Dave the Cook

I am not worried about it sticking. I don't know what I'm worried about, actually, except something completely unanticipated -- like the combination will create a noxious gas, or the new tile will melt down into a pink puddle and slide out the door. I used to write user documentation (from whence comes RTFM = Read The Fucking Manual), so I probably have an unhealthy respect for instructions.

Today's lesson, children: RTFM. Despite a really late start (life intrudes occasionally), I had high hopes as I began to pull up the shoe molding. Things went even faster when I decided that I wasn't going to be able to save it for re-use, and I just started ripping. With the molding thoroughly trashed, I turned to the adhesive. I had told the guy I'd bought it from what I was going to do (install VCT over sheet vinyl), and this was the stuff he recommended. Unfortunately, the directions on the adhesive disagreed: "not recommended for use over existing vinyl sheet goods," and "embossed floors should be leveled to prevent 'telegraphing.'" If I'd been planning on cooking smething elaborate today, I'd have committed the recipe to memory by now, but of course I didn't see the analogy until this moment. I was egregiously guilty of mis en place deficiency. Another trip to Home Depot ensued (I've stopped counting). I now have this stuff called "Embossing Leveler," acquired at the teeth-grinding price of $29.44 per quart. Luckily -- according to the instructions -- a quart is more than enough. As for the proscription against sheet goods, I have two theories, and I hope that anyone with experinece in these things will stop me before I waste another day. First, a lot of sheet vinyl is a) cushioned, and b) coated with stuff to make it as permanently glossy as possible. This floor is not cushioned, and whatever surafce treatment it might have had at birth is long gone. Forgive me Armstrong; there is no gloss in it. Second, these days sheet vinyl is just rolled out and loosely tacked around the edges. The only glue that's used is at seams, and that's to attach the sheets together, not to attach it to the floor. So if you were to lay a new floor over it (let's use VCT as an example, since heck, that's what we're using), and at some point you had to replace a tile, or if a corner came up and you started to tug at it, you'd likely find yourself in a real mess -- the upper tile, sticking to the loose vinyl below, would pull the entire floor up. But my floor is put down with adhesive all over. It's really tight (insert your own metaphor here). Have I rationalized this enough? Is it safe?

Not to worry -- or not much. What I learned from the episode (and the exterminator dude) was that, more than food scraps, what roaches seek is moisture and warmth. They can eat practically anything -- wallboard, carboard, sawdust -- but they can't dig wells or make fur coats. So a dry, cool environment is pretty discouraging to them, even if you leave food out on the counter (watch out for ants, though). Not surprisingly, among their favorite hangouts are hot-beverage dispensers. Think about that the next time you drop four bits for a cup of lousy machine-made coffee. Anyway, this house had leaky everything, and a vintage 1964 floor furnace to boot. The entire crawlspace was like a steam room. There were all kinds of bugs down there, walking around in towels, getting massages, drinking carrot juice, picking up babes. I'm surprised they didn't evict us.

Of course you're right. I apologize. Besides, your gentle nudge will probably be as effective as the hounding Zeb applied to get the Pickin' ramped up in the first place.

You can ride shotgun with me, Mel.

Marlene has been hounding him on this, so it's time to relaunch this thread. Simply put, if Varmint were to put on an unofficial eGullet Pig Pickin' there in Raleigh, North Carolina, would any of you come? He'd slow cook a pig over hardwood, make several sides, and have liquid refreshments available. He'd do it on some weekend. He'd give plenty of advance notice. Marlene will pay for it. We're about to hit the cold season, then the rainy season, then the ultra-hot season, so it's unlikely that he'd do it before the fall. Early October would be a possibility. He could try and do it in June, but that's not a lot of advance notice, and it could be very, very hot. The bugs will be bad, too. He'd do this on his tennis court, so there's plenty of room to mill around. So, who'd be up for this? He'd need a good show of interest before he could commit the time (and Marlene's money).

Thanks, Andie. I was thinking about a slot-like thing, and wondered what the drawbacks were. So, mag strips it is. Now, where to put them? I'll likely be doing most of my knife work at the new table.

Thanks, Priscilla. Do you remember if it's possible to mount the shelves upside down on Metro (and Metro-likes)? Seems like I could turn the top shelf into a lid holder that way.

My guess is that would depend on how good you've been this year ← To whom? It's not yet too late to start kissing up.

That is one of those things that I do not want to know. ← While living in the first house I owned, a tiny movement caught my eye as I pulled the chef's knife out of the block. I peered down the slot and saw the unmistakeable silhouette of a cockroach, his wiry attennae twitching in the shadows. There was one in the cleaver slot, too, and another where the steel lived. I'm not a messy cook, nor a poor housekeeper. The house had been infested before we got there, it turned out -- not just roaches, but powder post beetles and some kind of water bug the name of which escapes me -- everything but termites. We moved shortly thereafter. This was 20 years ago, and thinking about it still gives me shivers.

I've done this. I've also used smoked sausage, or a combination of ham and sausage. I've never seen anything other than these small hocks. They do a decent job for the task at hand, and they're so cheap that I never really considered the value proposition. But the real question is, where do you find foreshanks? I want to try this.

Sorry! I went away for a while, but I was not idle. I had to take a few days to get the rest of the house in order. Here's a quick update; I'll elaborate this weekend, and provide some pictures. But first, thanks to everyone for hanging in there. - I lost my chance at the worktable. Or maybe I never had a chance. Anyway, it's in the living room, and already loaded with books. Back to the drawing board. - The ceiling is probably doable, but I can't put the household through it. It would involve removing a 6' x 12' cage of 2'' x 4"s and sheetrock, as well as some electrical work (for some odd reason, the fluorescents are switched in the dining room on the shared wall). I realize patience is a virtue here -- part of the trade-off for a tiny budget -- but I can't afford the disruption. It's a good project, but one for another day, considering how much more I can get done, and how much sooner I'll have a workable space, if I avoid this temptation. I will, however, take down the aluminum grid, and hide the bare fixtures with some kind of decorative cover. - The floor is going in on Saturday. - Undercabinet lighting on Sunday. With any luck, I can wire them into the fixture over the sink, so they'll all work off the same switch. Also Sunday: cabinet knobs and pegboard. The tool chest is turning out to be elusive, so I'll mount pegbpoard all the way down the wall where the chest was going to go, and bide my time. The chest is the least of the necessities, and I might find that I can work without it. - I located a 14 x 24 x 72, 4-shelf Tabco rack at a cool place called Restaurant Solutions. Tabco is almost an exact knock-off of Metro, right down to the 1250 pounds-per-shelf capacity. At $108 (new), it was a litte pricey, but it will work as a pot rack and utility shelf, and finding Restuarant Solutions was worth it. Excellent people, great inventory, and good prices (9-inch springform pan for $8!). I'll be spending a lot of time there. - I have a line on someone who's redoing their laundry room and has some Mill's Pride base cabinets in white. Since this line is still in production, I could add matching pieces to make my worktable. Once I know what's in the offing, I'll draw up a plan. Expenditures so far: $108 for shelving, $20 for primer, $50 for tile, $18 for tile adhesive, $20 in miscellaneous tools and supplies, $85 for undercabinet lighting, $8 for pegboard. Total: $309. I've got a question about knife storage. Where's the best place to put them for safety and accessibility, and what kind of storage strategy would be best? Another question: who's going to give me a new red KitchenAid for Christmas?

In my experience, nearly everything is better with an egg on top.

The point of giving the hocks a long head start is to have a well-developed stock before you put the peas in. Yeah, it's a longer recipe, but it's unattended time, and I think it gives a heartier result.

Has Frog Commissary fallen out of favor? I've never been to one of their catered affairs, though I went to Frog once somewhere around 1982, and was quite impressed. I'm on my second copy of their cookbook, having worn the first one out.

I simmer them for an hour or two, then remove them before adding the peas. When the soup is almost done, I remove the meat and throw it back into the pot.

Jack's right that this is technically a gratin. But I'm guessing the chef is after that brulee-like snap to the top. I also agree with Jack that sugar is not likely to work from a taste perspective. What about a potato chip (crisp for the English among us), cut to size and deep fried, then laid on top at the last minute? If your serving dish is too big for a single slice to cover, a layered effect might work -- or maybe you could try creating your own Pringle-type chip from pureed spuds.

Same here (thanks, Monica). The article is very, very nice work. We're all proud of you.

Well, if my ceilings had glitter, I'd just replace the fan with a mirror ball and call it done. That's a pretty compelling endorsement. I've had both laminate and tile counters, and never had a problem with either, so I suppose a lot of it has to do with 1) what you learned to cook with; 2) what kind of cook you ended up being; 3) your tolerance for "imperfections," or, I guess, your definition of imperfections. And I'm waiting for fifi to register an opinion here, as I think she's a laminate person. Right now, I'm leaning towards a red laminate top with an inset tile or granite area. Partly, I'm thinking about the point when I have to change out the rest of the counters. I will always be able to afford laminate. But if I can afford granite or maple for the big runs, replacing the work table top as well won't be that much more. You're right about the ceiling, Susan. But whatever happens with that won't change what I do about the counter. I can measure and get the top ordered while I explore the upper atmosphere. I used to have access to huge amounts of redwood, intraining. It's really amazing and beautiful stuff.

The more I think about it, the stranger this ceiling thing seems. For instance: -- the top of the light "box" is finished in that "cottage cheese" (andiesenji's term; Usually I hear it called "popcorn") style. Why do that if you're going to cover it up with a dropped grid? -- the ceiling in the adjacent room is eight feet -- the same height as the top of the light "box." -- there's nothing above the kitchen that accounts for the dropped ceiling. The room above has same floor level as the rest of the upstairs. So I'm almost convinced that this is an entirely cosmetic (and stupid) modification, as several of you have suggested. I'm sure this has been keeping everybody up nights. In the absence of blueprints, is there any way to prove this other than cutting a hole in the light box and looking? And if it turns out that there's another ceiling in there, what do I do? If not, for sure we're looking at some sort of track or monorail lighting for the far side of the worktable. Or, given that the existing fluorescents pump out plenty of ambient light, maybe I can do something stylish with two or three mini-pendants over the table? As for the table itself, I'd like to go a round or two about the best surface. I know it's well-trod ground, but it's always fun because we never settle it. The choices are: granite, butcher block, ceramic tile, laminate. So far, we're doing well enough on budget that I think any of them are possible, though as always, any money saved goes towards replacing the range. Please discuss.

With the trend towards massive cast-iron grates on gas cooktops, the responsiveness that people like about gas has actually given way to slower heat-up/cool-down periods. Something like a DCS, though it has a higher energy output, isn't much faster to get heat to the pan than a good electric, and it retains a lot of residual heat as well. Luckily, you can always move things off the burner. I'm amazed at how many people overlook this possibility.

Rather than add a bookcase to the back, I'm thinking I'll add on to the end with something maybe 24"w x 34"h x 12 d. This will let me extend the work table another foot, as well as provide some support for a somewhat oversized top. (Would a drawing help here?) I won't be able to get all of my cookbooks in there, but I can put the essentials in it. I like the idea of setting the backside up as alternative or additional eating space. I'm still investigating granite vs. wood. (If we had an Ikea here, the wood would be hard to pass up.) The worktable itself really just needs sanding and painting. It's a very sturdy piece that my parents had custom built about 40 years ago. It's in two parts: the base, which is what I want to use, and the top, which is a bookcase of the same width. The interesting thing is that the bottom of the bookcase is actually the top of the cabinet, so that when you take the bookcase off, the cabinet is topless, making it about 34". I'm six feet tall, so this is almost an ideal height. I like stainless knob with white cabinets, too, but I think red is essential for this application. marie-louise, I have exactly the same question about the ceiling. There is a room above the kitchen, but it has a level floor. So why make part of the ceiling 7 feet, and one part eight? Ductwork is the answer that came to mind, but it's an odd solution for a problem like that. I'll see if I can find out anything else. The lights do cast shadows on the existing counter, but 1) they're not too harsh, because the sources are widely arrayed; 2) undercabinet lighting will soften them even more. But I do expect a problem with the worktable. I need a plan to get light onto the surface from the other side. I wish I hadn't sold my Dremel when I gave up building model cars.

The cabinets are done: This is also a good illustration of the next problem, which is the lighting. The main lighting comes from above a suspended aluminum grid. Here's a closeup with the translucent panel removed: and another: The rest of the ambient light comes from a 42" ceiling fan: Here's how they lay out over the floorplan: As indicated on the layout, the grid has a total of eight four-foot fluorescent tubes. THis representa formidable amount of light. Given the proposed floorplan, do I need to add more light? If I do, where and how? Speaking of the floorplan, I might have found my worktable: It's 48 inches wide, 18 inches deep, and 35 inches high. And it's free.

Oops. I forgot those pesky Kelvins. Thanks.

Right. But obviously, a proportional figure would make more sense; the difference between 250 and 225 is 10%, but between 450 and 425 is about 5%. I found that some things worked better at a lower temperature, but some improved greatly by leaving the oven hotter. In the end, it's like any other piece of equipment: keep it clean and calibrated, and practice, practice, practice.