Deep-dish pizza

Almost everything you can get in the States you can get here in Canada.  Once exception, at least in our neck of the woods, is deep-dish pizza.  You can't even get the frozen ones that you can order from Chicago, because they have to cross the border.

I've been meaning to try making one here for a while, and last weekend I finally got around to it.

Here are the ingredients laid out.  Dough is on the left, the greased cookie sheet is to make breadsticks out of any remaining pizza dough.

The dough rises in the fridge over a 30 hour period, punched down once after around 8 hours.  It doesn't need to be rolled out, you just press it into the pan.  It doesn't like staying up the sides though, it would slip down again by the time I got around the whole rim, but eventually it stayed up far enough to make the pizzas.

Here is one of them (I made two), and it's baked in a genuine Lou Malnati (famous Chicago pizza place) pan, Ed had ordered it online a while back. 

Verdict?  Pretty good!  I think I even like my crust better than theirs.  Toppings were sausage and spinach, in addition to the cheeses (mozzarella, romano and parmesan) and the canned tomato/sauce mix.

I forgot to take pictures of the bread sticks (which I had double-brushed with garlic butter after they came out of the oven), but I think I might have liked them even more than the pizza.

I plan to make this again, but it takes planning ahead of time due to the long rise for the dough.

Some "international" M&Ms

Back in late June, we saw some overpriced but irresistible (to me, anyway) M&Ms at Bulk Barn.  My brother and his wife were coming over for dinner on Canada Day, so we decided to splurge and get these flavours for a dessert taste-testing.

English Toffee:

Despite having two english toffee lovers in the group, I was the only one who liked these.  The dissenters complained that they tasted mapley rather than toffee-like.  To that I said, who cares, but this was a low-rated M&M.  It ranked only 4 out of 8 thumbs, with two enthusiastic thumbs up from me, and two grudging thumbs up from among the purists who were expecting more definite toffee flavour.

Mexican Jalapeno:

Everyone loved this one.  It got a full 8 thumbs, although one participant tried to downgrade it due to being sensitive currently to spice, but I overruled that as an individual medical reason to avoid scarfing down too many does not mean there is anything wrong with them.

Thai Coconut:

These ranked 6 thumbs, two from me, and one from everyone else.  They liked them but didn't love them.

And lastly, one more that we tried recently, but not at the same tasting event...

Hazelnut M&Ms:

These we got in bulk at Bulk Barn, but no picture available.  They are the same colour mix as the everyday M&Ms, and are disc-shaped but larger than a milk chocolate M&M.  They rank 4 out of 4 thumbs, nice mild but definite hazelnut flavour, crunchy shell with a soft flavoured chocolate filling.

A Cornucopia of M&Ms

On our way to the Adirondacks on August 20, 2018, we stopped at the Walmart in Ogdensburg as soon as we crossed the border, to stock up on some food items.  As usual we checked for new flavours of M&Ms, and we were not disappointed!

All of these are good.  Ed didn't like the Strawberry nut ones as much as I did, but that's his loss, I loved them.

Dark Chocolate Mint M&Ms:

Pecan Pie M&Ms:

Pumpkin Pie M&Ms:

Strawberry Nut M&Ms:

No, we didn't eat them all at once ... but we did stop again in Ogdensburg on the way home to stock up, before heading back to Canada where we only have the boring, mainstream flavours.

Neopolitan M&Ms

We got these in at Target in Chicago while we were there.  They were at a deep discount, in fact, we found the last stray bag misplaced somewhere in the Candy aisle, and then at the cash desk it didn't exist any more when they scanned it, so the manager was called and he made up a super low price:

They are good!  Recommended, but it seems like they have already been discontinued.  There are some special limited-time flavours that make it to market in the United States, but never make it to Canada before they are never seen again.  I wonder what others we have missed now that we are not US residents but only occasional visitors.

Caramel M&Ms

We first tried these sometime before Christmas:

These are really good!  A semi-firm but not sticky caramel centre, surrounded by a tasty chocolate and the usual M&M shell.  Definitely recommended.  You can even get them at Bulk Barn.

October visit to Pink's Hot Dogs

In catching up on my travel photos, I came across these from our visit to Pink's Hot Dogs on October 6.  We'd been meaning to go for years to this iconic tourist destination.  The day we finally went, it turns out that they were filming a segment of Access Hollywood there.  These 3 pictures are screen captures from when it aired.

So these obviously aren't photos of us, but if you look at the background we are behind the 2 owners of Pinks as they talk to Natalie and the other host, I forget her name:

It was kind of fun to do two Hollywood things at once - go to Pinks, and to be an accidental extra on TV at the same time.

M&Ms: Coffee Nut

I don't know if this is an official Halloween flavour, but it came out shortly after BOOtterscotch.  Supposedly "Coffee Nut" is an award-winner, but I never heard about the contest.

I have to admit this one is a bit of a disappointment.  The coffee flavour is so faint that you really only sense it as a bit of an aftertaste.  They're pretty much a peanut M&M, which however is my favourite standard flavour, so it's not exactly a crushing disappointment.  Still, I had been hoping for a bit more of a mocha hit.  I still recommend them, just don't expect too much coffee.

M&M review: BOOtterscotch

The chocolate holidays often come with special M&M flavours.  This Halloween brought us BOOtterscotch, a white chocolate butterscotch flavour.

These were really good!  I don't think they've produced a white-chocolate flavour yet that has been a dud.  They've very flavourful and boo-tterscotchy.  Recommended.

S'Mores and Mega M&Ms

I was gone so long from Los Angeles this time, that when I came back, the universe had provided THREE new varieties of M&Ms to try.

S'Mores:

The red-white-and-blue theme gave away these as being leftovers from the Fourth of July, but I was completely happy to test them on July 27.  I really liked these!  They are smaller than most M&Ms, and consist of a graham cracker core, coated in chocolate and then candy.  Nice texture and flavour, these are recommended.

Mega Milk Chocolate M&Ms

I should have put something in the photo for scale, as these came out looking like regular M&Ms, but they're not, they are huge.  They seem to be around 2.5 X the diameter of a regular M&M, and thicker but proportionally flatter.  They were OK.  Nothing bad about them, but not as special as I was hoping.  I was hoping they'd be like a peanut M&M where sometimes the peanut gets forgotten and you have a large round blob of unexpected chocolate, but the shape of these doesn't give you that.  I weakly recommend them; there's nothing wrong with a giant M&M, but nothing terribly exciting about it either.  If they could make them the same shape as the peanut or peanut butter M&Ms, then they might be on to something.

Mega Peanut M&Ms

These had been waiting for me when I got off the plane, so I admit I scarfed them down before I remembered to take pictures, or even that I ever had a blog.  They were OK too, but no more satisfying than a regular peanut M&M.  Well, maybe a bit more satisfying, but since the peanut to chocolate ratio is lowered, you can't pretend as easily that they are good for you.  Still, I recommend them, but if you like a bit of nutrition built into your candy, then the regular peanut variety is the way to go.

Crispy M&Ms

I can't resist a new M&M, even though I only eat them these days when a new flavour comes out.

I didn't expect to like these, but I did!  A lot.  They've got a crispy rice centre to them, still chocolatey, but lighter due to the puffed rice centres.  Recommended.

Candy Corn M&Ms

Well, a whole year has passed since I shunned trying the Candy Corn M&M's, for no good reason.  We picked up a bag at Target and thought we might as well give them a try.

I was surprised ... these are really good!  I know nothing about Candy Corn itself, I don't think it's as big a seasonal deal in Canada as it is in the States, but I can report that this white chocolate M&M is very tasty.  I would definitely buy these again.

Pumpkin Spice M&Ms

Ha, my blog is turning into an M&M review blog.  Good thing they bring out new flavours as often as they do or the internet might never hear from me!  I do have other things on the go other than eating chocolate, but I have been a lazy blogger lately.

Pumpkin Spice M&M's - another good one!  Very vague pumpkin flavour with cinnamon and spices.  Nice and chocolatey, this one is a milk chocolate one.

They have another Halloween flavour out, Candy Corn White Chocolate M&Ms, but I didn't try that one.  It sounded a bit strange, even for someone like me who likes to try all the new stuff.  If I change my mind I'll report back.

White Chocolate M&Ms

Well, I actually do have things to blog about other than chocolate, but my duties as an M&M reviewer keep getting in the way.  And no, I am not sent free samples to review, how I wish I was!  I find my samples free-range in Los Angeles department stores, and shell out my own hard earned money, all in the name of public service.

That said, we have another winner!

These are creamy and very tasty, very white chocolatey.  Recommended!

Raspberry M&Ms

I haven't reviewed any new flavoured M&Ms in a while.  I was happy to stumble across these at the local K-Mart in L.A.  Dark Chocolate Raspberry!

Verdict?  These are good!  I don't eat that many M&Ms, but these would rate buying again.

Crispylicious! Juicylicious!

A couple of years ago I drove past this place in L.A. and promised to eat there and report back:

Jollibee is a fast food chain from the Philippines.  It's an American fried chicken and burger joint, to be specific.  I find it interesting that the American fast food concept gets exported to distant countries, and then the people from there export it right back.

I'd been wanting to try this for a while, but wasn't until I was passing by, ravenous after the Mount Baldy hike in August, that it became irresistible.  I had always wanted to try both the joy of the Chickenjoy and the yum of the Yumburger, but as it turned out Chickenjoy was on sale if you went for the bucket, so Chickenjoy it was!

The restaurant was full, and most of the patrons and many of the employees were Filipino, so it must be one of those essential tastes of back home for them.  It was crowded, so we got takeout.

Crispylicious!  Juicylicious!

I forget what they call those things on the left but they are a variation on sweet potato fries.

The verdict?  Not bad, reminds me of the texture of the newfangled KFC when they brought that out many years ago.  The breading is flaky, the chicken was OK, the flavour was pretty basic, but we realized there is a spicier version which we forgot to ask.

ChickenJOY though?  That's a tall order.  Chickensatisfaction, definitely.  I don't eat fast food much, but would I eat this again, if I needed a quick meal.

Expiry minute

As a nurse, I work a lot with expiry dates.  Drugs and other assorted medical doodads have a certain shelf life, and the month and year in which they need replacing is printed on the package.

In recent years expiry dates have been added to packaged foods that didn't always have them before.  As I was munching on some peanuts recently, my eyes passed over the expiry date.  I was pretty impressed, that wow, they don't just know that these nuts will go bad in June of next year, they think they know the exact date!  Then I looked closer...

They don't just know the day.  They have it timed right down to the hour, and indeed... the minute.  If I don't finish them on June 3, I'm gonna have to get up pretty darned early on the 4th to polish them off safely.

Clogging your arteries, with a cosmopolitan twist

This fast food sign on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles caught my eye:

Unfortunately, it was the day before I left so I will have to wait until my next visit to pay a research visit. Jollibee seems to be a burger joint from the Philippines.  That's something that's interesting in L.A., you get chain restaurants from other countries too, not just the American stuff.  The Yumburger and / or Chickenjoy is on my list of things to try.

M&M's Chocolate Trio

In honour of today being one of the four great chocolate holidays of the year, I bring to you yet another new (to me, anyway) M&M:

These are really good!  They're a triple-layer "premium" (as the bag says!) M&M.  The centre is milk chocolate, middle layer is white chocolate, and a thin layer of dark chocolate is on the outside.  A "soft shell" of multicoloured purple goes on the outside:

I really like these, very decadent.  The soft shell was a little weird at first, but I quickly got used to it.  Creamy, rich... mmmmmm!  Plus, I don't think they're a seasonal M&M, they were with the regular candy at the store, not the Valentine's Day stuff.  I hope they don't disappear on Tuesday.  Definitely a two-thumbs up concoction.  These are my favourite of all the new ones I have tried in the past few months.

Japanese mushrooms

When I stopped by the Japanese grocery store a few days ago to pick up some noodles, I found something else new and wonderful to try:

I just love mushrooms, so finding new ones is always so much fun.  I didn't know what to do with these beech (top photos) and enoki (bottom) mushrooms, so I just cut them apart and stir-fried them with butter.  Delicious.  The enokis I separated into individual "sticks" so that they kind of sauteed into a noodle-like consistency.  A few days later I had them at a Japanese BBQ place and they kept them in clumps.  I liked them both ways, but separated into "noodles" was pretty interesting, they had the mouth feel of a firm noodle but a wonderful mushroomy flavour.

They weren't even expensive, less than $2 for each package.  I'll definitely buy them again.

Coconut M&M's

I know I said photos of my Red Rock Canyon hike were coming up, but there are a lot of photos to go through.  So to keep you informed on other Vegas discoveries... here is something else I found there:

Coconut M&Ms!  I bought these at the big four-storey M&Ms store in Vegas.  Disappointingly, the store sells very few actual M&Ms, and I didn't even see these on first glance.  I don't know how widely they are being sold; I'm pretty sure the Vegas store is the only place I have seen them.

In a (coco-) nutshell, these are fantastic!  Colours are green, white and brown, and the occasional random M has a little picture of a palm tree, or a coconut, or a flower.  Flavour is just the right amount of subtle coconuttiness.  Another two-thumbs up for this one (both thumbs mine).

That's my last chocolate review for now... until the next chocolate holiday!  I don't know if they bring new stuff out at Valentines, but Easter stuff should be coming out after that, I'll have to see if they have any new innovations to aquire before I head back to the hinterlands of Canada.