Yakisoba-san

Yakisoba is a fried noodle dish that is popular in Japanese cuisine. Although 'soba' is part of the word, yakisoba is actually not made of the common soba noodle made of buckwheat, but a wheat flour noodle that resembles ramen noodles. In Japan, the word 'soba' often refers to any thin noodle, not just the buckwheat soba noodle.

Recipe for Yakisoba (from Kids Web Japan - http://web-japan.org/kidsweb). Makes 1 serving.

Ingredients:
1 pack Steamed Yakisoba noodles
50 g (2 oz) meat (pork or beef), cut into thin, small pieces
1/2 cup cabbage, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup carrot, thinly sliced
1/3 cup onion, thinly sliced
Japanese Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
2 or 3 tbsp water

Instructions:
Oil the griddle (or frying pan) and fry the meat (fry pork until it turns white). Next, add the onion and carrot and fry until they soften slightly. Then add the cabbage and fry until soft.
Pull the noodles apart to keep them from staying in a clump, and stir them into the mixture. When everything is nicely mixed together, pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of water over it and stir-fry a little longer.
Add the seasoning sauce (powder or liquid) that comes with the pack of noodles, or if there is no sauce, use Japanese Worcestershire sauce.


References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakisoba
Yakisoba (焼きそば, Yakisoba?), literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan. It originates from Chinese chow mein, but has been integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen. Even though soba is part of the word, yakisoba noodles are not made from buckwheat, but are similar to ramen noodles and made from wheat flour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba
Soba (蕎麦, Soba?) is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. Moreover, it is not uncommon in Japan to refer to any thin noodle as soba in contrast to udon which are thick noodles made from wheat.

Shattered Thoughts: Glass Flimsiness or Human Clumsiness?

Schott Zwiesel Double Old Fashioned Glasses are made of Tritan®, a patented titanium crystal glass material that was designed to withstand breaking and chipping, without compromising on aesthetic appeal. Consumers agree that Schott Zweisel glasses are durable.

"Schott-Zweisel is truly a miracle. I have dropped a glass from the counter top to the stone floor and it did not break!" - Cooking.com consumer review, Nov/06

The Schott Zwiesel brand of glasses is used in professional food service establishments, and has been spotted at high-end restaurants such as Splendido in Toronto.

References:

Official Schott Zwiesel website (http://www.schott-zwiesel.com/html/tritan1_e.htm)
Tritan® crystal glass is the product of several years of research, during which new production processes, optimised materials and lengthy practical testing went into developing a material of the very finest quality. The aim was to create a brilliant utility glass for use by top professionals in the gastronomic sector, a dishwasher-safe and break-resistant glass that would outshine all others.

Cooking.com (http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?sku=305808)
The Diva Tritan by Schott Zwiesel is a breakthrough in crystal glass! After years of extensive research, Schott Zwiesel has revolutionized the wine glass with an incredibly pure, hard and clear crystal glass that's highly resistant to chipping and breaking even at its most sensitive areas - the rim and at the points where the stem joins the bowl and the foot. The glasses stand up to daily use and thousands of cycles in your dishwasher, without any blemishes or loss of brilliance.

Minda, Dinner at Splendido, Toronto, 2006

Income Splitting... allowed or nay?

Generally, Canada's tax laws are set up to prevent income splitting. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) frowns upon income splitting because it has the potential to dramatically reduce revenues from income tax. As such, all Canadians must file independant income tax returns; a non-earning spouse can be named a dependant, but not assigned any income:

"...most would-be attempts at income splitting are doomed to failure — short-circuited by the Income Tax Act and its attribution rules. Basically, those rules state that most attempts to transfer income from a higher income spouse to a spouse with little or no income will not be allowed."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/personalfinance/income-splitting.html

However, there are a multitude of techniques used by Canadian couples to mitigate their tax liabilty by pooling some of their resources. Spousal RRSPs, loans for family businesses, fair market value loans to a child or spouse, and student loans made from a family business are some of the methods that are used.

All of the above methods of income can be legally applied but the CRA has the recourse, on a notwithstanding basis, of reversing any income splitting maneuvers made for the purpose of splitting income:

1. The general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) under section 274 of the Excise Tax Act is intended to prevent persons from benefitting from transactions undertaken primarily for the purpose of avoiding, reducing or deferring the payment of tax, or increasing a refund or rebate or other amount, where no other anti-avoidance provision is applicable. Such a transaction is considered to be "an avoidance transaction" and includes an arrangement or an event. The GAAR applies to all persons, e.g., registrants, persons claiming rebates, etc.

Source: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/g500-6-9/g500-6-9-e.html

Opinions as to whether Canadians are better off with more laws favourable to income splitting depends entirely upon whom you ask. This blogger has faith that political expedience, as ever, will be the arbiter of the winds of change in this matter...

Altered Mind

Scone VS Biscuit

Scones and biscuits are very similar in nature, although scones may refer to the sweet variety, whereas biscuits often are savoury. As their recipes can be identical, scones should be no 'drier' tasting than biscuits. Neither scones nor biscuits contain yeast.

Reference: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit)

"In American English, a 'biscuit' is a small form of bread made with baking powder or baking soda as a leavening agent rather than yeast. (Biscuits, soda breads, and corn bread, among others, are sometimes referred to collectively as 'quick breads' to indicate that they do not need time to rise before baking.)
Biscuits are extremely soft and similar to scones; in fact, many recipes are identical. In the United States, there is a growing tendency to refer to sweet variations as 'scone' and to the savory as a 'biscuit', though there are exceptions for both (such as the cheese scone). A sweet biscuit served with a topping of fruit and juice is called shortcake. In Canada, both sweet and savory are referred to as 'biscuits', 'baking powder biscuits' or 'tea biscuits'; although 'scone' is also starting to be used."