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Display Name: tariqata
Personal URL: http://www.sammysdot.net
Member Since: 1/18/09
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Tonight I'm making chicken and leek pasties, with a big green salad, using leftover chicken from this Smitten Kitchen recipe. Tomorrow I think we're going out, but the plan for Sunday is braised spinach and chickpeas in coconut milk from this website. Biscotti and mochas are also in the plan.


What's Cooking This Weekend?
Weekend of February 4-5, 2012

2/3/12 6:15 PM

I'm definitely a fan of the 'after'! It's bright, but I don't think it's at all commercial or sterile-looking, just happy.


Kitchen Before & After: A White & Aqua Kitchen Makeover
Tatertots & Jello

2/2/12 3:52 PM

I have almost this exact dresser, and I've had it for (literally) my entire life. It isn't going to be replaced any time soon, but it could sure use a change; I'm definitely bookmarking this project!


Before & After: Bright Stenciled Dresser
Saved by Suzy

2/2/12 2:01 PM

I've never quite understood the need for vegetable hiding - or the fact that some people hate 'vegetables', to be honest (one or two, I can understand, but not the entire deliciously diverse category). But my parents, although they'd ceased to be vegetarian by the time I came along, still had a veggie-centric diet, so vegetables weren't a side dish that could be ignored in favour of other foods, or something that could be hidden; they were just what we ate. Hopefully this approach will work as well when it's my turn!


Are You a Vegetable Hider?
2/2/12 9:55 AM

The only thing that irks me about Toronto's bag fee is the decision to avoid accusations of raising taxes by requiring merchants to charge it, but allowing them to keep it; I'd much rather have seen the city collect the funds and put them toward a local environmental cause (watering the street trees, perhaps...).

That said, I think it's been great otherwise. I used re-useable bags anyhow (yay No Frills, charging for plastic bags before it was cool), but I see far, far fewer abandoned plastic bags flying around these days, and unlike others, haven't noticed an increase in paper bag littering.


Local Plastic Bag Bans: How's It Going?
1/31/12 5:33 PM

Tomatoes, cherries, and plums. Next year I'm not going to miss out on cherry season, even if canned or frozen aren't quite the same as fresh.


Summer Fruits & Vegetables: What Do You Miss the Most?
1/31/12 11:00 AM

Homemade pizza tonight. I'm probably going to use up some leftovers tomorrow - coconut rice and beef rendang - with freshly stir-fried bok choy, chiles and garlic. Sunday I'll be roasting a chicken and serving it with lentils and roasted carrots. (This makes me notice what a meat-heavy weekend this is going to be, because I generally cook primarily vegetarian food!)


What's Cooking This Weekend?
Weekend of January 26-27, 2012

1/27/12 6:09 PM

Yeah. Right now, my husband earns more money than I do, because I'm back in school slogging away toward a master's degree, but two years ago, our situation was exactly reversed. It doesn't really make sense to me that we should trade off doing the housework according to who is making more money at any given time. To me, it makes far more sense to accept that our respective financial contributions to our household are going to vary over time, and work out allocations of the housework that let both of us have time to relax at home.

(And we wash up the kitchen together every night.)


Home Ec.: What is Your Housework Worth?
1/27/12 12:17 PM

I too would like to know a bit more about how the numbers for average sugar consumption break down. I don't drink soda at all, and juice very rarely; I don't sweeten my coffee or tea; I bake my own bread (without added sugar) and avoid processed foods as a rule. But I'm quite happy to eat sweet potatoes and rice and oatmeal; do these sugars count, or are we just talking about added sugar?

I've greatly disliked the taste of every sugar substitute I've ever tried (I'm not counting things like maple syrup or honey, which I don't think of as 'substitutes' for refined white sugar; they're their own thing). I prefer to use white sugar or brown sugar if called for when I'm baking, and if I'm cooking for people who really want or need to restrict those ingredients, I try to make things that don't need them, or need them in very small quantities.


Sugar Substitutes: For or Against?
1/25/12 1:10 PM

Onsite laundry is one of my personal dreams, but for laughs, I'll share a quote from my dad's speech at my wedding this summer:

"I know that G. and R. are truly children of the city, because looking around, I think just about everyone here has either been a roommate or helped them move at some point in the past nine years. For their future, I have one word for them: ELEVATOR."


What's on Your "Next Apartment" Checklist?
1/25/12 12:29 PM

Too late for most of us to consider - apparently it's already been sold. :P

For me personally, the absence of a full-size kitchen would be a deal-breaker, but then again, the utility costs are hard to beat. (And I am curious to know how well the stilts work to buffer the streetcar vibrations, and if other buildings on streetcar lines could be retrofitted with them. I've had apartments on a couple streetcar lines, and I can't imagine that the constant shaking is good for the building in the long run.)


A Lego-Like House in Toronto
1/25/12 9:46 AM

If you can't find lacinato kale - and I often can't - and aren't a fan of straight-up raw curly kale, you could chop it and blanch it for a minute or so in boiling water, drain well, and then toss with the dressing and let it sit. It's cooked at that point, but still has plenty of chew and brilliant colour.


101 Cookbooks' Raw Tuscan Kale Salad
Recipe Review

1/20/12 2:37 PM

Hah - I did this over the weekend! I actually didn't get rid of all that much beyond duplicate items, but I did put the cookie cutters, piping bags, and other specialty baking tools in a labeled bin that now lives in the closet (which I also cleaned out and organized last weekend), since I use them all but don't use them frequently. And the tools that get used all the time were moved to a container on the counter.


Why January Is the Time to Purge Your Kitchen of Unused Tools & Gadgets
1/20/12 9:21 AM

This isn't a flight story, but it is a food travel story - sort of, at least! Last summer, my partner and I took the bus to New York City from Toronto. At the border, our bag was going through the x-ray machine (I'd had no idea that was routine for land travel), and something raised an alert. The border officials opened it up and started looking through, asking us, "Do you have any agricultural products?" We scratched our heads but couldn't think of anything - we know better than to try to bring produce across the border. "Are you sure?" they kept asking. "Apples? Oranges?" Each time, the answer was no. Finally, one of them said, "do you have soap in here?" and this time we had to say yes, in fact, we had packed soap. "Oh. I guess it looked sort of like an orange."


I Am Not a Gel: Share Your Air Travel Food Stories
1/20/12 9:04 AM

I shop primarily at the local grocery store and limit myself to what's in season; there are year-round farmer's markets in Toronto and I do go to them when I have time, but they're all far enough away that it's a bit more difficult than it is in summer when I can easily cycle there.


Where Do You Shop for Fruits and Vegetables in the Wintertime?
Reader Survey

1/19/12 2:38 PM

I inherited a very solid but very ugly desk chair from my apartment's previous tenants - it's not the most comfortable chair, but it works with my desk, and I was able to re-cover it with fabric that was a bit more fun.


Modern or Vintage: What Kind of Desk Chair Do You Favor?
1/19/12 2:22 PM

I'll add my voice to the call to declutter - it makes *such* a difference. Our kitchen only has a few cupboards, so we use a Gorm shelf unit from Ikea to store a lot pantry staples; initially, it was a crowded mess of cans and bags and spice containers; reducing, consolidating, and packaging everything up has made it much more attractive *and* more functional. Also ditto on placing artwork on the back wall and investing in some bring and attractive tea towels and a colourful runner.

If you do want to keep pantry items (like the cheerios!) out for easy access, maybe you could consider transferring them to glass canisters or something, instead of keeping them in the original boxes?


Ideas to Help Make This Kitchen Amazing?
Good Questions

1/19/12 2:17 PM

I don't make a regular habit of it, but this is the kind of thing that simple, delicious yoghurt cake - maybe drizzled with a bit of berry coulis - was made for.


How a Single Layer Cake Makes Everything Just a Little Nicer
1/18/12 4:04 PM

I think keeping my cat off the bed would be a pretty futile exercise. The foot of the bed is one of his regular day-time lounging spots. Then when I go to bed, he moves up next to my husband's pillow, until my husband comes to bed - at that point there's a dude-kitteh staring contest. Eventually Sputnik will flounce off, to return in the (early) morning to tap my face and let me know it's breakfast time. Gently pushing him away is my equivalent of hitting the snooze button.


Reader Roundup: Pets in Your Bed?
1/18/12 11:24 AM

I cook mine with about a quarter that amount of butter (or less) melted in my cast iron skillet before adding the beaten eggs, over low heat and stirring constantly - it only takes a few minutes and results in egg curds that are velvety and deliciously custard-like. I'd be willing to try the method described here, but I really don't think I could bring myself to add *quite* that much butter.


The 5 Rules of Ultimate Scrambled Eggs
Gilt Taste

1/12/12 11:18 AM