ladyyoung98

Don't you think this reaction seems a little harsh, ladyyoung? I looked back at winegeek's post, and she didn't imply that she thought these patrons were "stupid" as you assert. Being a regular patron of many types of restaurants and someone who has worked all manner of positions in a wide variety of restaurants, it does seem to be a clear trend that people do not pay attention to hardly any of the social norms around dining. In the city where I live, people routinely engage in behavior that is either mildly annoying to the server (using the wrong silver, necessitating extra trips to replace it) or disruptive to other guests (allowing small children to run through the dining room) while in a fine dining restaurant. Further, I think that your assumption that "high end establishments" that cater to "the monied set" who "could not be stupid and have the money that they do" is unwarranted. There are many places in my neighborhood that have the sort of service described by winegeek where the prices, particularly at lunchtime, are not prohibitive for virtually anyone to eat there. I can name a number of fine dining establishments that offer salads large enough to split for $7, half portions of pasta (which still turn out to be quite large) for $7 and entrees ranging as low as $10. To assume that the average, everyday worker making even a very modest income could never afford to dine in such a place would be to assume wrong. The tone of your post suggests to me that you have been snobbed at some point, so it's an issue to which you are sensitive. For that, I am sorry, but two wrongs do not make a right, and telling a server that she "seemingly doesn't deserve" the tips she earns is not any nicer than telling any other professional on these boards that they don't deserve whatever salary they make because they griped about someone who was seemingly clueless when they called a Tech Support line, for instance. ← i looked back at the post as well..and while it wasn specifically said that they were stupid...it came across exceptionally well with seemingly a great deal of sarcasm...and just so you know...no i personally have never been snobbed in my life but ive seen it happen to others and quite frankly i think it stinks..the implication to such a thing suggesting to the person doing the snubbing that the person being snubbed is somehow beneath them..i was raised with the idea that everybody is equal..that no one person is better than another ...rich, poor or in between...so if this is an issue im sensitive about...it isnt for the reason you came up with....its because of how i was raised to beleive and how i have seen such snobbery affect others... when i say high end establishments i wasnt talking about the same type of places you were talking about...think menus that have no prices on them..think places that have escargot and beluga caviar and pate de foi gras (hope i spelled that right) and don perignon...all these things and others that we asscoaite with expensive restaurants...and these are the places i had in mind that use specific silverware for specific purposes etc..... with that being said winegeek...im truly sorry you had a bad day yesterday..we all have them no matter where we work...if i came off as being way too harsh please read what i said above and that will give you the reasons why i thought and said what i did.... and accpet my apology for adding to your already stress filled day.....my mother also worked in the food service industry and she made a lot of her money in tips and she also taught us that there are certain industries where a good portion of what one earns also comes from those same tips.... and she put up with a lot of crap while working and never complaining about it overly much ...she also taught us that respect is somethig you earn and is not an automtic right and that courtesy costs nothing...as for the venting...im a very firm beleiver that venting is good for a person and to hold it all in and never let it out can be costly in many ways.....but there are also times when you need to be careful of how a thing is expressed and where it is expressed....im not saying this wasnt the right place or the right time....but i am saying that you left out the one detail that could have avoided most if not all of what i originally said to begin with...i do try to be careful of the things that i say as i know things can be hurtful when said....had you let it be known that you had had a very bad and frustrating day..i know myself well enough to know that my reaction would have been completely different......probably much more sympathetic...under most circumstances im a reasonable person.... and quite frankly while i do have a passing knwoledge of the different silverware and what its used for...for me if im not using something for the thing its supposed to be used for....it has a whole lot to do with the fact that i dont want to dirty another thing that somebody else has to wash...again i do apologize for adding to your stress full day

your "beef" floors me...apparantly you work in a high end establishment that caters to the more monied patrons..which leads me to wonder what you are doing working there when such snobbery shows a very shallow mentality... has it never occured to you that the type of people who can afford to eat in such a place didnt get into the postions they are in by being stupid and not being able to read people? Do you think that each and every person who crosses the threshhold to the establishment you work in wasnt born with a silver spoon in their mouhts...let alone really care what fork is for the salad or seafood..or escargot...or which knife is used for what or even which plate is used for what...these same people that you are putting down are not stupid by any means...they could not be stupid and have the kind of money that they do..and most..if not all...are extremely good at picking up what you may be thinking ...perhaps not the words themselves...but facial expression or body language..even the tiniest thing that hints at disdain can be picked up..body language...no matter how much you try to hide it... speaks so much more than you know..and remember these same people are the ones paying you the tips you seemingly dont deserve...bear in mind..its NOT always great service that gets you the best tips....and its not how well you can kiss somebodys butt..... but rather the genuine courtesy and respect you show them.... the next time you have a patron in your establishment ..who doesnt know the difference between what to use for what you might want to remember these people are not as stupid as YOU think they are..also bear in mind...there is also the possibility that there are people here on eg who also eat where you work and airing the views you have aired in such a public forum is not always the best thing...next time try a little tolerance and understanding as im sure that even you at one time in your life didnt know the difference either

i love the flaovor of oyters in almost every way...but u could never get me to eat a raw one..its not exactly safe to do so anymore...not sure why..but then again having them raw just isnt my thinmg...i love them smoked and i love them fried and i love them in etouffe....love them in a chowder love them in paella..you do of course notice the common thread here....NONE OF THEM ARE RAW...... ...i love the flavor...what can i say....of course not to every bodys liking but hey...nobody is perfect.....

check out ebay....you can generally find cookbooks on almost anything there...just type in either cookbooks in the search area or you can be more specific by typing in crockpot cookbooks..or you can leae it generalized...but in truth there ar e many recipes you can adapt to a slow cooker...have fun and enjoy

actually the easiest fudge recpie u will ever find is right on the back of the jars of the kraft marshmallow cream..while i make mine from scratch as much as possible...im no stranger to that recipe and it works every time

i would love to know what everything is on those plates in the pics...they all look yummy

gordo...i applaud you...you said some of the things i thought as i read some of the post....but wasnt able to say...but im sure i made my mother real proud of me anyway even though she may never know it and irodguy...thanks for also pointing out those other factors they are equally true...and ther is a ressurgance of at least a desire to cook well..were there not...we would not have a channel like the food channle nor would we have all these popular tv chefs..and one doenst have to buy things that are expensive in order to cook well...

on a personal note id liek to say something about growing up in a houselhold where we didnt have a lot of money and the best cuts of meat were not affordable nor was fresh parmesan that didnt come from a can..but we were lucky enough to have a mother who wasnt afraid to experiemnt in the kitchen with what she could afford....she was a great beleiever in using herbs and spsices and was never afraind to take an already exisiting recipe that was mediocre and turn it into something brilliant...she never once dumbed down our taste buds.....i wasnt allowed in the kitchen very much at all...at least not to cook but i spent years watching my mother cook and create while she also held down a job to support me and my sisters and brother as a single parent up til i was 16....i learend a lot from her by watching her and when i grew up i took her ideas into my own kitchen and have never been afraid to experiment and whiel yes i love turkey for thanksgiving as well as some of the other things my mother served at ours..i most certainly dont think of it so much as wanting what we had as i do as seeing it as a wonderful and meaningful tradition and one that i really love and enjoy and while i do add my own things to the table that i have created...i still love tradtion...and its traditons that u keep that also help serve to remind you of the godo times you had when you were young..and in truth...even while we didnt have much money when i was growing up....i never actually knew we didnt until i was older.. i always thought my mother was a genuis in the klitchen she is 65 now and has arthritis and cant do a lot of things she used to be able to do but she taught us a lot of good values and gave us a lot of love and in her own way...encouragement to try new things .... and i would not trade those times for anything in the world

fifi..i think its been a great topic and i for one would not have missed it for the world....i got introduced to things i didnt know were out there..like your ss mushroom....and got loads of new websites to add to my favs list for the future when im hunting for something and cant find it locally....its been great and id like to see how much further it can go before christmas gets here.... ...it wasnt a dumb idea at all

yes anise does have the licorice flavor to it...my mother used to use it in some sort of cookie recipe when i was a kid...my sisters loved it...but for me..i couldnt stand the taste...i was never much into licorice whips either

im not exactly sure where grand casion is ..however if you are going to be around abbeville...i highly reccomend a restaurant called Blacks..very good food....its a shame you are not goign up alexandria way as there is apalce up around there someplace called tunks..others have a different view of ti than i do...but i love the place

sugar cane?........fresh from the whatever pineapple?......fresh coconuts? aside from the macadamia nuts..which u already mentioned...i wouldnt even know what to reccomend....ive ever even been to hawaii..and i think its way too late to ask for jack lord...cuz i think he died some time back? and tom selleck is out of the question too since magnum pi is no longer on tv anywhere other thna syndication sompelace and so is nto longer beign filmed there and hasnt been for a good many years now....ahhh well......

what about adding a tad bit of flour or bread crumbs to help bind it?

i have to agree ...ive got a magnetic knife strip as well and i love mine..my regret right now is that i dont have another one...i have a small kitchen with very little drawer space..(what do they think about when drawing up kitchen plans on an apartment complex?... ).....so i dont have much backsplash area and with the way the kitchen is set up...very little wall space.... i had to find a way to creativley use the space i do haveso my fiance not only put a magnetic knife strip on my wall but also hung a pot rack for me.... i dont know what i ever did before i had either one of these things ..... fifi as to the half sheet cake cooling racks did you also try looking at cake supply places?... they seem to carry that sort of stuff in the ones we have in the dalla s /fort worth area...perhaps they may do so in the houston area as well...can t hurt to look

ok maybe its just me but i for one have no regrets for the coming of the electric jar opener frankly...when it comes to opening a jar...i admit it im a weakling ... i think there has been some major overkill when the lids were screwed on and tightened at the factory....no matter how hard i try i just cant seem to get the darn lids open on my own and for me its very frustrating...my fiance isnt around all the time to open the stupid jar for me so lo and behold i went out and actually found some little gadgets that would help me open the damn lids on these killer jars...... they are not electric but they do work and now that there is something else on the market i can also use...im sure it will find its lovely way into my kitchen an extra reason for the degree of satisfaction i find at knowing this help is out there is that several years ago at thanksgiving...i got a particulary tough pickle jar that just refused to budge no matter what i did the water trick didnt work...beating it on the bottom didnt work..and for some godawful reason i couldnt even wedge the tip of a knife under the cap to pop the seal.....but what did wind up happening is that the jar wound up getting broke when it slipped out of my hands and hit the floor leaving a trail of shattered glass and dill pickles all over the place so do i feel any pity or any kind of remorse at the loss of doing it the hard way......OH HELL NO........ and winesonoma...i did check out the site you posted....and while i will never ever puirchase one of those things...i have to admit the mans sense of humor and his gutsiness got me laughing..........

most of the time when my fiance and i dine out..we never make it to dessert....and for the times we do...have to turn many of them down..as both of us are diabetics...so for those times when we do make it to dessert...personally id love to see some more diabetic friendly options on the menus..after all a good portion of americxa is now diabetic..but there is very little attention being paid to this market in restaurants

got my laugh for the day too.... good luck on the google hunt fifi...right now im just both lazy and way too tire d to pursue the links...no matter hwo good they may look...i could be looking around all night but what i really need is sleep and lots of it....let me know what u find ...

i think we all know how are men when it comes to gadgets...NEW TOY......

wow i must have missed the posting on the pull down spice rack.... ..i wonder how that happened..currenlty ive got five spice racks and still have more herbs and spices in the cupboard that need a spice rack of their own...any time my fiance and i go into a kitchen store or anyplace where they have any kind of spice racks.....i have to beg him to keep me away........ ...but if i could just find one really good and roomy spice rack for all that i have..that would make me very very happy...not to mention the fact my fiance wont have to roll his eyes when he knows im going to look anyway......

im pretty familair with ebay and have purchased many things off there with no problems...hope u had nto left any feedback on them as of yet...however another thing u can do is to contact the seller to resolve this problem...depending upn the seller in question...some will refund your money...however..ive also seen pple who have complained abotu a seller in their feedback only to have the seller lay blame eslewhere.....over time i have learned that if i want to bid on an item and ive not had any prior dealings with the seller...i read the feedback first to see what is said about the seller and how the seller may handle problems...granted there isnt a whoel lot of room to leave much info as u only get to use somthieng liek 80 charachters in the feed back so u have to use it for all its worth...but by all means contact the seller first...if u get no satisfaction u can always go for mediation..it is available on ebay it does cost but can be well worth it

i bought one of those at the chefs sale last february fif and have the same problem with mine...fine idea but the results hardly seem worth it.....

what a bummer huh fifi...but i think marie may have a real good idea there...signing up doing a pledge drive..... ...not long ago i got an email asking if ui wanted to bea society donor and ive been debating it simply because my fiance is already a society donor so the debate concerns two in the same household...have not made any progress with that thought yet..... however...if one looks at the numbers next to our names when we post something..it does give us the member number that we are...and unless im seriously mistaken...i think they just may have a market with our members..so long as we can get enough of us interested in purchasing this little beauty...i know id love to have one...so how de we go about contact with other members abotu this?..you are a froum host fifi....any ideas?...by the way...congrats on getting to talk with a person who could tell us more and what to do about it.... ...

...fifi...i just love it...yes eg is the only place where we can get obsessed by something like this.... ...then again were we not so obessesed with food to begin with... we would not be here either...but isnt it wonderful that we all have a place where we can go to express our obsession with cooking?....and congrats for at least getting her answering service...yet again do we show...if you want something bad enough you take it as far up as you can go..congrats..im sure that through our singlemindedness on this..somewhere out there is the garlic smasher of our dreams..... ...oh what a lovely time in gadget history to be a foody.....

udate on the ss garlic smasher....got an email from amco as a result of an email i had sent before i made the call to focus.....Maureen Kivel-Luzar over at amco had this to say:.... "We did once carry the garlic smasher item 265 this item was discontinued in 2003. The last place we sold this to was cooking.com .You may want (to get (added for clarity) ) with them or scrounge around a T.J. Maxx they also purchase our close outs from time to time." so here we have tow possible sources but im still waiting to hear back from nancy which may take a few days...meantime we have some hope from another source....

jensen sorry to report...i went through the entire amco site and could not find fifis ss mushroom.... however..i did call the customer service number that had been provided and spoke with nancy haws over at focus...we spoke at length and finally discovered it had last been in their 2001 catalog..unfortunalty they no longer sell it...however she is going to get with her marketing department to first figure out why amazon or whichever website it was that was putting them on back order is offering it...and also to see what they can do about perhaps selling this item again.....ive explained to her at length about our egullet site..what we do and how far reeaching it is and let her know that there really is a market out there for this item..she is going to get back with me when she finds something out and i will let ya'll know the results...good or bad...keep your fingers crossed and lets all do some praying that they just may get the ss garlic smasher back on the market for us