MiriamOttawa's Profile
White Chocolate? C'mon, what's up with that?
I like white chocolate with hazelnuts like the Ritter sport bars- the nuts cut the sweetness.
Cote d'or white chocolate praline filled is quite good too-but very rich.
I have seen some white bars that have 39% cocoa and those were very good European bars.
I just tried a white chocolate green tea bar from Japan and that was very bad "white" chocolate.
Best candy for office
Dolfin chocolate squares, Cote D'or chocolate squares, Valrhona chocolate squares.
any of those small chocolate bars you get at haloween.
French hard candies-bonbons barnier- the apple caramels or the fruit filled candy. I like the liquor filled hard candy- good for sore throats!
Mad hunt for vintage candy
In Canada you can find Zero bar at convenience stores and Dollarmama for .65 cents ea.
Also for many European candy chocodirect.com has a lot of them and the large bags of Haribo (overpriced though) and those "jordan almonds".
Chocodirect.com only ships in Canada though-but shipping is $5 for any order.
-their website is annoying to use and it is easy to spend too much as all the candy is so good!
Nuts Online- they sell tons of the old fashion candy and ship to Canada too.
The candy I can not find in Canada anymore is Special Crisp- now called watchamacalliitsomethingor other bar......
Now there is just the version in the US with Caramel and that ruined it.
Growing up I used to visit the hershey factory in Smith Falls and buy the "damaged" bars very cheap. Also Cherry Blossom candy- you can still get those though.
licorice pipes- Bulk Barn canada sells them and so do many "health food stores",
Cupcakes in Ottawa?
I really liked the vegan cupcakes from Aunty Loo's on Bronson.
They are not vry big and were quite moist.
So far tried Strawberry lemonade- a lemon cake with a strawberry ice cream.
Chocolate mint cupcake.
Have also tried Second Ave Sweets, they were good, but cupcakes kind of big, had quite sweet fillings and a lot of icing.
I could only eat 1/2 a cupcake at once as it was too much.
I know some people do not really like big pastries, so maybe have some other dessert too like cookies?
Malak pastry on Bank st they have around 20 kinds of small butter cookies- some filled with jam, some plain, some with nuts, date filled.
I always bring some to my mother's dinner parties and guests like them with coffee or tea.
-they do not make cupcakes there though..they have great homemade ice cream too.
Buttercream bakery I think has cupcakes sometimes, they are on Bank st too.
If you want a deal on cupcakes from 3 Bakers and A Bike.
Swarmjam is selling a dozen cupcakes for $7 limit of 2 coupons per person.
I bought 1 but have never tried the cupcakes there.
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Malak Restaurant
3319 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M8X1E7, CA
Warning on a couple of horrible tasting products!
I did not know this of Ace Bakery.
But that can explain now why I can no longer locate Ace bakery frozen bread products at loblaws.Independent ect.
Now there is just PC frozen bread items (I can't always get to the store for fresh bread and only thing near me is foodbasics...which is best to avoid for any "fresh" bread.
I can't get to T%T that easily, it is over 1 hour by bus 1 way...so not really worth it for me at the moment.
Walnut oil?
La Tourangelle has toasted Walnut oil, hazelnut oil,pistachio oil and many others.
I also know there is a brand Roland Foods that is cheaper,but all I know is that company told me they sell to foodservice in Canada.
-spoke to someone at their head office a few months ago.
Not sure where you get La Tourangelle as the store I used to get it at stopped carrying it (it was a shoppers drug mart in Ottawa of all places!)
Dark chocolate cocoa..where are you?
Chocodirect.com sells Valrhona cocoa powders and also a bunch of other European cocoa powders for baking.
I am not sure which ones are the dark ones as their website kind of sucks with no product description other than product title, weight and country of origin.
But if you email them customer service is always extremely helpful with my product and ingredient questions.
Shipping is also $5 anywhere in Canada, they do not ship outside Canada.
Their sale section is also good for random treats and sometimes baking chocolate.
And they usually include a few extra thank you items in each order. my last order in Dec had 2 nice Poulin orange hazelnut bar (200 gram size) and a Tohi cinnamon chocolate bar (70 grams)...they are in my kitchen so went to check that.
,my order before that one of my free items was a Valrhona bar.
But the free items are really random and I have gotten cookies before, haribo candy...can't remember everything as I order every 2 months it seems.
Chocodirect also has some European baking chocolate like Valrhona and Cote D'or that I can't find locally.
Moving overseas - help me learn how to make these things from scratch
How long are you going for?
Can you take any freeze dried foods with you?
I know I would miss fruits like berries and probably want some freeze dried strawberries or blueberries for baking even.
A lot of places sell them online.
Also I will take the "lazy" way out of making cheese.
Can you bring any of that cheese that does not need to be refrigerated until open, like the kinds they sell at Hickory Farm?
Also I just learned that Vache qui rit cheese cubes do not need to be refrigerated,
the company that makes them told me that after i emailed asking if it was safe to buy at stores that kept them on a shelf (bulk barn here used to do that at one store) or maybe it was a smaller deli i forget...
Sounds like an interesting adventure!
Best quality cocoa powder for sorbet
I mainly buy chocolate by mail.
The website www.chocodirect.com is very good and in Montreal.
Shipping is only $5 for any order of any size and they always give you a few "extras" with your order (on some orders i placed that were aprox $75 I have gotten about 6 or 7 100 gram chocolate bars, and usually you get 1 or 2 bars at least...)
They have at least 10 or 15 kinds of European cocoa and a sale/clearance section also.
I got some Dolfin cocoa on clearance 2 months ago and they add new items every month.
They also sell Calebeaut baking chocolates and blocks, have not checked for cocoa though.
Ottawa... eclectic, ethnic?
I have eaten at Ahora a couple times and find it just ok, kind of "average" mexican food and not too interesting. Affordable though.
I hear Agave grill in westboro is very good though.
Haveli lunch buffet, it is still $10 all you can eat,but they only have a buffet at lunch.
Dinner is pretty expensive when ordering single dishes.
Lone star cafe in the byward market is good.
But only go for the specials or else it is not that worth it.
Suisha gardens on Slater st has some very interesting appetizers and prices are ok, similar to Wasabi.
Actually Suisha gardens also does take out and they have quite a few small dishes for under $5.
The chilled tofu w sauce and fish flakes and shallots is $3- a nice healthy snack.
Sushi orders start at $3 for vegetable sushi.
They also sell their own home made salad dressing in 500ml container for $7, and it is very good!
Basmati indian at Bank/somerset.
Tandoori chicken wrap sandwiches for around $7.50 extremely filling and huge sandwiches.
Also lunch plate specials and resonable meals.
What is your favorite hard to find candy?
Gimbals rasberies and blackberries.
I never knew Jelly Belly also made these.
The grocery stores in Canada sell the Gimbals berries and their jelly beans are also very good!
http://www.gimbalscandy.com/our_products/
You may laugh at me, but please stop long enough to answer my question
I just got over some severe food poisoning from a restaurant-had a piece of quiche at a vegetarian buffet.
The person that brought it to me in a take out container even told me the food was just put out right when they took it (and i live 5 min from t his place).
So,I have a feeling the quiche made w eggs sat under a heat lamp too long as I've never been that sick from eating there before.
I was quite sick,went to hospital later on...found out i had internal bleeding from the food aparently....
But back to your question,
never really thought about the chaning of tongs or spoons.
I usually change them anyways by habit.
What I find really gross is at the grocery store they have the bulk rolls,bread ect and they never clean the tongs-I usually use an inverted plastic bag to grab my items figuring it has much less germs.
I guess I'm probably too cautious as I've had bad luck getting sick from bad food a few times in the past 2 years-not from anything I've made at least :)
Cooking in the Wilds of BC or How I avoid Dried/Packaged Food
What about freeze dried vegetables and fruits?
I have tried freeze dried strawberries (bulk barn sells them) and they are a nice snack or can be rehydrated and used like fresh I've been told.
Also freeze dried corn is nice,I used to eat it crunchy as a snack-but supposed to be as good as fresh corn as it has all the vitamins and also lighter to carry than canned items.
http://www.justtomatoes.com/JA-P.html
I've tried their products. They are kind of expensive if you get only small sizes.
I'm sure other companies have bulk freeze dried items for less-but not such interesting choices!
Ottawa Sushi
Suisha gardens is pretty good,traditional food.
http://www.japaninottawa.ca/en/menu4.html
They are at Bank and Slater st,not exactly Byward market but very good and affordable.
They also have a very good Ginger salad dressing you can buy at the front of the restaurant for around $7 for a 500ml container.
The sushi there is more traditonal and they do takeout also-better to call aheador else might have to wait 15 minutes sometimes.
Also if you eat in the downstairs basement part they have a "river" going through the stones on the floor and you have to walk over these stones to get to the small rooms you can eat in (really neat for guests).
Or in the market Takara is good-used to eat there,but it is not near me at all.
I think their menu was more traditional also.
http://www.takara-ottawa.com/Menu_files/sushimenu.htm
But for the trendy atmosphere try Kinki in the Byward market.
The sushi is good, but they mix up too much "stuff" and after a few pieces it is hard to know what you are eating sometimes.
Also went there with my sister and portions are small and they managed to screw up her tea 3 times (and still charged her for it and also brought her a dirty cup by accident..yuck).
The menu there overall is good,they have some specials wich are a bit better and they have a DJ weekends-so that is nice.
I actually know the person who made their menu or many dishes on it and an aquantance owns it,but for the price it is not for everyday.
They have nice mixed drinks though.
The same people also own Mercury Lounge wich has very nice drinks and is fun to go out to.
http://www.kinki.ca/
something other than Bacon of the Month Club?
Harry and David have some fruit of the month club.
or else maybe http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/cheese.asp
my mother sends gifts from Harry and David and people like them.
I gourmet seems to have a bunch of different "of the month" clubs,their cheese looks good but they don't ship where I am so haven't tried them yet.
Chicken soup for the common cold- remedy or not?
I used to like a tortilla,chicken and tomato soup from a local mexican restaurant.
it had chicken breast,homamade tomato soup,cheese,hot peppers,toaritilla strips (homemade ones...)
-also came with a side of assorted homemade spicy salsas.
you would always leave there breathing much better :)
What should I do with the rest of this yogurt?
Use on grilled patatoes,
mix the yogurt with some dill, spices,bbq powder whatever you have on hand. roasted garlic is good.
make some kind of fancy dessert,like the McD's "yogurt parfait".
take the yogurt add some vanilla,
layer in a glass with berries,granola,cake cubes or crushed cookies,top w more yogurt and fruit.
make fruit and yogurt pops and freeze.
a salad dressing
Left over girlie beer
Make some berry beer and herb bread?
no idea on a recipe though.
For ie cream I think that a dark chocolate berry and beer gelato would work well-esp with a lot of dark chocolate in it.
maybe dark chocolate brownies w chocolate beer frozsting.
use in a fondue
in the batter for chicken fingers or turkey fingers.
I usually make up my own recipies with whatever I have on hand.
bbq chicken or fish w a honey and beer glaze!
let me know how these turn out :)
best vegetarian, non-tomato sauce pasta dishes in TO?
Not really a resaturant but speaking of lemon pasta I just bought some at the Italian deli.
It was Torino designer pasta and they have a lemon linguine, orange linguine, aquid ink (sounds interesting).
It is a 250 gram bag of dried pasta and around $8-9 and the noodles are very long and handmade!
That barnd also has some cool looking striped pasta made w carrot and beet!
Chain burgers vs. "gourmet" burgers (split from Ontario)
No one has any opinion on the Harveys burgers?
I know they were advertising a angus burger a while ago.
Also,no mention of Dairy Queen?
I actually had to try a burger there last year for my work and they were decent for a fast food one.
Better than I expected,I would maybe have one again if I actually ate beef.
Also just wondering what do people buy for ground meat at the grocery store?
My dad used to buy steak and have the person working at the counter grind it up while he waited.
I actually prefer chicken burgers w grilled chicken or else a veggie burger thesedays.
Chain burgers vs. "gourmet" burgers (split from Ontario)
The Mcdonald's salads are not the real thing?
I'd like to hear an explanation of that.
The salad I used to buy there was lettuce,baby tomatoes and another vegetable.
I doubt they are doing anything to the lettuce or small tomatoes as they go through so much they are never bad.
Now I know the apple slices they sell those are processed so they do not brown with citirc acid and then put in an airtight packaging.
I guess that is kind of "artificial".
Oh, maybe the old salad dressings were very fake as well- esp when they had the Newman's Own natural dressings.
They recently switched to Renees Dressings....I guess those are really "fake" to esp since they come in individual packets....
(just kidding about the dressings,for store bought they are decent).
The sad truth about "fresh" orange juice
The same companies that make the perfume additives also make natural and artificial food aditives.
I actually spoke to a couple of the companies in the US, that were the big companies because I was doing soap making stuff.
From what I saw on their websites,they have natural flavors and artificial ones,same for perfume oils all natural and artificial.
I really doubt that Tropicana would put ARTIFICIAL things in the juice.
That the company they get their supplies from happens to make perfumes or perfume components is really irrelevant to this.
I actually just wanted to add, I remember the old Tropicana ads that were on TV and said "nothing added,nothing taken away".
The ones where the straw was stuck into the orange?
I guess that was kind of a misleading campaign.
http://www.advertolog.com/paedia/prints/2000/09/16/191945/
Also, how many people could really afford fresh juice?
At my local grocer a 500ml small bottle is around $3 and the 1 liter is $5 or 6 making that 2 liters of fresh orange juice almost $12!
Mystery Spice
Funny,
I saw some for sale on amazon.com and it had no explanation and I just looked at it and thought "wtf" not knowing what it was for.
does anyone still buy instant coffee?? canned vegetables?? condensed soup??
Most olives I've seen at the grocery store or bulk come in either large vacum packed plastic pouches, sometimes "cans" that look like a pickle jar but are solid colored plastic and maybe in giant cans (that I'm not sure).
I have seen some restaurants that buy olives in giant glass jars-they display t hem on the counter in a few places here, saw that at a shawarma restaurant!
So, I don't think there are really any "fresh" olives,even though I'd like to try some sometime if possible.....not sure they would be very tasty though.
I don't think there is anything "wrong" with canned food. I know a few people that are millionaires even and they keep some canned items at home- canned beans, dry goods like pasta, jarred tomato sauce (ok not canned but Healthy Choice? brand in the jars...., oh that same well off person they also like Breyers real vanilla ice cream-not the "fancy" stuff usually......
I don't really have anything canned right now,but do have tons of dry mixes for stuff and some jarred items like sauces.
The sad truth about "fresh" orange juice
Interesting,
I never knew all that about Tropicana.
When I can I usually buy freshly squeezed orange juice,the store makes their own and sells it in 500ml and 1l bottles.
The only problem with that is it has to be drank in 3 days at most and does not keep-it is not pasteurized.
It is very tasty though,they also make their own fresh grapefruit juice.
I find it just tastes much richer than Tropicana.
I still drink some Tropicana,but not that much as I prefer apple cider from a local place,I've never really liked apple juice as much though.
Just find it funny that Tropicana says squeezed from fresh oranges,what would they write instead?
From mouldy oranges?
Chain burgers vs. "gourmet" burgers (split from Ontario)
I think a lot of the fast food places mix the meat with soy- you really can't tell.
I like the Harvey's veggie burger and you can't tell it's not "meat", has the same grilled taste and only 8 grams of fat which is decent.
Now the milkshake there scares me 33 grams of fat! that's crazy.
I really dislike all the McDonalds burgers and have never like the flavour- even as a kid.
The filet o fish is allright once in a while. The fries there are ok, esp with bbq sauce.
Their salads are actually quite decent and very fresh-but seriously overpriced.
The fries I like the best are chip wagon or new york fries, or else I just buy some extra when I'm out at a place that makes fresh real patato fries and freeze them at home for later- usually more tasty than the mccain ones (that I still eat but not like that much).
I don't think there is anything really "wrong" with fast food, exept when some families will spend $40 on dinner there and they could have something much nicer...unless they really want fast food that is.
World's Worst Products - Canned whole chicken
This seriously made me want to vomit on my keyboard-just had a nice d inner also.
The canned chicken still has feathers on some part? wtf...yuuuck!
Canned brains? isn't there some disease you can get from eating pork brains or is that mad cow diease?
Weirdest food I've tried is hering jerky- it was actually ok exept for very salty and dry...and fishy.
I keep on seeing tripe? at the grocery store. that stuff that is white,slimy looking and all spongy.
does anyone every buy that?
White currant recipies? what have you tried from this century?
I just bought a pint of white currants from the grocery store today.
I did not think they would be so sour by themselves.
I ate a bunch by themselves and way too sour to have on their own.
I tried finding some recipies but all seem so elaborate or from 200 years ago,or just too complicated (do not have anything to take seeds out to make jelly...)
So far I tried to make some compote/jelly-like thing.
It actually turned out better than expected.
I took 1/2 a pint white currants, w the seeds still in
added 1/4 cup white sugar
put both in a non stick pan and cook until liquid and until some of the liquid evaporates,aprox 10 minutes.
-put the warm sauce/jam in a ramekin to cool,cover the top or put saran wrap so air does not get in as easily.
I also added a bit of black pepper from a grinder that had a mix of orange peel and rose petal-just to add some spicyness.
When this jelly was cooled I tried some on some brie with a baguette and it was actually good-still very tart and rasberry like because of all the seeds.
I ended up with about 100ml jelly int he end!
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So does anyone have anything they have tried this year with white currants?
I might just roll some in sugar and eat them that way.....
ISO Marshmallow made with Jello
Lol,
my mother would like that.
I have seen lavender jam for sale online in many stores and actually have an ad for a Quebec place that sells lavender to eat...
Bleu Lavande www.bleulavande.ca
I haven't looked at their site in months,but they used to sell lavender jam,petals for cooking and a few other things.
In the US they have weird Jello,like coconut, green apple and also pineapple-never seen lavender.
But you could always buy pectin and lavender and make something....
Help! Multiple open jars of jam and jelly!
Crepes and jam or panckakes and jam rolled up are nice.
Muffins w jam in the middle.
Dipping sauce for chicken,add some pepper.chili flakes,salt maybe...
Mix w yogurt to make a sauce for chicken pita sandwiches.
brush on meats or fish before cooking.
use to dip chicken nuggets or even vegetarian nuggets.
have seen flavored tofu w jam in the bottom at the grocery store,they had mango or blueberry only,but anything else should work good!
Smoothies! w jam ice cream,ice or whatever......
