Aislyn's Profile
YOU GOTTA EAT HERE on the Food Network
Ditto piano boy and daeira!! Totally annoying!! But then again, what do you expect from a person who plays "Bus Driver Bob" on a CBC kid's show called the Doodlebops. I rest my case.
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
The "Rappie Pie" that you are referring to is an Acadien dish made in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick primarily. It can be made with chicken, beef, clams, pork - any type of protein that you like. It is typically made in large proportions so most recipes call for 8 to 10 lbs of potato and a 5 to 6 lb chicken. The potato are peeled and grated and then the water and starch is squeezed out with cheese cloth and the amount of this liquid is measured. If using chicken, the chicken is boiled and the stock retained to replace the water/starch from the grated potatoes. The chicken is deboned/deskinned and cut in small pieces. The measured stock is added to the grated pototoes, salt and pepper added as required. The Rappie pie is assembled in a large baking pan with potato mixture as first layer, dollops of butter, then protein, then potato, butter, etc. until you end up with the top as potato. Many lay strips of bacon on top or more butter before putting it into the oven to bake. It is baked to a cripsy, yummy brown and voila!!! Tasty, tasty, tasty. It is so popular in the Maritimes that most grocery stores sell the pre-grated potato in frozen squares for those who don't have the time or energy to grate them. A lot of people will re-heat the leftovers by frying it in butter the next day. Anyway you eat it, it sure is delicious.
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
My husband's late mother (German) used to put both sugar and vinegar on leaves of lettuce and then put it in the freezer until it formed ice! I thought this was the strangest thing I had ever heard until he made it for me one hot summer day - surprisingly tasty and refreshing! Who knew?
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
I remember this but we called it Chinese Laundry - all the same ingredients except we added canned mushrooms. It was very popular "back in the day" in Eastern Canada.
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
My mom also made ham salad with bologna - ground up and mixed with sweet pickle relish and Miracle Whip on white bread. Haven't tried it since I was a kid but might give it a try one day just for the heck of it.:)
Hey, It's Not So Bad
Baked beans, pumpkin pie and beets. Still unable to "like" them although I do try every so often.
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
I have seen it at some bulk food stores (Bulk Barn) here in Canada but I've never used it so I don't kow if it cooks up the same way as the Kraft Dinner one. It is the same size though.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I just love this thread. It's warm, it's funny and sad, but most of all, it shows us that we all may be from different parts of the globe and with different backgrounds but when it comes to this subject, we all share a common bond. I'm enjoying reading each and every post, I am learning a lot (new dishes that I can't wait to try) and most of all, it makes me appreciate everything I have today and how I wouldn't change my childhood for anything. Thank you so much QueenDairy for starting this discussion. I hope it continues to grow. :)
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Aww, that really makes you stop and think. Everything is relative I guess. Brought a little tear to my eye.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
They are larger than a chicken's egg and have a very bright orange yolk. Remembering back, I know that they made a very rich custard and that pound cakes and the like came out much nicer than with chicken eggs. If my memory serves me, you really couldn't tell the difference in terms of taste - they were just much richer. Fried, I am told, the yolk is a bit on the "rubbery" side as opposed to a chicken egg.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I remember an olive loaf too. Didn't it have green olives and red pimento in it? There was also a macaroni & cheese loaf and a mock chicken. If I remember correctly, they were all slightly less expensive than bologna. I remember a funny story that my late mother told me. When she was a young bride, she decided to cook up something different for my father so she tried to fry a few slices of macaroni & cheese loaf. Much to her embarrassment, the meat suddenly had perfect little round holes in it - the cheese had melted obviously. My father used to tease her for years about that. Her cooking skills became much better after that. lol
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I hope so :)
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Thank you for the link. Clara is indeed charming and after watching this one, I want to watch them all.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I agree too. Back in the day, families were larger, people were on much tighter budgets and our parents had to find more cost effective ways to stretch meals, etc. It just so happened that the foods we have been discussing (bologna, beans, etc.) were cheaper to buy and could be stretched much further. Today, at least here in most of the provinces, bologna cost more to buy than Black Forest Ham or Smoked Turkey!
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I remember when I was growing up people would buy large chunks of bologna (with a cloth-like waxed rind) and bake it off like a roast for their family. That with a few potatoes on the side was Sunday dinner. Like you Cathy, we used to fry it up with eggs for breakfast or for sandwiches. Bacon was that twice a year if you were lucky treat at Easter and Christmas breakfasts. I still love bologna today - in a sandwich or fried with eggs.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Yes, John E., wild duck, pheasant and venison were always plentiful growing up for the very same reason you mentioned. Imagine all of the work your grandfather put into processing the wild rice!
Another common practice was to gather seagull's eggs in the early spring and use them in baking or in a custard. Actually, some of the "old folk" would actually fry them up for breakfast!
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
How true QueenDairy! And to think as kids we used to sneak a couple of live lobsters out of the bag in the back porch and try to "race" them down a hallway until my dad would catch us. I guess it wasn't cool to play with your supper - not to mention risk losing a finger since they didn't even have bands on the claws!! lol
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
In the late 50's and early 60's, I grew up in a small fishing village in Nova Scotia where the majority of men fished for a living and most women were housewives. The "poor man's food" for our village, believe it or not, was lobster. Back in those days, the demand for lobster was minimal so the price was much lower than haddock, pollock, cod, etc. As a result, most fishermen brought home the lobster to feed the family. This may sound bizarre but as kids, we would get so tired of lobster that when we had to take lobster sandwiches to school for lunch, we would always try to trade them off to the kids (whose fathers weren't fishermen) who had cheese whiz or deviled ham sandwiches! While to many people, lobster is a delicacy or a treat today, I could care less if I ever saw another one as long as I live! :)
Do you use a rack?
I build a "rack" for our turkey using stalks of celery and whole carrots (peeled and cut half lenghwise) as well as an onion or two cut in quarters. It manages to keep the turkey away from the direct fat but also adds amazing flavour to the drippings once it is strained at the end. Always works great.
Caplansky's- the emperor has NO clothes
The episode of Dragon's Den that the previous poster mentioned aired last week. Zane did not receive any offers - the Dragons felt that his evaluation was way off the charts. They suggested that he focus on possibly franchising his actual restaurant and forget about the food trucks. I will admit that the business model and evaluation that he presented was somewhat unrealistic. They had no issue with the quality of his product just didn't feel that the food trucks would be successful.
Best beef stroganoff in Toronto?
The Blackhorn Dining Room at Ellesmere and Warden in Scarborough offer a very tasty and traditional beef strogonoff - served over noodles or rice. Although I make and prefer my own, the Blackhorn's offering is very good.
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Blackhorn Dining Room
251 Ellesmere Rd, Scarborough, ON M1R4E4, CA
Ground Beef recipes anyone?
Pate chinois translated to English is Shepherds Pie however it's ingredients have a different twist to that of a typical Shepherds Pie. Typically made with ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, creamed corn and niblet corn - mashed potato crust on bottom and top and baked to brown off. Tortierre is the French Canadien dish with nutmeg, cloves, etc. That is normally made with a mix of ground pork and beef, sometimes small amount of mashed potato to bind and a regular pie crust top and bottom.
Open Window Bakery closing?
Well, I couldn't wait till the weekend to go over so I just called the owner. He said that yes, the OWB company is gone but the same products (he hinted same recipes and possibly bakers) are being produced in another bakery to supply the stores and have been for a few months. I can honestly say as a very fussy rye bread consumer that the taste of the breads (as well as danishs, etc.) have not changed a bit - thank goodness!!! I did forget to ask him if he will be changing the name of his store but I'm sure he is and is just waiting on the new sign. I also forgot to ask him why I still saw the OWB truck deliver as early as last week but I was so happy to hear that he was not going out of business that it slipped my mind. Perhaps the bakery that took over bought out equipment and trucks, etc. and just not the actual plant and have yet to update the name. If I hadn't seen it here, I would never have known!!! I'm so relieved that nothing has changed there!
Open Window Bakery closing?
I'll be in there over the weekend so I will definately ask the owner of the store. Reading this link just today is the first that I had heard of all this. Because my husband and I have been customers for many years and the owner knows us, I'm shocked to think he didn't say anything. It has been simply business as usual with all of the same OWB product, the twice daily delivery and the same name. I'll post back as soon as I can talk with him. That is the only rye that I will eat in the entire GTA (light, dark and carraway) and if I lose that, I will be devastated!!!!!
Open Window Bakery closing?
The OWB store at Parkway Mall (Vic Park and Ellesmere) in Scarborough is still open and still selling OWB product. I buy my rye bread, etc. there every week.
So, where is it coming from if they have closed down? I see OWB trucks still delivering there as well.
MIX Fresh Kitchen
Chef Ray Bear just held the grand opening for his new restaurant MIX Fresh Kitchen on Saturday. Did anyone go? The menu looked awesome!!!
Need Suggestions for NS Dining.
Speaking of Lavena's Catch, did you happen to catch Chef Lynn Crawford's new show on Food Network (Pitchin In)? In the first episode, she was lobster fishing with the guys in Freeport and cooking with Lavena in her resturant. She also cooked some lobster dishes for the whole gang in Westport at the Brier Island Lodge. It was a pleasant shock for me because I had either grown up with or had gone to school with all the people that she had on the show!
When Lynn tasted Lavena's lobster chowder she was almost speechless it was so good, I have to admit, it did look amazing.
So nice to see the local restaurants and the people who work so hard to supply them (fishermen) given some recognition. I can't wait to get home next summer to tease them about their television debut (and to have a big bowl of that chowder)!!!!
