blackoak's Profile
Desperately seeking candy bar....
Sorry for what may be a stupid question, or a question with an obvious answer (or both), but roughly what area (city/state/province/country) were you in when you were enjoying the candy? It might help to narrow the chocolate bar's name down. Thanks.
"Only in Canada" food items: add to the list
Weirdly - I now live basically in the middle of nowhere, NC, USA - the gas station down the road carries Coffee Crisp. Haven't seen them anywhere else around here (though I don't remember them being in yellow wrappers - I would have sworn under oath they came in red wrappers).
During a trip into town earlier this year I was stunned to came across - not that it stopped me from stocking up/hoarding them - various St. Hubert BBQ and VH packets/sauces (I'm not sure VH is Canadian, I've just never seen it outside Montreal before). Also, the Fresh Market was selling packets of smoke meat that, if this makes sense, you leave in the package and place it in hot or boiling water to reheat before serving(?). The packets were very small - I think it would have taken four or five to equal a sandwich the size I seem to remember getting at Dunn's - plus each package was around eight or nine dollars, so I didn't pick any up.
Can't find any type of spruce beer or any Brio, though (not that I'm sure either of those is 100% Canadian).
"Only in Canada" food items: add to the list
Not exactly - with the caveat that I haven't bought any U.S. Red Rose in over a year. There is a Red Rose brand sold almost everywhere but, at least here in NC, the Red Rose is not at all the same, and (to me) no where near as good, as the Red Rose relatives send to me from Canada. The taste is completely different (along with the size of the tea bags).
5Bedit] Whoops - didn't see all the earlier responses covering the same ground. My apologies.
Why are there two different login screens?
I apologize if this has been covered before - I did a quick search but didn't see any similar questions. I don't often logout - usually just when I'm going to delete temporay files/run a cleaning program - but I was just curious why there are two different types of login screens (or maybe I'm the only one who runs into this). While I most often, as of late, get a small pop-out login window that doesn't remember my password, I am still occasionally taken to an older (at least to me) version of the login page that has remembered my information. Today I had to logout twice and got both login screens (at different times).
Not by any stretch a big deal but I was just curious. Thanks.
Boiling water in a microwave (or, Danger: Coffee Explosion)
(Someone may have mentioned this already and I probably missed it/glossed over it) Just curious, but doesn't the type of water and type of container play into this? I seem to recall seeing somewhere ('Mythbusters' or 'Good Eats', maybe both?) that to purposely make it happen you want to use water that contains little or no impurities (I don't remember if it was distilled water or just bottled water) and heat it in a container that has very smooth sides. Something about the level of impurities in the water not usually allowing the superheating process to take place. Thanks.
What foods do you HAVE to mail order?
I live outside of Wilmington, NC now and, oddly, the gas station up the street carries Coffee Crisp bars (although the wrappers are yellow - for some reason I remember them being red - I'm probably remembering wrong). Since World Market carries Aero Bars and Crunchies (and Hob Nobs, Jelly Babies, etc., that I'm used to from the U.K.), all I have to order now from Canada are packs of St. Hubert's Sauces, Red Rose Tea, and Laura Secord Chocs (plus, if I can ever find a supplier, spruce beer - if they still make it).
Taveners Fruit Drops
I don't know for a fact whether they carry them or not, but the World Market chain carries various other Taveners products (at least here in North Carolina). I shop there every every few weeks to replenish my supply of Taveners Jelly Babies and Wine Gummies (and different Ginger Beers, Hob Nobs, etc., etc.). Good luck with your hunt.
American stuff (foodstuffs, equipment, etc.) you can't find in Canada?
Did you mean you can't get Red Rose in the U.S.? I'm living in (sort of) 'the boonies' in North Carolina and every grocer within an hour's drive carries Red Rose (even the W-Mart that just opened). One caveat though - I find it doesn't taste the same as the Red Rose that relatives bring with them from Canada (of course, I also think the Typhoo and P&G I can pick up 'locally' tastes different than what I'm sent from the U.K.) - could it be a different supplier, or blend, in the U.S. for Red Rose?
Everything Seems To Be Shrinking
Just a head's up/link to another thread on the subject of smaller packages - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/664152 - (and there are probably other threads also).
Ramsay Cookalong (LIve?)
I have seen a couple of the U.K. episodes of Gordon Ramsay Cookalong Live - a novice cook like myself can pick up a thing or two. Also, depending on the cooking proficiency of the celebrity guest, they are fun to watch (the episodes I saw had Alan Carr and Chris Moyles attempting to cook along with the viewing audience).
What European products are hard to find in the US
I apologize if this appears a rude or intrusive question, but roughly where in the U.S. are you headed? I ask because the items might be easier to find if you are headed to, as examples, New York or Los Angeles, but more difficult in some smaller markets (such as where I currently live in North Carolina).
Top Chef - Las Vegas - Finale Part 2 - 12/09/09 (Spoilers)
They could make the finale a separate, live broadcast, pay-per-view event, then a week later run the edited show on Bravo.
Have you received your December 2009 Bon Appetit?
I'm currently living in the Wilmington, NC area. It was on the stands at the Barnes and Noble when I did my book/magazine run on Wednesday.
Have you received your December 2009 Bon Appetit?
Oddly enough I received the "...we will no longer be publishing Gourmet" postcard in today's mail.
Gourmet magazine to close
Maybe the Conde Nast marketing folks were caught off guard by Gourmet's closing, They have been sending me Bon Appetit in place of my Gourmet subscription for the last couple of months. Today I received a postcard letting me know that "With regret, we have decided that we will no longer be publishing Gourmet" and that they would be sending me Bon Appetit until my subscription ran out (which I already knew thanks to this board). Arriving with the postcard, but mailed separately, was a subscription offer from Conde Nast that included Gourmet.
Have you received your December 2009 Bon Appetit?
The December Bon Appetit arrived by post last week (Thursday or Friday). This is the second issue I've received since getting the last issue of Gourmet.
Any good sodas out there with no corn syrup??
Some has already probably mentioned this but you can go online to sites such as Canadian Favourites (there are other sites also) and order Coke, along with other soft drinks, made without HFCS.
Wanted: A Cookbook To Curl Up With [Moved from Home Cooking board]
I didn't see it mentioned (although I may have missed it) but a friend of mine sent me a copy of a book called 'Apples for Jam: Recipes for Life' by Tessa Kiros. In all honesty I wasn't a huge fan of it (too warm and fuzzy for my tastes. I tend to enjoy more Bourdain-style writing.) but it might be what you are looking for.
[edit] I just looked it up on Amazon - the U.S. version seems to be called 'Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook'. The copy I have was sent to me by a friend in Montreal, different subtitle, but both versions look the same.
BBC series: The Chef. Is it worth buying (on sale)?
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but if you are looking for a British comedy about food, about the funniest I've seen is a series called 'Posh Nosh' with Arabella Weir and Richard E. Grant. I don't know if it is available to purchase in North America, but you can watch some episodes on Youtube (each episode runs about ten minutes).
Looking for an online service to order foodstuffs from Canada to U.S.
Does anyone have any experience with any online services for ordering food items from Canada? I originally went online to find a recipe for a 'St-Hubert Bar-BQ' type sauce, but had no luck. However I stumbled across a couple of sites (CanadaOnly and CanadaFavourites) that specialize in shipping many items I have run out of since my last trip to Montreal (unfortunately no spruce beer offerings) . Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has used the sites, or similar ones, and had any recommendations. Thank you in advance.
Did you every hear of this?
How was the "rounded up to the nearest nickel" amount shown on the first computerized check - OR - how did you first notice it was rounded up to the nearest nickel? I'm curious how the restaurant presents (or hides) the extra pennies charged on the bill. Thank you.
(I apologize in advance about the way I'm asking the question, as for some reason it comes off (to me at least) as being somewhat rude. I have been rewriting it to phrase it to both make sense and be less rude, but failing every attempt.)
Lehigh Pub Bethlehem news item
Just a heads up (heads-up? heads' up?) that there is another, slightly longer, thread on this subject at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/668535 (although both threads are interesting).
Eric Ripert - A less polarizing version of Alice Waters?
This really isn't an answer to your question - I'm not that familiar with Alice Waters, except for her '60 Minutes' interview, along with comments and links posted here. But I caught the interview last night, then went to the 'Avec Eric' website and watched a few episodes of the series. I came away thinking that Chef Ripert, through his show, reminded me very much, both in attitude toward and appreciation of locally produced food (especially seafood), of a UK Chef and tv presenter named Rick Stein. (Like I typed, not really an answer to your question)
Eric Ripert's new PBS show
I'm late on this (the first part of the show is on right now - Chef Ripert is on the second half) but I just realized that Chef Ripert is on Charlie Rose' PBS show tonight (11:30PM 17/11/2007 in NC - not sure when it airs in other markets).
What TV Chefs have given you ‘mostly’ consistent recipes vs those that have been hit and miss.
Respectfully, without some knowledge/understanding as to why you have chosen the chefs and authors for either the 'good' or 'bad' list, we can't (well at least I definitely can't) even begin to argue pro or con for anyone.
For example, you may think (more accurately know because of your experience) that some of Alton Brown's recipes are technically wrong because he calls for making soups using an electric skillet, or because his Coq au vin is made with chicken legs. And if that is why he is on your list, then there isn't an argument to be made. It is 'what he does'. And it is your valid opinion. But those may be the same reasons why his recipes work for me, and why he might be on my good list.
Basically we need (again, at least I need) some frame of reference, some criteria to begin making an argument for (or submit recipes examples from) a chef or author. Thank you.
What TV Chefs have given you ‘mostly’ consistent recipes vs those that have been hit and miss.
Regarding your 'bad' list could you possibly give just a couple of examples of what you found to be wrong with one of the recipes ("...amazement...at how technically wrong they are.") ? I ask because I've used several recipes from three of the five authors you have listed as 'bad' and, as the recipes have all turned out the way they were supposed to (I believe), and I am a cook (barely) who has to follow directions, I would argue that the recipes were 'correct' (at least for an untrained cook/me). Having said that there were some that I won't make again, because the people I prepare food for didn't care for the finished product, taste-wise (Alton Brown's version of onion soup springs to mind). Thank you.
Best Ginger Ale?
Some ginger beer (Fentimans' Traditional Ginger Beer for example) may also be classified as an alcoholic beverage. I was carded yesterday buying some (along with a case of Bendaberg Ginger Beer - although I wasn't carded for it). The label states that the "Fermented Botanical Ginger Drink" contains "less than 0.5% alcohol by volume" (which I think is the same amount as non-alcoholic beer?).
Gordon Ramsay Wants YOU!
It would depend on how the show was going to use/showcase Gordon Ramsay. If it was the Gordon Ramsay from the U.S. version of "Hell's Kitchen", no thank you. But if it was the Gordon Ramsay from "The F Word", or "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" (U.K. version), or other U.K. appearances, I might give it a go (if I was interested in being on TV for some reason).
Does Tom Colicchio *really* like Diet Coke "just for the taste of it?"
I am probably not understanding your post (I apologize in advance, my own fault, I often misunderstand things) but respectfully I would argue that the one thing you could debate about is the quality of this, or any other, product. As an example, Chef Colicchio may prefer the taste of Diet Coke, you may like the taste of Coke Zero, while my choice is Royal Crown Cola. As these are personal choices based on our own taste preferences, any argument cannot really progress past the "I like the way this tastes better than the way those taste" stage. But we can easily argue about the quality of the research, ingredients, production process, and product because they are quantifiable. Someone could make the argument that Diet Coke is a better quality drink because it is sweetened only with aspartame versus Coke Zero which uses a combination of more inexpensive sweeteners (I do not actually know what the differences are between them, I am just making up "facts" in an attempt to illustrate my point). Or argue that Coke Zero from the U.S. is a higher quality product than Coke Zero from Canada because the ratio of ingredients used in the formula is different (again, "facts" I'm making up).
Please ignore this (long-winded) post if I have misunderstood or misread your post (as I probably have) and I apologize again.
NYT: "One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)"
Ignore my previous post. I just reread the list - I originally skipped over the intro - and didn't realize that the list is for the restaurant that Mr. Bushel is opening, so he can empower his staff to do whatever he thinks is important.
