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I was recently asked by a friend to give a talk to a group of around 30 first-year students in a local college - all girls. The students were allowed to present me with a range of topics to choose from. To my joy, No. 1 was food! They wanted to know what is different between western and Chinese food. Big topic! Anyway I did my best to explain, illustrate etc. I even gave each student a home made Scotch egg! Which amused them immensely. Later, my friend asked each of them to write out (in English) a recipe for their favourite Chinese dish. She has passed these on to me with permission to use them as I wish. I will post a few of the better / more interesting ones over the next few days. I have not edited their language, so please be tolerant and remember that for many of these students, English is their third or fourth language. Chinese isn't even their first! I have obscured some personal details. First up: Tomato, egg noodles. Time: 10 minutes Yield: 1 serving For the noodle: 1 tomato 2 egg 5 spring onions For the sauce: 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt Method: 1. The pot boil water. At that same time you can do something else. 2. Diced tomato. Egg into the bowl. add salt and sugar mixed. Onion cut section. 3. Boiled noodles with water and cook for about 5 minutes. 4. Heat wok put oil, add eggs, stir fry until cooked. Another pot, garlic stir fry the tomato. 5. add some water to boil, add salt, soy sauce, add egg 6. The tomato and egg sauce over noodle, spring onion sprinkled even better. More soon.

Hake fillet marinated in ginger rice wine, then steamed with flowering garlic chives Marinated hake and flowering garlic chives in the wok ready to be steamed. Served with a topping of black crab roe. Accompanied by mint couscous with olive oil. And simple braised lettuce. Host's note: this topic is split into multiple segments to reduce the load on our servers; the previous segment is here: Dinner 2016 (Part 5)

I do it as a "covered-partial-steamed-stir-fry" thing. REALLY hot pan/wok (NOT non-stick) w/ really hot oil (at smoking point) (I never use olive oil for this - I use something less "greasy", rice bran/peanut/corn/etc) some salt sprinkled in, then dampened (washed) snow peas or sugar snap peas or even just green beans bunged in and the wok/pan covered IMMEDIATELY. (I usually put the damp peas/beans in the bowl of the lid, invert into the pan/wok, and immediately slam on the lid) Wait 10-20 secs or so (explosions and vigorous popping will be heard; if you have never done this before you will be greatly alarmed), holding down the lid if needed, then shake and semi-toss the pan/wok w/ contents with the lid on and holding it down with one hand while shaking the pan with the other. Wait 20-30 secs more, open the lid, stir around w/ a spatula, splash in a little water if needed. cover briefly again if warranted. Serve. The stuff is usually nicely semi-charred like in HC's pic and with some wok-hei imbued as well. Crunch, crunch.

That doesn't sound like any Chinese dish or cooking method I've encountered. Chinese sauces are built in the wok during the cooking process for the whole dish. They aren't something added later like some "cook-in" sauce. The so-called bottled stir-fry sauces are all but unknown in China. What we can get, although I'd be surprised if many people avail themselves, are these bags of ingredients to create the sauce in the wok while cooking. This one is for 麻辣鱼 (má là yú) or Numb and Spicy Fish. The bag contains everything needed for a spicy fish hotpot except the fish and water. Ingredients are: peanut oil, chili, sugar, salt, garlic, ginger, MSG, fermented black beans, broad beans, Sichuan peppercorns, unspecified herbs and spices and that old family favourite, potassium sorbate. The product is presumably aimed at non cooks. Most people would have half, if not more of these ingredients in the pantry anyway. You could certainly buy them all separately for a lot less than this bag. P.S. "Spicy mala sauce" is tautologous. The "la", as I've pointed out already, means "spicy".

Magrets smoked in an old wok with orange pekoe tea, rice, sugar etc for 5 or 6 minutes. Then seared as normal. Spätzle, Sauerkraut and my own chili oil made with smoked whole pepper "cacho de cabra" (Capsicum Annuum var. Lungum), known as Merkén in Chilean Patagonia. These are Merkén peppers

Haha kayb - that certainly is quite the expression on your daughter's face! Hope she learned something about cooking while visiting you. Hope you are mending well (and not in too much agony) and will be back on your feet sooner than later. I realized the other day that I now have so many small appliances that other than requiring the sink I think I could still cook a lot if I had to sit in a chair and use a table rather than the counter height large appliances. The IP, the wok, the induction burners (2), the 'griddle' thing, Vitamix, Thermomix, mixer, sous vide circulator, toaster, etc. all can be put on the lower table and plugged in. In fact, I actually haven't used my cooktop in months and am currently wondering if I really need one any more. The dishwasher is accessible, the oven is accessible, the microwave though higher up is moveable (not built in so far), and the bottom shelves and freezer portion of the fridge are accessible - but that darned sink is still a problem. I am always planning for 'what if something happens' and the 'getting older alone' kind of scenarios ... but I haven't figured everything out yet obviously.

From yesterday: steamed crabs and octopus salad. Took us a very long time to finish dinner, and even then we couldn't eat all the salad. I also made some flat bread for the meal. Made a green sauce for both things (flat leaf parsley, minced capers, minced garlic, olive oil). I like this photo. Crabs look like sumo wrestlers, one of which is defeated. Today: leftover a bit of everything chucked in the wok. I used a Malaysian crispy shrimp paste/condiment and fish sauce to flavour the stir-fry.

This wasn't all of dinner, but was the best part. A starter of spicy clams. I fry up some garlic, ginger and chili until just fragrant then drop in the clams with a splash of water. As they open, I scoop them out and reserve. When all are open (or it becomes obvious that the last one isn't going to open) I throw them back into the wok with about a tablespoon each of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir to coat and add some Chinese chives. Eat with fingers and home-made bread to mop up the sauce.

Liuzhou, I owe you a thank you. So glad I saw your fried rice this morning. Looks so good. And it pushed me to make chicken fried rice to take for lunch. I had leftover rice from last night's dinner and three boneless chicken breasts in the fridge. Two of which were destined for tonight's dinner. So I used one of the breasts, thinly sliced, marinated in Shaoxing wine, sesame oil and cornstarch for about 25 minutes. Sautéed the chicken in the wok. Finished with Onions, garlic, ginger, green onions, peas and egg. Had to resist eating it for breakfast.

Here is tonight's starter. Fresh (live*) shrimp stir fried with sea salt, Sichuan pepper, lime zest and chili flakes. Served with more lime. The main course was pork with fermented black beans which I have posted here at least once before, so won't bore you with again. Not that it wasn't good! *I had an amusing few minutes scrabbling around the kitchen trying to retrieve the more energetic shrimp which sensibly jumped out the wok the second they felt the heat!

Laksa last night - a use up meal with frozen prawns, frozen mussels, some laksa paste from Sainsbury's that has way too little heat for my liking, Thai basil in a jar, straight to wok Pad Thai noodles, chestnut mushrooms, beansprouts, coconut cream thinned down, salad greens and a large amount of fresh coriander. Plus a very large dollop of harissa and a large amount of tabasco to add sufficient heat. Gotta love the saute function

Last night's dinner was a near disaster. I got back late and was tired. I marinated some pork in Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, garlic and chilli then got the rice going in the rice cooker. Or at least I thought I did. About half way through the process, the cooker decided it had had enough and died on me. I hurriedly switched the contents into a pan and finished it off on the stove top (something I haven't done in decades of rice cooker use). I stir fried some cauliflower in one wok while doing the meat in another. As I was serving the cauli, I somehow dropped the emptied pan splashing my foot with hot oil. I was wearing sports shoes which are porous. Ouch! Then the photograph turned out very iffy. The light in my kitchen isn't camera friendly. Still, it tasted just fine.

Tonight was Chinese Broccoli and Tofu with Peanut Sauce. My result actually looked better than the picture. I followed their directions, mostly. I did not use the supplied brown rice. For one thing I do not like brown rice, for another I know I can't reproducibly cook it properly in a pot. I went with haiga rice cooked in the Zojirushi. That way I knew no matter how badly I messed up the recipe at least I'd have a decent go of rice for dinner. Nor did I use the supplied soy sauce. It came in a little plastic packet. Half is used at one point in the recipe and half at another. This just seemed like a recipe for spilling soy sauce all over me. I must lead a sheltered life. I've never cooked tofu before. Indeed, I can't recall ever seeing it for sale. Same for the Chinese broccoli. But they came together quite well and I enjoyed the end result. Even if the dish was over oily and a bit too salty. I did not measure the oil so I do not blame thepurplecarrot for this at all. The effort was overly complicated because I don't have a wok, nor skillet large enough. I infer this dish is Indonesian but I would have loved more information about its provenance. And I easily finished the entire go of rice.

It was my intention to buy a steak (for Deb) and a few lamb chops (for me, as Deb does not like lamb), but instead I spotted this pork tenderloin on sale: I decided to do a pork tenderloin, Mojo, citrus garlic skewer with veggies on jasmine rice with TJ's red curry. Here are the skewers after being cut into large sea scallop sized pieces and marinated in mojo for 2 hours: I cooked the skewers on the grill while I cooked the peppers and onions in a wok and jasmine rice in the instant pot. When the rice and skewers were ready, the pork from the skewers were added to the veggies along with the red curry sauce in the wok, then served up. I would have liked a little more heat, but will tweak that next time. HC

Shredded pork stir fry with sweet bean sauce, rice and cucumber marinated in seasoned rice vinegar. The pork recipe came from The Woks of Life website and oh my, was it ever good.

I like fresh fish too, and am so thankful that I have a few local sources. One of the boniest fish that I enjoy is croaker. Both the Atlantic and the fresh water variety are tasty, but I think I prefer the freshwater kind. It takes patience and care to safely partake, but in my opinion, it's very worth it. I can also get my fishmongers to fillet larger fish for me or buy frozen fillets at any grocery store. As with any bony fish, even fillets may have a stray bone or two. When I cook a fillet, while I wash it, I use my fingertips to feel for any bones. These can be pulled out of the flesh with a clean pair of needlenose pliers. The Chinese/Pan-Asian restaurants in these parts serve many dishes with boneless fish, but maybe they are adapted to Western tastes. They also serve many dishes with whole gutted fish that come complete with head (eyes!), tails and fins. All are delicious to me. Here's a link to a photo of Sweet and Sour Grouper that was posted on Yelp about a dish from Banana Leaf. Here's another link to a photo of Super Wok's take on Fish Cut Like Squirrel Tail. I can't say that one looks like a Bloomin' Onion. Both restaurants are right in my neighborhood, and both linked dishes are served boneless. I did run across a stray bone or five in the Sweet and Sour Grouper once. It happens. It will never stop me from enjoying fish, though.

I made this last night: One pound of fresh thin asparagus. Broke off the bottom inch or so. Cut into thirds. 2 Cups of any kind of mushroom you like. I used fresh shiitakes with the stems removed and rough chopped. Preheat wok to medium. Add 2T butter. Add 4 crushed/chopped garlic cloves, 1/2 bulb fennel very thin sliced using all the fronds too. 2T fine chopped chives including the buds/flowers (the best part), Turn down heat to very low to soften the fennel. Lid on. Add in the fresh asparagus and mushrooms and 1/2 C hot water. Turn up heat to medium and cover with lid. Steam-saute until the asparagus is just barely cooked. This will take a few minutes. Add in 2 C hot half and half milk. Don't boil the milk! Serve with whatever else you want for the protein. I removed the asparagus and mushrooms with a slotted spoon and put it in the oven to keep hot. Into the milk I added two fillets of fresh cod cut into 3" pieces and two hundred grams of rough chopped fresh caught small squid bodies. No tentacles. I very slowly cooked the fish until barely cooked through. Plated the asparagus with the fish. Absolutely marvelous! Making it again tonight! Adding creamy mashed potatoes.

This is my interpretation of a Irish national treasure. The fried lettuce replaces the cabbage. I hope you will try it. My Interpretation Of Irish Colcannon With Fresh Cod and Fried Lettuce. Oven baked russet potatoes. Scoop out insides. Set aside. Cut up the skins which were well washed before baking. Put them in milk and keep the milk just hot not boiling. When you make the mashed potatoes add the potatoes skin infused milk and the butter in the ratio you like your mashed potatoes. S&P seasoning.There’s a lot of flavour in the skins. Don’t add the skins to the mashed! LOL Put the mashed potatoes, covered in a warm oven until serving. Depending on the number of servings rough chop 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce (has to be iceberg variety). 1/2 head serves two adults. A couple of Ts of butter into wok or heavy pan. Medium heat. Add rough chopped lettuce. Stir fry gently until the lettuce is just getting fried. Season. Don’t over fry it. Put it uncovered into a warm oven to keep warm until serving. You want to make this as soon before serving as practical. Now the fish. Buy enough fresh cod or thick white fleshed fish to serve generous portions. Try to buy fish with no bones or remove the bones at home. Cut the fish into about 3’x3’ pieces. The balance/ratio of the following ingredients is important. The following ingredients is for two adult servings: The fish goes in last. Into a large enough pan to hold all the fish pieces without putting the fish pieces one on top of another. Add 2T butter, 2 fine chopped garlic cloves, 1 medium size shallot, 1/2 fine sliced bulb fennel, fine chop some of the fronds. Slowly cook these ingredients until the fennel is translucent. Then add 2 cups of half and half milk. Gently add the fish pieces. (Before you add the fish you want your guests to be at the table. If you are serving ‘starters’ they should have been already eaten. Time your plating so the mashed potatoes and lettuce are ready to plate just as the fish is finished poaching.) Turn up the heat to medium/low. You want the fish to poach in the milk but not boil. The fish will literally only take a couple of minutes. Test the fish with a fork. You want the fish to just get to the point of flaking easily. Thirty seconds of over poaching will ruin the dish. You have had the dinner plates in the warm oven so the food on them stays warm while eating. To plate put a generous portion of mashed potatoes and fried lettuce on the plate separately. Gently place a few pieces of the poached fish on the plate. Then ladle on the hot milk onto just the fish. This next part really adds to the finished flavour: Place a few very thin slices of whole (washed) lemon on the plate. Remove any pits. Your guests can use their forks to squeeze out as much lemon juice as they want to mix with the other ingredients. Delicious!

The "Cantonese crispy skin chicken" posted above is a common Cantonese dish in E and SE Asia, so it isn't a particularly "special" dish. Many a place are there which are well-regarded for this dish, in HK, Kwangtung, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. The traditional style involves "roasting" (so to speak) the chicken by holding it above a large wok filled with very hot oil and ladling the oil repeatedly over the chicken held suspended above the wok. Labor intensive. Some places do it with other means, including hot "ovens" (NOT Western-style ovens). The "garlic grilled oysters" are indeed a wonderful dish in the cuisine and are also available in suitable places in Cantonese-influenced restaurants in the West besides in E/SE Asia. You might need to ask for them, though, and pay accordingly. I had lots of them for my "Opening The Year" meal for CNY even here in Indy, which I reported about. They were big ones too. Something I regret not having more often, myself. :-(

Last night I made a chinese dish using rough chopped iceberg lettuce. In a medium hot wok add 2T refined coconut oil or other cooking oil 4T fine chopped garlic cloves. When the garlic is just lightly browned add 1/2 head of rough chopped iceberg lettuce and stir fry for a couple of minutes. The lettuce will barely wilt. Add in a sauce made with 1T light soy sauce/1T sugar/1/2 t salt/1T sesame oil/1T Shaoxing wine (I found a bottle in Chinatown Victoria yesterday). The dish was DELICIOUS!!!!! The lettuce was still nice and crunchy.

Gee it's hard to follow @huiray, with my so so simple version, but here goes anyway. I marinated some sliced chicken thigh in cornflour, rice wine, soy sauce and pepper. Stir fried it with garlic and ginger, splashed in a tiny bit of oyster sauce then set aside. Same wok, slivered onion, sliced wombok, soaked and sliced shiitakes and fresh bamboo shoots. I covered Maggi two minute noodles in boiling water, then chucked them in the MW for two minutes (ha ha great name). I poured on some heated homemade chicken and duck stock which came from the depths of the freezer. I can't remember what went in, probably star anise, onions, ginger.... Garnished with sliced spring onions, fried shallots and coriander (because I love it and have it growing well at the moment, which is rare). Clearly I need to work on my presentation. He who needs to be fed raved about it, so that's good

Dinner tonight was a bit of a hotchpotch. I started off with some salmon and tuna sashimi which I was to greedy to photograph.. Then some baby cuttlefish in a sweetish chilli sauce and finally the simplest dish I know how to cook other than a boiled egg, but a favourite with my friends. I finely chopped a couple of shallots and a Thai bird's eye chilli. Fry that briefly in the wok (sometimes I add some ginger, too but not today.) Throw in the clams with a splash of wine or water and stir until they open. As they open I lift them out and set aside until all are done, then add some oyster sauce to the wok, throw back the clams and stir till they are coated and warmed through. Baby Cuttlefish White shell clams (before cooking) Clams in Oyster Sauce

Does anyone who still posts on eGullet, other than me, live in Nova Scotia right now? I have been a bit depressed lately about where I chose to buy a house, despite the fact that this area is beautiful, I am very close to the ocean from whence all manner of wonderful seafood is supposed to come, and I have a large house with good bones (and got it for a steal compared to what I might have paid for it located anywhere else in Canada), with a large kitchen - in which I store way too much food considering my household consists of only me and my dog now but I rarely cook any more (on the stove - the IP and my electric wok have seen a lot of use recently however). I eat what I like somehow despite all but it is a lonely feeling to think I may be the only one here with whom I can discuss culinary topics of regional interest with any success! The truth of the matter is that, while I think Peter the Eater (whose posts I have been re-reading lately and drooling over) and my childhood travels in this area, convinced me that Nova Scotia was full of interesting and delicious food havens, the place I chose to move to in Nova Scotia is definitely not even close to where those may be. I should have known that a place sometimes referred to as 'the end of the world' may indeed actually deserve that description, at least when it comes to food choices. Canso (which includes the small enclave of houses where I live, called Hazel Hill, just a mile down the road from Canso) was once a bustling fishing port but has seen very sad times of late. This is now a town of very old (and constantly dying) people, all of whom have (or had, in the case of those who have passed on now) magical stories of the 'olden days' but who have lost heart. One can find music occasionally but little laughter here any more. There are still fishermen here but most go away to fish or only fish to feed their own families it seems. There is still some 'fish packing' done locally too but I gather only for seafood to be shipped elsewhere - and there isn't much of it from what I can tell. When I bought my house here a few years ago, I had visions of throwing large dinner parties, replete with fresh looking/tasting colourful foods followed by fun, laughter filled, musical evenings with people dancing and singing and playing their instruments - 'kitchen party' or ceilidh-style in my dreams. I can see now though that that dream will never come to fruition unfortunately. I have lived in quite a few small towns in my life - the first being in the Yukon, far from the madding crowd and definitely far from a known purveyor of 'fresh' foods, and Frobisher Bay/Iqaluit where one fresh orange was hard to find and 10 times the price of that which was bountiful down south. I know what the food drawbacks may be in such places, but this one takes the cake. Somehow we managed up north to prepare foods that, even if a bit different from what the 'locals' ate regularly, was accepted and eagerly tried and enjoyed. I was always able to find others wherever I lived who appreciated colourful, fresh foods presented in an appetizing manner - except here it seems. They may be here (or nearby) here too but so far I have yet to unearth them - and I find the local cuisine is definitely not to my tastes - current or prospective. The local co-op grocery store where, especially in winter, I am often forced to shop has recently changed 'distributors' and the shelves have been 're-lined', supposedly to make things easier to find but, from my perspective, they just showcased what the locals are eating even more sharply than ever before - and it is not good. Just about everything, on every aisle, is ultra-processed (and mostly 'junk') food, full of chemical components that one cannot even pronounce. The 'fish/seafood' products, even those labelled as fresh, are mostly, according to the 'meat guy', shipped in from everywhere else and defrosted/relabelled. The laws now say that is ok I gather. There IS local fishing but the laws there, for some reason I cannot yet fathom, also mean that it cannot be sold in the local store or from the local docks (legally). Rarely do I see any product still made or produced in Nova Scotia or even Canada in this local shop. There is hamburger - but it comes in a tube and is repackaged in house. I am getting very picky in my old age I guess but I won't touch it because I have no idea where it comes from or what may be 'in' it. Much of the 'meat' actually seems to come in plastic tubs labelled 'riblets' - they sit on shelves and the floor away from the refrigerated section. Apparently those are a big seller. For me, that is so unappetizing that I cannot bring myself to buy them to try. And it seems no one here uses fresh herbs at all. Even the local pizza parlor uses only canned and jarred toppings, nothing fresh. And this is definitely a white Wonder bread, bologna and margarine town. At any rate, I buy chickens for my dog at the local grocery but very little else lately since it so depresses me. 10 minutes walking around and reading labels there takes my appetite completely away - but I am sure that is helping me lose a bit of weight and saves me money (except on the $15 chickens) though so there is always a silver lining I guess. I have tried, very carefully, to talk to locals about what foods they like to eat - but, frankly, what they like to eat these days, is what that store carries. I can survive fine but it makes me sad that I cannot see a way to invite any of them for those dinners I pictured because, though I know they would be polite, I am now fairly certain that the food I like to make is so far removed from what their traditional local tastes are they would either not eat much or they would not like it. I just cannot cook according to their tastes - I would get it wrong given my now longstanding love of 'fresh' foods with colour and a lot of 'taste' but not drowned in gravy any more or coated with fat and accompanied by one carb after another. I don't want to do that to them. They like their fish and seafood mostly deep-fried - a technique I never really liked but definitely cannot handle these days. I like my seafood much more 'nekkid' so to speak. They like their food overcooked and much of it sweet - sweet meat, sweet salads, sweet coated vegetables and heavy sweet desserts - as I discovered when I was once invited next door for dinner - where frankly I did what I would expect those same neighbours to do if they came here - I ate a bit and was polite but went home hungry. Unless I prepared something very safe in summer like perhaps a well done plain steak on the grill and offered sweet steak sauce to go with - I might chance that sometime - I just don't think I can accommodate them - and as a hostess that would be, as it always has been, my primary aim. So, as a good neighbour, I give them groceries once in a while (a few steaks I have found far afield, some freeze-dried treats - which they accept politely but honestly look horrified at) and I have received the odd bit of lobster or shrimp back on occasion which I accept with delight - but they do not divulge their secrets as to where they get them. I am certain that other areas of the province are culinary heavens - there is amazing food to be found in places like Halifax I know, and in the valley (Annapolis) but here ... not much that I can see unfortunately. I am ok personally when it comes to the food I like to eat. I am getting a bit bored but what I like is often quick to prepare which is good. I eat a lot of Asian primarily - heavy on the veg and light on the meat, with a zing to it all - (thank you, sriracha! - which I cannot buy here either) though some of the ingredients can be difficult to obtain within a day's drive of here. In essence though I have found that this place is just not the fresh food and seafood haven I had hoped it might be and I fear it will be years before I can move again, if ever - so I better get used to it! I can 'garden' and someday I will set up my indoor garden fully and I have my freeze-dryer (something that no one here has a clue about) but what I am missing most I think is the companionship of 'foodies' (hate that term but you know what I mean) in some proximity, especially those who may have or who still live in the north/northeastern area of the mainland, who have 'tips' for me on where to go to find the true jewels when it comes to foodstuffs - including the secret hideaways for buying really fresh local seafood, the 'grass fed' animals and free range eggs and 'organic' veggie farms. Summer is better when I can roam a bit but even that is iffy since I don't quite know where to roam (and roaming these days with an aging large dog isn't the easiest either). There are farmer's markets in summer (though again one needs to drive at least 70 miles each way and get there early morning - not something I am good at doing) but if there are other secret places to get things like that closer by, I don't know about them. I am not related to anyone here - and the network of 'related' folks is very tight - they keep their secrets well apparently or they just don't have any of that sort more probably. Funeral fare (I haven't yet seen a wedding - there are few young people left here any more I gather) is like what I remember from childhood - white bread egg/cheese/lunchmeat sandwiches and 'butter tart' rich, sweet squares. This is the standard served at all social and business meeting functions from what I can gather. I generally offer my condolences and depart fairly quickly when that part of the ritual is ushered out of the kitchen. I feel badly at those times (even though I know I won't be much missed) but I think it better to leave than to sit with an instant coffee and an empty plastic plate in front of me when these very friendly and genuinely nice people feel it is their responsibility to make me eat something - and I know I just can't bring myself to do so. My bad. I now have a personally trained palate and aesthetic sense that no longer seems to fit in a small town of this type (non-transient). It is not their fault. If I had a million dollars, I would start a restaurant here and take the massive losses that I would be certain to incur as I tried to 'educate' the locals (at a price they can afford to pay - this is a poor area now) about anything other than what I call 'junk food'. But, I don't and I am realizing I am too old to take on that crusade, even if Jamie Oliver were to visit my establishment on a weekly basis to help promote it all. I asked about what kind of a restaurant might work here and was bluntly told that unless one sold hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and (crappy) ice cream (and little else) to forget even trying. Not even good pizza with fresh and different toppings (i.e beyond pepperoni and cheese) would fly here. I thought about offering to give cooking demos at the grocery store but a) there is no room in those crowded junk food aisles to set up a station and b) after numerous conversations with the locals I have determined they are just not open to real 'change' in their diets no matter what I might convince them to taste under those circumstances and c) it would probably devolve into me inserting frozen breaded highly processed chicken bits into a Cuisinart oven and trying to make some kind of sauce that replicates the taste of the sweet commercially produced stuff they like to dip that sort of thing into around these parts. It just makes me sad that the locals see no other option but to eat a massive amount of junk food. I am no 'angel' but I don't eat processed foods if I can help it and I am still chunky, but, it is sad to see so many Canadians, especially around these parts, who must be now composed primarily of chips and candy, boxed and frozen pizza, and fake 'side dishes' out of a package - since there is little else they can buy in the store. In larger, less remote places, they at least have options so it is more their fault than those of the stores - here, I can only blame the 'distributors', an evolving tradition based on foods probably best eaten if one is working outdoors under harsh circumstances year round, and governments who have stopped even locals from buying their own fishing 'products' in favour of importing shrimp and other seafood from polluted warm waters in far east countries, or, even though more local, 'farmed' fish raised under circumspect conditions off our own coast. I should mention that, if I can describe or preferably show a package of a product I would like to see stocked, the store will try (not always successfully) to bring it in but then I am the only one who buys it and the rest may go bad if I don't buy it all which makes me feed badly so I don't do that much any more. I have also toyed with the idea that someone (me, if I had that million bucks) should just start a store that would stock all the things I think people (especially me) should be eating/using/etc. but which are unavailable here currently - but again that would be a real losing proposition here. Ok .. I am going back to being upbeat and doing most of my posting about the marvels the rest of you get to experience from the fresh foods around you in warmer or more western climes. And then in a few weeks I will drive back down south and enjoy what I can along the way and during my stay there so that I don't feel so sorry that I cannot find the same in this area - because the locals are not interested in that sort of fare and what they demand IS eventually what the store will/would stock - which I believe would be better for everyone. Ah well - can't fight city hall it is said. Having dumped all that (with which I have no doubt unfortunately discouraged anyone new from ever moving to or visiting this area of a very beautiful province - sorry about that), I will reiterate my first question ... does anyone on eGullet still reside in (any part of) Nova Scotia, other than me? I know Darienne has some family in Halifax but I don't think they post here, do they? Anyone else?

Lion and Globe is also my preferred peanut oil for stir fry. It has a very pure peanut taste, so I don't consider it a neutral oil either. Given that I use my wok at least twice a week, buying a large bottle in Chinatown is the most efficient way to go. I do use Rice Bran oil, but mostly for certain Asian style salad dressings and slaws.

I am finding the 'keep warm' function (and the sauté function too) VERY handy. In fact, the other day, my fridge was full and 'my cold room' (which is one of the garage or the unheated room right beside it - winter only) was too warm to store the pot - and I was feeling very lazy anyway so I think I hit the 'keep warm' button several times and kept some chicken stock I had made earlier on 'warm' all night and most of the next day before I dealt with it. So, after about 20 hours on that setting, it gelled beautifully (since the stock still contained chicken bones at the point I left off). The bones were so nicely soft that I could mash them with a fork to be part of the dog's dinner. He needs the calcium but being a finicky eater he decided he was on a diet that did not include bones that day so they eventually went the way of all good compost. However, I shall use that method again in future. I also often just use the sauté function (with no pressure cooking at all) to make Asian concoctions rather than haul out the wok or use the stove.