MelissaH

Hey, if it's got great food, it's miles ahead of either Anaheim or Orlando as a conference spot, in my book! Those two have nothing remotely interesting within easy walking distance: just Chain Food Hell. Fair enough. I usually try to do that in any case if there's more than just a couple of us, and we have a destination in mind. These all look possible. But Baraonda gets marked down in my book for gratuitous noise on their Web site, with "on" as the default! While these are all probably great dining opportunities, they're out of the budget. I'm no longer a graduate student, but I still tend to eat like one at a conference. Many of my likely dining companions are graduate students. Quality is important, but most of us would like to be able to afford more than one meal every two days. Actually, though I wouldn't personally recommend the Sundial for a meal, the bar is a great place to visit, particularly at sunset: the bar rotates (about 45 minutes for a complete turn, if memory serves) and offers great views of the city and surrounding area. You have to buy a drink, of course, but it's a pretty good deal considering. ← This is a definite possibility. You're ordering good weather for us, right? MelissaH

Gosh, I guess I should consider myself lucky. Our local dairy store, Byrne Dairy, carries mostly normal pasteurized cream. They're barely a mile and a half from my house, and I don't even think about getting cream elsewhere. MelissaH

All the ones I've seen during my last few sojourns have been renamed "Buffalo Wild Wings." I guess the Weck is no more, and they're now only BW2? MelissaH

I've done this walk, when I was in DC for a conference last August. It wasn't a bad walk, but as Rochelle says, Rockville Pike isn't a pleasant road if you're on foot, unless you like sucking exhaust. It's a much easier walk if you leave the Metro station on the proper side. Rochelle, nice to see you blogging again. MelissaH

Well, after reading through the two threads, it sounds like I'm going to be in less of a culinary wasteland than either Orlando or Anaheim. I'm relieved. As far as specifics: I think we're going to be downtown. At least, that's what the GWCC Web site keeps referring to the area as. And I think we'll be near a MARTA station. I'm happy to hear that Watershed is accessible by public transit. They've been on my radar for a while, and I'm thinking that may be a good option for Monday, possibly at lunch. Would I need a reservation for either Monday lunch or dinner? I never know how many people I'll be eating with until we actually walk in the door of wherever. But I'd like to hear other options, since I'll have other meals and I don't think the budget will support more than one meal there. I should probably mention that while I don't mind walking, I've been accused in the past of leading people on death marches. The food's usually good when we get there, but my short distances obviously don't match other people's short distances. Keep it coming; eG hasn't steered me wrong yet! MelissaH

Hi everyone, I'll be in Atlanta for the national meeting of the American Chemical Society during the last week of March. My schedule for this meeting is working out such that I'll need to find dinner on Sunday and Monday. I'll also have Monday morning and early afternoon (including lunch) to myself, unless something comes up in the meantime. I'll probably have a few people with me on these days, since I've somehow (can't imagine how ) gotten a reputation as the person on my committee who always knows the good places to eat. I'm definitely on a budget, and I like to try and find things I can't get at home (which doesn't rule out much). My transportation will be limited to my feet and whatever public transit is available. The meeting will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center, so that's where my activities will be centered around. Any suggestions for restaurants? Or my morning to myself? Historically I've gone to a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, if there's one in the area, to get the stuff I can't get at home for a reasonable price. I know there isn't a TJ's in Atlanta, but is there a Whole Foods or other fun or ethnic shopping within reach? At that point we'll also probably be finalizing the plans for our kitchen renovation project so if there's somewhere I can get to that has fun stuff, that's an OK substitute for food this trip. Of course, if any other eGulleteers are also chemists who will be attending the national meeting, please yell! MelissaH

Three cheers for all our quitters! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! You've all been incredibly gutsy for doing this in public, and letting us see it all. (And it's been fun rooting for you from the peanut gallery.) Great work, terrific job to everyone, and many wishes for more successes of all kinds, big and small. MelissaH

The "boil in can" method is only dangerous if you let the water boil away so that the can is no longer completely submerged in the water. At atmospheric pressure, the water temperature can't get above 100 degrees C, or 212 degrees F. However, steam can get much hotter than that, which is where you run into problems. I suppose it's also possible for the bottom of the pot to get hotter, which is another reason to put a dishcloth or trivet in the bottom of the pot. If you're careful to be sure that the water level stays well over the can, just as many of the early posts in this thread say, boiling in the can shouldn't be a problem. The safety note in the link that ruthcooks points to looks like a CYA kind of link, as in "We don't recommend you do this, because it may be unsafe if you don't do it properly, and we don't want to be sued." I like the crock pot idea. Might need to investigate that one myself. MelissaH

Nutella. On a spoon, straight out of the jar. MelissaH

Comments on our kitchen storage: Looking at the list, I see some weird inconsistencies. For instance, the coffee cups and mugs, which could be used interchangeably for the most part, get stored in at least three different cabinets and five different shelves. And why is the electric frying pan permitted to live in the kitchen, but the waffle iron banished downstairs to the utility room? If anything, the waffle iron gets used more consistently. The grill pan gets a bunch of use, but it's kept in the hallway pantry closet rather than the kitchen...and the panini press brick is under the oven, where it gets in the way of anything in the horizontal storage stack! The cooking implements aren't stored efficiently. For one thing, the lids just get thrown into the cabinets wherever they'll fit, since we don't have a good place to keep them. And our pots wind up in giant stacks because if we didn't, there wouldn't be enough room for them all. We have a lot of gadgets and gizmos. And most of them get at least some use on a regular basis. Even the three sets of steak knives all get some use: each set has a different handle and a differently shaped blade, which makes them good for different tasks. Yet some of the gizmos that get regular and frequent use, such as the wine vacuum sucker and its tops, wind up in the bottom-most drawer in the entire kitchen. I'd like to find a way to better show off the bowls my mom made for us. I'd like to be able to get at my 3-quart saucier without needing to first move the pasta pot out from in front. I'd like to be able to use my stand mixer without having to first move the pasta pot out from in front. I'd like to be able to get at any of my pots without having the lids clang onto the floor. The cabinet under the cooktop is a disaster! I'd like to be able to fit my giant slicer knife in the same drawer as the others. I'd like to have room in the kitchen for all my cake pans. I'd like to have a place for my dollar-store plastic serving trays where I don't need to worry about the klutzy cat exploring the top of the refrigerator, moving on to the cabinet, and knocking the trays to the floor, where they shatter into a zillion sharp pieces. I'd like to be able to easily get at whatever cutting board I want, not whatever cutting board's on the top of the stack. Ditto to the rectangular glass baking dishes. I'm sick of keeping my spices on a teetery lazy susan, high enough up that I can't see what's what without a stepstool. And speaking of lazy susans, if we have any in the new kitchen I want ones that stay adjusted and spin open in both directions. I'm quickly concluding that while some tall storage areas are nice, in most places for us it would be much more efficient to have more shorter areas in the same space. MelissaH

I've made a list of everything that's stored in the kitchen, plus a few other places that currently hold stuff I wish we had room to store in the kitchen. Here's the list. (I'm putting it here mainly so I have access to it anywhere I have Internet access, not because I thought you would all enjoy reading it: I'll save the commentary for another post, to follow immediately. MelissaH ---begin list--- Top of cart: butcher block cutting board, stack of ceramic platters made by my mom, large hundred-year-old wooden butter bowl holding large metal wedding gift serving bowl, currently containing apples, limes, and an avocado Left drawer of cart: 2 sets of 8 steak knives, a few slate trivets we made by gluing felt onto the bottom of some slate slabs we collected, a variety of cat treats Right drawer of cart: the last set of 8 steak knives, the cheese knife assortment, some sheets of cheese paper, and a dried turkey wishbone waiting for a good reason to be broken Top shelf of cart: large food-service-sized roll of plastic wrap which we used instead of the expensive stretchwrap when we moved and have since been using in place of the puny rolls of traditional grocery store rolls, the napkin basket (full), small watering can for when we haven't killed all the houseplants, mini chopper, and 2 Korean ceramic bowls for making bibimbap Bottom shelf of cart: ceramic tureen not made by my mom, ceramic teapot made by my mom, motor, top, and dasher to the ice cream maker, bottle of homemade vinegar, box of Australian placemats which we should use more often Cabinet left of shelf: Top shelf: 10 wine glasses, 2 beer tasting glasses, 4 shot glasses Middle shelf: 6 water glasses, 5 beer glasses Bottom shelf: 10 hand-blown glasses, 2 Heineken glasses from our tour of the Heineken factory On counter left of sink: water boiler, dish drainer on towel, ring/watch holder Drawer left of sink: 10+ cutting boards of varying sizes and materials, box of toothpicks Cabinet under drawer left of sink: Top shelf: rice cooker with appliance timer for those nights we aren't home to turn it on, blender, blender-on-a-stick, crockpot Bottom shelf: electric frying pan with lid, food processor with metal blade in it Behind sink: cans cleaned but still too wet to go in the recycling drawer, soap pump which we keep filled with dish soap Under sink: Left side: trash can, ant traps, sink trap Right side: garbage disposal, sink trap, fire extinguisher, bleach bottle and other cleaners, extra grocery bags in a holder on the door Right of sink wall cabinet: Top shelf: stack of ceramic bowls made by my mom, 3 coffee cups in a stack, ceramic cow from Delft brought home by my sister, 2 chip-and-dip wedding gift sets, ceramic pitcher made by my mom, gravy boat Middle shelf: 3 stacks of 3 coffee cups each, 2 quart glass measuring cup with lid, stack of small ceramic bowls made by my mom, stack of 12 dessert plates which get regular use on top of 12 saucers which we never use Bottom shelf: 12 wide shallow bowls, 12 cereal bowls, stack of 12 small "lunch" plates which get regular use on top of 12 big "dinner" plates which get some use but didn't fit well into the dishwasher in our last house Counter right of sink: any dishes not yet washed, toaster oven, roll of paper towels, often a bottle of wine or non-perishable stuff that needs to be put away properly, microwave Drawers right of sink: Top: sharp knives, each in a cardboard sheath if it didn't come with a plastic sleeve 2nd from top: box of surgical gloves for kitchen use, roll of nonskid material, 2 rotary graters which don't get as much use now as they did before microplanes came to our house 2nd from bottom: apron, flour sack towels and cheesecloth, a slew of chopsticks, bamboo skewers, paper muffin cups (large and small), 48 tartlet pans (each 1.5 inches in diameter, stored in a plastic margarine tub with a lid), a squeeze bottle for when we get into Bobby Flay moods, single-edge razor blades, T-head pins, a shell-shaped chocolate mold Bottom: more cheesecloth, metal skewers (half given to me by my grandma, topped with animal shapes, brought back from Greece many decades ago), 2 wedding gift serving spoon sets, bamboo sushi-rolling mat, another slew of chopsticks, 3 silpats (each rolled and stored inside an empty paper towel cardboard roll core), wine bottle vacuum sucker and tops, wing corkscrew that doesn't get much use, chopstick rests that were a gift from my MIL, sugar cube grabber because my grandma declared that we needed one and gave it to us, garlic peeler tube gizmo, lemon zester that takes off the long strands but gets little use since we got our first microplane Middle drawer: silverware (big forks, salad forks, little spoons, big spoons, 12 of everything except more little spoons because they always seemed to get used up and we had a few get eaten by the disposal), measuring spoons, nutcrackers, cake tester, garlic twister that's worth using only if you need dozens of pressed cloves, wooden pie server, engraved napkin rings given to us by the agent who helped us buy our previous house, ceramic ginger grater, serving spoons that won't ever need to be polished, 2 dishers for making cookie dough balls, churchkey, bottle opener, can opener, waiter's corkscrew, teaball, 4 microplanes of varying types, digital thermometer probes Right drawer: mess of implements including ladles, wooden spatulas and spoons, plastic pancake flippers, cheese planers, the silicone spatulas not in the crock on the counter, the tongs not in the crock on the counter, melon baller, lemon and lime squeezers, 3 carrot peelers and extra blades for the one that's replaceable rather than disposable, cherry pitter, cocktail strainer, metal pie server with serrated edge, pastry brushes for savory use, timers, clothespins, dental floss, skimmer Cabinet below middle and right drawers: Top shelf: hand mixer, torch and butane, roll of cotton kitchen twine, mandoline stored in its box, rubbermaid leftover storage containers, shoebox of lids to rubbermaids, 3 rolling pins, electric spice grinder Bottom shelf: 3 containers of various kinds of flour, white sugar, brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, second stand mixer bowl from my sister engraved with our names and wedding date, stand mixer pouring shield, food processor bowl with outfeed spout that came with the thing but hasn't ever been used to my knowledge, 2 bench scrapers, box of cookie cutters, shoebox of baking implements including showercaps, mixer beaters for hand and stand mixers, pastry brushes for sweet use, large offset spatula, few more cookie cutters, pastry blender, plastic hand-held scrapers, food processor blades and the plastic stalk they snap onto, cut pieces of nonskid to go under cutting boards, Even Bake strips, few disposable piping bags, piping bag tips Middle wall cabinet above: Top shelf: 2 stacks totaling 7 stainless steel bowls, sizes ranging from 5 quarts to about 1 quart Middle shelf: ceramic ramekins made by my mom, stack of ceramic bowls made by my mom Bottom shelf: stack of flatter ceramic bowls, some made by my mom, about 20 glass custard cups, a few smaller ceramic custard-cup equivalent bowls made by my mom Rightmost wall cabinet: Top shelf: plastic 2 quart measuring cup, mortar and pestle Middle shelf: defatting pitcher, cocktail shaker, plunger 2-cup capacity measuring cup, tall ceramic mug that didn't seem to fit elsewhere for some reason Bottom shelf: 2 Tupperware measuring cup sets that include the 2/3 cup and 3/4 cup sizes, 1 set of metal measuring cups that don't include those sizes, Pyrex measuring cups in 1 , 2, and 4 cup sizes Wall cabinet lazy susan: in-use spices and herbs, molasses, balsamic vinegar, shaker of confectioner's sugar, extracts On top of microwave: scale, bread Base cabinet lazy susan: Top shelf: potholders, coffeemaker and insulated carafe, coffee grinder and container of in-use beans, 4 loaf pans Middle shelf: in-use pasta, rice noodles Bottom shelf: stack of 2 bundt pans in a removable-bottom tart pan, a ring pan in a springform pan, angel food cake pan Wall cabinet right of lazy susan cabinet: gelatin, salts, peanut butter jars (1 chunky for me and 1 creamy for my husband), tube of hairball goo for the cats On counter between microwave and cooktop: crock of whisks, crock of spatulas and other implements, ceramic dish to hold peppermills, spoon rest Cabinet over cooktop: pearl sugar, package of fake sugar for our carb-counting friend, cornstarch, baking powder and soda, cocoa, regular old refined cornmeal that doesn't get stored in the freezer, tapioca, assortment of crackers On the hood: at least one digital timer/thermometer body (others on the fridge) On the stove: kosher salt pot Under stove: Top shelf: microwave bacon cooker, stack of pyrex pie plates and pyrex bowls with metal steamer basket, stack of colanders and strainers, mini-muffin tins, square pyrex dishes, round pyrex dishes with lids Bottom shelf: 2 spatter screens, 2 stacks of pots, the lids to the pots, stack of frying pans, stand mixer with a bowl, another stack of pots, the pasta pot with its strainer Cabinet over oven: Top shelf: MSU engraved rocks glasses, Pullman pan, all tall mugs (made by my mom and otherwise), empty beer can to put flavorful liquid in and cook bird on, glass serving bowl Bottom shelf: food mill in its box, potato ricer, hand-cranked pasta machine in its box, short mugs (made by my mom and otherwise), gigantic root beer float glass mugs I won in college by answering trivia questions at the Josh and John's ice cream shop on the Hill in Boulder Cabinet under oven: Stored vertically: 4 half-sheet pans from the restaurant supply store, 1 other cookie sheet, 1 round pizza pan, 6 cooling racks of various sizes, metal 9-by-13 pan with vertical sides and sharp corners and its lid, 2 normal-size muffin tins with 12 cavities each Stored horizontally in a stack, listed from top to bottom: V-rack, metal pie crust shield, 5-by-7 glass pan with plastic lid, 7-by-11 glass pan, 2 glass 9-by-13 pans, the roaster that we bought specifically to be large but still fit into the mini oven in our previous house In front of the stack: a foil-wrapped brick which gets used as a panini press in the grill pan Top of pantry cabinet: chip bags, cheapo fun plastic serving trays from the dollar store that we use at big parties or when we bring stuff places Pantry cabinet, top section: Top shelf: large wooden salad bowl with wooden "finger" servers, bottle of dried catnip with tight lid Bottom shelf: roll of heavy-duty foil, roll of parchment, roll of freezer paper, gallon-size ziplock bags, variety of hot chocolate mixes imported from Europe, boxes of cereal Pantry cabinet, bottom section: Top pullout drawer: slicing knife wedding gift with 18-inch blade (that's not a typo!), a few packets of Koolade in the kiwi-lime flavor we haven't been able to find for a couple of years now, a few single-serving packets of hot fudge sauce, roll of non-heavy-duty foil, roll of waxed paper, smaller ziplock bags Bottom pullout drawer: vinegars, oils, sauces that don't need refrigeration Top fixed shelf: malted milk powder imported from Michigan because it doesn't exist locally, roll of Parafilm, plastic bin with Asian noodles, plastic bin of other Asian drygoods Bottom fixed shelf: tall bottles of oil, tall bottles of vinegar, some bottles of liquor, plastic bin of dried chiles, plastic bin of chocolate, 2 box graters, jar of tahini On top of fridge: juicer, wine rack, salad spinner, plastic pitchers, vase, cat dishes On the table that serves as additional counter space: usually only things that are waiting to be moved elsewhere but act as stuff to block the cat's way on top of the fridge Under this table: the plastic 3-drawer cabinet that holds our recyclables and redeemables after they've all been rinsed and allowed to dry, plastic container filled with dry cat food, stacks of cans of wet cat food In the pantry closet, other than the food: oval 4-quart Le Creuset dutch oven, cast iron skillet and grill pan In the utility room: waffle iron, cake pans (3 each 9-inch and 8 inch rounds; 2 9-inch squares), 4 mini-loaf pans, 1 quart mini-crockpot, assorted stockpots that don't fit in the cabinet under the stove, assorted cast iron pans

If I were going to be in Amsterdam on the proper date, I'd willingly volunteer to stay up all night doing the dishes and cleaning your kitchen, just to be able to smell the aromas in your kitchen as you served everything! MelissaH

I like to use shallot in my salad dressing: mince a shallot, and let it sit in about a quarter cup of vinegar (I like sherry or champagne) for a bit. Add salt, pepper, and a blob of mustard. Whisk in about 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or buzz it in with a blender-on-a-stick to make the dressing really thick). MelissaH

Here, if you want your trash to be picked up, you pay a small fortune. Far more cost-effective is to do what we do and buy a yearly pass and bring it in yourself! This time of year we can typically go 2 to 3 weeks between trips. But in hotter weather, we go every week, and anything with the potential to stink gets frozen until we get ready to head out. That said, I will never again head to the dump without double-checking the freezer for things that have been waiting for proper disposal for weeks, er, months! MelissaH

Ah, yet another drawback to the Magic Pasta Cooker: how do you know when it's done? I'd start checking no sooner than 9 or 10 minutes. Some energy's going to need to be expended to warm the inside of the thermos as well as the pasta itself, which will cool down the water to below boiling. I'm guessing the bigger problem will not be getting the pasta to soften so much as not winding up with a stuck-together lump of gunk. This thread reminds me of another bit of add-water-and-sit cooking I heard about a couple of summers ago: Sleeping Bag Rice. This is a recipe for camping: do this just before you're ready to leave your tent and sleeping bag behind for the day. Put the rice in a container with a lid that seals tightly. Add boiling water straight off the campstove. Seal the container immediately, and slide it down into the foot of your sleeping bag. The sleeping bag keeps the heat in, and allows the rice to cook. When you come back after a few hours, you supposedly have hot cooked rice without needing to (a) convince your campstove to maintain a simmer and (b) use all your precious fuel cooking the rice. We haven't tried the method, but if I planned to do this while I was on the trail, I'd give it a run at home first to see if it works. MelissaH

My in-laws were here over the weekend, for the two last regular-season hockey games in Romney Field House before the new arena opens next weekend. In addition, we also talked some about the new kitchen, and I looked at the kitchen designs again for the first time in a week. My scanner died and had to be sent in for warranty service, so I can't post the other design at the moment. But as I looked at the other design (Plan A), I saw some things that I actually liked better than in Plan B (see above post). The biggest difference between Plan A and Plan B is that in Plan A, the fridge goes in the short end of the kitchen (in the corner where the oven lives in the old yucky kitchen), which effectively means that we won't be able to have any countertops on the right side of the door as you walk in from coming up the stairs. I don't like that as much. There are tambour doors to hide the food processor and stand mixer on the wall right next to the fridge. (I can live with that.) But the baking area is down at the other end of the kitchen, on the same side as the range, and I don't like the idea of storing the mixer way down at the other end of the kitchen from where it's ultimately going to be used. Plan A will work fine if we need to keep the baseboard heater where it is; we'd just pull it out to the toeboard of the cabinets there. (Plan B may turn out to be unworkable if the baseboard heater needs to stay where it is, for whatever reason.) And Plan A feels a little more open along the outside wall of the house. We have two more sketches, with two other completely different ideas. One of the two moves the baking area to right in front of the window, an idea I like. (I don't remember where the sink moves to.) The other idea I don't remember very well, and the sketch is at home and I'm at work right now so I can't look. When I have scanner access once more, I'll scan everything in so you can see what I'm talking about. Our next task will be to look at the plans, and make notes of what we like and what we don't like in each. We'll also need to make that list of everything that needs to be stored in the kitchen, and see if everything has a logical place. Once we can finalize the plans with the designer and get our list of cabinets, we'll be able to see how much we can spend on other stuff right away, and what might need to go on the "Dream On" list. MelissaH

Does anyone out there have a thermos large enough to accommodate some pasta and try the experiment? MelissaH

Lucky you! It's a beautiful part of the country, and one that we've always loved. We haven't lived there, other than for a week at a time of camping. You're actually going to be lots closer to Las Vegas than SLC. In fact, if anyone's looking to come visit you, the Las Vegas airport may very well be the airport of choice, since there are lots of flights there, the flights are relatively inexpensive, and the drive's not bad. And you're going where there's a lot of nothing. But that's part of the joy of living there. Plan to buy an annual pass to Zion National Park so you can visit as often as you like, and acquire a good pair of hiking boots...and a pair of sandals that you can get soaking wet without repercussions, because there's a lot of beautiful walking to be done through the river up the canyon. You'll need to develop a very different mindset than you'd have living in a city, because it's a completely different environment. Plan to get a city fix every so often, though: take a long weekend (or equivalent few days off) and visit somewhere good-sized. And joiei's right: Western distances are on a different scale. An hour's journey somewhere is nearly insignificant. Get in the habit of keeping a cooler in your car. It gets hot in that area, and depending on where you live, it might be a bit of a drive to the grocery store. A cooler (even a little soft-sided one) helps immensely in allowing perishables to survive the journey home. Nightlife? Sure: pack your trash up tight or the nightlife will get into it. MelissaH

Joy! Our kitchen designer has found a local soapstone fabricator, twenty miles down the road from here! MelissaH

I also wonder about looking through older cookbooks for "War Cakes," made during wartime when eggs, sugar, and other food products were rationed or hard to get. I don't know how they'd work with non-wheat flours, but they might give you another place to start looking. I seem to remember that many of them are spicy or gingery. Here's a recipe I just googled up. For the fat, it says you can use bacon grease! MelissaH

What he said. My husband and I both enjoy Project Runway much more than the other "reality" shows, I think in part because it's really based on the competitors' talents, not how much backbiting and game-playing they can do. I'm hopeful that the new chef show will be along the same lines, where the best person (or maybe that should be stated as "the person who consistently doesn't have any really bad days") wins. MelissaH

After my sad experience with a propane-powered smoker, I'm planning to purchase a WSM once I get my act together and let my life settle down after the first-week-of-the-semester mad rush. MelissaH

Just wanted to let yunz know that I've been quietly sitting here in the cheering section, rooting you on. I'll now go back to quietly sitting and observing. MelissaH

And around here, many convenience store-type places have lists posted of their "acceptable" IDs. Passports (US or otherwise) are not on the list, which aggravates and amuses me. MelissaH

Anything you'd do differently? Anything you're really glad you did? MelissaH