jglazer75

I've eaten at lots of places where salt is not available on the table. In fact, I wish MORE places would do that. But, that's sort of besides the point. I would advise the passive-aggressive route for getting the chef to listen to your requests: take the meal as offered (even if it doesn't have enough salt) and then talk badly about the chef on egullet, trashing him/her because he/she prepared your meal poorly. If you really feel it's necessary, I've seen quite a few small grinders that are actually the tops of herb-storage devices (perhaps someone with more knowledge can post a link).

Any suggestions? Other than having something custom-made, which is not an option right now, are there any common retail brands you can recommend? Being in Illinois, it's kind of hard to find any competition to Weber around here. Also, I seem to be getting the feeling that "Char-Broil" are simply not worth the (minimal) money. At all of the "big boxes" (Lowes, HD, etc) they seem to be the predominate low-price brand; is the general consensus that they aren't worth the money? Has anyone gotten a Char-Broil that they've been particularly happy with?

I had looked for a prior thread; but apparently didn't go far enough back or use the right search terms. Thanks for the direction. Based on the preliminary comments, particularly about the chimneys I am beginning to reconsider my kettle-aversion.

I am in the hunt for a new propane grill (I think). Like a lot of folks, I live in an apartment so retrofitting the house for a gas-line, high end rotisserie/smoker/grill behemoth is not in the foreseeable future. However, I want to get something and we'll start with the following "requirements" a. I move about once a year/or every two years - and will for the "foreseeable" future (at least the next two years or so) so the grill has to hold up to (and be capable of) being moved around. b. I'm a semi-accomplished home cook, so I can handle the power - or at least would know what to do with it. c. I'd like it to last for a little while - at least until I get into a house I can retrofit as described above d. I'd like to spend somewhere between $0 and $400 - preferably closer to the $200 range. My questions: a. What am I looking for in terms of BTU? I haven't been able to find any sort of 'definitive' guide as to how to use this term in comparing and rating grills. Mostly I've just seen "bigger is good, but not necessarily better." which doesn't get me very far. b. Are there any sort of 'extras' I'm forgoing? I notice this particular grill has porcelain rather than cast-iron grates - this seems to be a trade in price, but I can upgrade later, no? c. Should I more seriously consider charcoal? While I like the IDEA of a charcoal grill - I see the propane as something I will actually use on an 'every day' basis and the time requirements of a charcoal grill would, I think, relegate it to 'weekends only.' So, any help?

Rally's currently has 389 restaurants, mostly in the Midwest. ← Cool. Since I moved from Ohio to Illinois, all of the Rally's/Checker's that DID exist near where I lived all folded up and moved out of town. And I hadn't seen one in forever. I did a search online and the nearest Rally's is 56.92 miles away. Next time I'm back in Ohio I'll have to track one down. I guess the two left in Chicago aren't exactly in the world's greatest neighborhoods.

Two smartest things ever: 1. $.99 Junior Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's. No one makes a better burger for that price. Except: 2. The Rally's CheddarBurger for $.69. Gooey, fake, cheese-like substance with sauteed onions mixed in just smothering a patty. When I was in college (and active enough not to phased by such things) I would routinely eat 5 of them for my entire dinner. It's too bad Rally's never really caught on outside of Ohio/Michigan. There were a few in Illinois, but they seem to have all gone now. In fact, does Rally's exist at ALL anymore?? The Wendy's $.99 menu was genius; the best thing about it is that they have things that people would actually want to eat priced at $.99. I know when McD's and Burger King first put out their $.99 menus there wasn't anything worth eating on it - just crappy yogurt parfaits and their hamburgers and cheeseburgers which they had only charged $.79 for before they were put on the $.99 menu. Who the hell wants a yogurt parfait from McDs?!?

For anyone wondering ... Madison is good for exotic food, but surprisingly I have yet to find a good sushi joint. I've eaten at 3 or 4 places all along State and it's side streets and none of them have impressed me. Most of the restaurants think they are a lot better than they really are, and unfortunately are priced like it. So, am I missing something? Btw, thanks for the heads-up on the Mexican places. We'll check those out in the coming weeks; always looking for good, cheap Mexican (besides Taco Bell of course )

Unfortunately, I too live in a bagel purgatory in the midwest where we suffer from the 'pseudo-bagel' as you call them. Where I come from we have two different words, though spelled similarly mean two entirely differently things: 1. Bagel (pronounced bage-l, with a long "a"): this is a proper bagel, one with a semi-crusty exterior, properly flavored, and a firm, moist interior 2. Bagel (pronounced bag-l, with a short "a"): this is your 'pseudo-bagel' - it is named after the infamous midwestern-gentile mispronunciation of the word 'bagel' that makes it sound like a nasal condition. The product itself is more akin to wonderbread cut into a circle with a hole in the middle. It is the predominate species in the midwest and the reason I eat so few bagels To be more on topic, I think I'm with Jason on this one. Off with their heads. A bagel is not that large folks - it cannot possibly that difficult to consume an ENTIRE bagel. I would extend Jason's exceptions to allow cutting in half only if a person has "actually committed" to taking the other half.

And Maumee Bay Brewery sells my favorite beer in the universe - their Red. My mouth waters just thinking about tipping one back.

Actually what drives me BONKERS are the places that include gratuity in the bill. What a useless thing to do, because it is NEVER the amount that I would have given them (often they charge 18% and I normally start at 20% and go from there). But, if it is included the server, even if they are the greatest server in the known universe, will NOT get an extra tip. If they have a complaint about it, they can take it up with their manager or whoever instituted that ridiculous policy. 9 times out of 10 the policy is there to snag people who don't realize that tip was included in the price. I understand that tip, for larger tables, is included because they don't want the server getting screwed on a big table, but come on, have some respect for your customers.

The obvious solution is - don't cook the same thing twice!

Rice. It took a little while and every now and then something goes inexplicably and horribly wrong, but I blame those rare occassions more on the crappy range that I have to use than on my inabilities. Steamed vegetables. There's a fine line between raw and mushy. I have found that line Calzones. can't make biscuits to save my life and bread is often hit-or-miss, but for some reason if the bread is turned into a pizza dough, I'm golden. Oh and I can make excellent ice. Water, freezer, you're done

I'll kick in another thumbs up for OSV. I ate there a few weeks ago and it was excellent. Can't remember what I had, though I'm sure if I put my brain behind it I could, but such is life - it doesn't really matter because you won't have the same thing I did. Anyway. It's sufficient to say that the food was EXCELLENT. I was surprised at the number of 'final course' options there were. And, if you can I would suggest the wine flights that are paired with the meals - our wines were excellent and complimented the ideas for each meal well (even if the flavors weren't exactly complimentary). Anyway. Excellent food, no problems with service. Inexpensive might be an exaggeration - we paid $91/person with the meal, mid-price wine flight, coffee (no dessert), and tip.

In the Midwest here (more particularly in Wisconsin, but I've seen it in Ohio and Illinois as well) there is a ritual of Friday Night Fish that extends beyond the lenten season. Of course, during lent Friday Night Fish is not unusual at all. Anyway. Given that it's the season... ...what does everyone do for their Friday Night Fish? Does it have to be fried? Deep fried or pan fried? What types? Cod is usual, but anything more unusual? With Potatoes? vegetables? Rice? My only requirements when having Friday Night Fish are that it be fried (it doesn't matter how) and that it be served with potatoes. Tonight, we are having pan-fried ocean perch with potatoes lyonnaise.

I'll throw down a second (or is it fourth or fifth by now) for the green teas. I'm not a tea person, I just gots to have my coffee in the morning. Black teas, while pleasant enough, just don't do it for me. It's not that I don't like them, but I often feel that if I'm going to drink a straight up black tea, I'll just brew the pot o' coffee or pull out the french press. On the other hand, I like to have a hot drink at night as I'm watching the Daily Show trying to ignore the rest of the day and I find green tea perfect for this non-activity.

1. Panini's - a must have. Winking Lizard (or BW3s - don't be discouraged by BW3s outside of Ohio, they aren't real BW3s) for wings. 2. Used to have street vendors that sold gyros but I don't think they exist anymore. 3. All the young dudes hang out in Lakewood (on the West Side) and Mayfield (on the East Side) and Mentor (on the North Side) if you just want bars to drink and play pool at. 4. The 'nightlife' downtown is on West 6th in the Warehouse District; most of the bars are pretty cool. 5. Most of the 'fancy' food is over in Ohio City. 6. Hit the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, the museums next door, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame is 1 hour south (1.5 hours if you actually drive the speed limit) in Canton, Ohio. 7. Columbus is 2.5 hours South, Cincinatti is 5 hours south. Toledo is 2 hours West. Buffalo is 1.5 hours North.

← Depends on what the 'premium' price is. I am of the firm belief that NO cup of coffee should ever cost more than $1. Otherwise, I'll just make it myself. That's not to say I haven't PAID more than $1 - I just don't like to. Having said that. If McD's wants to compete w/ Starbucks they DEFINITELY need a lower price point (say around $1.50 for a med/lg). Given that...I would consider going to McD's over Starbucks. It would be nice if McD's worked out a licensing deal w/ Intelligentsia (a Chicago roaster) who makes a great cup o' Joe and already has production capabilities to ramp up for that size of an order. (I would guess)

Californians are WEIRD. Try this in Chicago or New York. I dare you. Even in Boy's Town you're likely to get your hand ripped off.

I keep my recipes in Microsoft OneNote. The tab system is excellent (I have tabs according to 'type' - i.e., entree, soups, desserts, etc.) and the searching function rules (seriously, if you need to search for 'pork' it'll find it ALL in under 1 second). It's a little much to start with, but once everything's in, it beats any 'recipe database' out there. For hardcopies that I have floating around, I put them in a three ring binder. Here's the BEST part though. OneNote has this function that lets you save each tab (remember: 'entrees', etc...) as an HTML file! Instant access everywhere in the world :) Plus, each tab is save natively as a separate file, so, if someone wants my entree recipes, I can just send them the one file. Very very handy. It also helps that I have a wireless network and laptop that I can use in the kitchen, so I can pull up my OneNote files from anywhere in the house.

← The next waiter to touch gets touched back. And, I'm not a child, I don't need the waiter at my eye level. Moreover, the next waiter to sit down at my table with me will receive no tip whatsoever. OK, I'm not a professional or anything, just an irritated patron who gets REALLY irritated when servers do these things. On the plus side, I don't normally hold it against the restaurant unless I see that ALL of the servers are doing it. I'll just take it out on the server (and his tip).

Am I weird to think that 150g is a little small to make it worth the effort? 150g is 1/3lb. That's less than a week's worth of coffee. Am I just going to run 3 cycles of this thing on Saturdays to give me 1lb worth or is it 'turn it on and go to work' easy? Basically what I'm asking is whether these things are worth the hassle? If so, I may be getting a last minute 'christmas gift' for myself

This topic seems to me to be a bit of the age-old non-sequitur: "What is art?" In this case the question is "What do you consider 'four star cooking'?" I think there are a couple ways to approach this question: One is the most literal sense: four Michelin (sp?) stars. Not many of us will ever EAT at one of these restaurants let alone prepare food well enough to be at one. However, there is a certain, for lack of a better word 'pretentiousness' that is necessarily attendant to such food. In most (all?) cases it is haute cuisine that would leave most Americans wondering where the other half of the meal went. And in MANY cases a diner may not even know how to EAT the item, let alone what is in it, how it is prepared, etc. I would venture to say that 98% of anyone cooking at home is not looking to prepare this type of food and wouldn't even consider this 'four star' because it is so far removed from a 'home' dining experience. Moreover, the criteria for judging this is much objective; is it good? is it creative? how does each course pair with each other? blah, blah, blah... For the most part, why would you WANT to create this food at home? Part of what engenders a four-star rating is service and atmosphere that I can't provide in my two bedroom apartment. Second is a more general sense: four star meaning a very good 'normal' restaurant. You know, one of those places where I have to make a reservation, and probably wear a tie, but I won't have to guess at the best manner of getting the food into my belly. Most Americans have a general sense of what 'very good' food is even if they may not think the cost of such food is justified. In this sense of the phrase 'four star' is more approachable because the criteria becomes very subjective; is this better than what I would pay for at a very good restaurant. The subjectivity takes on a sense of value: I only paid $15 for this meal that I would have paid $80 for at a 'very good' restaurant and it is 'almost' as good as I would get there, therefore I cooked a 'three star' meal. Personally, I fall into the second category. I couldn't make, but nor do I have any interest in making, the same food that Grant Aschutz produced at Trio. On the other hand, I've been to Coco Pazzo in Chicago (rated 3 stars by the Tribune - considered a 'very good' normal restaurant) and you know what? I've made better food at home. edit: sp

Where I live doesn't have many specialty stores, so I either have to wait to get into the big city (Chicago) or order them online. It's a little silly ordering a $3 item online and paying $4 to have it shipped.

That's some friggin' horse pucky. Seriously, what does a guy have to drink around here to get some respect. Like you I would never use the word "vente" in a sentence. Oh, wait, I just have...but not really...it was for demonstrative purposes only! I will admit to being a simple person with a reasonable lifestyle. Going to Star*(cks doesn't make me feel sophisticated, in fact I usually feel a little dirty afterwards. I wouldn't like to be snooty - in fact I'm too good for those snooty pretentious f*&kwits at Starf**ks. I only use 'fake' curse words in polite company but when I am in a Starf**ks I'll keep in mind that swearing like a sailor will earn me 'cred' points with the staff. Stupid f**king a**hole bastards. And the fact that those who like AFHV drink black coffee does not necessarily imply that those who drink black coffee like AFHV; in fact, any person who would be so condescending is probably the type of snooty pretentious 'sophisticate' who has been lobotomized by reality television.

Thanks for the input, I think was just searching for the wrong thing. And these buggers are a lot harder to find than one would think; I've looked in 'normal' grocery stores (Dominicks, Kroger, even Woodman's) with no luck. Hrmmm...