Alex

Exactly. If I ever find myself working in a high-end restaurant kitchen, I'll call it mise. If I'm home, it's just prep.

I have a few things like that in the kitchen but I'm considering a bigger, dedicated clock that doesn't require focusing on a small, incidental digital readout on an appliance. We have a nice wood clock on the wall above the sink. It's far more useful than the digital clocks on the stove and microwave. We had a great ceramic "art" clock with coffee, fried eggs, toast, and bacon-strip hands, but alas, a housekeeper broke it several years ago.

Obviously I'm not in charge of making such an executive decision, but if I were, I would never, ever, exclude children from any of the events unless it clearly would be inappropriate for them to be there, e.g., The Violet Hour in Chicago. At our first Gathering, in Grand Rapids in 2003, we had an impeccably behaved preschooler in attendance. If the thought of even a small possibility of being around a potentially "screamy"-aged child causes you such dread, and you don't trust your fellow attendees to exercise good judgement in such matters, then you're probably much better off not making the trip.

Dried banana peels. Oh, wait. Different kind of smoking. Sorry. Actually, I'm eager to hear about your pineapple smoking results, apropos the interesting pineapple core forum.

Traverse City: Yes, Amical is very good. The Cook's House, also on Front, is a great little place. This wouldn't affect you, but I think their tacit BYOW policy has been rescinded. (Don't get me started on stupid Michigan wine laws.) I think that the excellent Patisserie Amie, which also serves dinner, is now called something else. Trattoria Stella, in a development housed in a former state psychiatric hospital, has a good rep, but I haven't been there recently. Ditto Red Ginger. In Maple City, by your side of Glen Lake, is La Becasse, a restaurant modeled after a French country inn (and with an actual French chef!). I'd be perfectly content with their duck & pistachio pate, French gravlax w/a shot of Aquavit, and profiteroles ($28 total). Oh, and a bottle of M. Lawrence Brut from Larry Mawby's nearby winery (also $28). I agree with abadoozy that Rowe Inn is very good -- not the equal of what was Tapawingo, but then, it wasn't meant to be. It's in Ellsworth, so obviously it's a longer drive than TC. Petoskey is an even longer drive. I haven't been to Petoskey in a while except to quickly pass through, so I can't speak to the restaurants there. Except for American Spoon Foods, which has a store there with free samples, a small restaurant, and gelato. Michigan wines aren't world-class, but there are indeed some very good ones. Old Mission Peninsula is just beautiful, and Two Lads Winery sits on one of the most beautiful parts of the peninsula. Not to mention their outrageous new building and that their wines are quite good. Other stuff to do: I'm sure you'll get lots of advice from your fellow workers. You're right by the spectacular Sleeping Bear Dunes. The Dennos Museum Center,, on the campus of North Central Michigan College in TC, shouldn't be missed.

I used to. I highly recommend a window fan. Try an amazon.com search.

How do you find the Friday Sale? I never seem to be able to find it on the site. Is it where it says "Today's Deals?" http://www.amazon.com/ Yes. There used to be a drop-down list when you hovered over the link, but now you have to click on it; the Friday Sale link is on the next page. The Friday Sale has been into chocolate lately. Two weeks ago I scored some 72% Vivani Organic Chocolate Bars (from Germany).

Friday Sale (ends tonight): Not a gizmo, but a great deal on Scharffen Berger 62% or 82% chocolate, 24 3-oz bars for $41.91 shipped.

My impression -- and a quick Google search confirmed this -- is that deep-fried items other than potatoes are not uncommonly called "French fried," but only those of a similar shape, such as green beans or julienned carrots. Then, of course, there's French's French Fried Onions, but that's a different animal, er, vegetable.

What do you do if the ovens are in use for something else? That was my problem and the reason I use a warming tray. The top of my Breville (click for pic) is suitable for plate warming. It's not quite wide enough for two dinner plates, so I usually stack them, covered with a baking pan. The bottom one gets hotter than the rest, so I'll pull it a minute or two before plating.

I think Blether is right on target. The gret majority of the world's people awake, or at least start to awake, as daylight arrives. Because of the psychological significance of awakening in general (even if it's not in the morning)--"I'm still alive," It's a new day," etc.--I'm guessing that by association the first meal of the day takes on added significance and so becomes a kind of ritual.

Green & Black's sells "Dark 70% Organic Couverture in convenient 5kg re-sealable bags of pistoles." More info here. Their 3.5 ounce bars are readily available here in GR at retail. I think they're pretty good, but as you know, it's an individual taste thing.

+4 Via an assist from Groupon: My New Orleans, John Besh Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, Grace Young Courtesy of Bargain Books: How to Pick a Peach, Russ Parsons Chef, interrupted, Melissa Clark The Clark book looks like a real sleeper of an acquisition.

Hmm. I ordered mine (in black) toward the middle of the sale, I think, but it hasn't arrived yet. I wonder if they think that Midwesterners are more patient than New York (and vicinity) types.

Hey, nice to see a Yooper on eGullet!

I thought I was the only one who did this. When I broke the glass piece of my (inherited) father's shaker, I started "temporarily" to use a quart canning jar--and never went back. For one drink for myself, I use a pint jar. Me three. I have a regular shaker, but usually don't use it unless we have guests and I want to put on a (purely amateur-level) show.

Pancakes, from my dad, especially his truc of adding sour cream to the batter (or, as I do nowadays, thickened yogurt).

Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes, by Vickie Smith (to complement my new Fagor)

Chilled avocado, tomatillo, and cucumber soup, or some variation thereof. To keep it simple, a cold tomato-watermelon-mint soup--the one I made at the Chicago Heartland Gathering--garnished with chopped avocado and fleur de sel.

The actual link still has the ellipsis in it. Here's the full link. Thanks for the heads-up.

A half-bottle of B&B--one of Ms. Alex's favorites. And some wine, but I assume you're asking about non-wine items.

Ha! Must be an eGullet thing. I ordered black, too. I was tempted by red, as our dining room walls are red and the room is open to the kitchen, but uniformity prevailed over sparkle. I didn't get that error messge, though.

Thanks, Steven. I just purchased one. Your post about using the Blendtec to make fondue was the decision maker. Well, not really, but that's pretty cool nonetheless. I also remembered that the for the basil oil I made at last year's Heartland Gathering, Edsel's (?) VitaMix absolutely pulverized the basil; my KA blender hadn't been quite as efficient at the task. I'm looking forward to smoothies, sorbets, and quick soups. I'm also curious how peanut butter will turn out. My KA food processor does a credible job, but I have a feeling this'll be better.

As much as I'd love to get involved in an ethics-related discussion, I have a more pressing product-related issue. I have a Blendtec in my cart right now, but I'm going through an internal debate about whether to click the Buy button. It's undoubtedly a great deal, and I certainly would use it (although not frequently), but I'm wondering if it would provide a significant enough advantage over my current blender. I have a relatively new (less than 1 year old) five-speed KitchenAid blender. I use it primarily for pureeing soups and the like, making pesto, and crushing ice. I have no complaints other than how loud it is. What could the Blendtec do that my KA could not do at all, or not as well?

I imagine the Whole Foods in West Bloomfield would carry it. Worth a call, anyway.