ScoopKW
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Posts posted by ScoopKW
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For stubborn stains, Powdered Brewery Wash was designed specifically for cleaning stainless. Works best as a soak/circulating cleaner, but is also effective when scrubbing, so long as the temperature is around 120f.
You can find it online or at any homebrewing store.
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However, the lure of $4 prescriptions is a big one. When so many citizens, especially the elderly on fixed incomes, this is sure helping ends meet.
Until enough competition has been eliminated that they can jack up the prices to $10 per pill and get away with it.
Walmart is just taking a page from the (very) old A&P business playbook.
Eventually, someone will come up with a way to shave another few percent off cost, lower their margins and we'll wax nostalgic for Walmart the way we do about the now-defunct A&P.
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Most controversial food figure?
The miserable bastard who wrote Leviticus -- at least chapters 10 and 11.
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Oh, dear. If you pop a watermelon Jolly Rancher into your mouth when you are in my vehicle, you WILL be walking home. Cannot bear the smell. I would rather that you lit up a cigarette!
I guess I am pretty much anti-anything fruit-flavored.
Or artificial butter-flavored.
Agreed.
I'd rather eat road tar than put anything made by Jolly Rancher in my mouth.
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I became a brewer because I couldn't take one more minute working in a newsroom.
I started in my early 30's. I feel it's saved me from an inevitable mid-life crisis. Now I LOVE going into work every day. I'm never going to get rich doing this. But I was never going to get rich in a newsroom, either.
Hey Twyst -- are you successful enough to take a six-month sabbatical? Three month? If so, DO IT and go work on any kitchen line that will have you. You'll know after a month of working on a line if it's for you. You only get one life (that we know of, at least). Don't squander it working a job that doesn't satisfy you.
I'm of the mind that Culinary school is necessary for some people and completely useless for others. Like any other school, the most important factor is the individual student, and then the teacher. (I've taken several classes because my community college has a good culinary department. Why NOT take the classes, when they're only a few hundred dollars each? Seems silly not to.)
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Once again, I need to point out something...I saw Extra Virgin Spanish olive oil at WF for $5 a liter. Parmesan for $12 a pound. Is that shockingly expensive?
WF in Las Vegas sells parmesan RINDS for $9.99/lb. and parmesan for $19.99/lb. That's double what I pay for identical quality.
The canned San Marzano tomatoes - are they DOP San Marzanos? How much are they? How much is the "balsamic" vinegar? Is it real?
The pine nuts...are they Chinese pine nuts? The fish swimming in the tanks at the Asian markets - where are they from? Sustainable?
My, you ask a lot of questions.
The tomatoes are DOP -- I won't buy anything less. The balsamic is real. I know the difference. The olive oil is first cold pressed -- I have literally 100 varieties to choose from, all in 4-liter cans. (Google "International Market" in Las Vegas. It's one of the few things I really love about this place.)
I haven't checked the provenance of the pine nuts, but it makes great pesto. The fish at the asian markets is mostly farm-raised.
I agree that Whole Foods isn't selling prime ribeyes for $10/lb. Or coffee for $4.50, but is Costco roasting their coffee onsite daily? Or does it come in a 2 lb. can, that was most likely roasted 6 months ago? Is it organic? Fair trade?
The coffee isn't roasted daily. It comes in a 3lb bag. And based on turnover, I doubt it's more than a few weeks out of the roaster. I only buy East African coffee because I used to live in that part of the world and like to do my part to help. Doesn't mention fair-trade on the bag, so I'll concede that point.
What I'm trying to point out is that there are a lot of variables to take into account when comparison shopping. And I'm also learning that in urban areas at least, WF isn't any more of a whole paycheck than my local Fine Fare.
And what several people are trying to point out is that WF obviously has different pricing structures for different markets. It might not be "Whole Paycheck" for you, but here where the income is less and the WF prices are higher, it's a more fitting description.
And as mentioned, I shop WF every week, but only for the handful of items where it makes sense for me to shop at WF.
If you ever come to Las Vegas, I will show you the glory that is International Market. Then you'll have a grocery store to rave about.
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It's used "tongue-in-cheek" to the point where it become conventional wisdom. Which is conventionally wrong.
50% increase in parsley. Not the grocery bill. If you believe the conventional wisdom.
More than 50% increase in the total grocery bill, for this consumer, at least.
I can buy a 10 pound bag of Idaho russets at my local Latin market for $1. I also routinely buy onions and garlic at similar prices. Peppers, cilantro and limes are essentially free. My local Asian markets sell seafood for less than 25% of Whole Foods prices -- and the seafood I buy at the Asian market is "live in a tank" fresh.
I get USDA prime ribeyes at Costco for $10/lb. and Rwandan coffee for $4.50/lb. Costco also sells Parmigiano Reggiano for the same price per pound that WF sells the RINDS for. Who pays $10/lb for Parmesan bones? WF's pinenuts, porcini mushrooms, olive oil, pistachios, balsamic vinegar and San Marzano canned tomatoes are shockingly expensive compared to what I pay at International Market.
Finally, I use SysCo for a lot of items, like unsalted butter, bread flour, ducklings, etc.
Now don't get me wrong -- I love Whole Foods, especially the cheese/dairy section and the bulk rice/grain. I go to Whole Foods for the stuff that's unavailable elsewhere. And I don't ever call it Whole Paycheck*.
But my typical WF trip consists of some bulk grains, a pound of Delitia butter, some Devonshire cream, a pound of proscuitto, half a pound of cheese to try out, and some stuff from the olive bar. And nothing else. For most of the things I buy, I can find similar (and sometimes better) quality elsewhere at significantly lower prices.
And it's not like I need to do a lot of running around -- three of the markets I routinely go to are less than a mile from work. Two more are less than a mile from my wife's office. And three are within putting distance of each other in Chinatown.
I think the people most apt to defend WFs prices live in high-dollar areas like San Francisco and New York. The less a person pays for a sack of potatoes, the more outrageous WFs prices will appear.
* But I do call the housewares store chain, "Bed, Bath and Beyond Our Means."
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You can't generalize unless you've eaten at a good fraction of the chain's locations.
True, but we shouldn't be expected to eat 100 meals at 100 different RCs before we form an opinion about quality and service, either. If "putting out the best possible meal for our guests chain-wide" was priority #1, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
All restaurants need to make money. But some have a "strive for perfection and excellence (and profit) will follow" philosophy and others take the "show me the money" approach. It's not hard to sort out which is which.
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I think that unfortunately it's going to take a plague of near-biblical proportions to get people motivated to change the way we raise animals for slaughter.
In the meantime, there's always the halal, kosher, wagyu, etc. That's the route I go. My best form of protest is to vote against CAFO-raised meat with my wallet.
I ask waiters if they know the provenance of their meat. I'll google to see where the ground beef comes from before getting my quarterly cheeseburger.
I can't say that I consume zero CAFO/Tyson/Smithfield meat because it's damned near omnipresent. But I make a conscious effort to not eat the stuff. Eventually, the invisible hand will correct this health hazard. I doubt government ever will. They haven't done squat since Upton Sinclair.
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So, I guess my point is that Ruth's Chris is for people who either don't have better options or don't know any better.
That's a pretty harsh statement, and you must realize that you can only speak about locations that *you* have personally visited. The one in Metairie and the one in Baton Rouge have all served me wonderful steaks, and my taste buds are just as good as anyone else's.
Hey, if you like it you like it.
But I think I didn't emphasize the advertising angle enough. A 1/4 page ad in In-Flight magazine runs around $25,000 per issue. Four issues per year, and that's just one of the dozens of "read on an airplane" magazines RC advertises in. Throw in all the local magazines and placards on taxis and we're probably talking about several million dollars, which is ultimately paid by the customer. There's your seven-dollar potato, right there.
I'd rather go to a steakhouse that doesn't need to advertise because everyone knows how good the place is. I have several to choose from in my neck of the desert, so RC isn't my best option.
So, yes, I stand by the statement -- it's fine if there aren't any better steakhouses. But if there ARE better steakhouses locally, why go to RC?
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I bought my truck used from the city.
(Reminds me of the Blues Brothers: "It's an old Mt. Prospect police car. They were practically giving them away. It's got a cop motor. A 454 plant. It's got cop shocks, cop breaks. It's the model year before catalytic converters so it runs good on regular gas. So is it the new Bluesmobile or what? Fix the cigarette lighter.")
Well, this car was driven by someone who liked to eat and drive. There's this big stain on the bench seat, where all the soda and food was spilled. It looks, well, all I can say is... ewwwwwww. Even today, after I've put 10K on the clicker, it still smells like old french fries.
Anyone in Vegas have a good steam cleaner I could borrow? I can trade beer for it....
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So, I guess my point is that Ruth's Chris is for people who either don't have better options or don't know any better.
See above. Boca ain't Vegas, where we know all the restaurants are fabulous.
I know -- slim pickins in Boca Raton. (I'm from Key West, remember?)
You didn't have better options. I'm not denigrating your choice, only answering why I wouldn't choose to dine at an RC.
What I don't get is the fact that RC on Paradise Road here in Vegas (and that's quite a bit off the strip) is always packed (at least the parking lot is). All the great steakhouses we have here and yet people still go to RC.
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I haven't been to a Ruth's Chris since I acquired a superlative infrared grill. (What's the point? I can make a RC steak anytime I want one for the price of the meat.)
That being said, even if I didn't have the grill, I wouldn't go to RC -- three reasons:
1) RC's food does not justify the prices. I'm hardly a cheapskate, but $7 for a baked potato is ridiculous. I can go to Bouchon and have a flatiron steak frites for $36.50 total. TK doesn't charge $40 for the steak and then another $7 for the frite. Hell, the frite is $5.50 as a side. That's well worth it. But not $7 for a potato cooked by the metric ton in a rational oven.
2) More on pricing -- for the two of us, a meal at RC would set us back $200. Two steaks, two sides and a bottle of wine. For an extra $100 or $200, we could get a FABULOUS meal at Carnevino. Why pay $200 for "OK" when "great" doesn't cost all that much more? I feel that a lot of money spent at RC goes for advertising -- on taxis and "In-Flight" magazines. I prefer to dine at places that don't need marketing.
3) There are too many good non-chain steakhouses locally. Why give some hum-drum corporation my hard-earned money when I can spend at a place where I know the chef? The exec chef at Carnevino is named Zack. He's a cool dude. And I know he really cares about the quality of his dishes.
So, I guess my point is that Ruth's Chris is for people who either don't have better options or don't know any better.
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That cookbook is a contender for the best cookbook in recent years. Lots of solid recipes accompanied by a little schtick.
My copy is more stained/grungy than any other book I own. My favorite cookbook.
Looking forward to the restaurant report. I'm planning on hitting Les Halles, Zabar's and some Arthur Ave. (Bronx) markets next time I'm in New York.
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I occasionally whip up a ham just for the split pea soup (or hoppin' john) later.
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I suppose it's also the wrong century for eel.
It's never the wrong century for eel. Grilled unagi sushi, anyone?
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People whose great-great-great-great grandparents came to the United States from Europe, when they over-pronounce the names of their ethnic ingredients.
Dude, your name is Trevor. Why are you pronouncing it "Mas-kar-POH-NEE?"
Reminds me of the '80s newscasters who sounded like Wisconsin natives, until the story about the Sandinistas came up. Then they were rolling their "Rs" in Ni-ka-RRRRRRRaaaah-gwa" like Ricky Freakin' Ricardo.
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The Whole Foods in Las Vegas is the second-most expensive market in the area. (A gourmet food and butcher is #1)
If y'all recall, I tried to kick-start an "area market report" here.
Listing your favorite markets is probably a better idea than kvetching about the prices at Whole Foods.
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It's funny, my Chinese colleagues all stand far away from the things like they're little reactors or something. I laugh silently about it but...
My Chinese wife is the same way. And she's CONSTANTLY tut-tutting me if I look at my food while it's reheating.
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I pay four bucks a gallon for unpastuerized, single-farm milk via my CSA. That compares to $3, or thereabouts, for regular milk at the supermarket. I'm not sure why anyone buys or uses or drinks supermarket milk when they have access to the real thing.
I wonder if the Blahnik cows wear high heels?
Where are you able to get unpasteurized milk? (I don't know what "CSA" stands for. (Cub Scouts of America? Caesar Said "Aaaaugh?") We don't seem to have any CSAs in Las Vegas, because nobody here knows where decent milk can be found.) I thought all milk in the US was pasteurized per federal regulations. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I hate US grocery store milk. Hate. Hate. Hate.
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I thought it was a bit more complex than that to get a good compost. I think we want to have it accessible to dig into the garden where needed. Do you did it up and turn it in at other locations, or is it just decomposing?
I just bury it and forget it.
My garden is 10' x 30' -- I dig the holes in a haphazard checkerboard pattern. By the time I revisit a hole, the contents are black, loamy and surprisingly pleasant-smelling.
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Designer milk -- how precious.
Sad thing is, if Manolo Blahnik came out with a raw milk from single-pasture cows, I'd shell out for the stuff.
I hate US milk. It tastes like chalk-water. I won't drink the stuff. I drink a LOT of milk when I go to Europe -- particularly Northern Europe. That is what milk is supposed to taste like. Gimme that unpasteurized, non-homogenized milk from the farm down the road. The French call it "liquid sauce" for a reason. Milk from my local dairy doesn't taste anything like "liquid sauce." (Unless diluted library paste is some new "modernist" sauce.)
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I've been reading this thread with great interest.
I bury all my organic waste in the garden -- I dig a deep hole, fill 2/3rds with waste, then cover.
I repeat this all year long, burying compostable stuff all over the garden. This method works so well, I wonder why people bother with buying a composter. Am I missing something? It just seems like an extra step to me.
(Again, I live in a very hot area of the planet. Maybe my climate lends itself to this method of "composting" while other areas do not.)
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Shows how much local press this gets -- I just found the event on this thread, and near everything is sold out. I'll have to remember this for 2012.
Why I hate stainless-steel appliances
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted · Edited by ScoopKW (log)
Gotta disagree with that one, Mr. Shaw....
I had a stainless sink when I first moved here. After three months we ripped it out and replaced it with a granite composite. The granite composite still looks great after three years. The stainless looked horrible after just three months.
I don't expect things to look brand-spankin' new forever, but it shouldn't age a year every week, either.