Alex

I haven't been there in a few years, but I'd second Josh's S & S recommendation. (Josh, what's with the BYOB? Is there a corkage fee?) I'd also recommend Terragusto, which also is BYOB ($1 pp "recycling fee") at the Addison location. KC, when you say $200 for 4, does that include wine? tax? tip?

Might I recommend that you pick up a few six-packs made by Founders Brewing Co. right here in Grand Rapids. Excellent stuff all around. The Dirty Bastard Ale is terrific; the Breakfast Stout is outrageous. Binny's and Sam's both carry the brand, but Binny's is $1.00-1.50 cheaper.

Yes to all of those except duck fat (I've seen goose fat occasionally, but not duck) and pig parts (possibly available via special order at a butcher shop, but unlikely). We do have a Middle Eastern grocery, so the molasses is likely, but I've never checked.

One can pick up an unused or barely used vintage knife -- General Electric, Hamilton Beach, etc. -- for a very reasonable price on eBay. That's how I got my GE.

I wouldn't buy a whole bag just for this, but if you have any charcoal or charcoal briquettes sitting around, you could try leaving a tray of them in the microwave for a few days and see (well, smell) what happens.

Empirical evidence from Cook's Illustrated says the opposite, at least for texture.From their "Notes from Readers" section, July/August 2008: Regarding taste, I suspect that salting after cooking would naturally lead to a more distinct salt note (if that makes sense) than if blended with the eggs during cooking. Me, I straddle the fence and add a pinch or two of Morton's kosher salt halfway through the cooking process (over low heat).

I'm sure that this practice well predates the SF crew. The Caesar salad recipe in my 1975 version of Joy of Cooking specifies tossing the lettuce with salt (and dry mustard and pepper) before any other ingredients, and I'd be willing to bet it's been written about long before then. I'm guessing this technique allows the greens to absorb some of the salt before they're coated with oil.

Quady Essensia, an Orange Muscat dessert wine

Yes, except that their web site shows them as "currently unavailable," at least at the time of this writing. All three, plus their versions with the pink wings, plus the one for the Cuisinart/Viking/DeLonghi 7-qt. models, are in stock through Amazon.

Its a blade made by a different company that fits the KA. Its called " beater Blade". There is also one made by another company called "sidesweep blade". Google them and you'll find a picture. ← It's actually called SideSwipe, not Sidesweep. And, here's the BeaterBlade web site. They're also sold on Amazon. (It's $24.95 for the one that'll fit my KA, so I'll have to piggyback another item if I want free shipping. Grrr.) The two brands are about the same price; I haven't been able to locate anything in the way of discounts save for a 6-qt. KA model on eBay that ends in ~40 minutes. They're different designs, so I'd be curious to know how they stack up against each other.

Yes, it's on their Piazza San Marco. We very much enjoyed our dinner there this past December: Bucatini all'Amatriciana; Rigatoni with cauliflower ragu, chili, and rosemary; a bottle of Aglianico; and an assortment of excellent gelati. The accordion, flute, and guitar trio playing multi-ethnic and occasionally faux holiday music in the Piazza (think "Jingle Bells" followed by "Hava Nagila") was a touch of the surreal, but didn't detract from the overall experience.

That's correct. It changed a while ago. Feh. The Cherry Garcia bars are still pretty good, albeit expensive, so long as one doesn't expect a duplicate of the original pint experience.

Edsel, given that you'll have a car, and if you can get away for lunch, go to Settebello, also in Henderson (see rjwong's post). Beth, at Batali's Enoteca San Marco, in The Venetian, you and your co-worker could easily dine very well (app + pasta + dessert + glass of wine), for ~$50 each. Based on your post I assume it's just the two of you who'll be eating together. If you had a couple of other dining companions, it could be worth your while to split the cost of a car rental (try Hotwire or, even better, Priceline), which would expand your dining options tremendously. Most hotels, including the Rio, have free parking. You also would be able to explore all the Asian dining options.

And speaking of sugar, the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce that's sold in Canada (and, I assume, in GB) is made with sugar. In the U.S., it's high fructose corn dreck, er, syrup. I think it makes a difference, as do others.

I use this to cut my bread. If I do it at just the right speed, it toasts the slices, too.

I'm seriously considering buying a Masterbuilt ($218 from Amazon), so I'm happy to see your posts here and in the Dinner! forum. I'd love to be able to use it as a cold smoker. If your smoke generator works, could you also write about its construction details? (I'm not good at figuring out stuff like that from scratch but can follow someone else's instructions or guidelines.) Thanks.

We going to our friends' house -- they're making a cassoulet. I could accept that as a Superbowl tradition. They got inspired to make it because they want the Steelers Toulouse. Sorry.

I'm more a "tough love" than a "group hug" kind of guy, so please take this post as my version of support. If you are working 55+ hours a week, taking a full course load (I teach online courses, so I know that the only time it saves -- or should save -- is the commute), and being the chief cook and, apparently, bottle-washer, something has to seriously give. You don't sound like the kind of person who would slack off on her schoolwork, and obviously you don't have any real choice about work work, so what does that leave? You simply need to, as you wrote, "stop whining" and accept that >for a while< you're not going to be baking bread, at least not like you used to. >For a while< you're not going to be shopping and eating like you used to. It sounds to me that a sticking point is your self-defeating self-talk about being a failure if you use shortcuts or reheat homemade (!) frozen meals or aren't baking bread or doing whatever. In my opinion, it's quite the opposite of failure: all of those are healthy adaptive behaviors for a person in your situation. Some specific advice: 1) Give the BF some KP. So he's working 70-80 hours a week. Boo hoo. So are you; probably more, if you count schoolwork. If he fights you on this, stop feeding him 2) Look into Albert Ellis's work on the self-help version of Rational-Emotive Therapy. You can read the first eight chapters of one of his books here. 3) You need not sacrifice quality to save time. As Elizabeth David showed us, an omelette and a glass of wine can make for a fine meal. As can an Amy's Organic Pizza, a shaved fennel/cucumber/onion salad, and a glass of wine. Or a grilled Gruyère and Serrano ham sandwich, a simple green salad, and a glass of wine. Or some penne with goat cheese, spinach or arugula, garlic oil, and sun-dried tomatoes (and a glass of wine). Or a pan-fried boneless chicken breast accompanied by organic brown rice and wilted escarole with raisins, pine nuts, and garlic -- and two glasses of wine (I'm making that tomorrow night). Each of those meals takes less than 30 minutes, including prep (except for the rice, unless you start it ahead of time). 4) Per #3, buy a rice cooker with a timer. I have this one and like it a lot. 5) Allow yourself one dinner a week with no time constraints. I hope at least some of this is helpful.

More on the subject, from The New York Times

As nsxtasy said, there are numerous choices. This isn't a museum per se, but one of my favorite places to visit is the Chicago Cultural Center. There are entrances on Randolph and Washington, just west of Michigan Ave. It's a stunning building (the former main branch of the Chicago Public Library), and features art and photography exhibits along with music and dance performances. For example, there's a performance this Sunday by the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. Best of all, it's free. If you've never been there, the Art Institute of Chicago is worth a visit, of course, if for nothing else than seeing Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Caillebotte's Paris Street, Rainy Day, and Renoir's Two Sisters.

This is great! Ms. Alex and I drove along Spring Mountain a couple of weeks ago on our way to Rosemary's. We were wondering which of the myriad Asian restaurants would be worth a visit. We will wonder no more.

According to this New York Times article, he's a big fan of smoked salt caramels from Fran's Chocolates in Seattle. I like Dorie Greenspan's comment in the article:

Last year I did a tasting of caviar (from BLiS here in Grand Rapids) atop several different bases. Everyone's favorite was cauliflower (steamed), pureed with just a bit of butter and salt.

There's nothing yet about this on their web site, but I just received an email announcing a second location for Terragusto, so I thought I'd pass along the information.

We're having a couple of friends over for dinner, then we'll try to stay awake for TV coverage of the Elmore Sausage Drop at midnight. Mushroom-chestnut soup Veuve Cliquot Brut Yellow Label, N.V. Cranberry-Lime-Ginger sorbet Crane Dance Farms roast goose, with a sauce made from stock, chestnuts, prunes, and cognac Braised red cabbage and apples Potatoes roasted with goose fat Robert Mondavi Unfiltered Merlot, Napa Valley, 1999 Palazzolo’s Lavender-Honey and Roasted Pistachio ice creams Pahrump Valley Winery Creme Sherry Jeffrey Steingarten’s hot chocolate