committed

It's a new year so it's time for some resolutions.

1. I resolve to make commitments, not resolutions.

That was easy. The difference between a commitment and a resolution is the former is a plan, the latter a promise. Last year I picked three words as promises and I didn't keep any of them. This year I'm turning those three into commitments.

• Do - This has started already. I have a plan for getting my environment to be one that energizes rather than drains me. It includes a lot of change and diplomacy, two things I don't usually do well. I am also putting together plans to make my job more enjoyable and to do what needs to be done.
  
• Share - I made a promise to share something I create with five people. I only completed it for one. The rest will get theirs by the end of March. It's part of that doing thing. I have also neglected this blog for far too long. I will be sharing on a weekly basis because that keeps me motivated to do more.
  
• Joy - Like my friend Tom I get a lot of joy from being anonymously helpful. I volunteered to help build a park in my neighborhood, and every year we do our annual Dining With Friends dinner. I need to do more. This one is the hardest to plan because part of my joy also comes from the spontaneity of acts of kindness. I can't really plan to track down someone who needs my help. I can make myself open to it and put myself in a place where I find it more easily.

Here's to a year of energized commitments.

This is going to take a while...

Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings

Last night we had a party for Myron's alumni from Bishop England High School. One of the appetizers was Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, which is a recipe from Food & Wine Cocktails 2008. I don't know who Ike is but these are some fantastic wings. They are crunchy, salty, sweet, and the fresh herbs and fried garlic make them absolutely delicious.

In Charleston you can buy Vietnamese fish sauce at most Asian markets. I like the Three Crab brand, and get it at H&L Market.

Chicken wings

• 3lb chicken wings, split at the drumette and tips trimmed off

Marinade

• 1/2 C fish sauce
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 2 cloves crushed garlic

Frying

• 4C to 6C vegetable oil, approximately
• 1C cornstarch

Garnish

• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 T chopped cilantro
• 1 T chopped mint

Preparation

1. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
2. Put the prepared chicken wings into a 1 gallon zip-top bag.
3. Pour the marinade over the wings and refrigerate for at least three hours, turning occasionally. They can be left overnight, just be sure to put the bag into a bowl or baking dish in case it leaks.
4. Remove the wings from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you plan to start cooking them.
5. Drain the marinade from the wings and reserve the marinade. It will be reduced to make the sauce.
6. Place the wings on a layer of paper towels to dry.
7. Pour oil into a large pot to a depth of approximately two inches and bring to 350F (177C) over medium-high heat.
8. While waiting for the oil to heat, put the marinade in a pot and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat. Skim off the protein raft that forms on the top. Reduce to a syrup consistency, about 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Pat the wings dry with paper towels and dredge in cornstarch. Making sure they are covered thoroughly but shake off any excess cornstarch. Work in batches of four to six pieces, if you dredge too many and they sit for too long the cornstarch will get gummy and they won't be crispy.
10. Fry the wings in batches of four to six pieces until crispy and chicken is done, about 8 to 10 minutes. Monitor the temperature of the oil  because it will drop when you add the wings. You can turn up the heat to help the oil return to temperature more quickly, just keep an eye on it. You don't want it to go above 360F (182C).
11. Remove the wings from the oil onto a cooling rack or a platter lined with paper towels.
12. When finished frying the wings, heat 2T vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
13. Add the minced garlic and fry, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden brown. Remove the garlic from the pan and allow the garlic to cool.
14. When the wings have cooled enough to handle, put them in a bowl and drizzle with half the syrup. Toss to coat, then cover with remainder of syrup and toss again.
15. Transfer wings to serving bowl or platter and top with fried garlic, chopped cilantro an chopped mint.

I planned to take a picture but by the time I made it to the table they were gone!

Simple smoked salmon spread

Even though the temperature is still in the 90's and the humidity envelopes me like a hot wet blanket, September means cool weather is around the corner. While working as a fishmonger in college I learned that most salmon spawn in the Fall. What better way to combine the promise of Fall with the reality of the heat and make a delicious cold smoked salmon spread?

Smoked Salmon Spread

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb fresh Pacific salmon fillet
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 lemon
• 1 small to medium shallot
• 2t salt, more for seasoning
• 2t sugar
• 1T capers
• cooking oil, enough to coat the bottom of a saute pan
• 1T unsalted butter

Equipment

• Microplane grater
• 4 quart mixing bowl
• small bowl, approximately 1C
• wooden spoon
• saute pan
• Cameron's Cookware stovetop smoker*

Procedure

• Peel the shallot and cut into a fine dice. Split the shallots into two piles of roughly 1/4 and 3/4.
• Use the Microplane to zest half the lemon into the mixing bowl.
• Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the zested half into the mixing bowl, being careful to keep the seeds out. Reserve the other half of the lemon.
• Add 1/4 of the shallots, sour cream, salt and sugar to the mixing bowl with the lemon and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Set up the smoker with 1T wood chips over medium-low to medium heat. I use apple, cherry, alder, or pecan. Don't use mesquite, hickory or oak, the flavor is too heavy for salmon.
• While the smoker is heating up rinse the salmon under cold running water, pat dry, and sprinkle lightly with salt.**
• When the first wisps of smoke come out of the smoker spray the rack with nonstick spray, place the salmon on the smoker rack skin side down, and close the smoker.
• Set a timer for 18 minutes.
• Heat the oil in the saute pan over medium heat.
• When the oil ripples add the butter and swirl it around the pan while it melts.
• Add the remainder of the shallot and saute until golden brown. Be very careful, it won't look like anything is happening then they will go from golden brown and delicious to burned and bitter very quickly.
• Pour the shallots and any oil into a small bowl and set aside.
• When the timer goes off turn off the heat and open the smoker slightly. Let stand for a few minutes, then open the lid fully and remove the salmon. Place the salmon flesh side down on a cutting board and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Peel the skin off the salmon and scrape off the grayish-brown layer that separates the muscle and skin. A spoon works well for this. Be gentle so you don't scrape up too much of the salmon flesh. Let the salmon cool for another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add the salmon and the sauteed shallots to the sour cream mixture in the mixing bowl and break up the salmon with your spoon. Stir vigorously, breaking up large chunks, until the salmon and sour cream mixture are fully incorporated.
• Add the capers and stir gently. You don't want to crush the capers.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Check for seasoning, adding more salt or lemon if needed.

Yield: 20 to 30 cocktail party servings

* You could use an outdoor smoker, but since I don't have one I'm providing instructions for a Camerons Cookware stovetop smoker. This is an easy way to get smoky delicious food in the convenience of your kitchen. Note that it does leak some smoke, so if you're in an apartment or a small house you might want to open a window. If it billows like a locomotive it means you have the heat too high.

**Another variation would be to grill the salmon instead of smoking it. The last option I'll leave you with is to bake the salmon, and for smoky flavor you could add a sprinkle of smoked sea salt. The recipe will work no matter how you cook the salmon.

My brushes with the space program

With the last shuttle mission underway a lot of people are recounting their experiences growing up and following the US space program. I never was that into it. I read sci-fi and dreamed of escaping to another world, but I never paid much attention to the space program.

That changed a bit in seventh grade because my science teacher was one of the ten finalists to be the first teacher in space, a spot ultimately won by Christa McAulliffe. She took every opportunity to share what she learned in her training and it was fascinating. We watched the Challenger launch in science class the morning on January 28, 1986 and were horrified when the shuttle exploded. The first thing that went through my mind was "That could have been Ms. Salyers!" She was my favorite teacher and it was gut-wrenching.

My partner Myron's father was a Captain in the US Navy. One of his missions was to lead the flotilla that would have picked up the capsule from the first moon landing if they had to land in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific. He spoke only vaguely of the experience, and said he was temporarily granted Cosmic Clearance so he could be debriefed. Unfortunately he never got to meet the astronauts, or at least he never talked about it. I'm still in awe that he was there for such an incredibly important point in human history, and there was a reasonable chance he could have played a role in it.

I wasn't glued to the TV for launches and I can't even name all the space shuttles, but the space program has still been an inspiration.

If Sarah Palin was a waitress

Customer: "What's the special of the day?" 

Waitress Palin: "Our special...uh...cod. The Cod Special."

Customer: "Okay. How's that prepared and does it come with anything?"

Waitress Palin: "Well...uh...that's a good question and...uh...I appreciate you asking that question because it's good. The Special Cod is specially prepared by our fantastic chef who's just a real good, real hardworkin' American. He'll cook that right up for you, special-like, and it's just delicious. And then I'll bring it out and you'll like it, it's just real tastey."

Customer: "Okayyyyy...I'll just have the fish and chips with a Diet Coke."

Thirty minutes later, no fish and chips, no diet coke.

Customer to random other waiter: "Hey, can you get my waitress...Sarah, yeah her name was Sarah. I ordered the fish and chips with a Diet Coke thirty minutes ago and I haven't seen her since."

Random Other Waiter: "Ooh, sorry bro. Sarah just quit. Just up and quit and it was only halfway through her shift." 


Taken from NomNom83's comment on Gawker.

Dining With Friends 2011 - Ciao Baby!

It's that time of year again: Dining With Friends. This is the thirteenth year my partner Myron and I have hosted a party for this event. This year we're having our party on Saturday, May 14th. We selected Italian as the theme and Myron combed through over 30 cookbooks and magazines to come up with a master list of over 120 recipes. We eventually whittled that down to 19. Below is what we came up with, with links to the recipes.

Crostini bar:

• Caponata
• Peperonata
• Tuna tapenade
• Sicilian chickpea fritters
• Sicilian eggplant ceviche
• Dry-cured olives with orange and rosemary

Main courses:

• Chicken and lemon casserole
• Fedelini with chickpeas and tuna
• Marinated chicken alla Griglia
• Rigatoni Pugliese
• Roast leg of lamb with potatoes
• Short ribs alla Genovese
• Sweet and sour glazed pork chops

Side dishes:

• Farro salad with mozzarella, tomato and cucumber
• Green beans with shaved onion, fried almonds, and Parmesan
• Orecchiette with cauliflower
• Roman farina dumplings
• Sweet peas with prosciutto
• White bean and tuna salad

Other recipes:

• Basic tomato sauce, used in the rigatoni and eggplant ceviche
• Roasted garlic puree, used in the chicken alla Griglia

A call for passive activism

IBM is celebrating their 100th anniversary by highlighting their top 100 contributions. One they selected is World Community Grid. From the World Community Grid website:

World Community Grid brings people together from across the globe to create the largest non-profit computing grid benefiting humanity. It does this by pooling surplus computer processing power. We believe that innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can help make the planet smarter. Our success depends on like-minded individuals - like you.

Here's how it works: IBM donates the hardware and coordinates the projects that get submitted to WCG. People like you and me install an application on our computers that downloads work for these projects -- such as curing cancer, AIDS, and polio, or finding more nutritious strains of rice -- and then churns through it (or as I like to say "and a miracle occurs"). Once it's all analyzed the data is sent back to WCG where the IBM servers aggregate it for the researchers.

You don't have to leave your computer on all the time, or have it running constantly so it slows down your computer. The hour your screensaver is running while you're at lunch or in a meeting is an hour you could be contributing to solving the world's problems.

Incidentally, there is a WCG team for Lotus Domino Bloggers. There are 26 members but only three of us have been active in the last couple of months. If you're reading this through PlanetLotus please consider joining your peers.

Motorola Atrix is the reincarnation of IBM Meta Pad circa 2002

It's no secret that I'm a slow adopter of mobile technology. It comes down to one reason: IBM spoiled me with the Meta Pad. This little gem debuted out of IBM Research in 2002. That's right, nearly 10 years ago IBM was touting a mobile computer you could carry with you and connect to various docks for different purposes. Antelope Technology licensed the Meta Pad and sold it as the Mobile Computer Core. People stayed away in droves. It was incredibly expensive, heavy, bulky and slow. Antelope Tech closed its doors within a couple of years.

IBM's idea of carrying your computer with you and just plugging it in to different form factors has stuck with me for the last decade. I knew what was possible and I wouldn't settle for anything else. I never bought a smartphone because I didn't want a phone. I wanted a mobile device that was a lot more flexible.

Other devices entered this space, most notably the Oqo and FlipStart. To me they were awkward compromises, and they're still prohibitively expensive. The closest I have found to meet my wish list was the SmartBook from Always Innovating. The only problem with that is it's only WiFi. I wanted something I could use as a phone, but since the SmartBook was so close I was seriously considering purchasing it. I never expected any manufacturer to build what I wanted.

Then Motorola announced the Atrix. I read a review of it and I was stunned how closely this mirrored IBM's goals from a decade ago. It's a phone. Dock it and you can play music and videos to your home entertainment system, using a remote. Connect a keyboard and fire up a full version of Firefox. Insert into a laptop chassis and enjoy a larger screen while traveling. And it's not insanely expensive.

Thank you, IBM, for showing the world what was possible. You're often ahead of your time, but I'm glad in this case it has come full circle.

your zone of influence (is much bigger than you think)

Last night I attended a volunteer training session for the upcoming Charleston Wine + Food Festival. A large portion of the session centered around customer service. There will be over 18,000 people attending the festival this year and there are more than 400 volunteers. We will be wearing burgundy aprons and we will be the most visible face of the Festival.

Over half the Festival attendees are traveling from out of state; one-third have never been to the festival before; and fifteen percent have never been to Charleston. If they don't have a positive impression of me it will reflect on that person's opinion the Festival as a whole, Charleston, the South, and who knows what else. It is critical that every volunteer leave every guest they influence with a positive impression.

David McNair, co-author of Exceptional Customer Service, is a Charlestonian and was there to talk about our zone of influence. This was defined as:

• The number of people you actually speak to. Volunteers from last year said to expect to talk to 500 people in a 4 hour period.
• People are highly visual and at events such as this anyone official-looking immediately draws attention. So add the number of people who pass within 10 feet that we don't actually talk to. This was estimated to be twice the number you do speak to, so that's 1500 people total. Yes, people you will form an opinion of you from 10 feet away. It's not fair, but that's life.
• Most of the events happen in tents where people file through, but some are outdoors. In open spaces people will notice you from up to 30 feet away. The number of contacts jumped to 2000. So not only do you have to worry about the people you directly talk to, and the ones who pass 10 feet away, but the people three times as far who can't even hear your voice will also form an opinion of you.
• And finally, he threw out the number 5, which he used as a multiplier. This is because on average every person we influence will tell five other people. If it's a positive experience they usually tell two to three people, and if it's negative they tell ten to twelve. On average it works out to five. That brings us up to 10,000 impressions made in a 4 hour period.

David went on to say that people form their first impression within seven seconds of engaging someone. That doesn't mean talking to them, that's simply from the point of first sight. If you have a 60 second conversation the other person has made a final judgment about you, including whether they find you trustworthy. How to you make sure someone you don't even notice but who sees you from 30 feet away forms a positive impression of you?

David talked about how simple things can make or break a good customer service experience. Since most of the people we are influencing are not even going to talk to us we need to be aware of the message we're sending. Are we smiling or do we look bored? Are we slouched over or are we standing with good posture? Do we appear energized or tired? These seemingly small details have a tremendous impact, up to 30 feet away.

It is a little daunting to think that I may be influencing 10,000 people in a single four-hour period. It's an incredibly important seven seconds.

three words

I don't do resolutions. The idea of a point in time when you commit to lofty unattainable goals, or even realistic achievable ones, just doesn't interest me. I work toward what interests me, and that changes as my relationship to the world around me changes.

My friend Kat French posted about a meme among her friends of doing a three-word resolution. Encompassing your broad goals and intentions with bare language leaves more to interpretation. I can get behind this.

My three words are:

1. Do
2. Share
3. Joy

Dreaming and wishing only get you so far. Doing actually makes things happen. All that doing yields results. Keeping them to myself isn't why I'm doing all the doing. I have learned that sharing brings me joy. When I share the results of my doing, know that I'm actually being selfish. It isn't about you, it's about me.

* Update 1/14/2010 to fix link Blogger screwed up.

Please take the time to read this

I had never heard of Bill Zeller until today. He created a bunch of projects that a lot of people use, though. He was also apparently incredibly smart. He committed suicide January 5th, 2010.

Bill's suicide note is long, but please take the time to read it. Bill endured horrors no one ever should and his note describing them is painful to read. I can tell you from my own first-hand experience it's much, much worse from his side. It struck a chord with me because I felt like he did for much of my life. I'm thankful for everyone, and especially Myron, who helped me see that life is worth living. It's tragic that so many people never get the chance to feel loved.

Recipe: Celery Root and Cauliflower Soup

A lot of people aren't familiar with celery root, also known celeriac. It is a type of celery that is grown for the root rather than the stalks, so it's not the same variety that gets stuffed with peanut butter or served alongside hot wings. The root has a mild celery flavor and a texture a bit like a soft potato, and it makes a delicious and velvety puree. I wanted turn it into a soup, but I  needed to balance the flavor with something else. My original idea was parsnips but the store didn't have any, so I switched to cauliflower. It turned out delicious.

1 large celery root
1 head of cauliflower
1 bay leaf
4 - 6C low sodium chicken stock
1C heavy cream
2oz (1/2 stick) butter
salt and white pepper to taste
white truffle oil for garnish (optional)

6 - 8 quart stock pot with lid
colander
blender
fine mesh strainer
whisk

Yield: 4 quarts

• Start by scrubbing the celery root with a brush under cold running water. They are knobby roots and they take some effort to get clean.
  
• Next peel the celery root. This is best done by using a sharp chef's knife to cut away the larger knobby parts and the peel, followed by trimming with a paring knife. Don't worry if you can't get rid of all the peel in all the nooks and crannies.
  
• Cut the celery root in quarters, then cut each quarter into 1" - 2" thick slices. Move to the stock pot and add enough water to cover. Set the burner to medium heat, add the bay leaf, and cover.
  
• Remove the core from the cauliflower and separate the florets. You don't have to take them too small, just don't leave it in fist-sized chunks. Put these in the stock pot with the celery root, and add more water to cover the cauliflower.
  
• Let the vegetables come to a boil while covered. Remove the lid and let them simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. To test for doneness, use the tip of a paring knife to pierce the stem of a cauliflower floret. If it slides off without holding, it's done.
  
• Drain the vegetables into a colander and discard the bay leaf.
  
• Put half the vegetables in the blender and 1C chicken stock. Put on the lid, removing the stopper on top. Cover with a kitchen towel and blend the soup until smooth. Add more chicken stock until everything blends smoothly.
  
• Place a fine mesh strainer over the stock pot and pour the puree into it. Use a whisk to stir the puree around and force it through the mesh. Any lumps or fibrous bits will stay in the strainer.
  
• Repeat with the other half of the vegetables.
  
• Place he stock pot of soup over medium heat and add the cream and butter. Stir occasionally until it starts to simmer.
  
• Adjust for thickness, adding more chicken stock or water if it's too thick, or allow it to reduce if it's too thin. Adjust seasoning with salt and white pepper. If you haven't used white pepper before, be careful. It has a lingering heat and is stronger than black pepper.

I garnished the soup with a few drops of white truffle oil because it echoes the flavor and aroma, but that is purely optional.

Folder Permissions requirements difference when upgrading from Office 2003 to Office 2010

At work we're in the process of upgrading from Office 2003 to Office 2010. The pilot users on Office 2010 were unable to edit spreadsheets on a network location while the Office 2003 users chugged right along. After a few days of troubleshooting we finally found the solution.

In order to edit files in Office 2010 the user must have Delete permissions for the folder with the document. For Office 2003 they simply required Update permissions. Hopefully our pain can be your gain.

In memoriam - Glenda Joyce Robinson - December 29, 1942 to October 8, 2010

The song Seasons of Love from the musical Rent asks the question "How do you measure a year?" It makes the following suggestions:

In daylights - in sunsets
In midnights - in cups of coffee
In inches - in miles
In laughter - in strife

This is part of the larger question: "How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?" For the case at hand, that would be 24,755 daylights and sunsets but only 24,754 midnights. The cups of coffee (and packs of cigarettes) are uncountable. A lot of road was covered and there was a lot of laughter... and unfortunately even more strife.

The person of whom I'm speaking is my mother, Glenda Joyce Robinson. She died at approximately 10:15 PM on October 8, 2010, at age 68. I truly hope she found the peace she never knew in life.

I blocked comments on this post. I know everyone is sincere in their compassion and empathy, but I am just too raw emotionally to deal with it. I apologize for being selfish, it's been a common theme this week.

the bastards ground me down

It seemed innocent enough. I was offered $20,000 to go to culinary school. What an amazing opportunity! Little did I know the toll it would take. I started classes in July. After the first week I was panicked because I didn't fit in, not even a little bit. My classmates were half my age and incredibly rowdy. Every class period was like a junior high lunch room, with people yelling, cursing, carrying on conversations throughout class (both with each other and on their cell phones) and engaging in horseplay. I'm serious about learning, passionate about culinary arts and respectful and professional. Few of my classmates share any of those traits.

I talked to some of them, explaining I hadn't been in school for twenty years so it was harder for me to concentrate when they were loud and. A few of them seemed chastened and behaved more maturely. A couple became belligerent and called me everything from uptight to a racist. Most just ignored me and kept on being disruptive.

Next I went to my teachers, who agreed it was out of hand and started shushing the classes when they got too loud. That wasn't very successful so it escalated to threats of ejection from class. Nobody got kicked out but the obnoxious behavior continued, so I went up the chain to the chair of my department. The next class meeting everyone was seated alphabetically. It took four weeks but this finally broke up the worst of the cliques and the Romper Room atmosphere was toned down enough for me to make it through my first quarter.

Monday night was my first class of this quarter and I walked into even more chaos than I had back in July. When I enrolled at AI I was told my kitchen classes would have no more than 15 to 18 students. Last night we had 26. We only have work stations for a maximum of 20 and the kitchen is stocked for about 15 students so we quickly ran out of everything. It was a mad dash to grab what you could, when you could.

When the teacher left to get more ingredients or equipment more than half the class would erupt into horseplay. The last straw for me was when I was helping a fellow student wash all the dishes. I was putting them away from the drying rack and there was a cluster of our classmates standing beside us in a circle doing freestyle rap while people would enter the circle and breakdance. I asked one of them to help me put away the dishes and responded, "You ain't my massa."

I withdrew from classes today. I simply can't endure another quarter like last one. It's not worth my time or effort when The Art Institute can't create an environment in which I can learn. Rather than being the pissed off grumpy old man I decided to remove myself from the situation. I appreciate the opportunity I was given by the Food Network. I sincerely wish I could have taken advantage of it.

I don't know what my next step might be. It probably won't be culinary school, at least for a while.

The best meal of my life

My (37th) birthday was Thursday, August 19th. Being mid-week we opted to delay the official celebration until Saturday the 21st. My favorite restaurant in the world is McCrady's, headed up by Chef Sean Brock, so it was the obvious choice.

I have met Chef Brock a few times, and about a year ago he said to let him know when I was coming in to McCrady's and he would do something special. I have the most over the top case of hero worship for Chef Brock that you can imagine. It would be like Geddy Lee offering to sing "happy birthday" to a Rush fan, or a tween girl getting a hug from Justin Bieber. So I was over the moon when he made this offer, but I was too timid to do anything about it. We dined in anonymity at McCrady's several times until I finally worked up the courage to e-mail Chef Brock and take him up on his offer. He responded and we exchanged a couple of e-mails so he could get an idea of what to do.

So it was with an incredible level of excitement and more than a little nervous anxiety that we arrived at McCrady's for 6:30 dinner reservations. We were seated and offered a wine list but no menus. The waiter knew Chef Brock had a special menu for us which was going to remain a secret. Our only choice was whether to do wine pairings, which we did.

What followed was a dining experience the likes of which I never imagined existed. We have dined at Providence, one of three Michelin 2 star restaurants in Los Angeles, and La Pergola, which at the time was the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in all of Italy. When we travel we seek out highly regarded restaurants around the world. I can say without hesitation that this meal at McCrady's set the standard for all future fine dining experiences I will have.

I didn't write down the courses and I didn't want to take a camera to interfere with the experience, so I don't know exactly what we had. As the courses kept coming we joked about which course we were on. We lost count somewhere around seven or eight. Chef Brock came out three times to do tableside preparations and explain dishes. The last time he asked if we knew how many courses we had already had. We guessed nine. "This is number thirteen, and there is only one more," he said with a wry smile.

The first time I looked at my watch it was 9:30. I think that was around course eight. We finally left a little after 11:00, making this the longest meal I have ever had, and it eclipses any other dining experience I have ever had. It wasn't just the personal attention and it wasn't just my hero worship for Chef Brock. The food and service were spectacular. The plating was breathtaking. The flavor, texture and temperature combinations were simply sublime.

And I have to give a very special thank you to my life partner, Myron. He treated me and one of my dear friends to this spectacular experience. It was not the most expensive meal we have ever had, but it is the best. I am glad I was able to share it with him.

Why I always brine meat

Normally meat loses about 30 percent of its weight during cooking. This is because as meat cooks the fibers bind to each other more tightly, which forces out moisture. Also, as the meat cooks and the proteins bunch up the meat shrinks. That's why it's important to rest meat before you serve it. It gives the protein time to relax and the juices flow back into the meat. You can exert some control on this process by brining the meat.

Here is what happens: The salt in the brine causes some of the proteins to break down, or denature. As the proteins denature the salt binds directly to them, which prevents the proteins from binding to each other when they cook. As the meat cooks and the muscle fibers tense up they can't grab other muscle fibers and wring out the moisture. The end result is a jucier steak, pork chop, chicken breast or piece of fish.

Did I just say fish? Why yes I did, because there is also an aesthetic reason for brining. Have you ever noticed when you cook meat -- but especially fish -- that some weird looking foamy white stuff comes out and looks like egg whites when it cooks? That's because it's the same protein that's in egg whites. As the muscle tenses up during cooking the albumin liquefies and gets forced out. This is the protein that brining breaks down. So if you brine your meats first this protein won't ooze out, giving you a nicer-looking end product.

Below is a chart showing some general guidelines for brining different meats.



I also brine steaks and roasts in a 10% by weight brine for 24 - 72 hours. That is 3.5oz salt to 1QT (32oz) water. (Technically it's 3.555 oz, I round down to make it easier on me. And yes, I use a scale.) You can add other ingredients to further enhance the flavor, such as garlic powder, onion powder, cardamom, cloves, tamarind powder, cayenne, preserved lemon, or just about any other spice. Just be careful about adding too much. Since it will get soaked into the meat you can end up with a very oddly flavored end result.

I find that meat brined in a lower sodium brine for longer is more tender and flavorful when cooked, but that's simply my observation. Your mileage may vary.

Image from http://www.finecooking.com/articles/why-brining-keeps-meat-moist.aspx. Check out that article for more information and tips on brining.

How not to do customer service

I order a lot of stuff from Newegg. They have good product selection, exclusive promos, and good pricing. On Monday of this week they had a 15% off promo on all keyboards. I had my eye on a Logitech G15, and the final price with the promo discount and shipping was $77. Considering it retails for $100 I felt good about my purchase.

On Wednesday Newegg had a new promotion: $20 off the Logitech G15 keyboard, with free shipping. This brought the final price down to $59. I was a little peeved about my Monday purchase so I did a web chat with Newegg to see if they could adjust the price.

In short: no. They offer no price protection and their policy is to not offer pricing adjustments. I explained to the customer service person that I could refuse delivery of the keyboard and order a new one, and even with the shipping charges and restocking fees I would end up saving money. We could avoid that situation -- and a lot of unnecessary costs and lost of customer goodwill -- if she would just offer the adjustment. Nope, that's not the policy.

I asked to have a manager call me, and she transferred the web chat to her supervisor. He copy and pasted the same policy to me. He did offer me $5 off my next order, which I never would have accepted, but by now I was pretty ticked off and found it insulting. I asked to have the order canceled and was told they couldn't do that since it was already shipped. I know shippers can recall orders from UPS, I've done it myself.

Unable to get any satisfaction from Newegg, I ordered another keyboard with the better promotions and put a note on my door refusing delivery of the first one. When it's all said and done I will have saved $9. At this point it's not the money, it's the principle.

Warning: SQL Server database files are not backwards compatibile

This is something I just learned the very hard way. Here's the scenario:

• You have a database you created on SQL Server 2005 or 2008 SP1
• You detach it from the SP1 server and attach it to SQL Server 2008 R2
• You then try to reattach it back to the original server
• You get an error about the server only supporting up to version 655 (or 612 for SQL Server 2005)

The reason is every version of SQL Server has its own file version number: SQL Server 2005 is file version 612; SQL Server 2008, either RTM or SP1, is file version 655; and SQL Server 2008 R2 is file version 660. As soon as a server touches a file it upgrades it to that server's file version. In this case once you attach the database file to SQL Server 2008 R2 it's version 660. SQL Server can read files that are at the server's version number or lower, so you can't take a SQL Server 2008 R2 database file and attach it to any prior release.

It isn't uncommon for a new releases of server software to have a new file format to support new features. The problem is SQL Server gives you no option to go back. You can't do a backup and restore, either, because the newer backup file cannot be read by the older server. At this point your only option is to create a new database and copy the data across. Due to customer outcry over SQL Server 2000 to 2005 migrations Microsoft added a scripting feature in SQL Server 2008 that can copy the structure and the data. For my 6GB database it generates 20GB of scripts that take nearly three hours to run.

For most people it isn't that big of an issue. I'm in the process of testing a migration from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2008 and wanted to use the same data on both versions. Microsoft has made this scenario incredibly difficult.

Sidebar: Most Domino releases include a new file version, which is called the on disk structure or ODS. Domino does not automatically upgrade to the new ODS so you can decide when to upgrade. You can also downgrade ODS versions by using "compact -R". I would much prefer this to Microsoft's forcing the issue and not giving you any reasonable downgrade options.