Spiced Gin Tablets

Almost perfect.

Beef Chain Confit

These will make a triumphant return to life on Thanksgiving.

MY KITCHEN?

I neither have the patience nor the time to go back and see if I've....,,,,sorry .., nor the memory, of whether or not I've posted the past year of construction. Never ending...construction...but, by my own ideas for the most part. Recently, it was brought to my attention that there was a large cooler up for auction....we acquired it.

It sat in the very back doorway to the place. In the dry storage room, for several days.

Very hard to move around back there.

Wouldntjano? The cooler doesn't fit through any doorways into the kitchen.

Ratchet Man, Jimmy. Just cuts this place to shreds whenever. He's been maintaining for his entire life I'm sure. Who am I to interject?

Click on the pictures to understand what needed to be done just to get a cooler into the kitchen. It was taken in through the banquet entrance then through two dinning rooms, some railings and walls had to be removed...then the rest of the doors where cut off..along with some wall and a support beam.

These pictures go through a year of movements.

Understand, this was a house that was forced to be a sandwich shack 80 some years ago and is now being "used" as a fine dining experience in Pennsylvania. We make do, and I'm proud of what it's been turning into. It may not have the latest cooking equipment, it may not have the latest cooking equipment by 1980's standards, but trust me, a lot of cooking happens here. And the challenge in that alone would stop most people.

Tristan Cam

A former employee of mine, that knows how much I love and miss Charleston sent me this link
http://tristandining.com/introNEW.htm
I've never eaten at Tristan, but I worked at least two blocks away from it for years.
A former employee worked there doing pastries for a while, her brother told me about the "Veal Sorbet" he had while he was there, and an old friend was the bar manager there....may still be.

I've talked for years (literally) about a web cam in the kitchen.
Pros: 1.The so called "Reality" TV shows about kitchens are bullshit, a real kitchen cam would prove way more entertaining.
2. The entertainment value is untapped.
3. The spin-offs would be unstoppable.
4. The expressions of true love and passion concerning food might actually be understood by the rest of the world, not passed off as a learned "trade skill".
5. The home cook can put away his or her dreams of owning and operating their own Restaurant, once they see what it takes to work in one.
6. Ideas and techniques can be shared properly with great detail.
7. Want to talk about Drama? Try ER meets Passions. (I've never seen "Passions" but I think it's a soap opera and that's a lot like a kitchen at times.) (Any soap opera will do.)
8. I've already got the T-Shirts in mind. $$$$$$
Cons: 1. The general population will know what goes on in a restaurant kitchen, possibly YOUR restaurant kitchen.
2. The amount of money it would take to pay someone to work the "Bleep" button would put you way over on labor costs. So, he would be fired. And Sailors watching everywhere would blush.
3. Who knew the twisted things you can re-in act with chicken carcasses?
4. The recorded story of the "Potato People Vs. Baked Potato Bar-Man", may or may not be a success story.
5. You'd get to meet someone like John W. Grube, neither pro nor con I guess.
6. And, maybe no one wants to know. What it takes out of the people that feed you.

We just say "Enjoy".
And that's all we want. Is for You to enjoy what we put together for you....and for us. We enjoy when you do.

Christopher Shay

I am an uncle again.
Christopher Shay, born 10:10PM November 15 2007.
I can't wait to meet him.
Maybe someday I'll have my own.

Table Magazine

http://www.tablemagazine.com/

Brief article in the latest issue.
"East of Pittsburgh"

FOUND!

Sometimes when you find the perfect spatula it becomes harder to find.

I've been buying the same spatula for several years now. Not even the Good Grips website carriers this spatula anymore.

So, when found at the "In The Kitchen" store on the Strip in Pittsburgh, I pretty much bought all they had. Should last me a couple years.

Things to work on

Winter Projects
BBQ Ice Cream
Cigar Smoked
Truffles and Root Beer
Soda Brines / Marinades
Root beer Poached Pears
Wasabi Poached
Beets Cooked In Coconut Milk
Isomalt
Deep Dish Pizza Pot Pie
Smoked Ice Cream Pops
Poached Egg Timbale
Vodka Candies
Tuna Melt
Muhammara
Pate Satay
Dissolvable foods
"Ice Cream Soda"
Smoke Bubbles
Avocado Cheese Cakes

Puffs
Seafood (scallop) Crème Brulee
Lemonade dessert
Egg less desserts with Xanthan
Old Bay Cotton Candy
Chicken Chorizo
Turtle dessert
Coffee Caramel
Tobacco Teas
Grape Cider
Alcohol Pickle
Pancake dessert, Baked Casserole
Cherries and Truffles
Mayonnaise Ice Cream
BLT
“Banana Bread”
Orange Julius
Chili Chocolate Rice Pudding
Apple Mustard
Soy Ketchup
Curry Cheesecake
S’more Bomb
Mint Julip pate
Japanese Tea Garden
Stripes