al b. darned's Profile
Help! I left the food on the counter overnight!
My suspicion is those who post these threads really know they should throw out what ever they are asking about, but can't bear the thought of "wasting good food." They want someone to tell them it's ok. But in every one of these situations, my gut feeling (pun somewhat intended) is, "When in doubt, throw it out." To me, is not worth the risk of making yourself sick.
I am generally a believer in, "Clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy." While nobody ever died from a messy living room, they have definitely died, or at least gotten sick, from food left out overnight.
Bad Tipper Note......Just My 2 Cents (Canadian)
This was discussed at length in this post:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/811864
IIRC, the server in question also turned out to be an a$$ by taking her vendetta public and posting the picture of the wrong Andrew Meyer on line.
Can We Cry Over This?
Or is it the same as spilled milk?
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/truck_crashes_on_interstate_88.html
(Sorry, but I just couldn't resist.)
OrGREENic Cookware?
Report back in six or seven month and update us on your experience. Many people who report good initial experience seem to start having problems with food sticking about that timeframe. (Or sometimes sooner than that.)
No Reservations: Croatia
Ho Hum!! AB getting drunk. As usual, more "Bleeps" than actual conversation. I tuned out before the "falling over" scene. I'm no prude but this has gotten old. He's not worth watching any more.
Oreo Birthday Cookies
As noted in a previous thread, it is Oreos' 100th birthday. To celebrate, they have created a 100th Birthday Cookie. Since my birthday sort of coincides with Oreo's, DW brought some home the other night. After trying them, we both declared them to be DISGUSTING! (And we generally like Oreos.)
The chocolate cookie is the same, except one cookie is the traditional cookie and the other just says, "Oreo 100" on it. The filling, OTOH, is like the frosting you get from a can...white with colored sprinkles throughout, and sweet enough to melt your teeth. Not only that, the filling is soft like frosting and squishes out when you bite into it. This is even worse if you like to make "double stuff" ones from two cookies. Overall, not a good cookie eating experience.
Anybody want the rest of the package?
SPAM
Because some of us think the SPAM taste is really, really NASTY! Not to worry, tho...just more for the rest of you.
Then again there must be something you don't care for that I like. To each their own.
SPAM just happens to be one of the more polarizing "foods" available.
Potato Chip Slicer Microwave Mandolin
You mean this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Potato-Crisp-Chip-Maker-Slicer-Microwave-DIY-Kitchen-Tool-Set-New-/280847974298?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D190606079288%26ps%3D54
I have this one. The slicer really does slice thin and the rack does crisp the up nicely. It's a bit of a pain it line up all those thin slices in the rack, but the results aren't bad. Doing enough for a crowd (or even a couple of people) will take a bit of time, tho.
Percentage Tipping
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]I think it's odd when I pay double the tip as a friend when we eat out, just because my entree cost more. The work is the same.
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Exactly my point! You started it more clearly than I.
Percentage Tipping
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You pay a higher hourly rate at Audi (as you say) not because it takes an Audi mechanic longer to change your oil than a Ford mechanic, but simply because of the cache, perhaps, that owning an A5 has over an Escort.
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You pay more for an Audi mechanic per hour because it costs more to train him/her and to outfit the shop to service such a needless complex machine. You pay more per job with an Audi because you pay more per hour AND it takes longer to do the job.
Percentage Tipping
Maybe I'm not being clear. At either of the places you name, the tip is based on what you order, not how much service you received. If you choose the most expensive entree at either place you will pay more at the end of the meal than if you chose the least expensive. You will pay a higher tip at either place, based on a percentage of the higher cost entrée, even tho it took no more effort to serve it to you.
A steak at Per Se costs more than a pasta dish, but both are the same effort to serve (by the server). Hence the higher tip generated by the steak is equivalent to the repair shop charging a higher hourly rate for using synthetic oil over standard oil when doing an oil change.
With a time-based service charge you pay the same rate at that establishment no matter which entrée you order. An hour at Denny's would generate the same number of units as an hour at Per Se, but the cost of those units would be higher at Per Se, just as the hourly rate is higher at the Audi shop.
Though there are a number of ways to implement it, a service charge based on the actual service received and the time spent in the establishment is inherently more fair than one based on the cost of ones meal.
Percentage Tipping
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The time it takes to fix cars...
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Not necessarily these days, especially the way they pack the mechanicals in. Simple tasks are about the same. It may take more time to change the plugs in one car over another, but the process is the same. And you will pay a higher hourly rate for that job from an Audi shop than a Ford shop
Many shops use a flat rate manual for pricing the labor for jobs. Any shop using this method charges the same number of hours as any other shop using it. A plug change at either shop will be billed the same time. And yes, it's easy to beat the flat rate.
Looking for suggestions for a knife as a weding present for vegetarians
I guess a boning knife is out, but wouldn't they also need a nice paring knife?
Measuring Spoons - are there any on the market that aren't pure Chinese junk?
One of my pet peeves about measuring spoons is they are either chained together or they rattle around loose. That is one of the reasons I like the Tupperware spoons I mentioned up-thread. They snap on and off the triangular hanging ring so it is easy to grab one, but just as easy to keep them all together.
Percentage Tipping
Another example, and perhaps a better illustration of the question:
At any restaurant at any price point, the tip is proportional to the cost of the meal, not the level of service. A $5 app takes no more work to serve than a $9 one. The same with a $15 main vs. a $25 one, yet if I splurge on the $9 app and the $25 main the tip would be half again as much than if I went with the two lower priced items for the same service from the same server.
Since their tip depends on the final tab as much as the provided service, "good" servers, especially in higher end places, regularly steer diners toward the higher priced apps and mains. Bourdain bragged about this in his No Reservations' NYC "Into the Fire" episode, extolling the abilities of waiter Tim Siemens in this area.
When I take my car in for an oil change, the chain quick-lube place and my local shop provide approximately the same service for about the same price. The the labor rate doesn't go up just because I use a more expensive oil.
What of we went to a system of charging a time-based service charge, similar to the auto repair service? The longer you linger, the more you pay. A higher end place could charge a higher rate than a diner, just as a shop specializing in high-end German cars charges more than the local Ford dealership.
Percentage Tipping
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It seems to me that servers in finer establishments are more experienced and knowledgable
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Menu pricing doesn't necessarily relate to the level of service. I have had both ends of the service scale, and everything in between, at all levels of pricing, as, I'm sure, have you. Incompetence and indifference can happen at all levels. At one higher end place, a dining companions asked about a particular beef dish on the menu. The server's answer: "I dunno. I don't eat meat.."
For our first anniversary dinner, DW and I went to a better place owned by a highly regarded (and decorated) chef. A chef friend had even called ahead for me and made the reservation with the owner, explaining it was our first and I wanted it to be a "special night." Being the middle of the week, our waiter had only one other table of three to tend to while we were there, yet she provided a decidedly lower level of service than we typically receive at the family style place cited in the OP.
Yet for our fifth we went to a similar place on a crowded Saturday evening and received excellent service from a waiter who didn't stop moving the whole time we were there.
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The menus at lower end places are usually big, colorful, self-explanatory documents.
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This may be the case for chains like IHOP or Denny's, but I've been to many a place at all price points where the staff had to explain a menu item to someone in our party. In the example I cited, the family restaurant menus are composed in a word processor in 12 pt TNR font. No color, no pictures, and the note: "Ask your server about our specials." Sometimes you get an extra similar page with the specials, but not always.
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At a nicer place they also usually have fewer tables to serve. ...
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It could be argued the college kid working ten tables at a chain restaurant does more work in a shift, and therefore deserves more.
Measuring Spoons - are there any on the market that aren't pure Chinese junk?
I have a set like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-TUPPERWARE-MEASURING-SPOONS-IVORY-OR-OFF-WHITE-SET-OF-7-W-RING-/160764467041?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256e4f1761
I got an orange set as a gift about 20 yrs ago. I use them all the time and they have held up fine. (They are, imo, in perfect condition.) They go right in the dishwasher. (I don't use heated drying).
Search ebay for "tupperware measuring spoons." there are usually several sets in various colors up for sale. NOTE: A full set is seven spoons. Watch out for incomplete sets.
Glass measuring cup
I have the Bennington Flameware ones (the first ones listed above). They are, indeed, thin and light, but they feel fragile. I have dropped my Pyrex measuring cups on my vinyl kitchen floor and they survived. The Bennington ones won't survive the same drop. And when Borosilicate glass does break, it shatters into a million pointy shards. (Yes, I have dropped one.) I have the two smaller sizes. I use them, but only after donning the kid gloves.
Percentage Tipping
There have been numerous discussion on CH concerning tipping, but none that I can find discuss the following:
Why do we tip a percentage of the bill?
The amount of work required to serve me a prime rib dinner at the "family restaurant" and the "quality steak house" are about the same:
Greeting/present menu,.
"Would you like a beverage?"
Delivery of beverage
"May I take your order? (maybe "Come back in a couple of minutes")
Bring apps and/or bread service
Bring salads
Bring mains
"Would you like desert?"
Bring dessert (or not)
Present check
Bring slip to sign (or present change)
"Thank you for coming. Please stop by again."
OK, there are intermediate steps, like clearing dishes, refilling beverages, ensuring everything is satisfactory, and the like, but that happens (or doesn't happen) at all levels of restaurant.
The family place charges $15.95 vs. $24.95 or more at the steak house, with a corresponding price differential for everything from beverages to dessert. The quality of the food is not the question (though in the example presented it is every bit as good at the family place), nor is the atmosphere. Neither materially change the amount of work the wait staff has to perform.
Along that same line, it takes no more effort to serve me a local craft beer with said meal than a Bud Light at either establishment. Open the bottle, place glass on table, pour some beer in the glass, place bottle on the table, smile. Yet the craft brew costs more, resulting in a higher tip.
As an analogy, if I buy a new refrigerator at Sears, Home Depot, or an appliance store, they charge the same rate to deliver it to my house. It doesn't matter if it is a low end GE or a high end Samsung with all the bells and whistles.
So does anyone know where the tradition of tipping a percent came from? I am not familiar with the European model. Isn't the service charge also based on a percentage of the bill?
Part II (If you care to go there?) OTHER THAN "paying a fair wage and eliminating tipping" (That would be my answer) how would you change the system? If you would prefer to leave it as-is, why?
Could your/ IS your significant other a picky eater?
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I like everything and will eat most anything
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So what won't you eat and why?
EMP Versus Morality
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Personally, I would return and make it a point to speak to the manager in person. I'd thank him for another memorable meal and also mention my ignored quest for Lievre and how it almost kept me from returning...
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By far, IMO, the most sensible answer I've seen. However...
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I think if you speak to someone face to face, you will get a genuine apology ...
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Considering how many times the OP left messages, my money is on a Lip Service Apology. I would graciously accept said LSA and get on with my life. And, yes, I would return.
mandatory tipping for larger groups [moved from Phoenix board]
All good (and valid) points.
Growing Horseradish [split from General Topics]
I made the mistake of planting horseradish in my garden in 1994 as a deterrent to potato beetles. I got no potato beetles, but I sure got horseradish plants!
I used to mulch my garden with several layers of newspaper covered with lawn clippings. While this prevented most weeds, it seemed to only p*** off the horseradish. The leaves would form into a point, break thru the mulch, and flourish. The worst part of this is my soil is too heavy to get any decent roots to grind up, but that doesn't it from trying every year.
"No Sugar" Hellman's Mayo - ?
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Why can't food manufacturers leave it to 'us' to decide how much sugar and salt we want (beyond that necessary - salt - for preservation purposes?) Sugar and salt are usually available to everyone at arm's length.
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I couldn't agree more!! Yes, sugar is also a preservative, but I don't think that's why it is in mayo.
I Wish I Could....
In general I am pretty good in the kitchen. My knife skills are better than average, and I can put together a pretty good meal utilizing a variety of cooking methods. But try as I might, there are some things I can't do that "all good cooks" can do.
First, I can't flip food in a fry pan. Other people can flip food in my pans, and have tried to show me how, but I still only flip food out, not over.
Second, dough. Especially dough that has to be rolled, stretched, or otherwise spread out as part of its usage. It always ends up with holes in it.
Third, gravy. Sure, I can get lump-free gravy when I "cheat" and use Wondra, but using regular flour instead results in a 50/50 chance of it being lumpy. Mom always had smooth gravy using regular flour in her slurry, but not me.
So, just between you and me, what "kitchen skills" do you wish you could master, what "lack of skill" are you cursed with, or what did you try to do, only to fail spectacularly?
Note: This is NOT a, "Help Al with these three things" post. Others have torn out their hair trying to teach me these skills. I am untrainable. Besides, there are more, lurking just beneath the surface. This is just a chance for you to come clean without the whole world knowing about it.
mandatory tipping for larger groups [moved from Phoenix board]
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This is very common, as larger groups tend to be more work...
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I humbly disagree. While a larger party is indeed a bit more work (tho a party of six, IMO, is not a "large group") the reason for the auto grat of a large group is economics...making sure the wait staff is fairly tipped. 18 - 20% for a party of two isn't too bad on the wallet, but the tab for a party of eight can easily exceed $300 even at a reasonably priced place. Obviously, the more upscale, the higher the tab. Even at the low end of $300, a 20% tip is $60! "Geeeze, she didn't work *that* hard." So he leaves a 20 on the table and slinks out. I saw this sort of behavior 40 years ago when I worked in the industry, and have heard many similar tales from a couple who ran a restaurant down the street from me. When we all tip fairly, there will be no need for the auto grat, but in the meantime...
mandatory tipping for larger groups [moved from Phoenix board]
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Plus since I normally tip 20%, I don't need a "computer" to figure it out for me. That was a skill I learned in the 3rd grade.
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Me, too, but it wasn't that many years ago when my niece was a sophomore in high school. We went to to lunch, and when the bill came, she had no idea how to calculate a 20% (or even 10% x 2) tip.
