Oh Kayla. I don't know. I think she did the right thing, only because she had obviously had enough and was ready to leave. This allowed her to save face a bit. I know the judges went on about how big of a "sacrifice" it was, but I'm sure she wasn't thinking that in her head.

On the other hand, it really was a bit cruel to do that to her. I know it was all pre-planned, and they couldn't predict who the losing team leader would be, but the fact that it was Kayla....ouch. Go and get your confidence back, Kayla.

Nicole is quickly becoming my favourite. Funny & talented. Hope she's in it for a while.

re: Caity - I'm not sure why she felt the need to go out of her way to say that she couldn't see the point of "getting to know" the other cheftestants. It's such a jagoff thing to say. Really, you don't know why anyone would bother to be cordial to their colleagues?? She's playing the villain role well, but with a complete lack of irony or sense of humour.

I get Nutiva at Summerhill Market. It's organic, virgin, unrefined. And crazy expensive, of course.

Daniel comes off as quite charming and funny, hope he sticks around. Chris C. looks so familiar - was there someone really similar to him on TC Canada before? His dish looked crazy.

The girl who wants to marry Lisa - Kayla? - I hope she can pull it together. Sucks when nerves and poor timing get in the way. Her chicken looked delicious.

Get yourself over to ye olde youtube. There's a fair collection. Never had an interest in the US version after a few hundred midnight viewings of IC Japan in university. Was that really over 10 yrs ago?? I keep waiting for it to come back.

And, of course, Sakai.

The elephant in the room (forgive me if it's been discussed elsewhere): WHERE does he get his eggs??! Those were crazy yolks.

A fresh Montreal bagel (sesame) slathered with as much cream cheese as it'll hold. I like the Bagel House here in Toronto.

Cold, leftover pizza. Preferably prairie-style (heavy on the toppings).

My mom's blueberry pancakes, griddled in lots of butter, with maple syrup and breakfast sausages.

Oatmeal is nice and all, but it does get to feel like eating paste every day, no matter how I spruce it up. Yawn. (Ha.)

Regardless of quality, the name of this place just makes me smile - makes me think of Trogdor the Burninator. Homestar Runner reference. If you've never gone to the site, and like ridiculous and hilarious things, go.

Just had to comment - I know EXACTLY who you're talking about. Or, you've inadvertently described someone perfectly. Anyway, yes she's extremely cutesy and can swing wildly from vegan, kale-filled salads to decadent desserts. But I remain a reader, she's just so gosh darned nice. And I think her cat is cute.

Funny, the blog Dinner: A Love Story just posted a stromboli recipe today. Looks delish.
http://www.dinneralovestory.com/strom...

Thanks. We ended up finding them at Target in Niagara Falls after Christmas. Still delicious. Might have to get more.

Chipotle has a salad option that's very good. I like it with steak. With salsa and a little sour cream you basically don't need the vinaigrette.

Chard, Tomato and Tamarind Stew

I made this last night, and substituted kale for chard and also omitted the caraway seed. It is so delicious, I'm having it for lunch today with rice, at room temp. A bit fiddly with some multiple steps - for instance, he has you blanch the chard for two minutes before adding to the stew. Not sure why, as it's cooked for 30 min. in liquid anyway?
It has you add a TB and a half of sugar, which seemed like a lot to me, but I think it's made me realize how much sugar you actually need to add to tomato-based sauces and soups. It really cut the acidic quality of the tomatoes, while still having quite a few acidic ingredients in the final product, if that makes sense. Serving it wtih yogurt on top wasn't necessary, but did add a bit of creaminess.
Anyway, I'm always looking for new ways to use tamarind, and this is definitely a keeper. We had it with Indian-spice chicken patties (my own version of keema muttar), and it was fabulous. I love this book!

Sorry, haven't seen it anywhere else, although it's a good sign that it's being imported to Canada by Costco. Maybe other stores would be willing to order it if you requested it?

On a trip to California in the summer, we were standing in line at Costco and started chatting with the woman behind us. She had a bag of dried coconut, and I commented on it. She said "Oh, want to try some?", opened the bag, and offered it to us! Such a nice lady, turns out she loves Murdoch Mysteries, ha. Anyway, the coconut was amazing, big chunks, chewy, not too sweet. I'd never had anything like it. Well, we were already in line, so didn't go and get any, figuring we'd be able to find it somewhere else.
After looking forever, and having no luck in any Asian grocery store or Costco here in Toronto, I gave up. BUT - just before Christmas, at the Yorkdale location, just wandering down the dried fruit aisle - there it was!! It's the Philippine brand, the same one that does dried mango that they've carried forever. I highly recommend it, it's called dried young coconut and I could snack on it all day.

Thank you! Although I really hope it doesn't come to that, I'm certainly not above mail-order Oreos.

Thanks, Lexi! Yep, I went there on the weekend, and while they did have mint Oreos, they were the regular kind of Oreo but with mint creme filling. (And also some kind of weird berry flavour?!) Anyway, this one is very similar to Thin Mints, as I noted above. But thinner. Will keep waiting and looking.

Last year I got a package of Oreo Mint cookies at the Lawrence & Markham Rd No Frills. Amazing, amazing. Loved them. They're thin chocolate wafers with mint creme on top, and coated in chocolate. Like a thinner Thin Mint. Seemed to be a holiday version, as they were only around for December.

If you see this cookie anywhere, please let me know!! I miss them lots.

Nor Margarita's. Yuck. I had some pretty gross food there before I finally wised up.

All my cookbooks are packed away, so I don't have access to this recipe right now, but I'll do my best from memory. It's from How to Cook Everything, and is a chicken, bean and tomatillo casserole. It's extremely easy and tasty, and uses a lot of tomatillos. I think you layer cooked, shredded chicken, cooked white beans, sliced tomatillos and jack cheese in a casserole, top with more cheese, and bake. Delicious with salsa and sour cream on the side.
It's one of the 'variations' on another recipe, and I may be simplifying it in my memory, but I do remember that it's great for using a lot of tomatillos at once.

Tzatziki, in a pita with some frozen turkey meatballs defrosted in the microwave.
I made a delicious salad last week with sauteed corn, fresh tomatoes, peppers, parsley, with a lime vinaigrette. Might be nice with some feta next time.

This is very sad. I didn't realize how young he was. I've missed his show, it's such a shame we won't get to see him on TV again.

There is an amazing granola recipe in Nigella Lawson's Feast if you can find it. It makes quite a large amount, so I halve the recipe. It's so delicious, I've given it out as a Christmas gift in the past and received raves.

I use sparkpeople also, and have found it tremendously helpful. Being able to add my own recipes to meal plans makes it so much easier to cook everything and know exactly what I'm eating. And yes, you have to register to be able to save recipe info, but I've never had any spam email from the website. And it's completely free, which is amazing with all the different features on the site.

We visited a weekend or two ago, it must have been the first week they were open. We didn't realize this, as we're not usually on the danforth, and needed somewhere to eat when it started to rain.
And....not great, but has potential. Working out the kinks was definitely needed at the time, as during our 45 minutes there, two people had their orders messed up. One woman had takeout, and had to come back. Both of us had the burger with caramelized onions & cheese (don't remember the name) and shared an order of onion rings. The onion rings were bland and oily, no seasoning. They use a rather small and soft bun, which wasn't substantial enough for the amount of toppings (lots of onions, cheese, ketchup & mustard). It was incredibly messy. I don't remember much about the meat, but it didn't have the same tastiness of a Holy Chuck's patty.
Ok, time to cut down on the burgers...

your facial expressions so make me smile! hope your hand is ok.

Fage 0% with cherries. I'm pretty obsessed with this yogurt. I can't deny stockpiling and eating it WELL past the expiration date (which I usually ignore anyway). Tried Chobani once and it had an odd aftertaste to me. I'd love to find a Canadian-made brand to try, maybe I'll look for Skotidakis.

Pulled chicken with pesto mayo, caramelized onions & roasted tomatoes, sometimes with horseradish. And I'm always really full after, for what it's worth.

I went for the first time last night, had a single cheeseburger and creamy feta fries. The burger was okay, not exactly my thing, which is my problem not theirs, so whatever. Maybe I'll shell out and try something more exotic next time, the Oklahoma sounded tasty. But the fries were sooooo good!! Lots of chunky feta, greek dressing, herbs...yum, nice and crispy fries too. However, you have to eat them quick, cooled down they weren't nearly as appetizing. But totally worth it. I'd eat the fries with a fountain coke for supper any time.

Thanks everyone! I will indeed keep looking, and maybe try some MSM after all, since pastrami is my preference.