70/30

I too love the idea of a slider. And I agree that neither Krystal Burger or White Castle taste good unless you are very drunk and, even then that's debatable. Eating either companies burgers probably will result in an extended stay on the throne the next day. I try to make my version of a slider whenever the urge for a burger hits. I don't really care what ingredients are traditional on a slider, I just add what tastes good to me. That said I can get a little anal-retentaive about condiments and toppings. The mayo, mustard, and ketchup I use are all homemade. I usually bake my own slider buns but, having lived in PA for a few years I can vouch for the quality of Martins potato rolls and would use them if they were readily available where I live. I always grind the meat myself. Usually beef chuck, but the most recent batch was boneless beef short rib and it worked nicely. Add some diced onion sauteed with the beef, cheese, and shredded lettuce and that's enough to satisfy me. It might seem a lot of work to make a mini-burger but the resulting product is delicious and worth it every second it takes. As a bonus your stomach won't punish you the next day. -Mark

Chris, You will not have much of a problem cold smoking in the dead of winter in Central PA. I did a lot of cold smoking of bacon and sausages when I was in grad school at PSU and never had a problem with it being too cold. My smoking rig was two bullet smoker stacked one atop the other. Very ghetto, but it produced some great smoked charcuterie. What type of heat source are you using? I use a cheap hot plate that never heats the smoking chamber above 85F. -Mark

Growing up in Rochester N.Y. the hot dog brand of choice was Zweigle's. The natural casing red hots are nicely seasoned and have a great snap when you bite into them. Living in the south for the last 15 years I have had to either make a trip north or rely on friends to bring packs of Zweigles red hots with them when they visit. We can get Boar's head products here but I still prefer the dog's I grew up eating. As to the question of Gray's or PK being the better of the two, I generally prefer PK. That has more to do with the papaya drink than that hot dogs. I make a point to hit either Gray's of PK on every trip I make to the city. I haven't tried Mandlers yet but a high school friend of mine who works in Manhattan is a devotee.

At the restaurant I cook in, the front of the house does not share tips with the cooks. The dishwashers do get a share of the tips. None of the line cooks get too worked up about not getting a share of the servers tips. Yes, it does suck when the servers make enough money in one night to pay rent and you made a quarter of that in a 12 hour day. But we (cooks) chose to be in the kitchen. I wouldn't trade places with a server regardless of the tips. I enjoy being in the kitchen. Its my choice. Good servers deserve the money they earn. They know how to do their job well, and it makes our lives in the kitchen easier. Bad servers are another story, but fortunately they usually get 86'd pretty quickly. Or at the very least they don't get tipped well. When business is slow we know the servers aren't making money. When business is good, its common for the servers to buy the cooks drinks after work and that's enough to keep us happy.

It's been very warm here in Virginia so I've been enjoying some easy-drinking beers. Particularly Troegs Rugged Trail Ale. I'm not a huge fan of brown ale but it's tasty and a good thirst quencher.