Oh my, so much happening here!!! SO happy to have the site up and running again and read about all the amazing foodie things...

I have company this week, thus my absenteeism... BUT, still much food things going on.

I have been focusing on salads lately... diet and all... and loving it.

My friend brought her recipes, she made us bacon wrapped sweet and sour meatballs. Was a very interesting dish, and quite enjoyable.

Friday is wine tasting and tour at the Westport Winery close by. I shall report back after that.

We are looking forward to it! Good for you sticking to your diet :)

Burn's Night
 

Um, Martina, in culinary terms, 'plating' is indeed a verb. In school, at least in my culinary school, how you present the food on the plate has a very important impact. The chef definitely critiques the plate, and gives you ideas on how you might make it more interesting, to the customer.

"Feast" has a good reputation here in Houston. I'd love to intern there.

Hey thank you for posting. I am always curious about other cultures. This sounds tasty. Do you have a recommendation for a subsitute instead of the whiskey? Is it sacrilege to even suggest such a notion?

GASP!!! did you really use that four letter word in here where us gourmets come to escape and share decadence? Shame on you! lol

Fuck diets. I say be healthy.

In my attempt to do this I have majorly increased my vegetable consumption. Speaking of salads I can make a salad from anything. I've been eating a lot of onions and mushrooms which are great for you and help with weight loss. I don't feel bad about eating olive oil. butter and ghee and use it a lot when cooking my veggies. So I might have a huge plate of roasted, stirfry, grilled veggies and a little small portion of meat.

Dieting can still be a healthy lifestyle change. I don't think you have to sacrifice decadence or wonderful gourmet food while "dieting" . That all sounds so wonderful!

I have a lot of vegetables in my meals but I always crave more.

and no one will attest to this more then I! I don't believe in fad diets. But I eat wonderfully cooked gourmet healthy meals. You're totally right.

There is a soda I have tried with the same name "Irn bru", it was delicious. The scot in me is all fired up!

I'll settle for some nice cold hard cider, thank you very much.

Hmmm! How to describe Irn Bru to the un-initiated? Lurid orangey coloured, sugary, fizzy pop. I have no idea how to convey the flavour. There is no comparison. :| It's not to my taste, although I have been known to throw a glass or two down when in Scotty Land and there's nothing else acceptable available. When in Roma an' all that. :cheesy:

:cheesy: Wuss! It's delish. In fact I've just eaten half a haggis all to myself. Yum! :eating:

Aye, Irn Bru (Made in Scortl'nd frrum gerrrdurs!) is what you lot call soda. You thought it was delicious? Have you booked you tastebuds in for an overhaul recently? :raspberry:

Its a trade off. I don't care if I'm model thin and I don't get wrapped up in all of that but I do care if I'm healthy. My trade off is not eating processed foods (or trying not to) eating whole foods, etc. Trust me, I indulge! I just have to find balance and make sure I stay active. It's amazing how much food I eat but when you start breaking it down its healthy and delish! Not everyone knows what to do with whole foods.

I haz the opposite problem with weight. I eat and eat but my metabolism is like its own super hero. I thought my anxiety was my super power, guess nots! I try to keep weight on but it doesn't work. *Gives my pants an evil glare and attaches belt* I lovez food - the foods I love. The ones I dont, not so much. My friends have been trying to change that. Only one has succeeded.

Okies sooo while my plans are very early on and the monies thing is still an issue, I have a goal to have my own food truck! <3 *squees at many food trucks*

I can haz? That is all. *Tries not to lick screen*

It probaby isn't even similar in taste. This tasted like pepsi & dr. pepper.

I have had Irn Bru, Tizer and Danelion & burdock in Canada! Haha. The D&B I've had it while eating English style Fish and chips. It has a very unique taste, I can say this much. Licorice and a little hint of ginger maybe? - not sure about what you have had?

Canada and the UK tend to share products. Thank you for your post!
I rely a lot on my senses, it seems to be how I process things. At least that's what I've been told ;)

I thought I could eat it until I got to the phrase "enlosed in the stomach lining."

In a typical recipe, the haggis ingredients, including the organ meats, are cooked and then chopped, seasoned and enclosed in the stomach lining, which is then tied with cooking twine. The trussed haggis is then simmered for several hours.

I can't do it. Give me a kilt and I'll wear it. Eating haggis is probably one of the only parts of my Scottish heritage I will have trouble connecting with. I can understand why some people enjoy it. It apparently tastes like a spicy sausage but, personally I don't intend to find out. Sorry Guy Fiere!

Now I have got to Google "offal." :glasses:



Offal is a collective term for the waste materials which remain after the carcass of an animal has been butchered and dressed. The term “waste materials” is actually a bit misleading, as many cultures have a variety of uses for offal, and in some regions certain parts of offal are treated as a delicacy. You may also hear offal called “organ meat” or “mixed organ meat.” With a growing interest in traditional butchery in the early 21st century, offal became much more readily available at restaurants and butcher shops, much to the delight of adventurous eaters.

The origins of this word are a bit unclear. Folk etymologists have suggested that it is a corruption of “off fall,” referring to the fact that as a carcass is butchered and dressed, the offal falls away, onto the floor of the butcherhouse. In modern times, of course, offal is collected in clean buckets and other containers, rather than being plucked up off the floor. This quaint explanation may or may not be correct; in any case, the word began to appear in English around the Middle Ages.

In all fairness, my diet is not very diet-like. I am simply retraining my body to return to a healthier way of eating. I have reduced my portion sizes and limited when I am willing to eat heavy carb meals. No carbs after 3 pm. I still eat everything I love I just choose to eat it at certain times of the day. My mother had a doctors appointment this week and her doctor is concerned about her blood sugar levels. When mom mentioned this new diet, the doctor jumped right on it... Now mom and I are meal buddies!! So far, its really working too!! I had to wear a belt with my jeans this week.

That's wonderful! Besides blets are great accessories *laughs*. A meal buddy is always great. I could use a little extra motivation myself.

I just say No.... LOL

I don't quite mind organ meat if it's done right. It's more the having it cooked in the sheeps stomach that gets me. I don't know why.

I have switched to veggie dogs. Although I do love me a good size sausage now and then.

I have made hard cider, a time or two, but probably not in the proper way. I simply hid the gallon of cider in my closet, until it turned hard, and then enjoyed it! :P

I just started drinking commercial hard cider recently, when I stopped in at a local restaurant/bar, and they had some there. I tried it (Strongbow) and was hooked. I think that I'd drather have that then most beers, to be honest.

"Can I ask what makes a cider 'hard'. Nad, you mention Strongbow, is that really 'hard' cider. It's a brand that's been made here since 1962 (I thought it was much older) here. Having just googled Bulmer (the maker of Strongbow) I find that what you lot might consider 'hard' is actually just 'dry'. Is that so?"

Um, to my mind, a 'hard cider' contains alcohol. That is basically what it means, here in the States, at least to my knowledge.

I would love to make my own! Has anyone ever succeeded?