ScoopKW

Good point. Just like England beat the United States to the conclusion that "they buying and selling of people is morally reprehensible" by more than 30 years, France has beaten Italy to the idea that everyone has recourse to the law.

Way to Godwin this thread. Traditional marriage adherents have recourse to the law. Gay couples do not have the same recourse. They are going to win this battle, unless someone can successfully argue that they are less than human. You have staked out an indefensible position. This is one of those "better get used to it" social changes that seems to happen every couple generations. Lester Maddox and his followers in Georgia had to get used to it, too. (Can't believe they elected him governor. But I will grant that he did a fairly good job as governor. Funny how things work out.)

The "debate" about this issue isn't as contentious or important as our debate about slavery 160 years ago, but the two debates are similar. Eventually, the correct way of thinking (equal recourse to the law) is going to win. Delaying that will eventually be just another source of national shame -- like making people drink from different water fountains and sit at different lunch counters. Or rounding people up and placing them in camps in Arizona because of their ethnicity. Same "debate" different players. (Well, ONE different player. The intolerant demographic has not changed one bit over the past couple centuries.)

Here is a nice open letter from a mom to the CEO of Barilla about their family. I think it does a good job of explaining the feelings of that particular side of the "debate*." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/casey-careybrown/an-open-letter-to-guido-barilla_b_3999666.html * As I said before, there really need be no debate at all. Debate in this case is just a delaying tactic from the side that's going to lose.

There is a ridiculously easy fix to this problem. Learn what olive oil is supposed to taste like. And then don't buy oils that don't taste like olive oil. Most of the "olive oils" that I try don't taste like anything whatsoever. They just taste "oily." Big-whoop. So I've made it a point to go to olive oil producing regions, and then go to small family farms and try their oil. These are places that are so small, there is no reason for them to adulterate their oil. And, besides, their olive oil tastes like olive oil. Just learn what it's supposed to taste like. It's exactly like the difference between "table syrup" and maple syrup. Night and day. Once you know, you know. I have learned that I like Spanish olive oil the best. California oil is a little too peppery for my taste. But it makes a great finishing oil for certain dishes. And there is nothing wrong with Italian, Greek and Turkish oils, either. I think my next olive-oil expedition will be to Morocco. They have a great olive culture, after all. This is a problem we accept because as a society we simply don't know better.

I generally use Cav. Giuseppe Cocco pasta when I use store-bought. I like the texture and flavor. I buy it at a local market, where they always seem to have a few boxes in their discount section, marked down from "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" to "cheaper-than-a-plane-ticket."

How much use does the Messermeister get? I need something I can go-to every day, half-an-hour a day, and peel asparagus into little strips. A couple quarts every day. That action seems to be hard on a peeler. And then of course I have my co-workers, who constantly raid my station because I use nice tools. "Easily-replaceable blades, sold in multipaks" is a must. The Messermeister does not appear to have that option. I don't have time to sharpen a peeler when I have only 15 minutes before service starts. I need to swap it out right now, and move to the next task.

What makes gay rights such a wedge issue is that there really only are two sides. (At least as far as people on one side of this "debate" size things up.) This is a simple issue -- will everyone have the same recourse to the law? It's cut and dry. Two similar issues from the past are racial segregation and the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Only two sides to either of those issues as well. And this isn't like debating whether tea or coffee tastes better. When a group knows that their rights are being abridged, they are justifiably angry about it. And every callous comment by every business owner is just another dart in this group's side. There is no reason (as this side sees it) for debate at all. As in the case of racial segregation and internment, debate only slows the process of dismantling a framework that is unfair to the point of barbarism. The people who want to debate the issue -- "let's not be too hasty" -- are invariably the ones on the other side of the issue. Otherwise, the only real cause for debate would be the debate about how to give everyone equal recourse to the law in the fastest possible manner. And when the CEO of a largish company tosses out yet another dart, he or she is going to feel the backlash. I think on this matter the die is cast. The issue is largely settled, and the only thing necessary is to standardize the language so that (once again) everyone has the same recourse to the law. In 30 years, it will be difficult to find anyone who is willing to admit that they were on the other side. Just like today it's difficult to find anyone who will admit that they marched with Lester Maddox, carrying a "pickrick drumstick."

The reviews are just middle ground and the stone crab season doesn't start until the second week of October. I'm not sure, but if you go before then you might end up with frozen crab. Might? WILL is the word to use. You WILL end up with frozen crab. How do you think they get it from South Florida to Southern Nevada? As a local, my favorite "cheap and cheerful" restaurants are the hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints, Settebello pizza, and Hofbrauhaus. Hofbrauhaus is touristy, and overpriced, but cheaper than a round-trip ticket to Munich. The food is solid, authentic Bavarian. And occasionally they sell a currywurst that brings me right back to my days in Berlin. Settebello, based on the "worth a visit if you're in town" criterion deserves a Michelin star. It's worth a visit if you're in town. It will never get one, of course, being a relatively inexpensive brick-oven pizza joint in a Henderson strip mall. But it's worth a visit. And the hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints are where I take EVERYONE who visits me for their first meal in Las Vegas. Everyone. My favorite Thai joint is located on Sunset Avenue almost directly under the US-95 overpass. I have no idea what it's called. I also regularly eat at Market 168 (a pan-Asian supermarket). Their dim sum isn't quite as good as din tai fung. OK, it isn't as good. But it's cheap as chips and solid dumpling fare. I eat at the lunch counter at 168 at least twice a month. That makes it the most-visited restaurant in Las Vegas for me. So if you're looking for the "truly local dining option," that's where I'd go.

Your answer is, "I don't want anyone telling me how to spend my dollars and feeling superior about it, either." Why not elaborate, then? Because as it reads, nobody is allowed to take issue with what companies do with their profits. For instance, if a company uses its financial leverage to lobby for clear cutting virgin forest, nobody should call them on it. If a company uses that same leverage to open up public land for strip mining, again, let nobody say a word. During the Chick-Fil-A "debate," there were nearly as many people flooding the stores in support of Dan Cathy's policies as there were people boycotting. Same thing with Papa John's healthcare fiasco. Personally, if I ran a big company, I wouldn't enter the political waters because it would upset half of my customer base. But those who choose to do so will feel the effects of their political action. And rightfully so, in my opinion.

That's one way of looking at it. But I fall squarely into the camp of the people who "vote with their wallets." I have a laundry list of companies that I won't do business with for one reason or another. Is it working? Probably not. But purchasing products from companies run by people who I think are ruining America is anathema to me. Why should they get rich from my hard-earned money, so that they can continue their policy of paying off legislators to enact laws that I am diametrically opposed to? (Lookin' at you, Koch brothers.)

Here in Las Vegas, the local community college is vastly superior to Le Cordon Bleu. Having never been to Ottawa, I certainly cannot speak about the campus there. But I have worked with graduates from the San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Scottsdale campuses. They're usually not the best co-workers. And that's putting it generously. All I'm saying is "buyer beware." In the Southwest, they're just another diploma mill. I hope the Canadian campus is more akin to the original in Paris.

Nobody where I work wears steel-toed shoes. Also, I don't have anything nice to say about Le Cordon Bleu. (Apart from the school in France. Plenty of nice things to say about that place. Not so much the other locations.) Where is your husband attending? There may be better options. Do your shoes have steel toes? I'm curious because my husband, who recently retired, is taking basic cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu starting next week and has been told he must wear steel toed shoes. We haven't been able to find any black ones (he wears a size 14) but did find a pair of CSA approved steel toes shoes that look like running shoes. They are also non-slip. After some to and fro-ing with the school they are allowing them - but I am wondering if kitchens actually require steel toed shoes. If your Birkenstocks are like that, it gives us another option to look at. (BTW this is a course he is taking for interest - he has no intention of working in the field, therefore doesn't need this type of shoe for other than wearing at the school.)

Yeah. Problem is that where I work now, if I describe what I do everyone in Las Vegas will instantly know what kitchen I'm in. I now work for one of the celebrity chefs. Nearly every foodie has heard about the restaurant where I work. Many of you post reviews about it in the West section of egullet. (And thanks for the positive reviews.) So I have to be considerably more careful. I'm not allowed to write about the kitchen. It was one thing when I was just another cog in a big corporate machine. Now I'm part of a crew of roughly a dozen cooks. It wouldn't surprise me if someone at one of our sister restaurants reads egullet. So the dishing about being a cook in Las Vegas will have to wait. I do have some stories, though. That's for sure.

Many of the comments are of the "I don't use it every day/don't need to peel pounds at a time" variety. Well I do. I use a peeler every day, and peel pounds of veg every day. I spend roughly half an hour every day, peeling things. Also, I'm left handed. I'm not looking for the best value. I'm looking for the best, full-stop. Ideal peeler would have changeable blades (available in multi-packs), left-handed (or ambi), Y-shaped (I prefer them to knife-like peelers), heavy construction (no plastic). The Rosle swivel peeler looks like it might fit the criteria. I was hoping that there's a garde manger cook lurking who has a bead on the best peeler for a line-cook. I don't mind spending $30 on a peeler if it's the last one I need to buy. Frankly, I don't mind spending $50 or $100 -- if there's something that is far and away superior in the world of peeling vegetables. Anything that can save me a few minutes is a godsend.