I received a breadmaker as a gift last year and have made various breads with varying success. The thing that is driving me nuts is that for all the rapid cycle recipes, you need vital wheat gluten, and I have had absolutely no luck finding it anywhere!! Where do you get this elusive ingredient?
I guess we lucked out... For the first time ever my brother and I took my mom out for lunch today (Mother's Day) and we had a great experience. The restaurant had a great menu of specials, the food was hot and tasty, the service was good, we walked right in a few minutes before our reservation and were seated right away. We weren't rushed out, and my mom loved the little box of chocolates she was given by the waiter when we paid the bill. I had concerns that things would be busy and crappy as described above, but logistics did not permit cooking for Mom today, so I'm thanking my lucky stars it went so smoothly!
Some of my happiest memories are of the treats my mom made e.g. "clown sandwiches" (peanut butter spread on bread with various toppings to make clown faces with) and cupcakes baked in ice cream cones.
As for meals... I always love my mom's spaghetti, shepherd's pie, tuna casserole. Really, for all the yummy stuff she makes, it is these old standbys that I always remember when I think of home!
Not to get too maudlin, but I would love to go back in time and actually learn how to make the pickles my Nana made. In my family we call them "Nana pickles" and they are unlike any other pickle I've ever had. I really ought to know how to carry on the tradition.
Another dash of Canadian content (I'm totally inspired by peasantwench with her George Strombolopolous suggestion-he's amazing!) I would like to hang wtih Jian Gomeshi. He's the host of Q, a talk show about arts and culture on CBC Radio 1. He used to be in Moxy Fruvous, one of my fave bands in my younger days, and he is funny, intelligent and cool on Q. (If you want to check it out, its available on itunes as a podcast). But I digress... I think Jian and I should do a long lunch involving lots of sushi.
I'm with hungrychristel-The ones I didn't know don't air in Canada!
If you sign up for Kitchen Nightmares, you ought to know what you're getting yourself into. Did this guy watch the show before signing up? He got a successful chef's consultation and advice about his failing restaurant for the price of some humiliation and embarrassment. That's the deal-suck it up!
I'm another Canadian Serious Eater, but I don't have much to add in the way of defining Canadian cuisine. We seem to have a hard time defining Canadian culture, so cuisine tends to follow I guess. I know when people have visited us from elsewhere (US, Asia, Europe) they have enjoyed the butter tarts, nanaimo bars, tortiere, and various types of candy that aren't available in the US (i.e., Smarties-kind of like plain M & Ms, but better!)-those seem to be the things they hadn't heard of before coming. My Belgian cousins are also fascinated by Tim Horton's and all things maple. That said, I've eaten many yummy things here, from the traditional British roast beef dinner, to a broad variety of ethnic cuisines. There are many culinary adventures to be had in the various regions as others have pointed out.
My friend Jenn makes fabulous cornbread. Sadly, she lives so far away now, I haven't had any in ages! Perhaps I had better learn to make it myself.
My inlaws were coming to visit and to say their tastes are simple is an understatement. I'm not much for cooking a big hunk of meat and pot of potatoes, and I knew they liked to go to Chinese buffets, so I made a pretty simple, not too spicy version of cashew chicken. My father in law gave the serving dish a leery eye, but loaded up and ate in silence. Afterwards he said with surprise-"I usually don't like anything with sauce, but that was actually good!" I took the sideways compliment in the spirit in which it was intended, and bit my tongue to avoid asking what he called the red goo he regularly puts all over his chicken balls!
The three things that help me save time are:
1) my grocery list (with it I can get in and out in less than 20 minutes)
2) my slow cooker (throw a bunch of stuff in in the morning, and voila, dinner is done)
3) the freezer (where I put containers of leftovers, grab bags of stir fry veggies and frozen shrimp to make a quick dinner etc.)
As a side note, these things also save me a lot of money!
My wife and I went out Mother's Day evening with another childless midde-aged couple (we would never go out for brunch on such a day, unless we were getting tacos or Chinese food). We went to Goldberg's Deli at Factoria mall on the Eastside of Lake Washington from Seattle, since our friends had given us a gift card. I'd been reading David Sax Savethedeli.com blog and just jonesing for some good Jewish soul food.
Nice space, little delicatessen shop in the front. My wife got a brunch special: bagels, omelet, hashbrowns, and an enormous piece of very nice smoked whitefish. She was very happy. My friend Suzanne had the stuffed cabbage, which looked very nice and she enjoyed it. My friend Jerry had the beef brisket dinner, which was a generous portion but the only DRY Jewish-style brisket that I have ever seen. I went very traditional -- potato knish, pastrami on rye with coleslaw on the side, and a generous piece of noodle kugel to follow. The knish was nice (the accompaniment of gravy was unfamiliar) but I think that it may have been zapped rather than oven reheated. The pastrami sandwich was very good, not oversized, tasty but a little dry but the Gulden's helped that (just French's yellow mustard and Gulden's -- no regular deli mustard). Heck, I like Gulden's. The noodle kugel was great, although obviously not as good as my mothers and mine.
So, a mostly positive experience. We got rugalach and Joyva halvah for the counter on the way out.
Several years ago I said "no more restaurants on Mothers' Day." Since then, I entertain the familiy at our house. We have a small house with no formal dining room so holidays are a challenge but I worked out a system for Mothers' Day that turns out pretty well. I do a buffet table in the living room and everyone just sits and samples a variety of hearty appetizers and an easy to eat main course. Sometimes I do a soup in the crockpot which is on the buffet table. I have my husband act as server and we do about 3 "shifts" of food, ending with a couple of desserts. He brings dirty plates back to me in the kitchen and I wash them and send them back out if we run low.
Often I make a punch or sangria which everyone can help themselves to.
I do not have children of my own and my Mom works on Sundays so this is really done as a show of respect for my husband's mom and his sisters. It's work, but it was my choice to start the tradition and I will carry it on as long as I am able.
As a former server/cook/bartender/manager of restaurants let me say there is some truth to the difference in service/menu/etc on MD, VD, NYE, etc...we don't call it "Amateur Hour" for nothing! But a well-managed restaurant that typically has great service and standards will be able to adjust enough for the volume without sacrificing quality and service. As a server, if I "sucked it up" and had a positive attitude about providing a special once-a-year treat to otherwise infrequent diner-outers, I invariably had an acceptable day money-wise and a great day karma-wise.
That being said, you wouldn't catch me in a restaurant on these days....no matter what!
There was a restaurant reviewer who wrote a book called "Never Eat Out On Mothers' Day", and whether as a daughter or mother I have managed to avoid it until this year, when we were traveling. (Kudos to Lucques and Zuni in San Francisco, BTW; both went smoothly.) If other people want to, that's fine, but like drinking on St. Patrick's Day, I avoid it. Restaurants are hurting in this economy, and I see a number of spots did brunch that never did before. I hope they did well, but I'll give 'em my business other days.
My Korean wedding banquet. OK, she had help, but I know her food and her organizational skills and so I can confidently say, she prepared this meal. And it was amazing and I will always remember it.
Yea, you make a good point. We wound up going out to eat this year and the service wasn't the best. Not only that but the person who liked her food the least was mom, so that was sad. Maybe next year I'll try and cook....She can't hold me to a high standard. :)
Hillary
Chew on That
Mom rarely puts her heart into cooking. About twenty years ago, though, she prepared meat fondue -- that was great fun! And most memorable. Loved cooking my beef and chicken in the hot oil at the table. She also allowed all of us to make our own assortment of dipping sauces. My brother mixed grape jelly with godknowswhat. We all laughed. It's a shame we never had it again.
Her cooking and baking was so phenomenal, it's impossible to choose. She was always trying new recipes, especially from Julia and Jacques. I loved her pies and gratins.
My mother makes homemade ravioli and Italian spaghetti suace and meatballs to die for. She's Sicilian
Stuffed artichokes smothered in tomato sauce.. YUM.
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