Margaret Pilgrim

The problem is that dust comes back SO FAST! One more day won't make much of a difference.....

That works just fine! To paraphrase a classic, "We don't need no stinkin' ramps."

Indeed, the wording is clear if not also amusing: "Certified Refurbished". Reminds of used car labelled "Guaranteed Pre-Owned" which = that they stand behind its utility for a specified time OR that they underwrite the fact that the car is used...

Getting back on topic, and in all seriousness, before using a "tin can" as a cooking vessel, make sure it is not lined in some form of plastic coating.

Better than one of Hank's Alpo cans.

Yes. A fun project: an Italian kit for the oven dome, then our base and superstructure and finishing.

Pizza in the wood fired oven 4 more to order... And so on...

Leg of lamb roasted in the fireplace on a jury-rigged roasting jack (repurposed electric Farberware rotisserie)

I have no personal experience in a professional kitchen while many others here have, so bear with me. From what I have been told or read, every change or exemption from the expected menu or recipe throws sand into the kitchen mills. Small, informal places seem more able to custom a burger; set menu houses not so much. As accomplished diners as we are here, it just makes sense to choose your venue. Weinoo has his favorite haunt where custom orders aren't a problem. We should each be so lucky, and/or find out own.

In the country and awaiting arrival of son and family. As I was going to sleep last night I realized that I had forgotten to set bread. So this morning, as an experiment, I stirred together the ingredients for 18hour bread, but raised the yeast from 1/4 teaspoon to a tablespoon (for 500 gr flour, 400ml water). It proofed for an hour and a half in pilot-light heated oven, was formed into a boule and let rise another hour. Heated the Dutch oven for 1/2 hour at 450F and baked the boule for half hour lidded and out of Dutch oven, directly on oven rack for 1/2. hour. In short, did most things wrong but the resulting bread is quite acceptable. I now realize that I can make 18 hour bread in 4 hours.

Country apero...fresh mozz, home-cured olives, salsa, pepperoni Ribs, smashed potatoes

It is strictly dependent on your (family's) taste and tolerance for rich meat. Both the prime and choice grades roasts were excellent, just not to my group's taste and digestion.

All of the fontina I have come across has had the texture of Monterey Jack or as you suggest muenster. I cut off slabs roughly 1/3" x 4" x 1 " per pepper.

@weinoo No argument. These are just shoes that I've not walked in. You have first hand experience. No kitchen can be all things to all people and do it right. If I had a restaurant, I would try to turn out the best xxxx that I could, but I wouldn't venture past my expertise. Diners looking for yyyy would be better served elsewhere. Hey, even the best restaurants are going broke. I may as well go broke on my own terms!

I am reminded of the fatuous woman sitting next to us in a little restaurant in Paris that offered a fixed menu. She coyly looked up at the waiter and gushed, "I'm vegetarian. I just know that your wonderful chef will whip up something fabulousl for me." When her first course arrived, she looked at it and gingerly forked through it and said to her dining companion, "Why, it's just like yours but without the meat!" Fist pump! YES!

We are quite spoiled in the US where we've been taught that the customer is always right. 'This may have been true mid-last Century and is still true in some traditional places. But today we celebrate chefs who have worked/fought their ways up through brutal apprenticeships and have earned the right to make a statement, to offer a singular vision or style. Patronize them if you are curious and want to see what they're all about, but don't expect to customize your meal.

How do you define/prepare Greek baby back ribs?

"Empty the fruit bowl salad" = homegrown fuyu and apple, pink plum. Sour cream and brown sugar "dressing". Italian sausage, fresh tomato, sorrel, basil, white wine, penne.

I guess my approach is that Spotted Pig menu is so vast that I could easily find something lovely without addressing the bleu cheese hamburger. In fact, about all of her alternatives sound more interesting than a burger. Let her "stand by her burger".

For "many" decades i have carefully chosen my foods and done so while dining out. I learned to read menus, question servers when necessary, and navigate my way to a delicious meal. I don't EVER remember asking a chef to alter his vision to suit me. Doing research, I would chose a restaurant that fit my needs and also served the wants of the rest of the table. To me it is an enormous conceit to demand special dishes, costing the restaurant AND YOU and ME in the long haul.

This time I had some Oaxacan on hand but fontina works very well.

Louis dressing, from the Gourmet Cookbook, 2004 1 cup mayo 1/4 cup ketchup-style chili sauce 1/4 cup minced scallions 2 Tablespoons minced green olives 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon bottled horseradish Salt and pepper to taste Meatball sauce...Hmmm...no rocket science here. Probably just deglazed pan with splash of water, then a big splash of heavy cream, let reduce a bit. If the meatballs weren't highly seasoned, would probably have sauteed a bit of onion or shallot or garlic before adding liquid. I'm a very seat-of-the-pants cook.

I love our differences. These are some of my favorite flavors. To the point that I have to put on the brakes to restrain myself from adding too much of them. Interestingly, DH and I have different perceptions of "sour". To him, lemon is sour, vinegar is not; I am the opposite.

You jest. No apparatus or skill required. Peppers blackened over gas flame or under broiler; skin slipped off; peppers stuffed with cheese, rolled in flour, dipped in egg/flour batter*, sauteed stove-top. *flour mixed with egg yolk then whipped egg white folded in Ah...lightbulb moment, are you saying you can't source the peppers?

I feel an affinity. My in-laws in retirement provided a "second harvest" service in their area, collecting healthful foods near their "best before" date from supermarkets and transporting them to needy kitchens, both public and private. Occasionally they came across product that was particularly fragile. So, on one super hot weekend while we were in the country, they arrived with a huge box of "very" ripe bananas, suggesting that we "share them in the village". So I collected a couple of local kids and our son and we set out with our red Radio Flyer wagon full of bananas and tried to "share" them. I only recall limited success and a wonderful exchange with an octogenarian lady who opened her door warily, listened to my offer and asked, "What on earth would I do with them?" "Make banana bread?" "Build a fire in the stove in THIS HEAT?"