livetocook's Profile
Need a good Mothers day dinner in Edmonton
If you are still looking, Cafe De Ville is where I took my mom for her birthday. I really like that place. You can't go wrong there.
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
Pappardelle is fantastic and yes, De cecco is a great brand!
Food Waste - What have you wasted Today/This week/Last week??
I do this too!! haha. I just stared one day because it was getting unbarebly disgusting. Yogurt is a big culprit and yes, along with some dried out fruit sitting on top. I've thrown out whole containers of stuff. I made the mistake a few times (years back) of opening a few of these. Gahhh! Brutal. The odd time I'd leave the containers out with a note saying: is this yours? Sometimes they'd still be there the next day, sometimes not. lol. Most veterans at work knew I was the one that cleaned out the fridge and the odd time I'd sent out an email prewarning. Many got laughs out of the containers with the notes I'd leave, :P
What IS this food everyone is reportedly wasting?
Yes!! This is what we have where I live and I'm thinking of about 6 or 7 different places that I've shopped at over the last few years. And I'm not talking about tiny mom and pop places. 4 different Safeways, 2 different Save-on Foods, and 1 Sobeys (this is in Edmonton AB)
3 aisle of chips, no. 3 aisles of the worst possible junk to put in you body, then yes.
What IS this food everyone is reportedly wasting?
THREE?!
Please tell me that's an exaggeration. I'm in Canada and the grocery store I frequent has one aisle and it's only full of chips on the one side (which is already ridiculously way too much, imo).
Still there are many items I often wonder if someone actually buys them.
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
Fav: Any long noodle except for angel hair, rigatoni
Worst: Farfelle, rotelle, Any sized shell shaped.
I'm surprised by the hate on for Fettucini. It's in my top 5 fav :)
your best chicken stock recipe
Love this twist (as I'll call it b.c I haven't seen Stock done way). I'm cooking my first every stock right now and we too are getting nailed this week with ridiculously cold weather. This is gonna come in great for a warm supper one of those nights
Paula Deen's may have "type 2" (aka lifestyle) diabetes - surprise, surprise, surprise!
Yeah, read this about 2hrs ago. Someone in the comment's section of the FB linked one said,:
"And somewhere, Bourdain is quietly snickering.."
I wish her no ill will and REALLY hope this comes an epiphany for her. Maybe she'll turn around and come out with some Kick *ss southern low cal versions of her favorites. Oh and she quits smoking!
Losing interest in Iron Chef America
hahah. YES!! +1 for the Ota faction. It came off as some sort of Mafia group. Loved the vibe.
I want to love my slow cooker, can you help?
make sense. I never thought about it for that. Although I usually use cooked chicken breast for that and prefer to eat dark meat as is
How much do you tip in Toronto restaurants?
What is the opinion on when picking up take out food? I'm in Edmonton and have been tipping 20% for years now at a sit done place but, when it comes to picking up food from some asian place or even say, a pizza joint, I get really confused on what to do.
I found out just recently that Hubby doesn't tip them at all, which surprised me as he is a fair tipper when it's a sit down place. His reasoning: They aren't doing anything but, handing me the food and ringing it in. I usually do 10% but really, I feel kind of uncomfortable about it., like I'm coming off cheap, all the while hubby's reasoning is reasonating in my head.
Help!
Mexican Coca-Cola [moved from New Jersey board]
The ones I bought here just at Christmas time do not say corn syrup on them. Just sugar. (in Western Canada)
Losing interest in Iron Chef America
lol. My hubby loved Chen. I was more of a Hiroyuki Sakai gal ;)
I want to love my slow cooker, can you help?
Thank you!! #2 and #3 are why I hated my crockpot.
and reading your conversation about the roasted chicken, my thoughts exactly Chowser. I like them with a crispy skin and didn't understand why people roasted a chicken there. To each his own
I want to love my slow cooker, can you help?
omg ski, did this happen with a crockpot? That's always a fear of mine
I want to love my slow cooker, can you help?
"generally crock pots make the shitty food that you eat at holiday parties where everyone stands around and ooh's and aah's at food that i would not prepare for my dog.
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HAHAHAHAHAHA. OMG I almost spit out my tea when I read this. I'm not a big fan of the crock pot. I've made too many meals in it there that were either cooked to death, bland as hell, or wayyyyy too watery. And I followed these recipes to a tee! So unless granny likes a soup mess or someone is F'n with me OR my crockpot is nuts I've pretty much given up on it. I finally gave the sucker to my co-worker as she loves her's but, needed a smaller one for other recipes. (I'm curious to see if she comes back to me and says, yup, something is wrong with that crockpot. )
I have so many friends that love their's and talk about about the great meals they've had. Hmmm, and yet, I've never sampled these meals. lol
Now, the MIL makes a thick chili in her's and I was stumped as how she did this. Well, I discovered she put in two cans of Stagg chili as "filler". wt??
how to know what side dish goes with what main..?
We are the same way. Protein + Starch (this includes corn) + veggie (low on starch)
Staples in our house are:
-Fish, rice, broccoli
-streak, pototoes, carrots
-chicken, rice, frozen mixed veggies
-Bean chili with spinach. I've been know to plate the chili right on the raw spinach (don't do a specific starch here b/c I feel beans in the chili covers that)
-spaghetti and meat sauce with broccoli
-pork chops with mashed pototes and pea and carrots
-chicken sausages with KD and broccoli/califlower (for an night of comfort food KD)
- Breakfast for dinner!! In which we will have fruit instead of veggies but, this one is a rarity b/c it's soo heavy..lol
We mix and match all the time. Do what you want but, the above are suggestions :))))
How do YOU roast a chicken?
haha. This was totally what I was thinking of writing. Although, I'd love to cook one with the veggies like my parents did but, perfect on that method. Really liking balwinwood's way above.
Panko Bread Crumbs a Must?
This is me when making Chicken Parm or homemade chicken fingers. Panko blows them out of the park compared to store bought breadcrumbs.
I buy the kikkoman brand at Costco. I've tried a Korean version at a local Korean market but, didnt' like taste as much as Kikkoman.
Double-dipping - explain it to me
or have a side dish with dip on it waiting for her and hand it to her when she approaches ??
hahahaha. (yeah, that won't single her out that all!! :P)
Is it better to make it from scratch or buy it?
Homemade ketchup was being made at the beginning of the movie Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland. That is the only time I've ever seen someone do it.
What Are Your Irrefutable Food Rules? [moved from Not About Food]
I've always made my snickerdoodles with butter and they are one of the top yummy cookies I make. Now, you've got me wondering what I'm missing out on. Less cake-y ????
Funniest Thing a Server Said to You
omg. Hahaha. I actually snickered at that one. Brutal.
Foodie Facebook Pages
Epicurious.com is also on FB but, it's not that great. For one thing, when they do add a photo of something it doesn't show up on my newsfeed like say a news site I like (And (I've tried to resolve this to no avail. Every other site/thing I "like" automatically comes up on my newsfeed when they post something. Epi does not. Frustrating) . And second they barely post anything. So it's really not worth it....yet
First cooking attempt - success or failure?
Although I can't remember the first thing I made (8 or 9 yrs of age), I do remember cooking a lot of grilled cheese for the family. And ALWAYS burning the first one..lol. To this day I always set the timer when I put one on. Something always distracts me when I make them.
But, on the topic of brownies. My sister didn't dabble in the art until well into her teens and I remember she had asked me if this square block of margarine was 1/2 or 1/4 of a cup. I told her 1/4....OOPS!! She made the brownies with way to much margarine and they came out so greasy and slimy that we wouldn't touch them. Did we throw them out? Nope. Good old Dad ate them. The man would eat anything and wasted nothing. (One time he cooked a batch of choke cherry jam. He burnt the batch and refused to throw it out. Spent the next few months polishing off all the jars. Another time, he burnt the milk to corn chowder. We spit it out, he ate the whole thing..lol. Crazy old man. Hmm, or should I say frugal? >.
Items that last for weeks Or months in the fridge?
haha Cindy, I was just thinking, "well, then my ex MIL was a sucker." I got it as a stocking stuff about 15 years ago.
Wasted Food - How to Stop This Horrible Habit
I am the same way with coupons. I rarely use them b/c they are usually for something I just don't use or a brand I really don't like.
Yeah, the savings was so great to see. I think it was mostly b/c I've discovered a lot in our fridge freezer that we can eat. Things get buried so easily in there. We did have to sneak out today for cilantro (I forgot to buy for taco salad tonight) and ended up buying a few more things but, it was silly cheap and a nice walk in this ridiculously warm weather we are experiencing.
Where does soup rank in your food favorites?
Pretty low and I live in a cold climate. I don't hate soup, I just don't go out of my way to eat/make it. Especially for dinner. Just not in the cards, I guess. Now if someone makes it for me I'm not gonna refuse it and will most likely put some butter on a piece of bread and dig right in. yum.
Casseroles, pastas, chili, mashed potatoes/steak fries, bread, roasted stuff etc is way higher on the list when the temperature drops.
Wasted Food - How to Stop This Horrible Habit
First week behind us and we went to the grocery store today (we shop weekly), aaand... down $20 from a normal bill. Whoo Hoo. Fridge is clean out nicely so, now to see if we can make it the week without having to stop somewhere for extra reserves. Really, really excited about that savings.
