megaira

Did you work at TGI Fridays, Cakewench? They were the most anal about this that I've ever seen as far as chains go. Sequence of service started with "60 seconds to greet" - I forget the rest. They had theories and strategies and rules out the wazoo. Our managers always seemed to have some new crackpot fable to tell us at the beginning of every shift. "The beach ball theory," "the sinking ship theory," "the barber pole theory," ad nauseum. I want the experiance to match what I'm spending, period. Simple enough. Chains like chilis, fridays, applebees, etc. I avoid like the plague after working for them. You'd think waitressing would make me a more easy going customer, but I turn into megzilla and leave feeling pissed off after an hour of mental nitpicking, so I just avoid the whole experiance all together. That said: I second several things others have said regarding inattentiveness, cleanliness, bathrooms, etc. Aside from all the other things I could bitch about, my biggest three: soap in the bathroom (nearly gagged when I went into the one and only bathroom in a sushi bar to find it had no soap..."Check please!"). cigarette or cigar smoke. If there's a fly anywhere in the place, I'm gone.

Strange avocado cravings have been haunting me, so for the last couple days it's been a salad-ish deal of seasoned sushi rice, nori (cut into small squares), and diced avocado all mixed up, garnished with sesame seeds and wasabi/shoyu drizzled over the top. I tried it the day before with diced cucumber, but it didn't work out as well as I thought it should. Today, leftover chili from last night. Probably with sour cream. And avocado. I wouldn't touch avocados growing up, I'm making up for lost time.

The only thing he put on her burger was cheese. She asked him if the salsa was hot, he taste tested it and said "that's outta here" and off it went. ETA - completely pedantic, but, she just said "no, I don't like that" vs. "I don't like that stuff." The second sounds like a jab at Emeril and "I don't like your product" vs. perhaps she just doesn't like spicy things on her burgers.

I'd forgotten that part...all I could think about is 'wow, Hubby would be ALL over that burger faster than you can say "drool"' That makes sense in more ways than one , so I likely misheard. Still funny. I agree, very sweet. Which makes me sad for some reason.

I happened to catch that tonight... She is a lovely lady... You could hear the sound of her breathing though... it's sounding pretty heavy/wheezy. I feel about as rotton as I did as a kid when I realized my grandparents weren't going to be around forever. I was happy to see him treating her with such respect, though. Not that I've ever seen him treat someone with disrespect (food network is relatively new for me), but you know what I mean (I hope). I'm wondering who ate the burger she made - he gave her that huge plate of rabbit and then they go on to make these tasty looking super stacked burgers... I'm waiting for dough to rise for pizza tonight and now I'm craving burgers. Julia: "I think people are kind of naughty about no fat these days"

try a banana instead?

I agree.. I'll grab the supermarket sushi for a quick fix/lunch and we've bought a fair amount of takeout sushi (there's an explanation to that, but it's well beside the point and not food related) and the quality of takeout vs. dine in is very, very different. The best I can sum it up is: 3-4$ for a california roll to munch from the grocery store is the equivelant of a sub or burger from a fast food joint - you're not expecting quality, it's just the toothpaste spackle in the hole, so to speak. 40$ on takeout sushi often leaves you full and feeling good for a couple minutes, but ultimately feeling like you spent too much money. 60$ (maybe more depending on who's having saki) on dine in sushi at a good place doesn't seem like much at all. You walk out feeling quite content and there's no question of "was that worth it?" It was. I've heard people describe a contented glow after eating sushi - I'm not sure if it's really the food or the power of suggestion, but I feel that way often. I would suggest for the first few times to sit at the sushi bar and order as you eat - you can talk with the sushi chef, he can offer you recommendations... if you end up loving it, on subsequent visits, you won't end up (like us) ordering more than you can reasonably eat when you're at the bar, vs. sitting at a table. Hub & I both love sushi. We go on sprees - we don't have any for months, then go in, foolishly sit at a table insted of the bar and always overdo it. Taking leftovers home from a night like that somehow takes away from the whole thing - you've just had wonderful, freshly prepared sushi... then, at midnight, you're in the fridge munching on the remains, which are if anything, only an echo of what you had earlier. It's like cinderella sitting on the pumpkin after the ball. "an hour ago, this was such a nice carriage..." www.stickyrice.com is a nifty page to check out. Also, just an fyi, if/when you do get around to trying Uni (sea urchin) -the pinkish/orange stuff is NOT sea urchin gonads. It's sea urchin roe. I have no idea where I originally heard that story, but it seems to be a popular one that goes around. I'm sure the more popularity sushi gains in the states, the more urban legends will pop up about it.

Monica, thank you for doing a class on this! The Doli ki Roti deliad (welcome to egullet ) describes sounds wonderful. I'd say I'm looking for any instruction/tips I can get for naan, but, as someone mentioned earlier, perhaps emphasis on breads that can be made without a tandoori? I can beg for naan tips another day - I'm content for it to be a challenge that keeps me busy for a long time anyway. I'd hoped someone would do a class on indian breads ever since the thread on them.

Our local grocery switched from Sushi Redi (which was passeable & I'd grab for lunch frequently) to some other brand/kit with "more variety" but turned out to be the worst quality sushi I've ever tried to choke down. The fish/seasonings were yeck, but the rice was horrible: dried out and pasty/gummy. I've never thrown sushi out before - it's practically a sin in my world, and that stuff hit the trash can after 2 pieces. I need to switch groceries...I used to grab a california roll on my way out of the store and now if I want to take care of the sushi cravings, I've got to wait for a good paycheck and willing hubby. It's not as minty as it looks.

Just a quick fyi for KA mixer shoppers and a question: If you're buying a standard KA mixer, get yourself on Bed, Bath & Beyond's mailing list. They send out 20% off coupons practically bimonthly. They also price match and they've always been terrific about me returning things ages down the road. I bought my 5qt KA for 200$. I can't remember if I bought the 350 or 325 (I've since sold it) & I'm not sure if they currently carry the 350w...but it'd be worth it to call and ask if it was what you were looking for. The 6qt through them would be 296$ after the coupon... if you find the mixer cheaper elsewhere, go to BB&B, have them price match it, then use the coupon. They have the DeLonghi 6qt mixer as well. Has anyone used the 700 w Bosch 6qt? I had an old Bosch kitchen machine that I never did get to try out for dough. We used the blender a lot, being more into margaritas than bread at the time, and it was a workhorse (it still works, I just gave it back to the MIL. Think "snow white" "apple"). I've been curious about them ever since, but the price seems overdone.

Burgers that fall apart ... I like the fattier beef as well, but we went in on half a bison a while ago and have a freezer full of ground bison meat. It's lean and the burgers are a bit more difficult to work with, but what has worked for me is to use a flat griddle, wide spatula, get a real good crust on it (I salt the meat before shaping, but that may not be your cup of tea) and flip it only once. In my case, I think the crust helps hold things together. I also do the "ball tossed from hand to hand" method of shaping the patty - that seems to help a bit as well. That hot dog looks so, so good. I read that part of the lesson last night and ...I don't even like hotdogs and I'm craving one of those. ETA -any possibility on a Philly Cheesesteak 101?

Notice how, if you're baking, it always turns out to be the salt, baking soda or powder?

I was only introduced to Indian Cuisine a couple years ago, and that being Denver, the west side of town...I would not know the difference between good and "bad," authentic and inauthentic Indian food beyond what my tastebuds like...and recently, as more restaurants within a reasonable drive close, I've been trying to make dishes on my own without anything to compare them against to see if I'm close. So that disclaimer given... I've been using the recipe from a book called Curried Favors: Family Recipes from South India - the recipe consists of dried milk, flour, baking powder and heavy cream to hold it together. I haven't yet had any problems with them breaking apart during the frying phase or any hard center in the ball after syrup soaking. I'm not sure what the rules here are on emailing a recipe -I know it's a no-no to post one from a book, so if you want it to try and it's "ok," PM me and I'll copy it for you. I usually hoard the leftover syrup and pour it over vanilla ice cream... didn't occur to me to try the ice cream together with the gulab jamun but sounds wonderful.

-use a charcoal hibachi on a wood deck at 1 am in the morning. Specifically a wood deck that someone decided to drywall from below, therefore not allowing particles and oh, say, sparks, to just fall through and extinguish below. Once you've burnt down one place, it should be all uphill from there, right? edit - er, yeah, I can type.

Thanks Torakris & Maggie ... and thanks Torakris for the link to the thread! You're not kidding. I have about 10 windows open and all of them start with "egullet.com."

I'm a late bloomer. 51 for me, unless we're counting the Cook's Illustrated Anathologies all together as 1 book, in which case, 41. I count them as seperate books, personally. I'm glad I found this thread... I get teased over my collection which I thought was a lot. Now I can add more to it guilt free. Most used: I use the Cook's Illustrated Anathologies the most. Is there a thread on "how did you get into cooking" that someone could point me to? This board is huge and I'm curious to hear how people got started.

I went up to RMCF and asked them for their nutritional information. It was about 10-13 carbs per piece of chocolate. I did notice later at the grocery store that atkins counts his brownies as 17 carbs, but to count only 9 due to the sugar alcohols (which, I see, has been covered pretty well above)...so there's probably fancy schmancy mathwork that could make those numbers smaller, but I'm not a math person. Laxative effect -well, hey, given the commen problem with the low carb diet, maybe things will all balance out. :p I did find some "dee-lite" sugarfree truffles at Cost Plus Imports that had less than 1 carb per serving, they tasted like chocolate flavored sawdust and were about 1$ per truffle. Ouch! The espresso flavor was the best out of all of them. I'm going to dig back through the thread for already posted suggestions. Shame on me, but life without chocolate in some form or another is like chopping out half my tastebuds. Backup plan: every two weeks, go out into the wild and track down a chocolate torte in it's natural habitat. Stalk, pounce, devour. Ah, desserts as they were meant to be. Prey.

I should have done a bit more research before recommending them. I recall looking for the nutritional info at the time and finding something -but perhaps I wasn't looking too hard, IYKWIM. I just went looking for nutritional info on their website (www.rmcf.com) & there is nothing to be found (Isn't it law now that it has to be posted somewhere? I've never noticed any nutritional information at their stores, either...maybe I'll stop by there today). There is a Canadian website for them (www.rockychoc.com/nosugar.htm) that posts some nutritional info for "no sugar added" chocolates. They list the one chocolate as 60% carb, and say "Since it is primarily a carbohydrate, compensation should be made in the diet plan." I was under the impression (maybe wrongly) that "no sugar added" did not necessarily equal "sugar free" and that to label something "sugar free" you were under a more strict set of guidelines. But the Canadian "no sugar added" chocolates sound like the same chocolates I see in the stores. So my apologies... can I retract my recommendation temporarily? 4" high cheesecake! :D I'd read somewhere as well that in a lot of desserts -especially cookies and bar cookies, the sugar can be significantly reduced without a noticeable impact in flavor -though, texture may suffer somewhat (or, will it!) I've been meaning to try it with Hershey's brownies and a chocolate chip recipe I found in Cook's Illustrated that is *fabulous* but 1.5 cups sugar to 2 1/8 cups flour...with the chips I put in (not chocolate, therefore not acidic enough to possibly balance them out) they're nearly too sweet to eat. I just buckle every time and think to myself "eh, next time!" Now I'll just have to wait a while. ETA-d'oh, pardon my antics...figuring out the quote function.

There are a lot of really great ideas/suggestions in this thread (and all over this board!) - thanks! Re: women getting sick on atkins On the induction phase of the diet, I tend to get nauseated after every meal and later, just at the thought of meat itself. I'm definitely a meat eater, and in the induction phase I'm not doing anything too dramatic other than avoiding sugars and starches. I follow the basic plan of a lot of veggies and a normal amount of meat. I think I'm just one of those people that believes meat+some sort of bread/starch=normal. Or, maybe like applesauce and pork, the starches serve to balance the heaviness of the fats. ? I started it again this morning & am breaking out in a queasy sweat just thinking about breakfast...but yet, I've never had a more healthy diet than when I'm on the low carb (I normally avoid veggies). It might also be that, instead of snacking, I go for black tea - it may be too acidic and that may be what upsets my stomach. I'll try it for a while with chamomile or mint and see what happens. Or, maybe my sweet tooth is staging a coup. Dieting/weight gain: Going off the low-carb diet doesn't seem to quite have the yo-yo effect, in my experiance, that other diets cause. I've always read that the big problem with dieting is that when you cut back on calorie intake dramatically, your body goes into "starvation" mode and your metabolism slows down, making weight gain inevitable if you go back to your former eating habits. However, Atkins certainly doesn't deny you calories or suggest you lower food intake, therefore, IMHO, your body should never think it's in a time of famine. If you do happen to go off of it and return to former eating habits, you should, theoretically, just stop losing weight. You'll eventually gain weight again if you really go crazy, but it shouldn't be the dramatic "slingshot" gain of the yo-yo dieter. My reasoning may well be completely flawed, but hey, it's a thought. :) In my case, I lost 40 pounds, I went off the diet and now, 2 years of (really) bad eating habits later, I've gained back half the weight I lost. There was no sudden dramatic weight gain at any time, unless you count a 5 pound spike the week the ice cream monkey landed on my back and PMS went for my knees with the lead pipe. I went down without a fight. Homer: " Don't you like ice cream better when it's covered in hot fudge?... and mounds of whipped cream?... chocolate nuts, and those crumpled up cookie things they put on top!....Mmm... crumpled up cookie things." What has helped make the induction phase more bearable for me (and nearly unbearable for my husband) is to list everything I'm craving. Imagine Bubba ala Forrest Gump, just sub "chocolate" for "shrimp" and there you have it. It worked though...I imagined everything I wanted, said it out loud, then fell asleep to blissful dreams of dense rich chocolate torté, creamy praline cheesecake and Ben & Jerry's Phish Food (maybe I should have thought about the guy who drowned in the vat of hershey's chocolate?). The lists eventually got shorter and tapered off... I became, as someone else mentioned earlier, much more choosy regarding what desserts I would have if I could have one. I discovered later that Rocky Mountian Chocolate Company also has some very tasty sugar free chocolates. I especially recommend the mint truffles or chocolate covered "toffee" (I want to know how they make that!) if you live in Colorado or are able to order it. Ethnic/Asian food is also a lifesaver - I know much more about making some of my favorite things myself than I did back then, as well as I've vowed to never leave tomatos out of my diet ever again. I love them, will not live with out them and that's that...so tikka masala is back on the menu. There is a tandoori chicken in butter sauce in Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking that should fit the bill quite well - the sauce is roughly heavy cream, butter, tomato paste and spices, fresh cilantro. It is delicious! Kung Pao Chicken is not difficult to make at home and can be adjusted for less carbs... lettuce wraps, cabbage rolls, stir fries, satays... Greek foods as someone mentioned - gyros without the bread or marinated chicken/beef (cook's illustrated's book on chicken has some great marinades for kabobs and the mint/cayenne marinade is especially good with feta cheese)... Japanese: sashimi over cucumber salad? Italian -I found a noodleless low carb lasagne recipe on a board somewhere that was fantastic. Eggplant stood in for the noodles... I'd eat it off the diet without a second thought. If anyone wants that recipe, feel free to message me and I'll go dig it up. I caught an episode of 30 Minute Meals aimed for the low carb set and from what I've seen, quite a few of Rachel Ray's other recipes (if you like her cooking) could lend themselves to that plan as well...so that's something to look for as well. The diet itself: Is the diet good for you? I think it is, my parents have both been on it with favorable results. But, I also believe there will be some tweaking to it in the future before a comfortable balance is found (like tomatos! Book says few to no tomatos & I want my tomatos!). The hypoglycemic approach to things worked pretty well for me - it was liveable (so why did I stop? I admit, I was lazy). Little to no processed foods, complex carbs: spelt, wheatberries, brown rice, small amounts of whole wheat pasta/breads... the trick, I'd read somewhere, was to balance fiber and the carbohydrates - the fiber apparantly slows down the digestion & absorbtion of sugars and prevents an insulin spike. That's my very extremely painfully rough paraphrase of it, at least. I also read in Shape or Fitness (again, extremely rough paraphrase) that when carbs break down into glycogen, the cells hold up to 3x their weight in water. Protien does not absorb any water during digestion and so reduces bloating... I've heard it said before that the first part of the protien diet induction phase when you experiance that sudden drop in weight is just water weight... this helps it make a bit more sense. However, I am by no means saying that the continueing weight loss is water weight (obviously it is not, people visibly lose fat), but for those who are critical about such a dramatic, sudden weight loss (there are those who feel that more than 2 pounds a week is dangerous and would argue, therefore, that 10 pounds in 2 weeks is extremely dangerous), that may provide an acceptable explanation. You may lose 5-10 pounds in water weight, but be averaging the "safe" 1-2 pounds fat every week (which seems to be the pattern most people settle into after induction is over, anyway). Last but not least, snacks: Celery - with sugar free peanut butter (maybe mix it with splenda?) or cream cheese. You could soften the cream cheese and add dill, garlic, chives, basil or any number of fresh herbs or spices...or shredded sharp chedder cheese. spinach & artichoke dip, IIRC, is mayo, sour cream, cheese and seasonings - no reason one couldn't dip crisped cucumber slices or celery into that. Ham, turkey, or roast beef wrapped around cream cheese with some chives mixed in. I ate buffalo wings until the thought of them made me green (still does). desserts: I've seen recipes for merangue cookies - I wonder if splenda would work in place of sugar? I did a low carb cheesecake recipe I found somewhere -it didn't souffle on me, but it did have an odd texture. It ended up I was eating cheesecake morning noon and night instead of eating normally, so that was that.