chromedome

I've done a similar thing...sliding the over-cooked article off the active burner with a curse, only to realize belatedly that I'd slid it to a burner I had used earlier (on my flat-top stove) and forgotten to turn off. Opening all the windows for smoke-clearance is not a happy scenario in mid-January in Atlantic Canada.

It's not really cooking, but this one floored me... https://youtu.be/0ED7WMGCKmQ

I don't...perhaps later, when I've finished working for the day. It's pretty similar to Nigella's (you can search it on Google Images) but custom-sized for my hand.

Like jam, it also keeps well in the fridge for extended periods. In fact, I tend to use my leftovers as jam on toast and biscuits.

Finger-pinch-sprinkle is also how I use my fine salt, which is kind of why I asked for clarification. I keep it in a salt pig. I'd wanted one for years (had even written a "What Is a Salt Pig?" article for one website) but never got around to tracking down something suitable online. Then one day it occurred to me that my downstairs neighbour was, in fact, a working potter...so I commissioned one from her. They're handy, but a tiny bowl on the table or prep counter will serve adequately on a meal-by-meal basis.

After reflection, I'm forced to acknowledge that this would have worked just fine for either of my wives, or my current GF. All three are/were much more carnivorous in their habits than I am. I really, really enjoy a steak every two or three years. Otherwise it's just something I cook on request, usually because there was a good sale.

I have three. One's a Kenmore of 1960s vintage, making four of the old-school thin, rectangular waffles at a time (probably not unlike the Sunbeam Andiesenji endorses). It's not non-stick, of course, but makes very good waffles. I also have a Cuisinart Belgian waffle maker, the rotating variety, which is adequate but no more. My third is the same as the Cuis but dates from when they were sold under the Waring Pro brand name (a 300, rather than a 300c) and is somewhat better built and makes a better, crisper waffle. Unfortunately it's currently in pieces... again. I've reassembled it twice after it was dropped and broken; this time it happened during a move when it fell and then had a heavy box drop on it. It's a little "more broken" than usual, and I've only found time to halfway reconstruct it. Also I'm out of epoxy at the moment.

Just to be clear, here, is the problem a) that it's either too fine or too coarse for a conventional shaker; or b) more about portion control than actual "salt delivery"?

The rule at my place was that as long as you were in by my last seating time, you had the whole menu at your disposal (as long as I hadn't sold out of something, of course). My situation was not universal, though, because my last seating was at 9 pm and my last diner might not leave until 12 or 1, because I was inside the hotel where they were staying. Also the kitchen was mostly just me, and I had no equipment to shut down and clean...just a couple of electric ranges and a few other bits and pieces. It was quite a challenge, serving dozens of five-course meals out of there in an evening. After the first season I learned how many covers I could handle in any given hour, and booked accordingly.

I just recently learned that Guaraldi's drummer from those days moved to my hometown of Halifax, and has been teaching and playing sporadically around the city for decades.

When I was working my way through school, my favorite example of this was the customer who wanted the seafood medley, but without shellfish because she had an allergy. The medley consisted of an empty lobster tail stuffed with risotto; with the tail itself, some prawns and scallops served around and over it and a sauce made from the shrimp shells. That was good for a collective facepalm in the kitchen.

Very good. Our zones are a bit different up here...I believe most of New Brunswick would be a 3 or 4 by US reckoning. Still, it might be worth a try. It's been a good 15, maybe 20 years since I last looked into it.

I find theirs cooks reliably, but lacks flavor. Quite partial to Lundberg's multigrain rice mixtures, though. Separating out those sliver-sized grains of wild rice for use in blends was a stroke of genius.

They're biennial when grown from seed, so if your grower had started them indoors last year you won't see any buds until this year. God help me, if I'm ever in a place where I can garden for more than one year at a time I'll try some again.

Bear in mind they'll all differ at least a little bit in their cooking characteristics. Consider using a bit less water than with your usual brand, or use the pre-soaking technique. I've had good results with both of those alternatives, when working with basmati I found to be a bit dodgy and uncooperative.

I addressed that at my place by working a schedule of 7 months on, 5 months off. My servers, OTOH, were all part-timers.

Saint John calls itself "the most Irish city in Canada," but that doesn't translate into inexpensive corned beef in March, unfortunately. Pickled beef in a bucket is always available, but at just under $30/bucket I don't like it *that* much. Also, it's not at all the same thing.

I so wish that was a "thing" here. Instead, St. Patrick's Day just means it might be available.

Here in New Brunswick, restaurateurs pay full retail for wine. To put that further into context, a $9 bottle of wine in the US is a $19 bottle of wine in Canada. The usual rule of thumb is to mark it up 100%, so now we're up to $38. Yeah, it adds up in a hurry (and also places a lot of emphasis on "value" wines).

...with added criticism as a bonus. You betcha. It gets to be a problem pretty quickly, in a small city with a limited pool of line cooks. The worst of it is that it's so counter-productive. After three months as her chef de cuisine, I had even the surliest of the kitchen crew problem-solving and contributing (I challenged each of them to come up with one new dish using existing mise, which would go up as a daily special with their name on it...a couple of them were popular enough to become part of the regular menu). Then she sacked me because things weren't changing quickly enough. Aye, well.

...which, really, says it all.

The joy of working for amateurs, right? The last time I worked for someone else, the owner was a very bright woman with an excellent concept and a great grasp of the food-production side of things. Her shortcoming was a belief that every single person on her payroll should approach every single shift with an owner's passion and intensity...for, you understand, just over minimum wage. When she didn't get that level of commitment, she would hang around the kitchen and berate the cooks, often as soon as their second shift. Needless to say, that didn't work out very well.

Print directly to a DEC LA-120?

I encountered this just yesterday, with Alinea's new (and not completely functional) website. Not, alas, because I'll be dining there. (Edited to clarify: The actual text on the site is perfectly legible black-on-white, but the menus on the main screen are in white on pale grey. Somewhat less than ideal, to my mind.)

I couldn't tell you how many people told me "you should open for 'X', it would be a real money-maker for you." No. No it wouldn't.