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Blondie

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Posts posted by Blondie

    Larb Laab Larp

    in Elsewhere in Asia/Pacific: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    That might be my favorite first post ever. Another larboholic is born :biggrin: I use jasmine rice also and thinks it works well. Careful grinding so you don't get rice dust is the key as you pointed out. Toasting then grinding the dried chilis really raised the level of my larb. In fact since I've been making larb at home I've been consistently let down by restaurant versions.

    Thanks, SEASianOutpost!

    Varmint's Pig Pickin'

    in Southeast: Dining

    Posted

    My fave drink of the weekend was Katie's limoncello.  Sweeeet!

    Gosh...thanks Heather! :blush: I'll post a recipe in the archives as soon as I can. It's pretty easy to do.

    Those Slippery Slopes were mighty tasty too, Katie. Can you post that as well? Thanks!

    Varmint's Pig Pickin'

    in Southeast: Dining

    Posted

    I wish I knew how to thank the extended Varmint family for turning over their homes (and all of their free time) to a bunch of relative strangers for the weekend. It was a truly wonderful experience: the camaraderie, the food, the joy. Unreal. The first taste of the pig right off the grill, so many cooks working in a confined space with total cooperation and fantastic results, Rochelle’s hush puppies, grits fried in duck fat with red-eye gravy, Katie's Slippery Slopes and limoncello, Dave the Cook’s deapan asides...

    Thanks, Varmints :wub:

    Burger Club

    in New York: Dining

    Posted

    I too, will skip Chumleys. And I think I said on another thread that I keep hearing about this Paul's Palace. I've never been there, I just heard that it's a hole in the wall in the East Village that serves up amazing burgers. Anyone been there?

    This is the place on the west side of Second Ave just south of St. Mark's? I had a burger there this spring after hearing the raves, and it wasn't bad. It may be worth putting on the list.

    Burger Club

    in New York: Dining

    Posted

    I heard that Rush Hour on Ludlow had great burgers, so I did a bit of recon. I think we can skip it - not in the same league as Molly's or the Corner Bistro. With 'inoteca being across the street I can get an amazing panini (til 3am) for a dollar or so more than Rush Hour's burger. That's a no-brainer.

    Really bad bartenders

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    in fact, i thing blondie started a "Great bartenders" thread a while ago.  i'll find it.

    (damn, i thought for a moment that it was *my* idea!)

    Actually I was talking about starting a "Great Bartenders" thread and then never did. By all means, go ahead :biggrin:

    ah fuck off. i thought for sure you did. :biggrin:

    For a minute I thought I did too, but I was all talk, no posting :wink:

    Really bad bartenders

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    in fact, i thing blondie started a "Great bartenders" thread a while ago.  i'll find it.

    (damn, i thought for a moment that it was *my* idea!)

    Actually I was talking about starting a "Great Bartenders" thread and then never did. By all means, go ahead :biggrin:

    Burger Club

    in New York: Dining

    Posted

    Oh yes!  Come play with us in Philadelphia!  It's a day trip in that direction too!

    We can eat burgers, and Herb and I will show you around.  We can run up the steps of the Art Museum a la Rocky to work off the burgers and work up an appetite for whatever other Philadelphia delights you'd wish to sample on a day trip.  A stop at Reading Terminal Market is fun, or a swing by the Italian Market could be amusing as well.  A stop a La Colombe coffee for a mid-afternoon espresso to get us recharged might be appropriate. I'm not so sure that burgers and cheesesteaks on the same trip is a wise decision.  I'll leave that up to you... :biggrin:

    I'm in. I have a couple of friends I need to visit in Philly, so I can kill 2 birds with one stone :smile:

    John Boos Kitchen countertop experience

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    My point is... my style of cooking is not like anyone elses so how could a kitchen designer know what I want or how to prioritze where the money gets spent? But then... When I cook, I really cook so I know what is important to me. Those who don't cook are probably just as happy with a trophy kitchen.

    A good designer will spend hours talking to you about how much you cook, what you cook, what other activities take place in the kitchen, what your preferences are. If the designer isn't asking these questions, they suck and should be fired.

    John Boos Kitchen countertop experience

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    . . . frankly most of the people I went to school with would starve before they’d put on an orange Home Depot apron . . .

    That's too bad. I think designers could learn a lot in an "apprenticeship" at a place like Home Depot -- stuff that would help them become better designers.

    I totally agree. I learned more from my time on jobsites and from the carpenters than I ever did in school.

    John Boos Kitchen countertop experience

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Money spent on appliances, or money spent on buying cookwar or servingware or utensils, hardly ever would equal the passion some have to cook and share.

    We read recently in the NY Times about the lady who cooked using her fireplace.  One that wants to create magic in culinary terms, and one that wants to share it with family and friends, hardly needs money to be spent to do so.  Where there is a will, there is a way... is that now what they say?

    I know many a famous chef that have very small and limited kitchen spaces and no appliances worth mentioning at all.  But within these constraints, in their home environs as well, they prepare some of the best meals served in their cities those nights.

    FWIW I’m not working in the field any more, partly because of the boredom of doing yet another white-painted-beadboard-cabinetry-granite-countertop-stainless-steel-appliance-brushed-nickel-hardware kitchen that will never get used. My aesthetic is very modern, and I like working with interesting and affordable materials, innovative ergonomic solutions with function as a primary motivator, and that’s just not what most Americans want in their kitchens. They want the fantasy, regardless of how well it functions, but as you say, for those who *do* use their kitchens, function is all.

    Going back to topic though, a trained kitchen designer has the talent of balancing aesthetics very carefully with the more important task at hand in the kitchen, that of functionality and ease of food preparation.  Whilst some of us may think we know it all, a trained professional can come and give us little examples of brilliance that we would hardly have guessed alone.

    Blondie, do you know how many kitchen designers graduate in NYC?  A rough estimate even?  I am sure there are not many hundreds graduating from the certified schools to fill all those kitchen and home design centers in malls.  What do you think and know?

    As far as I know none of the design schools offer very good training in kitchen design. I attended one of the top interior design schools in the country and from what I can tell the undergrad-level course offered in kitchen design was no match for my 3+ years working for a good designer. The advantage of a design school education is more in giving the student a background in architecture and aesthetics, as well as the technical aspects, drafting and so on, that allow the designer to not only to convey the design, but to discover any weaknesses or flaws before it’s too late.

    And no, there are not nearly enough educated designers to fill the home centers and malls, and frankly most of the people I went to school with would starve before they’d put on an orange Home Depot apron. As I said before, my guess is that many of the home center “designers” are sales people who get a bit of training, but are there to sell the goods their company offers, not necessarily to design a workable kitchen. I know there are many exceptions, but the only way to determine is to ask for references, see previous projects, and carefully interview past clients (without the designer present).

    Burger Club

    in New York: Dining

    Posted

    Okay, Saturday the 11th at Molly's Pub - 287 3rd ave. @ 24th, 212-889-3361.  Shall we say 1:00?  Who's in?

    This is the Molly's we want tommy, right?

    I'll be at the Pig Pickin' that day, but I've already tried Molly's burgers and give them the thumbs up :smile:

    John Boos Kitchen countertop experience

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Not to dispute what Blondie has said in any way, but I think too many kitchen designers are not so much specialists in kitchen functionality and ergonomics as they are general-practice interior designers who are familiar with the materials and the infrastructure of kitchens (and usually bathrooms). In my experience (not that it's all that extensive, but I look at a lot of design magazines), the most common result of a kitchen redesign is a beautiful room whose essential purpose has been disregarded in favor of misguided aesthetics. They look better, but their utility is rarely improved.

    Dave, I agree that many kitchens are designed by those who are not specialists in the field. Once a client hires a general interior designer and establishes that relationship (which can take a considerable period of time, not to mention developing a level of trust), they are very likely to allow that designer who, as you say may not be a kitchen specialist, to do the kitchen just to avoid having to go through the same process with a kitchen designer.

    Hopefully these designers are not trying to sell themselves as kitchen specialists if that isn’t their field of expertise, but unfortunately the design field is full of people with no training whatsoever, and the vast majority of potential clients are clueless as to the important questions to ask to ascertain whether the designer is competent. That is why I continue to stress thoroughly checking references and seeing previous jobs. The National Kitchen and Bath Association does confer certification (CKD - Certified Kitchen Designer, among others) to those with a number of years experience and education, and the passing of a certification test. This is no guarantee that the designer is great, but it’s a start.

    Finally, I'll point you back to the O'Neill article we were all reading last week:
    When reporting a story for The New Yorker several years ago, I found that the less people cook, the more money they spend on cooking appliances. Like the people who stood in line to buy my cookbook, people bought professional-grade ranges in the hope that they would one day use them.

    People who are insecure or don’t know what they want are very susceptible to the fantasy that if they just had a great kitchen they would cook every day, entertain all the time, etc. Many designers will take advantage and upsell when they can get away with it. Sad, but true.

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