Carrot Top

What a shame. It is one of the few that I truly enjoy. I imagine there is some focused way that the advertisers have traced the usefulness of their advertising in these magazines though. . .to amount of sales generated. Maybe then, the wave of the future will be to have more online "magazines" that are directly reader-supported rather than advertiser supported. It does cut out that cost factor of "real" manufacture and distribution. Personally, my direction lately has been to spend money on books or on online journals and avoid the print mags. Last time I looked at "Vogue" (not that I have much use for it here, and not that it would do me any good anyway having passed the age of twenty five or so ) I had the devil of a time even finding the real articles for the mass of ads. Food mags seem to be angling this direction, too. Aggrevating.

Oh! Really this is a wonderful thread! How very endearing and happy are our imperfections when they happen (which of course is not often, not often ) ! Now this is the thread that really might force me to use a camera just for the fun of it. Documentation of the excellent. . .that is all well and fine. But documentation of the mind-boggling nonsense that life dishes out even as we seek perfection. . .that. . .as they say. . .is priceless.

Okay, I'll give up my hard-earned secrets. Here is a recipe that my mother made. It was one of six things she could make that were quite tasty. She claims that this recipe came from her own mother whom *she* said only made two things that were decent to eat: this recipe and Swedish Pea Soup that her seafaring Swedish husband (my grandfather) had taught her. Progress is obviously made in generations. I loved this as a child and would probably like it okay now. It's pretty good. Here it is, written in my mother's words and spellings from an old index card. Hamberg Casserole 1 good-size onion, 1/2 green pepper. Saute in skillet. Remove and put in casserole. In same skillet put 1/2 lb. hamberg and cook until crumbly. Put in casserole and add 1/2 can tomatoes (size 2 can), 1/4 cup of uncooked rice, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. pepper. Bake about 35 minutes in 375 oven - cover! casserole. It is taking every ounce of my willpower not to re-write that as a nice neat little standardized recipe, but even the form carries something about the recipe, so I am resisting my impulse! It is incredibly inexpensive. . .the story is my grandmother found the recipe on the side of a box or something during the Depression. Yummy, too, particularly for children. Edited to add: A 1970's sort of popular casserole that did not use canned soup or its ilk was "Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic". Remember that one?

Interesting question, Jennifer. I've noticed the same thing. I have no idea as to the realities of the cost of paper and customer spending pattern thing, but have noticed that magazines (and there seem to be a zillion more of them on the racks) seem to be skewing themselves much more either "upscale" or "plain everyday/almost slightly downscale". Sort of the "I am an everyday person" thing or "I am not just an everyday person". But the shininess factor can occur in either the expensive ones or the cheaper ones. There are several expensive ones I can think of (mostly "New Age" or "Intellectual" focused) whose pages are extremely matte but also very thick and lovely. It would seem that people must be willing to pay for magazines, since so very many are published. But oof! They are becoming expensive. Or maybe it is just that I am getting old and cranky and anything that is not *really* important and fine just seems expensive. Sorry to wander off answering Jennifer's question, Chris. I hope you will put up with me. I do realize I take some putting up with. I have not seen the Saveur. I keep wandering online to read whatever content turns up there, instead. (That actually may be a factor in your assessment of how the new issue has been re-formatted. The younger among us who have grown up being bombarded by a variety of medias, all very visual. . .including the internet. . .may have given some sort of feedback in studies about how the pages looked. . .not "busy" enough to capture their interest or perhaps not in smaller appetizing "bytes"?)

Your reputation is the most valuable part of your business. It can not be regained as quickly as the cost of a batch of muffins if it is tarnished.

My God, can you feel the breaths expanding within yourself when you read this?! And it is words. Just words. Astonishing.

It's a failing that I only allow to happen for a short portion of the day, Bond Girl. It is rather dull and tiresome. Karen

project, you might enjoy searching the bookstore or library (or Amazon under "Professional Books") for books specifically detailing restaurant operations and management. They do cover the subjects you seek knowledge about. As far as words used in fiction being a lesser carrier of emotion or the grand meaning of things, that is up to each individual to decide. As science has discovered, we all learn differently and what words can do for one person they may not do for another. Chacun sa gout. There is no "one way". If you are angry about what you were taught in school, or feel that you were forced to learn things that were just plain wrong, that is one thing. If it is very important to you that this not be so for other people then it would seem to me that the way to help others see the light would be to write (?) something that they would take to in response. Would music have people understanding your point? Would art, to the general public, have them understanding your point? Or would it take the years of formal education in the subject for one to capture your meaning? Would science have people understanding your point? It might, but it would need be put into words, for most of us speak in words, in language. Perhaps you would have us all speaking mathematics so all would be clear and concise. But as we have been speaking language for thousands of years, you would need the words to teach the mathematics, to do the translation. If you would have people understand your point, it must be done in language, and it must be done well, and it must be done so that it is appealing. It must appeal to the human spirit for most human beings to be interested in reading the words that would lead to any truth of any sort. You sound so very angry with fiction. ................................................................................. I will tell you one thing. You want to know how to become a chef. How to walk that path. A path must be walked and even sometimes chopped through based on one's own personal narrative. Fiction provides narratives. Personally, I never could have become anything at all in life but probably a victim of sorts given the circumstances of my own young life if it were not for fiction. For books. For stories. Believing as a child that I *was* in a sense Pippi Longstocking carried me to being a chef. Much more than any knife skills or oyster-opening skills did. They were only the way. Not, the path. Both are required. A way and a path. ..................................................................................... Edited to add that I am truly sorry to hear of the loss of your wife. She sounds like a most marvellous person, a true and good friend and love. My sincerest condolences and thoughts to you.

Yes, the testicle comment struck me as colorful. That is what captured my interest. Sexist, I could care less about. It is or it isn't, it doesn't bother me in the least. Obsess about it, no, definitely not. Just trying to understand how the thing worked since he mentioned it. .......................................................... Edited to add: Just so that it does not appear that I do not take the interview "seriously", I should add that the questions Bond Girl asked were excellent. The thought comes to mind that the venue of telephone interviewing might be fraught with difficulties. The time is short and depending on how focused or not one is, there is no going back on whatever comes out of one's mouth. Clark is an enormously bright and talented guy from what I know of his work. It will be a pleasure to learn more about what he has to say on the business aspect of things when he comes back to eGullet as a panelist in the upcoming discussion.

Milagai, the only similar thing I have heard of with grapes is very cold grapes served with sour cream and a generous sprinkling of brown sugar. That is very good. But I have no idea of the provenance of the recipe.

Okey-doke. Let's try this again. . . "I have eaten so much. . ." Rumi You will have to scroll down a bit to find the poem.

Sorry to go on about this. . .but how does one know when the chef's second testicle has descended? This is important, obviously, in terms of knowing whether to support this chef or not. Maybe they could erect (heh) something on top of the restaurants of the various chefs that are "in the running"? Something like the thing the ball falls from on New Years Eve in Times Square? So that when the magical moment happens, just everyone who is anyone can know and rejoice. It is better than the other option I thought of, anyway.

You might have to enact a new law to get teachers to want to do something like what you are mentioning. I can just imagine the meetings in the "Faculty Senates" now in the elementary schools. Having done a good deal of volunteer work in public schools, I can say with some good authority that 99 out of 100 teachers will not want to see a live or even close-to-live fish or anything else in their classrooms that students will then be "messing with" in any way. They are generally as squeamish about these things as the general public is. Add to that fact the idea that there will be discussion of life and death in the classroom and you've got the parents involved and arguing over it. Add to that the idea of bacteria and "germs" that come from living things being messed around with and you've got the school board involved and the lawyers, who want to avoid liability. Best case scenario for this stuff is 4-H. They are everywhere, and this is part of what they do.

Wow. My first testicle has not even descended yet. How do I get to be a better person? How can I even learn to be kind to people as Clark suggests? ............................................................................. I did enjoy this article, though, Bond Girl. Karen

VEFE is soon to be added to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Gregg. It is a paralyzing disease that happens to the over-Ph.D.'d. ................................................. Your love is taken kindly, chef-to-chef. Love is a good thing. And love from a poet that can cook is even better! Karen

At the same time, I can not remember ever having a waiter or waitress touch me while dining in Europe. And it is quite common here. I think it has something to do with the idea of service being considered a profession that has its own sense of pride historically in Europe whereas here it is (from what I hear and see) more of "just a way to make a buck" for most that do it. Therefore the "we are all equals here including me the server" approach. More of a "I am serving you today but by touching you, introducing myself, crouching down to be a part of your group" it is made clear that the service part is not taken in really the full sense of pride in itself alone that it might be. There is something inferred that someday soon, it will be the server sitting at the table being served. It makes of the situation a more "democratic" approach somewhat avoiding the real "sense" of service that service is. I have an old-fashioned view of service. I believe it is an end unto itself for those that can see it that way. Excellent and true service can give back to the one who provides it more than what they give to those that they serve. I'm not talking money here. . .but money does tend to flow from these things when done right, too.

Um hm. But of course I've built my life in such a way so that most are.

Further Reflections on Parsley by Ogden Nash Parsley Is gharsley.

May I play with your words for a moment, Behemoth? Inserted [. . .] mine. Edited to add: Forgive me, please. The idea of a landlord for dinner just appealed at the moment.

Seems to me that there are two basic ways of looking at this, and finally one is either in one camp or the other. The camp you are in has an effect not only on the meat question but on many other things, too. Camp #1: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. (i.e. "pretty little bunny, I will be sweet and kind to him for I wish the same from him to me") Camp #2: Do unto others before they do it to you first. (i.e. "I am quite sure that that steer would be trampling right over me and gobbling me right up if he were smart enough to figure out how and knew how good I tasted") Myself, I travel back and forth between the camps. Of course I can blame this on Libran indecisiveness or alternately, the search for balance.

I would agree with Dave the Cook that the most likely place to find success in this sort of reimaging of the traditional holiday foods is where the traditional family structure has been itself reimaged. Tradition seems to really mean tradition to most people. Even if the food is bad. Still you will find people wanting that same terrible thing that appeared on the table in years past. It is scary and offensive to them if it is not there. For the world is then not As It Has Been. I always do a re-image of all holidays, since my children (who live with me) visit their father and new stepmother with the new large family that is attached to that, for all the traditional holidays. It is always on a different day with the foods reconfigured. And each time, my kids are ravenous and excited about it. Indeed, they like it better than the traditional table laid on the actual holiday that they already experienced. I am not sure if this is a segment of the population that you are addressing in your story, so will not post all the reconfigurations that we've done. . .for it just plain might not work for the more traditional gatherings in my opinion. If you can, please post a link anyway when the story is done? It would be fun to read.

I wouldn't dare argue with your assessment without having a fresh vanilla pod in front of me, and that is an unlikely scenario given my geographic location. They are simply not available here. Perhaps online. . . But anyway. My question to you regarding all this would be: What percentage of people actually have the ability to discern these tastes? Is it an innate ability that exists in us all that can be developed or not, or is it simply something inborn? Does training the palate over a period of time in different ways have anything to do with how the flavor is perceived or not perceived? Does the fact of being from one culture or another with the differences in flavors and flavor perceptions due to exposure to the flavors have any effect on the final perceived results? Just curious. Oh. And which Gaius are you anyway? First, Second or Third? For obviously this is important to know in relationship to assessing your answers.

Well. . .I have to admit the idea occured to me that the study from Cornell was developed and then written in such a way to get the responses it did from some old guy who was hungry for something else besides a burger and fries if you know what I mean. . . Funny to think that this is how history is made and culture is developed. The academic pen with all that power residing behind it standing proudly in print declaiming utter nonsense. And all for a nice little backrub.

Yeah, I thought the same thing till I measured four feet with my arms wide open. It is just about the right space, (if the waiter is standing and has not decided to cuddle up next to you in the booth or sidle down onto the floor. . . ). Of course there are places in NY where four feet isn't even allowed between tables, forget about between people, and screaming the order into the waiter's ear is neccesary because of the existing decibel level. That is, if I remember right.

Here is an amusing little link per your request, Chris. How's Your Personal Distance