tariqata's Profile

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.

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!

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.

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!)

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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?

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.