexander (battered and baked in a buttery wine sauce), filet mignon, creamed spinach, potatoes Lyonnaise, and a molten Godiva chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream. My friend ordered the same things, except he had the NY cheesecake. The meal was a steal (with our coupon--$99 for 2 people), but I really prefer the ribeye over the filet. I drank an Australian Cab-Sauv. HSG: one more stop at 11pm at night for a take-out order of gingerbread pudding. I opened the container in the car and almost had a heart attack when I saw the size of that thing. Warm and gooey after a quick heat-up in the microwave. Delicious as always. My date couldn't stop talking about how good it smelled.

That lunch at C Restaurant was honestly the best lunch I've ever had. The dishes were such a visual feast, and the seared scallop on the pork shoulder and morels was probably one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten--so earthy and rich, sweet and briny! Thanks to everyone who had a hand in organizing such a wonderful event. It was amazing to see how the servers working in tandem and the patio couldn't have offered a more beautiful view of Vancouver.

Yes, definitely protein-filled. I'm sure I'll find some room for dessert too, though.

I've had steaks at Hy's, Gotham's, and Morton's, and my favourite slab of meat is the ribeye at Morton's. I asked for it rare, and it came bright red in the center--perfect. Nicely seasoned, well-marbled, juicy, flavourful....what more can you ask for from a steak? I'm going there again on Saturday to try the filet mignon (after lunch at C Restaurant--what a glorious day, food-wise. )

Monday: -wine tasting and appetizers at the HSG...my favourite was the salmon tartare with the vegetarian caviar -tuna springrolls at Umami Wednesday -martinis and late-night snacks at Tatlow's Thursday Oh boy...here goes: From 8:30-11:00, I was downing $2 gin and tonics, wine and the scallop and chorizo appetizer Chivana's on W. 4th. The dish was a good snack-size portion of food--three scallops cooked to medium, with slices of chorizo served on some watercress. There was chive oil and roasted red pepper puree on the plate, and the dish was sprinkled with black sesame seeds. Chivana's was pretty quiet for a Thursday night, which was nice because we were a little rowdy. From 11:00-12:15, we were at Martini's drinking double margarhitas (strawberry, lime, and blueberry...I tried them all.) We shared a plate of buffalo chicken wings (my friend called them "anorexic wings"...they were a little on the small side) with blue cheese dressing. For those of you who know me, I was already sufficiently sauced by the time I started drinking my 2nd gin and tonic at Chivana's...thus, I was an easy target when they decided to drag me to a place of ill-repute. Let's just say there was some gyrating on poles going on. At this point, my friends were buying me Black Russians and shots of Soho. I had to be dragged in and out of the club. At 2:30, we were at Congee Noodle House eating plates of stir-fried noodles, and this one dish that was just really good, simple Chinese comfort food--large dices of tofu, and chicken thigh accented with salted fish on rice.

Yesterday: half-dozen freshly-baked peanut butter cookies still warm from the oven Today: sausages and a bowl of caramel ice-cream

I love Shanghai Wind. I think their juicy pork dumplings are much better than the ones at Bao Gu Bu Yi. The dumpling wrapping at BGBY is very, very thin and delicate (some prefer this) while the ones at Shanghai Wind are more substantial. The broth at the latter restaurant has this viscosity and depth that I find lacking from the dumplings at BGBY, and the minced pork at BGBY is "loose" and does not hold its shape like the filling at Shanghai Wind. I also like the hot and sour soup at Shanghai Wind much more--generous amounts of Chinese fungi , hearty broth, good balance of sour/hot. I find the hot and sour soup at BGBY not sour enough...I ended up adding black vinegar to my bowl.

I recently went to an event catered by Glowbal, and people from Joe Fortes were also there opening fresh oysters.

In the past week: Jang Mo Jib for late-night snacks of chap chee, chicken skewers, and mackerel. Big Rock Brewpub for drinks and snacks before Batman Begins. Cactus Club for drinks and dessert after a healthful dinner of chips and carrot cake at my friend's house. Saturday Dinner 1: Dinner at Hapa Izakaya: My date ordered the sparkling sake (Indigo Wind) and the sake that comes in a the hollowed bamboo. We had the takoyaki, the daikon and seaweed salad, the pork buns (big pieces of unctuous, braised pork belly that we folded into the steamed flat buns, and then dipped in the broth...easily the best dish of the evening), the ebi chili-mayo (Shiru-Bay's version is much, much better--larger prawns, lighter batter, and a richer mayonnaise sauce). Dinner 2: I shared the crab dip and this salmon dish with rice pilaf at Cactus Club...it was the only Richmond restaurant we could find open at 12a.m. (besides No. 9)The rice pilaf was very strange--it came soaked in a sweet and sour sauce with pieces of diced hot pepper in it. The salmon was a bit overcooked and not very moist. Sunday I had another date at Morton's. I had the giant shrimp cocktail, the best ribeye I'd ever eaten, and the Godiva chocolate mousse cake. I drank a pinot noir. My date drank orange juice because he's allergic to alcohol. He had the porterhouse, shared the sauteed wild mushrooms with me, and finished with the NY cheesecake. The appetizer, side, and desserts were quite good, but the steaks were the real stars. I've never had such good meat in my life.

First nipple ring comments and now this! I....I'VE LOST MY APPETITE!!!!

chocolate sashimi white flour

A few pieces of the Frog Commisionary carrot cake (3 layers sandwiched with pecan cream filling, covered in cream cheese frosting). I've had my vegetables for the day.

^You're welcome! I had 3 pieces last night, and another 2 pieces this morning. I think it's safe to say that I like the cake a lot. There's only one piece left!

I just made the Frog Commisionary carrot cake. It's very good, but I changed a few things. I cut the sugar by 3 tbsp. when I was making the pecan filling, but it still ended up being way too sweet for me. I had to add an additional 1/4 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of cream, and re-cook it. Also, I got lots of flour lumps when I followed the directions by adding the cream to the flour--wouldn't it have turned out better by cooking the butter, sugar and flour together, and then adding the cream (like a bechamel?) Anyway, I had to strain the filling to get rid of the flour lumps, and when I added the extra butter, I dissolved some cornstarch in the cream and added that to the filling. This is how I would do the filling next time: 1. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup butter to saucepan, heat until butter melts. 2. Dissolve 2 tbsp. of cornstarch into a few tablespoons of cream, stir, and then add more cream for a total of 1 1/2 cup. 3. Cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool. 4. Stir in 2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans. I also used less icing sugar than called for in the cream cheese frosting. I used a total of 2 1/2 cups, and also added about 2 tbsp. of orange juice. I also prefer a 2:1 ratio of cream cheese to butter, instead of 1:1 like the recipe calls for. I also baked the cakes in three 8" round pans. Thanks for this recipe--I will certainly use it again. I like this cake better than the Southern Living one.

I don't know for sure what I cooked first, but I'm guessing it's scrambled eggs. When I was perhaps 7 or 8, I decided to surprise my parents with breakfast in bed one day. I made toast, eggs, and "peach jam". I took a peach, mashed it up with a fork, and then I added a lot of sugar to the pulpy mass. My parents ate it, but I bet it wasn't good... The first things I baked were from the Five Roses cookbook. I was probably in grade 6 by then. Some of the first things I tried were the butter cake, sponge cake, marble cake, banana cake, and coffee chiffon cake. I still use the coffee chiffon recipe--it's my mom's favourite. First "gourmet" meal I cooked for an SO was a baked goat cheese ravioli with radicchio, with pasta made from scratch. It took a long time too, since I didn't have a pasta machine and had to roll the dough by hand. I was in high school.

I was just here a few days ago, eating chicken skewers, mackeral, and jap chee (chap chee?) at 2 a.m. Washed it all down with a few cups of these flavoured sake drinks (one was aloe, one was yogurt). Great late-night snack!

I'm pulling this from Revscene: "The original california roll was created in the 70's at a restuarant in the Little Tokyo area of LA, called Tokyo Kaikan." "It was originally made with imitation crab (kani kama), flying fish eggs (tobiko), wedges of avocado and wisps of shredded cucumbers. Mr. Mashita rolled these ingredients, inside a crispy sheet of rice lined toasted seaweed (nori) and cut it into six pieces, with the dark green seaweed on the outside, nakamaki style." "Viktor V", who posted this, left this site as a reference: http://www.thesushibar.com/sushi_chipcolumn.shtml

I've heard that the California roll was invented in California, but Tojo made the inside-out version. I've heard there are some in the city (e.g. other Japanese chefs) who are dubious of this claim.

Today's breakfast was rather sad...I had my usual 4 scrambled eggs, and then maybe a dozen graham crackers spread with a thick layer of peanut butter, and then topped them with melted dark chocolate. Mmm...instant breakfast-dessert. Then I ate the rest of the leftover chocolate while perusing the Gucci website. Yesterday was a happier affair--I baked these big slabs of shortbread and smeared them with melted dark chocolate and sprinkled chopped walnuts over the still-warm chocolate. Very delicious. What a great way to start the day--and it only took about 20 minutes from start to finish. (Also had one of those Bavarian smokies and some scrambled eggs so I don't die of malnutrition from my diet of white flour, sugar, and butter.)