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Archive for February, 2012

My dinner for September 15, 2005

Image by Smaku

Oh, would you look at this! Sushi yet again – this time something different.

Note: This dinner costs about CDN, plus taxes. That’s pretty expensive, however, 1) This is a "customized" dinner in that the chef only put the freshest fish of the day and, 2) Is not part of any set meals; i.e. it’s just like ordering each piece separately at the sushi bar, which is costly anywhere you go.

Restaurant:
Kumai Sushi
35 Brunel Rd., Mississauga
(Hurontario St. / HWY 10 just South of the 401)

Old video footage which needed using

Video Rating: 5 / 5

Chef’s Selection of Tapas

Image by Sifu Renka

The best thing were the Croquetas de Bacalao (salt cod croquettes, served with roasted garlic mayonnaise and lemon) that we ordered as a separate course.

The Chef’s Selection included:
Berenjenas Gratinadas (aubergine, topped with cheese and tomato) – pretty oily.
Costillas de Cerdo (pork spare ribs) – fall of the bone tender.
Gambas Garbadina (king prawns, deep fried in our special beef batter) – nice crisp batter, shrimp were springy, but tasteless.
Patatas Bravas (fried potato, in a spicy tomato sauce) – really oily and salty.
Ensalada de Espinacas y Aguacate (spinach & avocado salad)
Albondigas a la Jardinera (meatballs) – a moist mixture of pork and beef – one member of our party liked it, I found it really fatty.
Paella Valenciana (with chicken and mixed seafood) – fluffy and moist.
Pollo al Ajillo (chicken in white wine and garlic) – did someone accidentally drop a box of salt in this cream sauced dish??

The three of us took a break from our Windsor Castle visit and ate at a tapas place in old town (just steps away from the castle). Except for the salt cod, everything else was really so so. We ordered the Chef’s Selection of Tapas that was supposed to be enough for two people and added another couple dishes. In the end we had a hard time finishing it all because there was just so much food.

La Tasca – Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant
www.latasca.co.uk/

Image seen on: www.expatica.com/es/survival/surv_leisure/Spain-in-the-ey… and qatarvisitor.blogspot.com/2009/02/spanish-food-comes-to-q….

NYC – Midtown: Totto Ramen – Avo Tuna

Image by wallyg

Totto Ramen, at 366 West 52nd Street, was opened by Bobby Munekata in 2010 to evoke the rustic shops of lunch-hour Japan.

Have a look at Zabar’s Famous Smoked Fish with Saul Zabar. He brings us through the process of hand selecting smoked fish for the Zabar’s store on Broadway.

Items For the Easily Amused

Image by Boogies with Fish

www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2010/05/27/items-for-the-e…
I’m greatly relieved that Madang – Ples Bilong Mi  now seems to be alive and kicking again. A recent double-whammy of weird interactions between plugins and some possible security problems conspired to knock me of of my own site and caused many readers to receive weird offers to download a mysterious "wordpress.gz" file, dump them to a 404 "Not Found" page, or behave normally, as the fortunes of fate dictated at the moment. I’m sad that this happened, because the last thing which I want to generate in my readers is frustration. My game is amusement, not apoplexy. If you do encounter any problems with the site, please inform me by email or leave a comment, if possible. I can’t fix anything which I do not know about. I’ll praise once again my WordPress guru, Michael VanDeMar, who, for a modest sum, plucked my precious baby from the tar pit and washed her clean. If you are a WordPress user, you will probably need Michael someday. Put him in your contacts now before you forget.

If you’re a long-time "local" in or around Madang, you will remember Doctors Michael "Mick" and Margaret Horwood who were the local sawbones in town for years. We lived in a small flat above their office. They are wonderful, caring doctors and excellent friends. Mick still comes up to Madang on occasion and dives with us. His son, Will, visited us with some of his fellow medical students some time ago. Will was visiting Sam Young, a friend in New York City and got this phenomenal shot of the skyline with an iPhone!

Not too shabby for something with an Apple logo on it. I confess to not being an Apple fan. Please don’t hate me. However, one of our co-workers has just arrived with a new iPad. In a couple of days I will deliver to you the definitive review of this absolutely fascinating, but seemingly useless product. I admit that I was mesmerised the first time that I squeezed my fingers together and watched the images shrink and then grew again when I moved my fingers apart. Mind blowing!

Here is something that I’d bet that you have never seen. It is the underside of a New Guinea Cushion Star (Culcita novaeguineae):

It clearly shows that it is really a starfish with the stubbiest possible legs. Yeah, yeah, I know that most people call them arms. But, we don’t walk on arms, do we? If somebody asks you how many arms a starfish has, answer, "Zero, dummkopf."

And, here is yet another thingie which only the most bizarre of you may have ever seen:

It is an extremely juvenile Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor).  When I first saw this from a couple of metres away, I bubbled into my regulator, "What the . . ." It is very small, only about 20mm across. I honestly couldn’t say what it was until I got the shot on my computer and enlarged it. Seeing it big made it clear from the shape of the little bulbs with the . . . er . . . nipples on them (hey, what would you  call them) that is is definitely an itsy-bitsy Bulb Anemone.

At the Madang Lodge Hotel and Restaurant there are several carving similar to this one of two old men and a dog in a canoe:

There is a guy in Madang who carves these. I think he may have a patent on the design. I have coveted these for years. Maybe if my new jobs work out, I may commission one. I don’t know where I’ll put it. Our house is so full of artifacts that we’re running out of wall space.

I saved this one for last because it makes me giggle. Click to enlarge this image of a Slender Grouper (Anyperodon leucogrammicus):

I’ve uploaded it to my server lager than usual so that you can see the raw hatred and anger on the face of this fish. If this fish had been a tiger, I’m certain that I wouldn’t be sitting here boring you into a catatonic state. Fish don’t usually react to me this way. Maybe it got out of bed on the wrong side.

GINOTHEGINNYS GOOD FRIEND BREEZE IS MISSING SO HE FIGURED THE CHINESE FOOD RESTAURANT IS WHERE HE IS..LITTLE DOES GINO KNOW THE OWNER ATE HIM AND GINOS FATHER

Video Rating: 3 / 5

8min 720p HD VIDEO (click 720p) of our recent 13-20 july 2010 holiday in El Gouna resort, Egypt, staying at the excellent Sheritan Miramar hotel ( ranked 1/14 on trip adviser). a mixture of hotels and near by marina, shops, restaurants, and privately owned villas. very clean, safe, friendly and good value, Thai restaurant and Upstairs restaurant worth visiting. Thomas Cook on line, recommended. prices vary from £485 to £680 depending on the season, for 7 days B+B flights and transfers ( 45 mins). Sheritan Miramar deserves its rating. For 100 euro offer the hotel offers 1 week half board ( but supplements still apply to certain menu items). I prefer B+B as you’ll miss the downtown choice of places to eat, eg Greek, Italian, Egyptian, French, Chinese, Moroccan, Vietnamese , the list goes on and on!. Some night life and shopping too, plenty small super markets to stack up on bottled water and cans at 20% hotel prices! A weeks use of the El Gouna resort shuttle buses (every 15mins) costs under 3 quid! Plenty of Tuc-Tucs for £1.50 a trip too. Great time, fantastic weather!

Video Rating: 5 / 5

NYC – LES: wd~50 – Tai Snapper

Image by wallyg

The 6th course of the tasting menu at wd~50 was a Tai snapper, with onion tart, coffee, cucumber and asian pear.

wd~50, located at 50 Clinton Street, was opened in 2003 by Wylie Dufresne, the former chef at Jean Georges. Named for the chef’s initials and the street address, the space was designed by Dewey Dufresne and Louis Mueller. wd~50 has been awarded 3 stars by the New York Times and 1 star by Michelin.

Homepage www.gourmetnyctv.com Facebook https www.gourmetnyctv.com Facebook https millesimerestaurant.com The video produced by Pure Soul Productions Inc. http Michelin 2 star chef Laurent Manrique laurentmanrique.com

NYC – LES: wd~50 – Tai Snapper

Image by wallyg

The 6th course of the tasting menu at wd~50 was a Tai snapper, with onion tart, coffee, cucumber and asian pear.

wd~50, located at 50 Clinton Street, was opened in 2003 by Wylie Dufresne, the former chef at Jean Georges. Named for the chef’s initials and the street address, the space was designed by Dewey Dufresne and Louis Mueller. wd~50 has been awarded 3 stars by the New York Times and 1 star by Michelin.

Hong De Lions in Chinatown on Chinese New Year’s Eve on Wednesday 2/2/2011

Link to online store pillsrx24.com Lexapro antidepressant Lexapro – generic escitalopram – is an antidepressant in the SSRI class that is approved to treat major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Lexapro (Escitalopram) 20 mg Here is where I currently stand as…

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com Szechuan cuisine carries very strong local characteristics and is mainly comprised of local food from Chongqing, Chengdu, northern and southern Chuan region. Szechuan cuisine employs close to 40 different techniques in its preparation including: braising, basting, dry-steaming, oil dripping, and different kinds of frying—stir fry, pan fry, deep fry, quick fry, dry stir-fry, soft fry and so on. Szechuan cuisine pays particular attention to “balancing the flavors” and regards flavor as its foundation. The six basic flavors concerned are tingly spicy, hot spicy, sweet, salty, tangy, and bitter, and more flavors are produced through the combination of two or more of the basic flavors. The secret of the famous “hot” Szechwan cuisine lies in the skillful use of hot chili peppers for its vibrant red color and subtle spicy fragrance. Szechuan cuisine has 24 basic flavors, the most among all the Chinese cuisines.Comment on this video for a chance to win a gift card. How? In May, after commenting on my YouTube vids, email to info@foodparadisetv.com; subject: free gift card; info: name, address, contact info, how did you hear about us, did you comment on my YouTube vids yet? Happy eating and winning !! Subscribe, Like, Comment, and make Favorite to my YouTube Vids! Let’s also stay in touch on Twitter and Facebook. I check them daily and I’ll reply (I don’t read YouTube Inbox because there are a lot of spams). Website: www.foodparadisetv.com …

Video Rating: 4 / 5

Breville Black Electric Wok – EW30XL/ Cook N’ Look Lid/ 6 Quart Capacity/ Quantanium Surface/ Temperature Control Probe/ Butterfly Heating Element/ Bowl And Detachable Base/ Assist Plug/ Black Finish

Video Rating: 5 / 5

China Wok 337-269-6097 www.yellowbook.com china-wok-dxklb8zma-3372696097

As the Holiday Season approaches Tahoe Locals and Visitors alike are treated to the changing colors and seasonal beauty our area has to offer. This is also the time of year Lake Tahoe businesses start getting ready for the holidays and the upcoming ski season. The artist Apollo has painted holiday windows, winter scenes, window murals and several wall murals at Lake Tahoe and Northern Nevada area for over the past 35 years, including several casinos, resorts and restaurants. Apollo has been both a full and part time resident since 1974. After the Holiday season many of the local businesses leave Apollo’s winter scenes up through the ski season, giving the town a festive winter ambiance. Apollo has just completed a New Mural at the Tahoe Valley Lodge, located at Lake Tahoe blvd. and Tahoe Keys Blvd. on the south shore. The Lake Tahoe scene takes you to the ridge-top at Eagle Falls. Visitors relaxing in the resorts hot tub are transported to the edge of Eagle Falls overlooking Emerald Bay. The mural was extended upwards and the total length of the wall. The mural also seamlessly connects to the Mural Apollo Painted on Tahoe Keys Blvd. (Reflections of Serenity) in 2009. Apollo has several murals on the south shore including Heidie’s Restaurant and Mountain Postal. Apollo is one of the world’s leading artists when it comes to murals. Apollo has painted several public murals in Hawaii, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, and California. Apollo has over 60 images available to …

Video Rating: 0 / 5

Here is a tutorial that is dedicated to LadyFlameSniper on how to make an Octopus or Squid out of Hot Dogs for a bento box or just lunch for children to bring to school and eat. It’s so easy to do it took about 5 mins to do the whole thing. As a child in school and missing mommy at home, it’s always nice to open your lunch box at school and see that mommy has added a touch of love to your meal. It’s literally a beautiful way to show and remind your child that you are thinking about her and love her very much. I know for my daughter having a lot of food allergies, I’m always worried she might feel left out or missing out because she can’t have things like chocolate milk, certain cookies, yogurt, or basically anything with dairy, tree nuts or shell fish. So I like to do this for her so she doesn’t feel that she is missing out (or feeling left out) on anything at lunch time. What started with sneaking veggies into sushi and getting her to eat things like avacado and stuff, has turned into an ever evolving bento box with food that is fun to eat as well as healthy and fun to make together I hope you all enjoy and try it at home. Thank you for watching and let me know how it goes In the future there is a possiblilty that I might do more tutorials. Thanks Again, Krystal, Kaitlyn and Mommy

Video Rating: 4 / 5