Varmint

I've got one person bringing a bottle of campari. I just picked up a decent case of Italian wine -- 3 different reds.

Mmmm, duck.

We'll start nibbling around 7, but I expect folks to get there as early as 4 or 5, depending on how much time they'll need in the preparation of their respective dishes. We won't start the formal process of eating until around 8 or so. We'll have about 18 or 19 people. I'd think if you made enough for 6 or 7, you'd be just fine.

Erin, I looked over my notes, and there's really no earth-shattering barbecue joints along your route. Neither Ralph's nor Nunnery-Freeman in Henderson cook with wood, which is essential if you want the "best" barbecue. I won't repeat my thoughts on Allen & Son!!!!

We'll have photos, of course! Beans, can you come up with a good pre-pasta dinner cocktail for us to make?

Char-Grill burgers are pretty damn good, but not the best in the world. They're fresh; they're square; they're overcooked (but that's the state, not Char-Grill). Let me know if you're ever in Raleigh for lunch during the week, JJ, and I'll get you to one.

Erin, there are a couple of other choices that you might want to try. I'll check my notes at home at lunchtime and get back to you. I still think you should come down I-85, go past Durham, and get some of Allen & Son barbecue. It's really good stuff!

JJ, just go with what looks good at the Barn. It's a classic steakhouse, and I used to eat there a lot long ago. The chef is pretty talented, and I think you'll pleased with most of their steakhouse fare.

One bit of good news. Since we're putting up new cedar siding (damn, that stuff is expensive), we've gone ahead and told the contractor to put a new door in the utility room and to close off the kitchen door. Once that's done, I'll be able to do the kitchen in its entirety -- that is, when I get the money, too!

Why don't you let my mother-in-law make the gelato/sorbet, as she has a fancy schmancy ice cream maker. Plus, she can keep the stuff in the freezer. What should she make? As far as salumi is concerned, whatever looks good, of course! We'll have about 18 folks. Bill Klapp is coming. Al Dente is not.

Oysters Oysters Oysters Actually, I love them, which makes them even more evil. Just don't be within a 20 foot radius of me after eating them. Projectile style!

Bring the pancetta. We'll crisp it up and those who want it can add it. Mrs. Varmint will pass, but seeing she married me, we know she has questionable taste.

For dessert at last night's dinner at Magnolia Grill, I had a blue cheese turnover served with roasted grapes and candied almonds. The blue cheese was slightly sweetened, but made an excellent contrast to the pastry, fruit and nuts. Now if phlawless can tell me what type of cheese she used!

Scottie- If you think fresh pasta is what you need, don't worry about making it. We'll be making lots of fresh stuff in advance. We just need to know what thickness of sheets you'd want and the type of texture. We can go from there!

phlawless +1 -- Beef Cheek Ravioli in Brodo + bagna cauda weka +1 -- Tagliatelle with truffle and porcini Varmint +1 -- Spaghetti with calamari, chiles and bottarga scottie +1 -- a bitter green pasta Random Alias +1 -- Duck Ragout w/ Toasted Penne Edemuth -- dessert We need to sequence these. I'm thinking that we start with the bitter greens pasta, then the seafood spaghetti, the beef cheek soup, the duck ragout and then the porcini/truffle. I'm trying to think of apps and wine pairings, too. Phlawless is bringing bagna cauda. Anyone have access to some good salumi? Al Dente??? You coming? Looks like we'll have 18 people. My mother-in-law will make sorbet or gelato to go with the poached pears, if desired. Erin, let me know what you're doing. We can also do biscotti, but again, we need to know what your poaching liquid will be. I'll send each of you directions to my in-laws' later this week. I'll be there most of the afternoon, although there really isn't much serious prep work to do. However, the kitchen is yours to use for most of the day.

That's not so bad. The new kitchen plannings looks so good, it's going to be a final, not an interim solution. So more time and thus more careful planning is no real harm. It's a chance. A good design is always arranging and rearranging of possibilities. But of course I feel sorry for the extended time you will have to cook in your maze kitchen. Thanks. I am starting to realize the potential of this arrangement, and that I want to go ahead and do the floors as well. I also want to get the eating counter arranged the way I want. Finally, I realize that even mid-level semi-custom cabinets will liven up this kitchen tremendously. And if I can get our office's building owner to give me that granite . . . .

Budget crunch. We're going to need to hold off on the renovations, it looks like. I'm pissed. Hopefully I'll get a nice first quarter bonus!!!

I'm making Spaghetti with calamari, chiles and bottarga. Erin, what shall we serve with the poached pears? Biscotti? Gelato? There's not a lot of great barbecue along the way, but I might suggest you go past Durham on 85 to Hillsborough, take the NC-86 exit towards Chapel Hill, and hit Allen & Son. That' some good stuff.

I will not be able to go to Magnolia Grill on the 6th due to some family commitments. Bummer. RA and edemuth, I’ll leave it up to y’all to make arrangements, but you should do this ASAP. The place fills up quickly.

Here's a first try at sketching out the cabinetry for the new, 15-foot long counter. This version has the upper cabinets situated 18" above the countertop, but I think I will go a bit higher. WR: Wine refrigerator IM: Ice maker DW: Dishwasher By the way, the reason there's an empty spot at the end of the peninsula is because I'll have a cupboard at the end that opens up towards the cooktop. This shallow cupboard will house spices, etc.

Sure, because we're talking about food -- at least, cooktops and rangetops and other cooking appliances! The other benefit this discussion could provide is to list great "side deals" on price-controlled deals. I can get free shipping on appliances, but I'm thinking that I might be able to get something else free, too!!!

I will be sure to stop by the store, as this will now be my dinner on this frosty night!!!

By the way, one of my goals in this renovation was to be somewhat confident that this temporary solution would work in the long term as well. Here's an example of how that might work: At some point in the future, we'll want to relocate the family entrance into the house in the utility room. It just makes more sense. Once we do that, we can close off the back door by the driveway. I can then close off the eating bar area, resulting in this: Now that's not a crazy kitchen set-up at all!!!

There's substantial case law (on which most antitrust law is based) that states that the conditional arrangement is permitted. The courts have essentially said that if the manufacturer were to sell it themselves, then they could sell it at any price they wanted. If they're to line up semi-exclusive distributorship arrangements, then the manufacturer may keept similar controls, with the only remedy for breach is to terminate the distributorship. However, if the product is available essentially anywhere by anyone, then the manufacturer can't place such limitations. A fair amount of my practice focuses on antitrust law, but I don't usually deal with RPM. I just did a bit of research to figure out why the dealers can get away with what they do.

As a public service to the members of eGullet, I offer today a brief overview of one of the ways appliance manufacturers are able to keep prices of their products artificially inflated and how the US antitrust laws can’t touch them. I bring this up simply because I’ve been stymied over the lack of competition in prices of professional appliances. Let’s start with a simple antitrust principle known as resale price maintenance, or “RPM”. RPM is quite simple: it’s an agreement between a manufacturer and a seller (such as a retailer or distributor) regarding the cost that the product can be sold. Here’s an example. The manufacturer makes a cooktop that has a suggested retail price of $2,500. As we all know, suggested retail prices are pure fiction – no one ever pays that. Let’s also assume that the seller’s cost to purchase the cooktop from the manufacturer is $1,700. But, the manufacturer comes in and agrees with the seller that the seller won’t sell the cooktop for anything less than $2,000. If a manufacturer does this, it’s a blatant or “per se” violation of the antitrust laws and fines are levied and if the conduct is sufficiently egregious, the parties will be fitted for orange jumpsuits (that won’t happen, but it sounds good). Well, why is it that the best price that you can get on professional appliances is the same wherever you look? It’s because of a slight quirk in the antitrust laws. Although a manufacturer can’t enter into RPM agreements, it can make RPM a condition of its supplying the product to the sellers. That is, the manufacturer can say that the only way I, big ol’ manufacturer, will allow you to sell my fancy product is if you, low life seller, agree to sell the cooktop for no less than $2,000. If the seller does not comply with this requirement, the manufacturer can cut him off. This is why there are only a few distributors of the high end products in each market. It’s also why, when you look on the internet, there is some competition on price, but it’s not direct. The competition is in the price of shipping. Sometimes, the seller will throw in a bonus deal, or, perhaps, a rebate. But the price of the product itself will be the same! Sorry to distract you with this bit of antitrust law, but this process left me wondering how the heck can the prices be the same everywhere you look. Now I know!