StudentChefEclipse

I'd do a sort of travel/restaurant review show. But I would feature "The Best Diners in America" and find those spiffy, out of the way places where women have been cooking downhome food forever... the places that have homemade pies and never heard of "beef-like gravy granules" and so on. (I hear rumors of spots like this from time to time, so it'd also be interesting to see if they really still exist. If you can find 13, you have a TV season's worth of shows.)

One thing about being a writer: few people know what you look like enough to post your tipping habits *or other habits* online anywhere. On the other hand, I don't doubt that somewhere there's a website dedicated to the grousing of those professional "handlers" who drive writers around cities while the writers are doing book tours. I once drove around horror writer Clive Barker, who was absolutely lovely. All this makes me NOT want to do front of the house work, ever. bitterwaitress.com? eeep!

I am re-reading, for the billionth time, Calvin Trillin's "Tummy Trilogy" and also Redmond O'Hanlon's "Into the Heart of Borneo," a non-food book filled with descriptions of odd meals put together by the intrepid adventurers (one of my favorite cliche descriptions.) Another of my favorite non-food books brimming with meal descriptions is "Crystal Singer" by Anne McCaffrey. This light little SF story deals in sideways fashion with a planetary parasite that induces a ravenous hunger in its host at a particular time of the year. My mom, bless her, got me subscriptions to Saveur and La Cucina Italiana so I am also busy with those.

Dried fruit. Dried mango is good, dried Montmorency cherries are better. Trader Joe's is heaven. Chocolate, because a good cliche is that way for a reason. Though since I've discovered Valrhona, it's a bit pricey... though the 75% and above cocoa solids stuff will give me a gentle buzz, so ok. Ice cream - Dreamery's CherryChipBaDaBing. Sweet pickles, and "blue" steaks. Egads! Or eGads!

The BloodBath, as far as I know, comes from an old NYC Goth hangout, The Black Veil. It's an interesting recipe: 2/3 winestem of Merlot, cranberry juice to top off and a teeny chambord float. As odd as it sounds, it's very good. Especially if you get a nice fruity Merlot. As part of the bartender lessons at one my school's student restaurants, I actually made this as the Cocktail Special for one day. I called it a Wineberry though, because I didn't think BloodBath would fly. Are you revealing a wee bit of yourself our eG Intern? I've worked and been known to patronised a goth bar. All is not preppy polos and chinos here but I drew the line with black lipstick or fingernails.... Revealing? Me? mwahahahaha... Seriously, I don't play Stump The Bartender unless I know the person. Though finding out what a BloodBath constitutes in other Goth places is kinda fun. And lots of the Old-Style Goths are actually fressers extraordinaire, so it's all in the line of work, shall we say. Now... real bartender story: I ordered a Bellini at a place that shall remain nameless, but which prides itself on being "The Best Bar In Town." So what came was sparkling water and peach schnapps, with a dried peach (!) in the bottom of the hurricane glass. The server said: "We're out champagne splits right now and never did have peach juice. We'll only charge you for the shot of schnapps. " I just wanted to know where the dried peach came from...

The BloodBath, as far as I know, comes from an old NYC Goth hangout, The Black Veil. It's an interesting recipe: 2/3 winestem of Merlot, cranberry juice to top off and a teeny chambord float. As odd as it sounds, it's very good. Especially if you get a nice fruity Merlot. As part of the bartender lessons at one my school's student restaurants, I actually made this as the Cocktail Special for one day. I called it a Wineberry though, because I didn't think BloodBath would fly.

I admit to sometimes ordering drinks just to play Stump The Bartender. Mea culpa. But it is funny to see a bartender's look when you order something called a BloodBath. Or maybe it's just me.

Most of my friends are not culinarians, and some of them don't even cook at home... but they are all in tears at this loss.

Restaurants are a business. And with chain restaurants dominating stand-alones, maintaining a certain percentage of food and labor costs is what keeps the manager employed. So comps are few and far between, especially with more and more managers getting training in better ways to handle complaints, conflict resolution, and so on. I have a restaurant I frequent, send people to, etc. Their way of thanking me is to give me coupons at infrequent intervals for a certain percentage off a meal. These are mostly notes from the manager, and I think they strike a nice middle ground between comps and zero.

Gee... this can't be good. On the other hand, her book RAW with C. Trotter is so beautiful you might consider nibbling on the photos.

This Just In: A 'Moo'ving Customer Approach: Bring Your Favorite Cow To Dairy Queen® For A Free MooLatte You've heard of "Belly up to the bar boys," but here's a customer approach with a "moo"ving new twist. To celebrate the kick-off of State Fair season, Dairy Queen® invites you to bring your favorite cow -- the authentic, living, four-legged bovine variety -- to any participating Dairy Queen or DQ Grill & Chill location nationwide from 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 24th for a coffee break, and receive a free MooLatte, Dairy Queen's newly introduced frozen blended coffee beverage Cows... you know... produce ... waste... i gotta say, ICK!

So, I am perusing this thread, and the Google ads at the top of the screen offer: "Vegan Meat: get to know singles in your area..." Which I find twisted and hysterical...

hrmmm... rare roast beef, stilton, sharp cheddar, tomato and roasted garlic mayonnaise... sweet gherkins on the side... homemade sourdough...

I personally believe that in some ways vegans can be a lot more, shall we say, feisty than the normal population. I base this on having met a whole bunch *bunch, not herd, right?* who evidently believe their way is the only way, and are willing to scream at you to prove it. On the other hand, if enough of them also believe that they are more pacific and loveable than the rest of us omnivores, then maybe they've talked themselves into it. Placebo effect in life choices.

The Moolatte thing is just a symptom of something that's struck me about DQ's advertising for a bit: why do they need to annoy us so much in their commercials? This year it's a blindfolded woman walking into glass walls, last year it was a sort of dumb&dumber approach. Suffice to say I haven't been spending any money, of any color, in DQ. Before I went to culinary school, I worked in a marketing division of a major corporation. There is a tendency among marketeers to jump on what *sounds* lovely, whatever might be euphonious. If someone happens to point out that it is actually stupid and insensitive, they might take that into consideration. But they might not, if they like the sound of the word. Especially with product names. This might blow up in DQ's corporate face or it might fade away. I know which *I* wish would happen, but that's just me.

re: The McFood lawsuit by the vegetarians. McDs lost this case to the tune of $10-15M. The point was, they had consistently presented their fries as being safe for vegetarians, largely by not informing the staff that a beef byproduct was used to produce them. Then, of course, the staff couldn't pass this on to customers. This is particularly egregious when considering the number of people who practice vegetarianism as part of the their religious faith (ie, Hindus.) Frankly... I think if you are going to eat french-fried/frankengrown/mass-produced-overprocessed/fastfood anything, you are not doing your body a favor. Just one woman's opinion.

I had to give up shopping after school, because people would ogle my school uniform (chef's whites, school logo.) Then they'd ask me to come up with a menu plan based on what they'd put into their cart. A fine mess usually. Corn dogs with pepto-bismol sauce, anyone? Actually i like scanning the people who are in the spice aisles --- anyone with a packet of saffron can't be all bad.

According to some sources, the first school for cookery was located in what is now Sicily. I think I would like to show up there and hang for a day or two... despite the fact that my modern sensibilities re food hygiene would probably mean I would be grossed out of existance there.

"carrots will make you see in the dark" Actually, the vitamin A in carrots is related to developing good night vision, so maybe not so superstitious...? Also, re fortune-cookies: I never eat the cookie unless I like the fortune. Though maybe that's not so much a superstition as evidence of incredibly detailed control-freak behavior. Hrmmm.

This may be old news to folks here, but Jeffrey Steingarten wrote about the Montignac method in his "The Man Who Ate Everything". See "La Regime Montignac" for a typically Steingarten account of this weight-loss program.

Pear "Bellini" This is a great change from the traditional brunch Mimosa. 3 fl oz Pear nectar *Williams-Sonoma Summer Pear is good* 3 fl oz Champagne or sparkling wine Ginger juice to taste Measurements given for one flute, depending on flute size. Mix pear nectar and ginger juice in flute, add champagne. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1086 )

Pear "Bellini" This is a great change from the traditional brunch Mimosa. 3 fl oz Pear nectar *Williams-Sonoma Summer Pear is good* 3 fl oz Champagne or sparkling wine Ginger juice to taste Measurements given for one flute, depending on flute size. Mix pear nectar and ginger juice in flute, add champagne. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1086 )

in the basic baking class at school, we made both pocketed and pocketless pita bread. the pocketed bread was fabulous, sturdy yet soft and a tad crispy and quite tasty. the pocketless was just... well... flat. in many senses. and yet both were made with the same dough, just different baking temps. i didn't get it then, and i still don't get it. any ideas about this from actual bakers? *grins*

Nifty topic today, especially since I came home from school to find a pan of brownies with my name on them (without nuts, as I am allergic.) To me a brownie is best when it is made of the darkest chocolate available and slightly chewy on the edge. If I am feeling really festive, I include dried tart cherries and chocolate chips. Or toffee chips. Or those little Valrhona drops... okay, I feel festive a lot. Brownies will do that to a person.

SANTA CLAWS Searching for the perfect lobster, a retired toymaker and itinerant gift-deliverer falls afoul of the dreaded crustacean cartel. Discovering their fiendish plan to fund international terrorism through bisques, starters and clarified-butter concessions, our toymaker hero (Santa, for yes, it is he) gathers his band of shorter-than-average experts in demolition, weapons and hot-sugar to thwart the crustacean cartel and make the world safe again for tomalley lovers everywhere. See this before you go bug-hunting in Baja...