mklynch

There's a small repair company out of Vancouver, WA that I've used alot. Honest and dependable. Let me know if you want the contact info - I know I'm a bit late as you said you had repair guys on it already.

I remodeled my kitchen this year and have an idea what you're going through. It is fun, but can be stressful when you realize that the choices you make you'll live with for a long time. About the cabinets - I found a local company that made them to order for me. The guy from the company came out and spent some time with me and we came up the design together. No kitchen designer or architect fee. But I had lived in the house for 3 years and had a good idea of what I wanted. He fleshed it out and I'm very happy with the result. I have 2 pull out spice cabinets (which I filled immediatly) , a built in warming drawer and all the depths and heights are where I wanted them. I do think the planning stage is the most important, so take your time. And have fun!

The KitchenAid range looks like the bottom drawer is a warming drawer. I had and oven like that and loved that feature so much. I used it alot for everything like warming plates, keeping food hot and proofing bread. Great feature!

I had a blast! That reminded me of the next thing I won. On the day my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer (she's fine, now 6 years later!) I got a letter saying I was being given a James Beard scholarship for a food and sparkling wine class again at Greystone. I have no idea how I got this, but it was so great. The class was 6 chefs and 6 food and wine writers. Karen McNeil did a day long class. We had 3 flights of 5 sparkling wines before noon and another 3 after lunch. I learned to spit that day, among other things. The next day we started in the vineyard, during harvest and followed the grapes to the winery and went through the whole process. Ended with us deciding our own dosage levels to our taste and getting to go disgourge a bottle, do our own dosage and cork it and take it home. All the chefs went for a quite dry level and all the writers went much sweeter. The next day's instructor was Holly Mondavi, who is so cool, teaching us how to open champagne with a sword, among other things. Then I drove down to Oakland, went to Yoshi's, got a front row seat to 2 shows of the Pat Metheny Trio and got to meet him between sets. Wow. Went back to Greystone for a couple more classes, if anyone is thinking about it at all - DO IT! It's great to be so immersed in what you study, with other people who are just as into it. edited to add - check out the Worlds of Flavor Conference thread for pictures of the kitchens at Greystone and the fabulous marketplace they do.

When I worked for a food service management company, they had a chef's contest requiring a 3 course menu for 6 with recipes. I was the only woman chef in the region and at the chef's meeting all the guys were bragging about how they were going to win. On the last day, I threw together my entry and sent it off. The president of the company called a couple weeks later telling me I had won! The prize was an all expense paid trip to Greystone, a week long class, spending money and dinner at the French Laundry. They published my menu and recipes and actually sold the entree at a couple large catering events. Now, I wrote the menu for 6 people, not 300 and it was very labor intensive. The first dinner happened to fall when I was taking the class and all the other chefs had to prepare it. Boy were they pissed! The second one fell when I was on vacation. That was about 8 years ago and I still haven't lived it down!

I'm waiting for the study that shows stainless steel is bad for you!

I agree with Andie, some of the pumpkins that were leftover from decorating my fromt porch have tasted really good. I've used them in soups where I puree and strain them if they're stringy. Deffinitly worth giving it a try!

We recently bought the Tritans mentioned earlier. Wine Enthusiast has them. They claim they are 4x stronger than lead crystal, being made with titanium. Also dishwasher safe. Been thru ours a dozen times with no problem. They are huge, even the chardonay glasses with a stem you can wrap your whole hand around. Not for the weak of heart!

A few years back I catered at a very well known, not to be named computer company. We used yards of festive cloth for decor on the buffet lines. (Under the chafers and platters, mind you.) After just a few weeks we had no cloths left and very few tongs. Also lost several platters. Wondered what could be happening. Then one day, one of the clean up crew walked in on a couple of the "guests" helping themselves to our decor. Things got alot simpler on the buffet lines after that.

I had to completely empty my kitchen when we remodeled. Took a long hard look at everything and found a wonderful community warehouse that helps people who really need it set up housekeeping. I donated all the old but quite usable cups, spoons, pots, pans, etc. and they were so happy to get it all. Now I'm down to what I really need, 2 sets of measuring cups, 1 set of spoons, a 1,2 and 4 cup glass measuring cup. I can find everything and all my drawers close alot better!

Fragrant toasted rice powder leftover from making larb with a dash of chipotle powder - with butter, salt and pepper. mmmm.......

It is a bummer that you can get on a "no call" list for your residence, but not your business. I owned my business for 7 years and it was amazing how much time you can waste answering junk phone calls. The other thing that really pissed me off was the hood cleaning company that cashed my payment check but didn't record it in their books. They refused to do the legwork to find it and put the entire burden on me threating my credit rating. The person I dealt with was so snotty and accused me of lying. I eventually found the time to produce a copy of the check (front and back) and didn't get as much as an apology. Never dealt with them again. Yes, it seems so galmorous from the outside to own your own business. Mel, I visited your shop a couple weeks ago and your work is stunning. It's a ways from home however, but I've told various folks who live closer to check it out. Hope you can keep your patience during the holiday season!

I've heard the no reservation policy blamed on "no shows". Especially big parties who book 2 restaurants so they can decide at the last minute which one to go to and never cancel the other. I doubt Portland would stand for credit card guarantees, but might be worth it. We tend not to go to the no res. places with guests or on the weekend. Don't think they miss us much.

I bought 2 pieces of Falk after reading Budrichard go on about them. They are even better than expected. I wondered where I was going to store them, but that turned out not to be a problem as they never leave my stovetop. (Unless they're in the oven) Now, what to do with all that allclad?

I like to make duck confit, a dozen legs at a time, and keep on hand for quick meals. Stored in duck fat, they keep for a long time. I heat them fairly slowly in the oven and then broil for a few minutes at the end, nice crispy skin and really tasty meat. That reminds me, I used the last of my stash, time to make more!

The smaller casings you asked about are usually lamb. They are helpful if making a poultry or lamb sausage for people who don't eat pork. Also good for breakfast sausage.

I made a batch of ginger marmelade with fresh ginger. It's nice on toast but is also good in marindades.

I gave my brother and his family Bacon of the Month club last year. In June they sent 4 months worth so they wouldn't be shipping in the summer. We had a great "bacon off" one Sunday morning, adding a couple more bacons and waffles. It was great! They are anxiously awaiting this months arrival and will be sad when it's over. Be sure to live close enough to the person you give it to so you can get invited over to enjoy. The best bacon so far was garlic studded. We're about to put in an order for that one. Is there a cheese of the month club? That would be good.

I've reduced the poaching liquid to a syrup and used it to paint plates. I've also reused it to poach berries, strained it, reduced it, then made it into a sorbet. Can't say I've ever thrown out the poaching liquid.

Hi Peter, I happened to pick up BBA last week not knowing this Q&A was coming, what luck! I'm really enjoying the book and have a couple questions. I came into a large amount of AP flour and happen to have some Bob's Red Mill gluten. What do you think about adding a bit to the AP so I can make chewy bagels? Any idea on ratio? Also avoiding trans fat laden shortening and wondering about replacing it with butter in bread recipes. Butter has more liquid than shortening, but it's held in suspension in the butter and I wonder if the dough would let on that it's there. Should the butter be clarifyed first? Thanks for all the great info! MK Lynch

In my last kitchen, short on space, I used a 5' stainless prep table from a restaurant supply house for about $100. You can get them with a couple drawers and all my pots fit underneath. With tall barstools you can eat on it and it's a great prep area without the cost of a butcher block top. I've got my dream kitchen now and the table is on the deck with the grills and smokers and is weather proof and still a great asset. Just a start..........MK

Saffron / Ginger Ice Cream! Sounds weird, but it's really good.

There is a mushroom forager / winemaker's dinner at the Shoalwater Inn in Long Beach on Friday, Oct. 29th. The winery is Apex and the mushroom forager is a woman who will be there showing and describing the mushrooms in each course. Sounds fun!

Here's a nut crust I've used and it's always been great sugar 6 oz butter 8 oz egg yolks 3 ea. flour (AP) 8 oz cinnamon 2 t cloves 1/2 t ground nuts 6 oz ( I toast them before grinding ) lemon zest 1 t Cream butter and sugar. Add yolks one at a time. Mix together dry ingredients, then add to above. Spray your pan, press dough in and blind bake Good luckQ

Take the JOC recipe and sub beer for half the milk, will puff up higher. Also, you can separate the eggs, beat the whites and fold in at the end.