StudentChefEclipse
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Posts posted by StudentChefEclipse
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Of course, Hardee's is owned by Carl Karcher (sp?) Enterprises, who also own Carl's Jr. For awhile, C Jr was advertising their amazingly healthy cuisine. So now I guess we know where the other stuff went.
Back in the 80s, by the way, it was rumored that CK Enterprises elected to pay fines rather than pay their female staff the same wage as their male staff. I have no idea if that's true, but I've not eaten at any CKE business since, oh, 1982. *shrugs*
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I've been job-hunting lately. When I come across an ad for waitstaff at a restaurant, I give the manager a call to set up an appointment to bring around my resume and my credentials. Everyone I talk to says they are absolutely begging for good help. (This is not fine-dining we're talking, but local casual eateries.)
What I am floored by is the fact that no one seems to understand the concept of career-changing. In every case, I make it clear that I have changed careers to work in food, that I have just graduated from school, that I have no experience but lots of drive and I learn fast and well. So the idea of being OVER-QUALIFIED sort of makes no sense to me. For a number of reasons.
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the article from NYTA new restaurant called Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe is scheduled to open at the end of this month on the University of Pennsylvania campus, with a menu of more than 30 cereals and even more toppings served by pajama-clad "cereologists" in a setting of comfy chairs and farmhouse tables.
Funny, where I come from a "cereologist" is a person who studies and perhaps participates in the formation of crop circles. hrmmm... That's a bunch who could use a good breakfast.
As for my cereal habits, sometimes I go through a Raisin Bran phase. Sometimes I like Grape-Nuts with apricot nectar instead of milk. Neither of these for breakfast though. I have cereal for dinner sometimes. Maybe I'm an alien.
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I believe the most commonly described three greatest cuisines are: French, Italian, and Chinese, leaving one open for whatever the describer likes at the moment.
Historically, we probably know more about Chinese cuisine than any others on whatever list. But even then, Chinese cuisine is divided by region; Szechuan, Hunan, Canton.... which of these is better? Should we continue to lump them together?
There are very few traditional Chinese dishes I have the nerve to cook at home nowadays. Electric stove + wok = bleh. But I do tend to take into account spice mixtures when cooking other dishes.
My favorite? Using the technique of adding whatever the describer likes to the "gang of four" list I have to say Japanese. I could eat good Japanese food everyday. But then, with the regional variety of Chinese I could say the same thing there. Is it okay to say Asian? *mumbles something about broad categories and wanders off...*
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My grandmother always said that if you were nauseous or had a cold to only drink things you could see through. She swore than stuff like milk just increased mucous.
This is actually true; dairy is a well known increaser of said stuff. Anyone I know with a respiratory issue swears off all dairy until it passes.
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Two reasons I shy off Godiva: First of all, they spend too much time developing nutty recipes, by which I mean too many nuts. Bleh. Can't eat nuts.
But foremost is, one of their store managers once told a friend of mine she was good with people and knowledgable about chocolate but simply too fat to work in the store. Too Fat! Apparently you cannot exemplify what happens if you eat the stuff to excess. So... boycott for me!
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Sometimes I do shoestrings with marinara and parmesan. Or with parmesan and blue cheese.
My faves of all time though are the Steak Fries at Acacia: thick, skin-on, caramelized brown, salt, pepper, a teeny bit of parmesan and truffle oil. Gods!
Worcestershire sauce, sometimes, mixed with mayo.
And I happen to like ketchup, but I usually tinker with it. What can I say? I'm an American. Lots of us like ketchup. *shrugs*
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Depending on who, I give and have given, either a cookbook or a general food book. Which sounds kinda vague, but: food essays, novels, histories, textbooks; they're all there.
For example: for people I know love good food and cooking, I might buy any of the terrific Alice Waters cookbooks. For people who dine out a lot, there's always Kitchen Confidential. (I'm also a tad mean, what can I say?) For people with a sense of humor, I share my love for Calvin Trillin and give out The Tummy Trilogy and now Feeding A Yen. (I also give them permission to branch out into his political humor. He's an all-around guy.
)Like Water For Chocolate is a favorite, or any of a number of culinary mysteries. Food and History by Tanahill, whose Sex and History is also fun.
Most importantly, for me, is that when I give a book, I have to know I am giving it to someone who will not just love the contents. They also have to be book-lovers, and if you contributed to this thread, you know what I mean.
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They had the turkey and gravy soda last year, I think, and ran out because they didn't expect it to be as popular as it turned out to be!
Yep, this is the second go-round for turkey/gravy soda. I think the fruitcake and cranberry are new this year. The mashed potatoes beverage (amazing that I should even be typing such a thing!) was out last year too, I believe.
I'm of two minds about this, of course. I'd try it just to say "been there, done that," but... blergh.
If I do manage to try it, I will report back. Possibly. -
I love Love LOVE this site! Thanks so much!
As far as utensils, I still have the first set of chopsticks my dad brought back from Okinawa when I was a small child. It seems to me that he brought all of us kids back a set, and told us he thought it would be good to learn to use them. Though, since I am the only one who can this might be a faulty memory. I like it anyway.
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Ummm... I hate to go this Off-Topic, but I recall one of the things we had against Richard Nixon was that he put ketchup on cottage cheese. In the White House.
Gads!Okay. My Food Quirk: I put marinara on my breakfast potatoes. With swiss cheese on top. The swiss must *never* melt so much it becomes one with the sauce.
*tiptoes out quietly*
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I'm always amazed that the "casual" restaurants my husband and I go to, actually believe that we want to participate in birthday parties for perfect strangers. Now, truthfully, I do wish these people an extremely happy birthday, but I don't really want to participate in the celebration. I just don't understand why all of the servers have to neglect their own tables to go to the other side of the restaurant, and clap and sing, and yell and cheer at the tops of their voices, while insisting that everyone join in. I also don't understand why the owner believes that such intrusions are acceptable to other diners.
My family is on notice: we will celebrate my birthday in public only when the entire remainder of the public has disappeared. Possibly onto those alien spaceships from the To Serve Man episode of the Twilight Zone.
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Bacon and chocolate. No go. Nope. Absolutely Not. Sorry, thanks for playing. *buzzer*
Of course, I'm not Ukrainian. Another thread mentions the new chocolate covered pork fat skewers available there. (I know, pork fat does not necessarily equal bacon, but let's think ahead to "the next big thing.")
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For years we've heard that peeling carrots, potatoes, etc. removes a lot of nutrients. So we should just learn to love eating the peels as well. What's the truth?
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I'm rather hesitant to bring this up, but... here goes: certain drugs on the order of codeine and morphine and so on will bring on constipation. In a BIG way. So I suppose my recommendation is not to eat too many things that are noted for their... errr.. binding effect.
(And my family wonders why I never pursued medicine.)
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Actually, StudentChefEclipse...I was being my usual sarcastic self and hinting that somehow the schools must be teaching people how to do this stuff...
for the scams I've seen and heard of are not only rampant but incredibly detailed and intelligent. Always surprises me that people that are capable of thinking up these things and then implementing them are sometimes not doing too well in the actual tasks their jobs require...but then again...all that energy and intelligence is being used to think of the next scam... 
Gods, wouldn't it be nice if people used their powers for good instead of evil?
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Actually, at school we had a six week course on management, and part of the course covered theft and its cost to businesses.
My theory is, anyone caught stealing goes out the door and is prosecuted to the fullest extent. (I am most conservative on issues of law and order. It scares me sometimes. EEPP!)
And I have been known to blow the whistle on people I see nicking the s&p or anything else from restaurants.
Now, having said that, at point in school we had so many people learning to butcher meat that our instructors just said for us to pack it up and bring it home. It was a violation of policy, but the other choice was to let it rot. Most of the kids who were working minimum wage jobs as well as going to school were able to keep body and soul together with this violation. So, it can be a mixed bag, I guess.
Complications.
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You know, I am floored in sympathy with andiesenji and the others who have posted about the epidemic of rudeness around. It's especially galling in relation to food, I think, because food represents hospitality to so many of us. So Bad Behavior then is a double slap.
And thanks, chromedome, sylphium was exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote that; I'd just had the name roll out one ear, I guess.
This is really interesting! I love the responses; keep them coming, please.
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I am busily printing out this topic! Such great info. Tasting notes to come.
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In response to something I said elsewhere about food facts, or just what people are inclined to eat from time to time, what thing(s) about food just amazes you everytime you hear it?
This may seem a little vague, but I want the answers to be as broad as possible. For example, I had a recent thread about odd things people turn into sandwiches. That floors me.
I am also floored by people who, all other things being equal, find no enjoyment in food whatsoever. That gets me every single time.
Or the idea that we have no idea what the ancient Greeks and Romans meant by certain herbs they have listed in their recipes. Did these things disappear? Did we really just *lose* that knowledge?
So: What gets you??
*Waves at Gifted Gourmet*
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oh man...
I grew up in this category. I think I was mayor of this category from ages 14-15. After a couple years spent cooking, though, I just can't eat that way anymore. Food really needs to connect with me on some level, even if it's just my favorite brand of tasty potato chips or gummy bears.
I suspect teenage boys are the Presidents of this category; by and large because they are eating machines. Any sort of whatever to fuel the growth spurts.
I have never been in this category, though not for lack of trying on my grandparent's part. Not that they were totally indiscriminate in their taste in food, but they had not had much opportunity to develop a palate. After all, for a certain segment of America, during a certain period of history, canned goods represented a sort of wealth. What you canned or cooked from scratch at home was considered "lesser". *tsk*
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I can' t tell you how many chefs called me up the morning after the review to say how surprised they were. I didn't think you'd be in for a couple of more months! Or, I didn;t think you'd come on a weekday or whatever...
Did this magazine you worked for tell the steakhouses you were coming and representing the magazine? If they did, I bet you got the best....
Bill Daley
Chicago Tribune
As far as I know, the restaurants were advised: "We're coming sometime this week." Other than that, I have no idea. Freelancers are thought to flourish in the dark.
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My second assignment for the magazine involved eating at a million different steakhouses and noting which I thought were the best. In order to create a level playing field, the 'zine set up appointments for me to try three specific cuts. After that, the meal was left to my discretion as to sides, appetizers, drinks, dessert, whatever.
While it's not restaurant reviewing per se, I was awfully noticeable surrounded by platters of mid-rare steaks and much much more. Not the mention the notes. I never eat out without a notebook, and sometimes I get people who want to discuss the restaurant reviewing process. That in itself can become quite obvious.
So having been under the spotlight, however unintentionally, I can say that idea of "undercover" dining is kind of silly to me. Any restaurateur worthy of the name knows they'll be reviewed, if they are doing the job at all well. So going to any kind of extreme to treat reviewers differently is just going to make you look like you have something to hide. And that would make a great opening line to your review, no?
Thanksgiving Dinner, for the not so fortunate
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Like Pan says, people have to eat every day. Mom and I have been getting involved in spreading the word for monthly food bank donations, for one of the area banks. We're also trying to get some banks to work with restaurants and groceries in doing a thing called "food rescue" meaning that instead of throwing away something nearing the expiration date, or left over from that evening's service, the grocery or restaurant brings it to the food bank. This concept worked well in Virginia for the CVFB.
The academic society at school also rounds up tons of food quarterly to go directly to a shelter for abused women and children. It's little enough to donate directly, and the shelter saves what $ would normally go for the nominal fee the food banks charge.
Keep on, because what goes around really does come around.