FabulousFoodBabe

You had a PET SCORPION??!! ← Well, he was my secondborn's. I never petted him, though my kid did. We also had a corn snake named Bob who went to that big tree branch in the sky about a year ago. His feeder mice are still in the freezer, and I find them when I have to dig for something. I don't know why they're still in there. Nasty things. I used to have a duck head in there, too.

This thread came to mind the other night, as I watched a Katrina evacuee on the news. She was speaking out about being "removed" from the hotel where she and others had been living for a few months. She was outraged that they were expected to get jobs, when the only jobs they were being offered was as "Cooks! How insulting is that!" She went on to say that lots of these people were college-educated and to offer them such demeaning work was reprehensible. It reminded me that the attitude most people have about the restaurant business hasn't changed a lot. You know: cooks are either the fancy, four-star types who are artistes and either don't need money or prefer to starve for their art ... or that they've got a funny shade of green card, and send all their money back to the village in Mexico that they came from. Or, worst of all, that they can't do anything else. Do you really think that with this belief, anyone would send even more money to the BOH cooks?

Anyone have an opinion on whether the bread was better pre-Atkins?

the remains of Fluffy, the Emperor Scorpion (may he rest in peace), who is awaiting the spring thaw for his burial.

now that you mention it, i remember that when my dog "bil" was around the table, he would eat and then participate in the conversation making his own noises and moves ← No doubt he was spot-on, and his diction, precise. (If that's what it can be ...) My sons' table conversations are legendary, and have evolved from theories about primordial soup, black holes, why literature pertains to them when they KNOW they won't ever use the lessons of Jane Eyre in their future lives , to whether or not oranges smell weird, to the true reasons behind the crash of the Hindenburg.

I have a confession: This is the first time I've heard the server introduction explained in a way that makes complete sense. And I"ve been around for a while. thank you, Tommy.

Where are you now, AndrewB? When did you graduate? I've got no interest in big, chain resort/hotel work, but found that 99% of the professors and chefs pushed us that way. Plus, all our post-externship speakers were with chain restaurants and hotels and the like. I know, I know, most of the jobs are there, but still.

So, when will you know about the Breakers? Anything else interesting at the career fair?

Yeah, what he said. I'd add a real nutrition and general-health slant to the curriculum. And for heaven's sake, more exercise, and less PTA-control! I do think that if the typical parent organizations were left OUT of things, or somehow circumvented (i.e., not allowed a majority vote or control), more might get done. Someone needs to be single-minded about this stuff and not worry about who was on what committee last year, and whether they deserve to get their name in the paper. In the fabulous district lunch program overhaul here in our little burg, NO ONE thought that perhaps Stone Barns Center would be a good place to get kids involved. And the committee/"special coalition" that was put together ... yeesh. timh, you've got your work cut out for you and I wish I could help you.

In the district we're in now, we pay for the school lunches. My sons are in high school now and say the choices are okay -- but that the most godawful, tasteless, ugliest and nightmarish week of their lives was "Healthy Food Week!" when they were in middle school.

Oh, Ling. It's gorgeous! Today, I had leftover Chinese, and it's really, really spicy. I'm afraid that I'll look down and see my stomach burning from the inside out, like that map on "Bonanza"!

You got that right! I saw this on the news last night, about low-fat diets not doing a heck of a lot to stop whatever it is they were trying to stop. I don't put much stock into studies of people who've had a diet or lifestyle inflicted on them for a couple of years when they reach 60 or 70. Yanno, I'm not so sure I want to live to be 100. By all rational accounts, my family members should not have lived anywhere near the 90-100 most all of them have. If I know I'm going to live that long, I'll have to save more money now to afford yucky nursing home food in 50 years. by then, though, they should have orthopedic Manolos all over the place.

the only place i've ever seen (or heard of) soft drinks being consumed at breakfast, is in the South.

When I had my gourmet-to-go, we got a bunch of Kraft M&C Dinners from the grocery department, at a beeg discount one day, and did an experiement: Make the stuff according to package directions, top with some gorgeous sliced tomatoes and strips of bacon, and run under the broiler until the top got nice and bubbly ... My upscale clientele could not get enough of it. Go figger!

What is fun to talk about is ... trips. Scuba diving, skiing and golf and how to totally screw up in those areas. We talk about when we were young and redoing our houses, by ourselves, and how somehow it was simpler than now, when we have more money and hiring architects to do it.. Second wives and second husbands not present are also fair game, if they belong to someone's parent or former a-hole boss. Dogs. Yeah, dogs are good. And funny things that the kids say about us, and how they can't believe anyone as clueless and stupid as we are, have managed to live this long. Also, any Wine Country trips are always a good time to talk about. Hell, anything that happened when we lived in California is fun. But I do NOT like to talk about the food on the plate. It drives me nuts to be be interrupted and asked if I'm enjoying the meal in front of me, most of all, by a dining companion. I don't care to talk about if and why someone else is not enjoying their meal. I also don't like to talk about how much food it is or how someone (usually a Skinnie) just can't eat that much. I don't like to talk about ingredients or "richness" of a food, how many fat grams are in it, etc. , or how long someone is going to have to run the next day in order for the meal to not attach itself to their ass and anything it comes in contact with.

Of course they are! And I'd like to say for the thousandth time, there are no unhealthy foods, just unhealthy eating habits. You don't have to lose one to preserve the other.

I'd also heard that when you Extern for Disney, you have to do whatever they ask of you ... which includes running the food kiosks at the parks. Out of everyone I knew who went there, only one person enjoyed it. Anyway, you're working on this early, which is a very good thing! I know a B&P guy who did the Breakers a few years ago, and he absolutely loved it. When do you go? Where do you want to be?

And here I sit, hoping no one asks ME how old I was when I started! Yeah, the world is beating down my door, to have a 48 year old line cook, even with years of experience. Better you should do this young. You'll get out in two years with a solid culinary background and pastry training. Pretty good, I think!

Where do facts like that come from? Another thing I was told as a child: that if you don't chew well before you swallow, meat will stay in your digestive system forever and that most people have 15# of undigested meat in them at any given time. And that Coca-Cola could take the paint off a car (we tried this once; didn't work). I also didn't believe that my face would freeze when I did this:

A whole bag of Circus Peanuts. Preferably from a gas station on a long stretch of road, so they're a little bit stale. Works every time.

Maui -- you do know there's lots of aid available, don't you? Hit the website; it's a pretty good one. And do call the college; they can be very helpful. Where are you now? Carlos -- Yeah, I was AM when you were PM. Not gonna play "do you know" here, but ours were pretty interesting teams, eh? And chianti, I'm liking your description of how you're being taught.

First: congratulations, Dr. Mano! A lot of hard work. Where did you eat, what did you eat? You earned that Dr., and the fact that you and your wife laughed about this episode is pretty cool. Did you feel like the lousy table was your punishment? My husband's training partner (for marathons) held a PhD in English Literature. He used to make reservations under "Dr. Jones" and always got a great table. And no, I never personally saw him asked to help out with a heart attack patient.

A show of hands: Did anyone really, truly, say to their mother, "Oh yeah? Name one!" when she told them this?

Hah! We were told not to swallow chewing gum, because it would gather in our appendix and burst. I also believed my father when he told me the Cream of Wheat bowl was following me in the wintertime.

Ha, this is funny because it kind of sounds like me. I am a little older and started when I was bout 14, but not classic french restaurants. Got to start out lame and work your way up to the good stuff. I don't have a common background, I was fortunate in a lot of ways. Also there is one thing I believe in. Even a 45 year old dishwasher can teach you something.I don't care where you are from, what you have done, you can always learn something. ← I agree about learning from everyone. Honestly, though, the whole "classical French restaurant since the age of 14" stuff is kind of silly. I'm sure you're different, but I've yet to meet one person who makes that claim, who is (a) female, (b) French, and © exhibiting the skills that would go along with their claims.