FistFullaRoux

I know how to build them. There are different methods to everything. Different patterns and such. Checkerboard or brick? Glued butt edges or dovetail joints? My background includes making electric and acoustic guitars, and finish carpentry of all shapes and types. I've worked with plain old pine, exotic hardwoods (nothing quite like making the first cut into a $400 hunk of burl maple), a number of plastic products, and other materials. I kinda know how to do this, otherwise I would have never attempted making 60+ square feet of butcherblock for my own kitchen. I have never gotten into the business aspect of something like this before, and I'm just looking for some insight.

No love? Just looking to see if that is a reasonable price, considering there is 5-6 hours of work, before the finishing stage, going into each one. Will it make me rich? Probably not. But it's an interesting hobby, and could pay for the tools that I need to start making guitars and other high quality wood projects again. Any input would be helpful, whether to suggest materials, or discuss the mechanics of building these.

Just an observation. This was not a competition. Not in the true sense anyway. FN or the producers handpicked the "contestants", the judges, sold the commercials, made the rules, filmed, edited, overdubbed, and knew who would win from day one. That's why a top chef by anyone's estimation could get "eliminated" without so much as a whimper. It's culinary wrestling. I still would have liked to see Besh win.

Damn. I was so pulling for Besh, but it looks like he seized defeat from the jaws of victory. Symon is going go to be great, though.

While making the butcherblock to go in our new kitchen, I've found myself quite enjoying that part of construction, and have made a couple of 1.75" thick cutting boards with leftovers. Big honking endgrain boards, 20x14. One is for the house, and one is for the guy who helped my do the work. I'm considering doing the cutting board and knife block thing as a side project. I'm wondering what you would be willing to pay for a board of similar size, made of basswood with cherry accents. Other wood choices could be maple, alder, ash, or just about any other food safe wood. Constructed with Titebond II, which is FDA approved for cutting boards. They would be finished with beeswax, oil them yourself if you want to. Beeswax works fine until they are broken in a bit. This is not a $50 Boos edgegrain board. Totally handmade, endgrain, custom sizes/woods, solid as a rock, and nearly as heavy. No sliding around with these. You will be able to give them to your grandchildren. For me to make any money from this, I would have to start them in the $170 range plus shipping, depending on the size and wood chosen. Does this sound like an unreasonable price? Keeping in mind the ability to do inlays of monograms or non-trademarked logos as well.

I too, put it all on Besh for the win. He's classically trained, not afraid of new techniques or ingredients, and is just as happy making a gumbo as with coq au vin. Plus, he's shaping up to be the next Emeril. Multiple restaurants, a made for TV personality, and mad skills in the kitchen. Symon was already on another FTV show, usually with Sanchez, and I forget the name of it. DiSpirito, Brachman, and other did a rotating kind of thing.

My biggest pet peeve about the show is that Ramsay is supposed to be criss-crossing America searching for restaurants. He hasn't left NY/NJ. Look, there is a Fox effect. Every show on Fox is going to bear this mark. Even the football games are overwrought. You have to realize that the network is not going to pick up a show that does not fit. It's the home of Cops fercryinoutloud.

God I miss those. I want some. Where are they shipping from? How much? I want 'em, I want 'em, I want 'em, I want 'em, I want 'em!!!

Dippin Dots wee little funnel cakes Onion rings fried anything and everything. sno cones/shaved ice/snowballs

The safest thing to do would be to take it to a shop or facility that specializes in such a thing, let them reclaim the gas, and just get another tank. Let's put it this way, you have the makings of a pretty spectacular bomb. I wouldn't want to modify that. Not worth it.

My thoughts are with all of you. Cancer is a truly scary disease, and chemo is a somewhat effective treatment, but it's a bit like punishing your body for allowing the cancer to happen. I am not a medical professional, but I do have a bit of experience dealing with these issues, between my wife's health issues, and several members of my family being touched by the disease. In my wife's case, it was horrible nausea for extended periods of time. Check into finding a compunding pharmacy, and see if the will let you get phenergan in the topical gel formulation. It did wonders for nausea her case. Rub a bit on the inside of each wrist, and no worries about keeping it down. You may have to convince your doctor, as it's not in a PDR. But compounding pharmacies can provide it. Back to food, it's not just food that tastes good, it's food that is good for you. On the days you can eat, I'd think you would want to minimize the carbs and get a lot of good protein. It will really help your body recover, and it stays in your system longer. Your body needs the stuff, otherwise it starts consuming itself. That is a bad thing. Unless you have kidney issues... Look, ask your doctor what you should not be eating. Then enjoy everything else, each and every bite of it.

If you are so inclined to feed wildlife, smear them with peanut butter, and you have instant bird/squirrel feeders. Picked that one up in the Cub Scouts.

I don't know if it is related, but the ground chuck I've bought the last couple of times has a distinctly different flavor. I don't know how else to describe it... lunchroom-y. I don't know if this is related to the feed of the cattle or stores finding lower price points for certain cuts, but I have noticed a difference. Next shopping trip will be to a different store for further investigation.

Stay hydrated. Above all else.

Or plastic utensils. Or plastic grocery bags.

Jag made it as far as he did because he did have personality, even though the panel agreed he was pretty raw. With some work, he could have been good. That being said, I know Marines, and if he misrepresented his military service, that's one of the most dishonorable things he could have done. The bloggers and probably people from his old units found out that he was misstating his service, and he did not use opportunities given to him to clarify the situation. He didn't graduate from culinary school. Big deal. He's got chops and can cook. But the time and place of service is held in very high regard among the military. He could have just bailed on the whole thing, but the "meeting" was for him to save as much face as possible. And it gave some insight into Food Network's thinking. What he did was the most honorable way out of a dishonorable position. He threw himself on his own grenade. I also find it amusing that he calls himself Jag, as in Judge Advocate General, an officer in the court martial process. Go Amy.

Not only the issue with things left out, but how many of those get put back in the cooler? Unscrupulous, yes. But a very real possibility.

It falls back to "dealing with adversity". Rock got pissed because digging through the garbage was not something most chefs do. Take it out, maybe. Change the liners, okay. But to go through last night's trash seemed just weird. Rock got mad, he vented, he was singled out for more humiliation, but he did what he was told to do. Not something that would be a normal part of his day as a chef, but he did it. And at least he didn't flip off the limo like whatshisface did last year.

I ate dinner once at a place where the person who was cooking was also the mother of 3 very young children, ranging in age from just toddling to 1st grade. It was Dad's job to keep the little buggers out of mom's hair while she was cooking, if dad and children planned on eating that night. Evidently, Dad was not taking his job seriously enough. He and I were watching SportsCenter and talking football, when I hear a shriek from the kitchen. Number 2 son comes flying out, briefly reminding me of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, covered in a mysterious beige fluid. I caught a whiff of vanilla as his young toddler sister stumbled by, similarly coated. Mother followed behind with a now nearly empty bowl of what turned out to be cake batter. Dad's face fell. Jesus wept. Bowl goes upside down on dad's head. Followed by a terse "There will be no dessert tonight, I'm sorry." I had to take a smoke break to keep from cracking up and ruining a perfectly good story by becoming an active character.

I'll add my vote for popcorn. It was also used as a cold cereal in the early days as well. Delicious and a multitasker. Gotta love it.

I'm quite surprised there hasn't been more of an uproar from the bible belt about alcohol being in the movie in the first place. Unless they are still boycotting Disney for whatever. Disney has never been known for being historically accurate. Pocahontas has been decried for years. Just the fact that you have a talking rat with a palate should cause the suspension of belief that makes cartoons so great. Back to my original point. It's a cartoon. If physics don't apply, any other form of serious study falls apart. Neat that they mentioned the wine and tried to be accurate with the labels, but in the end, it's still a cartoon. It's supposed to be fun.

It's a cartoon. Just saying.

My money is on Rock for the win. Unless he does something truly boneheaded. He might slice off a fingertip into someone's salad or something. Melissa, I would probably be forced to tell her exactly what her mother does for extra money around the holidays. Just irritating and evil. Makes my skin crawl and my blood boil. Bad combination.

Woke up about 3 this morning, bleary eyed and semi drugged up looking for a wee snack to settle a rumbling tummy. Grabbed the milk, grabbed a bowl and a spoon, then grabbed the green box of cereal. Yum. Apple Jacks. The green box was garlic parmesan croutons. This is even worse than it sounds. And it was the 2nd spoonful before I figured out what was going on. The new vow is to not put the croutons next to the cereal. edited for a typo

I have tried out for a couple of game shows, so I guess the casting would be similar for "reality" shows. For The Weakest Link, they told me they were looking for a Gilligan's Island type of cast, not necessarily the smartest or quickest. I'm also not sure if I was Gilligan or not. (I was supposed to be on the show, and was told to be ready to travel at a moments notice in September of 2001. Show bit the dust after 9/11. C'est la vie) So, for HK, they picked 3 or 4 people with cooking chops and filled the rest of the slots with characters. GR probably gets a dossier on each one of them and knows what their weak points are. He then proceeds to grind those weak spots. I can see some validity in that approach. If you don't face your fears and weaknesses, you have missed opportunities to grow and succeed. If you can improve the weaknesses and face those fears, then your other skills improve as well. Just like boot camp. Break you down then build you up stronger than before. If you don't flip out and punch somebody.