I am looking for a spot for a weekly ladies' morning meetup, somewhere in the area covered by Yonge/Major McKenzie/McCowan/407. Ideally, it would be cozy, inexpensive (so Cora's is out) and possibly with some decent options for fruit and other healthy choices.

For example, I like Sunset Grill at Elgin Mills, with its great-value breakfasts and warm service, but it is a bit too north for us. Any suggestions of similar places? I found Sunshine Spot (at 8920 Woodbine Ave) on Yelp.ca that has one favourable review - does anyone know more about it?

Looking forward to some great suggestions, thanks!

Right, it sounds like she is missing the point of the tonkotsu broth and should not be ordering it, if she finds the "mouth coating quality" unpleasant and the heaviness of it an issue.

I recently had another meal at the Toronto location and can vouch that the noodles were not mushy at all, the broth pleasantly rich. The only change I would consider for next time is asking for harder noodles and less salty broth, so that I could drink up all of the delicious broth. Not complaining, just my personal preference.

This is pretty much the best I can ask of ramen in our fair city, and I seriously hope that the likes of Ms Pataki will not contribute to the "dumbing down" of ramen in Toronto!

Refreeze meat after it has been defrosted. Sometimes multiple times when plans change a lot.

That is one thing to ponder the next time I reuse plastic bags.

On the other hand, I never wash my Ziploc bags with detergent. If needed, I usually just rinse with water until they look clean enough, zip and put into a special corner inside the freezer door for reuse - I do not like the idea of damp bags lying around, and I don't think I can be delicate enough to turn them inside out to dry without ripping.

I like those snack size Ziploc bags too, it also makes me feel better that I am not using more plastic than I need to... However they are often more expensive, and harder to find, than the regular small ones!

I have barely thrown out any spices either. If it is old, just use more of it :-)

For me, a definite yes because I spend an average of two hours driving every day! I also feel that my hectic, stressful schedule makes me not have much of an appetite during my working hours, and so I usually prefer to spend time and effort on more substantial and enjoyable meals at breakfast and dinner, usually at home.

For the road and when I am working, I usually bring "grab and eat" fruits, such as bananas, clementines, apples and grapes. Also a mini Ziploc bag of mixed nuts, and maybe a few squares of chocolate. I even bring tea in a Thermos and have a spare teabag for refills. There is always time for a bite when stuck in traffic or in between meetings, and I find that my body is adapting quite well to this. I would rather indulge in a cup of coffee, with friends or alone, when there is time for a break.

The funny thing is, for the weekend and when on vacation, I am on a different mindset and can find an appetite to eat lunch at the regular schedule with everyone else.

I have an open shelf at an arm's reach from the stove, where I put all the most frequently used bottles of cooking oils, sauces and wines. Finally, taking a tip gleaned from CH, I got a lazy susan that was the same depth as the shelf, where I fit in the seven or so of the bottles I use the most. It was great now that I no longer have to take out many of the heavy bottles to get one at the back, many, many times to prepare each meal. Just spin and grab with one hand, and repeat. I cannot imagine going without one anymore.

Also, I use the traditional two-tier spice shelf for the most often used herbs and spices, but for the other 50+ other odd ones that come in all kinds of size and packaging, I made a deep, clear plastic drawer the same width and depth as one of my narrower shelves - by cutting out from a kitty litter container. I maximized the height of the drawer to make full use of the shelf space, which allows me to cram in a lot of stuff into limited space. And because the drawer is completely see-through, it is not too hard to find what I need.

In my hometown, a special type of bun hot from the oven, served with a thick pat of cold butter, is a typical signature dish in many traditional cafes. I think the pat of butter needs to be so thick that there will still be enough to bite into, up to the last bite.

Pure heaven.

I care about my coffee but given how little choice I have for diners in my area, I know to leave all my coffee expectations at the door when going into one.

To me, the diner experience is all about the signature greasy dish(es), and the coffee is really just something hot and strong enough to wash it all down. So, while strong is preferred, I think I am happy as long as it is not overly burnt or acidic.

Thank you for sharing such a delicious film.

Just want to point out that there is a brief moment of animal violence at around 16:00, which caused mild distress to my 4 y.o. She had stewed rabbit in mustard before, and enjoyed it, so it was a good moment to explain to her where meat comes from.

I was one of those who received some excellent advice on this from the previous threads, happy to see a chance to get updated.

I am also thinking junk food when doing cross border shopping too: chips, various brands of hotdogs, cheese-filled combos.

Also: yogurt from pastured milk in a glass jar, various cheeses such as cave-aged "artisan" cheeses that can be a much better deal than those up north.

If I have time to spare (because it is often not productive), I like going there to look for imported butter cookies, ones that are hard to be found elsewhere. One of my favourites I keep seeing are butter cookies from Brittany (or at least France, I think), with apple bits inside.

They are certainly not inexpensive, though.

My recent absolute favourite is to chop up a mix of the vegetables in a food processor, making sure there is a reasonable amount of onion/garlic in the mix. Then sautee mixture in a dutch oven with olive oil until browned or caramelized, and proceed with adding ground meat (any quantity), browning it, and then a can or two of tomatoes to make some kind of ragu sauce, to serve with pasta.

A few weeks back, I accidentally ordered extra from my CSA and used this recipe to take care of a large quantity of broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, carrots, celery etc. that I would otherwise likely have no time to use up before they go past their prime. I even managed to use up the leftover holiday turkey in it. Quick and simple, and a family favourite here.

Like many who already posted here, I usually opt for plain and then sweeten it the way I like it, with honey, jam or fruit, if needed. IMO it is so much more trivial to sweeten it from plain, than to start from a sweetened version and worry about how much and what kind of sweetener has been added.

I also wish they have "real fruit only" or at least plain yogurt, packaged in the same kind of attractive tiny containers as the flavoured ones, because the cute attractive packaging is all that my 4 y.o. wants!

Good to know - didn't before.

I am used to the spinach-nutmeg combination when in a quiche. Haven't tried it myself but would imagine I would like the combination in a souffle too. It seems to boil down to my association of nutmeg with egg dishes, as in French Toast.

For other non-egg spinach dishes, I am actually more familiar with pairing it with dill.

So it sounds like I have something new to try!

I use those spoons as well as the traditional ones at home, and I also actually prefer using the porcelain ones, especially when no one is looking (because they do not match the rest of the dinnerware unless I am eating Asian style!)

The porcelain/ceramic spoons do not burn my lips like the metal ones do, and the very slightly pointed shape and deeper bowl seem to make it easier to get the soup into the mouth without spilling.

Don't ask, don't tell, don't remember ;)

I had to refrain from spewing the hot lemon and honey all over my laptop while reading this, because of the imagery of someone putting a whole soup spoon into his mouth!

I didn't know that the way I am used to eating my soup is the European way.

Thanks for the thoughtful advice. Honestly, so far I haven't felt the difference in this 60/40 edge, compared to the 50/50 I used to have. I will keep it the way it is until maybe after learning more about the asymmetry is supposed to do.

Hello all, I have been meaning to write back sooner, just got pulled away for a while by the other less fun aspects of life.

I remember receiving my knife just 2-3 days after ordering, which was super fast, especially considering I only paid 7 CAD for shipping!

The CarboNext gyutou turns out to be a very good replacement for the MAC one, being very similar in the shape, thickness of the blade, size etc... The only significant difference was that the CarboNext has a longer handle and it took a little while for me to get used to wielding it smoothly - something about the balance.

Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. The only thing I would consider differently for next time, is to choose the "extra sharpening" option, as I feel that it is not as sharp as I imagined out of the box (but still sharp nonetheless). I wonder if that would make a big difference?

Next step is to learn how to use the whetstone to sharpen properly - it looks like there are already some helpful notes in this thread!

My all time favourites are still their nuts. Almonds, walnuts, macadamias, cashews, and especially the pistachios. Always fresh. Every two months or so, my purchases consist of close to $100 worth of nuts!

Good to know about exactly what type of tomatoes they are. I was curious and even after spending two minutes reading the label, I could not find out the answer. The most prominent wording on it is "La San Marzano", with words such as "Romano", "Choice Grade" and "Tomates Italiennes" scattered all over.

Of course, the price is so great that it would have felt too good to be true if they were the DOP ones. I usually use them in dishes where there are other main components and so I am perfectly fine with them.

So, after carefully re-reading all the comments, I just completed my order of the 210mm CarboNext gyutou from JCK. What helped me finally decide between that and the stainless steel knives is ChemicalKinetic's comments about the easier sharpening, and his and others' reassurance that there are no dampness-rust issues.

Thanks again everyone who contributed, for the speedy and helpful comments, making this such a fun, educational and worry-free experience!

I am so looking forward to my new knife!

Good to know, thanks! That just adds character to the knife and is totally fine to me as long as it is not rust!

That sounds like a very reasonable guess.

The win-win situation would be nice! But based on the interesting and informative discussion from you, szw and chemical (below), it looks like for now, I should stick with JCK for the best bang for the buck.

I can use some knife sharpening lessons at Knife, though, because it looks like my new knife will be my first one with an asymmetrical bevel!

Reading all this made me shudder, and no more pictures, please :-)

One of the most remarkable kitchen scars is when I had to resort to chain up the fridge of my open kitchen, when DD was barely two and somehow learned to open the fridge door to make a mess from it.

The chain I used was heavy enough that it tended to slip to the back of the fridge, and if I lose the end of the chain, I had to pull the fridge out to fish it out. That was a pain, and I really could not think of a better solution at that time.

On that day, I was making toast with my vintage toaster whose metal exterior gets all searing hot. I was under the weather too, and probably distracted, when I was juggling with the fridge chain. I absent-mindedly rested my arm on the toaster and, even though finally registering that I seared my arm on it, my brain told me to keep holding onto the chain so as not to let it fall behind the fridge.

All that delay in icing it probably made it much worse, and I was left with a bay leaf-sized patch of oozing, seared flesh for more than a week. I nursed it with Polysporin and honey for all that time, until finally it started healing. When the scabs started falling off, I saw that the scarred skin had dark spots all over - didn't know that was how seared meat looked like! Luckily, I believe all the aloe vera and rosehip oil helped, because now, the scar is barely noticeable.

That reminded me of having to grate the rind of a mountain of lemons, to make lemonade for the cafe I used to work for. I scraped the lemons fast and hard against the Microplane, being under the pressure of having to be efficient. After enough lemons, hand-eye coordination started to falter and a big piece of my finger got in. Of course I still had to continue and band-aids didn't help to keep the lemon juice from my bleeding, searing finger. The blood probably was kept pumping because of all the vigorous action too.

I spent a good part of that day (and the next, I think) grating the rind of those lemons and juicing them by hand, while the cut was still raw and only partly protected by band-aids, until eventually I found myself some disposable gloves.