MetsFan5
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Posts posted by MetsFan5
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In northern nj we should be ok, I've definitively experienced a lot worse than what is forecasted. I chose to go 'college style' with a case of beer and a bottle of fireball. Despite being 35 years old but hey, whatever.
The pup has yet to experience significant snow and is in hog heaven.
we have steaks and a whole chicken ready to throw in the BGE if needed. Just wish we had some fresh veggies.
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Wow I am definitely NOT going to the grocery store based on your photo! I can't believe the empty shelves.
I'm north of you in NJ but we aren't expecting as much snow as you are. I will be following along with interest!
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Capers? Probably too much salt.
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Kerry, do you mind answering what class and airline you flew? I haven't gotten an actual meal on a plane in ages- certainly not to or from Canada.
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1 hour ago, Okanagancook said:
The mushroom soup recipe from Les Halles.
Thanks, that is easy and sounds delicious. I did use the shrooms for mushroom Swiss burgers tonight but will definitely try that ASAP. I could probably use a stick blender instead right?
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I have 16 oz of baby Bella mushrooms that need to be used ASAP or tossed (which makes me nuts to think about throwing out food). Anyone have a soup recipe they would recommend? I don't have heavy cream on hand although I suppose I could go out and get it. I have shallots, onions, a myriad of spices, 1% milk! sour cream, wine, etc. I'm just looking for something easy even if it means going to the supermarket.
Thanks in advance! I might make mushroom Swiss burgers tomorrow if I can't find a way to make the mushrooms into a soup, but with this startlingly cold weather here, I'd love a soup.
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Happy anniversary! What a cool day to get married!
christmas was steak, so NYE will be shrimp cocktail, caprese salad, string beans, sautéed mushrooms with a bit of Marsala and King crab legs.
I need a good NY day brunch like item to make-- I asked Kim Shook for the recipe for that gorgeous breakfast bread she posted a while back but it got lost in the shuffle of the upgrade. I have fresh and frozen mango and rum on hand for mango daiquiris to watch the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl since my inlaws will be there (go Stanford)!
Any suggestions in case Kim doesn't see this are greatly appreciated!
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See this to me goes against my instinct as a diner. My tip is what establishes service, my first time at a restaurant, unless I received horrid service, but I avoid Applebee's and the such like the plague, I tip %25-30. Always. In the true interest of being an American I like to vote with my wallet.
And on the other side of the coin, if I were to ever go back to waiting tables, no way, no how would I want to earn a salary. People are servers to NOT earn salaries, take a month off in the winter and make killings during holidays, I earned shittier salaried as a desk jockey than I did as a server. It is literally the only job, besides stripping, where one can walk of on a Saturday night with $400 plus plus dollars in their wallet.
Don't even get me started on how much this will hurt staff with shifts that will now be considered OT pay and they will essentially be reduced to a part time job.
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Homemade chex mix. I have no idea why I haven't made it before or why I love it so much but I need to bag up the leftovers before I eat it all and make myself sick!
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I would be happy to eat bacon whenever I want to and get annual colonoscopies to make sure I'm ok. And I'm 35 and had my first colonoscopy at 34 (due to a still tbd gastrointestinal issue). I rolled my eyes when my issue of Time magazine came and had bacon on the cover.
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I'd also consider double ovens if your space permits.
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Wow! That is my kind of breakfast buffet!
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That fee is like joining a country club without access to pools, golf and tennis. I can validate the cost of a CC but not for a single restaurant. Especially with a buffet lunch.
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Cottage cheese in lasagna offends my Italian sensibilities. I make lasagna regularly and it's never salty. And I make sausage lasagna 99% of the time. Use lower fat mozz if you're worried and don't add salt to your sauce (if you make your own that is).
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My husband gets Berkshire pork ribs at our local butcher. They are AMAMZING. Absolutely the best ribs I have ever had. Worth every penny and more.
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counter service to me is sitting on a stool at a counter as opposed to tables/booths/etc.
once upon a time, Dunkin Donuts had only counter service, plus out - no booths, no tables.
Well, to be honest, I wasn't alive then, or if I was, I was too young to recall such a situation.
Yet again, do you tip at MCdonalds or Chick fil a , or Wendy's? Of course not. Such places don't even permit tip 'jars'. Just as weddings without a cash bar (where the host pays) doesn't permit tip jars.
Once upon a time I ate a grilled cheese sandwich in a Woolworths at the counter and yes, I'm sure my parents tipped. Just as I tip when I sit at a a counter in a diner or at the bar in a restaurant. There's a very big difference between those situations and a Dunkin Donuts.
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They took all the McDonalds out of EWR as well.
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No, I don't tip someone who hands me a drink and a donut. Maybe, if they give me actual coin change, then I will. But I don't tip at McDonalds, so why would I tip at D&D? I do tip at Starbucks.
All the restaurant I have worked in are in the North East, within a 30 mile radius, some closer, to NYC. I
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I don't disagree with anything you said. there are crooks, and then there are more than that crooks.
being "technically correct" but not correct because crooks don't follow the rules and exploited people accept that.... dunno what to say about that. find another job and blow the whistle on the crook?
eateries have an abysmal record of crookedness, fraud, skimming, cooking the books, etc. the people I dealt with had million dollar homes, hundred thousand dollar cars, vacation villas in the Bahamas, and their restaurants went bankrupt every two-three years. I think they were cheating a bit.....
the interesting question is,,,, does it make a difference? if the $2.13/hr employer contribution makes any kind of serious difference in waitstaffs' gross pay, it'd be time to look for a better joint.
the only mathematically possible way for a wait person to "owe" money to the house is if they are required to share fixed dollar amounts to the tip pool. "the law" allows employers rather a lot aka rather a huge amount - of discretion in how tips are handled - but that would be unusual.
what I do disagree with is current manic crowd screaming about you should tip your waitperson more because they only earn $2.13 per hour. this is not correct, it is not even close to being correct or accurate.
my wife worked the counter at Dunkin'Donuts way back when donuts were $1.99/dozen. her tip share was 2-4x her hourly wages - so this is not some "new age" situation - as is quite amply demonstrated by the lack of wait persons screaming about how they can't live on $2.13/hour.
and, in some states - now morphing to the county, city, town, street .... level - waitstaff are paid minimum wage by their employer PLUS they earn their tips/share of tips.
Have you ever worked as a waiter? Your wife working at the counter of a D&D hardly counts-- I don't tip when I go there and I tend to tip everyone from cable installers to baggage handlers to whomever provides me with take out food at a restaurant
Who is "screaming" about making $2.13 an hour? I had days where I would average $50 an hour and days where I had to take cash out of my own pocket-- because customers (mainly foreigners) tipped me so poorly that between tipping out the busboy and the bar, with such shitty tips I had to open my own wallet. When people do not tip appropriately, it costs the server money to wait on them.
We can argue whether the current system is right or wrong, or what can be changed, but the bottom line is the system is what it is. If you dislike it so much, you are free to dine at home or at fast food establishments. If there weren't servers out there, busting their asses for tips because of the non existent $2.13 an hour pay, you wouldn't be able to dine out and enjoy being waited on. If you view it as such an issue, please, by all means, do not dine out.
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Also? If you haven't lived off of tips alone, well, you don't really have a leg to stand on. I don't work now, simply because my circumstances don't need me to, but I do have a skill that, god forbid, I needed to work and support my family (highly unlikely, but whatever) I could and I could do extremely well. Not a lot of educated people have that to fall back on.,
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Host's note: this post and its responses were moved from the Blacklisting Cultural Bad Tippers topic.
This is completely untrue. 100% untrue in my vast experience. I reported the bulk, not all of my tips. My "pay" was 2.13$ an hour and would be if I had to go back to the grind. I had a LOT of days where I was in the red-- as in, after working a slow lunch and tipping out the bartender and busboy and getting shitty tips, I owed the 'house' money (which was generally forgiven) AND I had to pay to get my car out of an expensive parking garage-- the only option for me to drive to work. Sorry, not walking six miles in Northern Nj where the weather is precarious at best..............way old thread. but recent events repeat history.
a "tipping wage" - first understand that the wild-eyed "OMG they get paid nothing" is completely removed from the truth. in the case a waitperson does not report enough tips to equal the minimum hourly wage the employer must pay them addtional over and above the $3.xx "tip wage" in some states, employers are required to pay the full minimum wage (heading for $15+/hr) and the waitperson gets 100% of their tips _in addition_ to the state/local minimum $8-15/hr (current) wage paid by the employer.
if you wonder why so few waitpersons are chiming in about starving to death on less than no wages..... it's because so many of them make a lot of money based on tips - forget about _any_ hourly wage amount paid by their employer. the $3.xx minimum/hour tip wage is a way long dismissed after thought. one honest bartender cited making $1500 in tips _per night_ Fri-Sat-Sun. do the math: Fri+Sat+Sun=$4500 times 50 weeks/year (gotta do some vacation....) that's $225,000/yr plus hourly wage plus tips for Monday thru Thursday. this is why we don't see a lot of whine from waitstaff.....
a waitperson whining to the management about a customer not tipping to the waitperson's expectations - well, the waitperson needs a different occupation. he/she may seem to be popular - but his/her attitude is bleeding through to all the clientelle. in my world, at the conclusion of his/her whining, he/she would have his/her walking papers in hand. a business does not need a front line representative with that kind of approach.
in Germany, located in Europe, unless they've moved it of late.... the menus state at the bottom: words to the effect "Prices include a 15% service fee." if one is prepared to walk out of an eatery that includes / specifies a service fee, do not go to Europe - you will become very very hungry. a lot of European wait staff just adore Americans. because Americans don't know about the 'included' fees so they add 15-50000% on top of the 'tip already included' price.
I suspect legal requirements differ. I have been to places for example in Italy....there's not a question remaining about being 'not local' after listening to my Italian...where I've been charged for the tablecloth, the utensils, the glassware - oh, and the food.....
it is customary in Germany to 'round-up' the bill. but a percentage of 'rounding up' is not applied or expected from locals. note also the overwhelming quantity of tabs are paid in cash. none of that credit card writing in to the penny stuff.
But hey, you know on single bartender who makes a lot of money. Bartenders tend to do well and also do not have the 2.13$ hourly wage that servers do, at least not in most states. Also? Before you suggest a person tries a different job, perhaps you should consider the physical, mental and hustle abilities needed in a waiter position. Walk a mile in ones shoes, and THEN talk.
I know all about any included fees as an American. I have a BA in Hotel & Restaurant Management. I've spent a decade of my life dedicated to serving people, not as a way to live, because the income is dependent on so many factors, but because I genuinely loved it. But to think a server is being paid decently and even to suggest they might even have access to a solid health care plan is ignorant. Walk a mile in any pair of my shoes that waited on a minimum of 20,000 tables and then let's talk.
And because of my experience, that's why my husband felt it was important to educate his employee and continues to do so.
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I'm glad your server was able to resign herself to accepting that people from different cultures just won't accept the US culture of tipping (despite them happily accepting 20% from me while I've been in Europe). It is frustrating, but certainly not personal.
However, I find it not so much misinformed when Europeans come to the US and don't tip appropriately as they just don't think it's a valid way to spend money and show appreciation. And that pisses me off. I don't go to other countries and expect them to speak English, or basically go with any assumptions that their culture resembles that of my own area of the US. I educate myself and behave accordingly. 98 % of visitors to the US from overseas are well aware of our cultural tipping standard, they just won't part with their money. Any international visitor that seeks out fine dining or well established and well regarded restaurants are well aware of the US tipping culture. They aren't going to Hard Rock or Applebee's, at least in this instance and the instances I found myself in (I have only worked in fine dining).
The other 2%? I attribute to business travelers who aren't used to expensing meals where a 20% tip is acceptable to expense. My husband had an awkward moment with one of his reports from the UK who on his visit to NYC only tipped 8% on all expensed meals. Said person genuinely thought any tip higher would raise flags with compliance as it would have had he been in the UK, my husband explained it was fine here. A difficult conversation, sure, but one my husband felt necessary.
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I went down to the studs in areas of our kitchen. In February living in northern NJ. It's tough. My floors throughout the house are all oak so I had some sanded down and restrained, mainly in the kitchen. My puppy has done a number in our living room so we are waiting to negate those scratches.
Best of luck! Kitchen renos are a bitch!
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Scuba-- could you tell me more about the sushi rice sticks? They look awesome. As does the whole meal!
Cooking during blizzard.
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
You're much more prepared than I am! I figure whatever happens it cannot possibly be worse than Sandy. I'm not at risk of losing our car (now cars) and having no power for 10 days. I've gone through worse. Not that I wouldn't be pissed if we lost power and had to put all our frozen food in a shed and stay in a hotel with a puppy.
Does anyone have fun drink ideas using snow!? I'm not creative so I think unfrozen Fla-Vor-Ice tube, some fresh snow and maybe some vodka depending on the flavor of the pop. Sadly I don't have any vodka but I have a husband who drives an X3 we are about to get rid of so maybe it's time to push that beast to do what it should do best.