PRgal

One of the items I made tonight was an apple and cheddar loaf using a recipe found at the back of a package of dried apples (also available online). I slashed the sugar by 75% and replaced it with a mixture of cinnamon, oregano and basil. I also used brown rice, spelt and quinoa flours rather than all-purpose and whole wheat.

Ever since I discovered them at a food/independent/small business/craft show type event, I've been IN LOVE with Hawberry Farms spreads, especially those that are sweetened by its own juices (rather than sugar). My favourite is their apple butter - it's on my toast constantly and I also use it in my banana bread recipe (I mix it with Greek yogurt as a butter substitute. It works!) and slow cooked or stove top apples. The only thing is that you have to buy around $40 Canadian worth of product to get free shipping, which means that I have to buy at least three or four jars of products. In addition to fruit spreads, they have salad dressings, rubs and cooking sauces. As for kitchen stuff, I've bought items online, but usually from major stores like Hudson's Bay or Bed, Bath and Beyond. Question: Has anyone bought groceries online? Around 14-15 years ago, I interned at an insurance company and the woman I worked for, a busy mom of two, shopped on grocerygateway.com. Yes, we're talking about 2000!!!

My husband is Jewish, so yesterday, we did "Jewish Christmas" - ordered fake (i.e. Canadianized) Chinese food of chicken balls and egg rolls (plus lo mein and veggies) and then watched a movie. For brunch, I made baked French toast (how is it different from bread pudding? I used soaked entire slices of bread in the egg/milk mixture opposed to pieces of bread). Recipe will be on my site soon.

Are half ovens the ones where there's a regular oven and then a smaller one that pulls out like a door on the left side? I've seen 1 1/2 ovens recently, but both pull out like regular ovens (the smaller one is on the top. Maybe that's not a real oven but a warming one?). I have a normal oven on my wall and a steaming oven above it.

Skunk hair was big for Asian guys a while back. My cousins both had them. Blech! And I agree about ombre. EWWW!

The maple glazed salmon sounds delicious! :) My husband made me dinner tonight (okay, I had to help a little): fusilli with tofu and spinach in tomato sauce. I'm making Christmas (Eve) dinner tomorrow night: turkey drumsticks roasted over carrots and apples with quinoa and a salad as sides. Dessert will be cupcakes (which I pre-ordered from a cupcake shop). My family is out of the country so it's just the two of us.

One thing they didn't address/forgot to address/wasn't aware TO address about Asian American doll is the actual stereotype of Asian women being obsessed with fashion/shopping. The joke among my circle (well, those who're also of East Asian descent, anyway) is that walking around the mall is our ethnic pastime/gym membership. Also, a luxury department store in Canada has a Chinese edition of their magazine in addition to English and French. I guess this stereotype is pretty much unknown in the US?

Christmas Eve dinner for us since I started doing a more "traditional" Christmas dinner - we used to go out to a Chinese restaurant since my mom's birthday is Dec. 25. That way, my mom can still have her bday dinner!

Bought latkes and topped it with homemade stovetop chopped apples (apples, nutmeg and cinnamon simmered in a bit of water and apple butter), Greek yogurt and chipotle mayo. Ordered in pizza (the slice in my picture has grilled salmon, avocado, olives, sun dried tomatoes and kale among the toppings), too.

I'm of Chinese descent and I FLOOOVVEED (am I allowed to say "FLOOOOVVEED" on this board?) Asian American Doll! Good way to criticize the over-PCness of our society and can be seen as a hint that more WESTERN entertainers of Asian descent are needed.

Ooooo...CRAZINESS!! :P

In other words, Bow cooks like me (I even make quinoa stuffing for Thanksgiving (we don't always eat turkey at Christmas - at least not traditionally. Christmas is my mom's birthday and we used to go out for those multicourse Chinese banquets)))! Also, not sure if the kids find Bow's food weird. It's just Dre and his family.

I'm of Chinese descent and Chinese really aren't THAT conservative compared to many other cultures - at least not when it comes to believing that women need to be covered up. They might be MORE conservative than many in western Europe or North America, but above-the-knee skirts are NOT an issue. Put it this way, unless I was wearing hot pants or super-mini dress, no one would say anything. China, especially in more urban areas, can be very stylish/fashionable - perhaps even MORE so than here.

What's the best combination for all-purpose gluten-free flour? Preferably without potato starch?

Anyone here NOT wear scents at all (besides lightly scented lotions)?

I went to a party with food stations recently. One of the tables had individual shot glasses of cheese fondue and we had the choice of bread, veggies and apples (I took one of each). Great thing about fondue in shot glasses is DOUBLE DIPPING!! :P

Ha! And my husband thinks Bow/Tracee Ellis Ross has "crazy eyes."

And a nice nod to his 1980s role as Steven Keaton.

I, too, would love to see Pops and Ruby together. Pops and Ruby drama would be GOOOOOOOD! :P As for why Bow can't do dinner on December 25 - maybe that's when they go to HER family's house (do we know anything about her parents, other than the fact that her dad's white and her mom's black?)? Or perhaps she could be on call (though she's probably senior enough that she can take December 25 off)?

I also want to see more of Ruby. She's kind of a female Archie Bunker! Also liked early 80s "video" of young Dre. Adorable kid!

Lazy today, so I'm partially cooking. Bought spinach and feta stuffed chicken from the supermarket and will be roasting that with onions and veggies. Side? Buckwheat grains (yeah, I'm experimenting). Tomorrow, I'm going to be baking eggs (usually, I add some milk, spinach, dried herbs and maybe cherry tomatoes and top it with some grated Parmesan).

Speaking of cola, I was at a food/wine convention recently and tried a drink called MerloCola (yeah, exactly what it is. Merlot + cola). The first sip was good, but afterwards....GROSSSSS!!! Plus something like this promotes underage drinking.

Mmmm...crusty bread.....cheese.........wine.....heaven.....

Noted in another thread, but I recently tried chocolate hummus at a holiday vendor market and liked it, so I purchased a tub. Used it for chicken the last night and let's just say that I'll probably go back to more "traditional" hummus flavours. I also tried game meat burgers at a new Toronto area burger place (had camel and kangaroo along with more "normal" patties like lentil and fish (tuna, to be exact). It was interesting, but in a good way. I liked the camel (and blogged about it, too).

How much egg to cups of cauliflower?