New Sub Forum - Food, Glorious Food

[Belinda Barfield]

I have noted a tendency recently for threads in the OT forum to veer off track to food. I've also noted new threads devoted completely to food. I've come to the conclusion that woodworkers must be a hungry lot.

Several of us (6 in this instance) have decided to petition Keith to start a new sub forum combining food and woodworking. :D We need a catchy, interesting name for the forum - something like . . . Ripping Recipes . . . or maybe Food to Make Your Saw Stop (NO hotdog recipes allowed). Let's stay away from Foods that Turn Your Stomach. Perhaps some of the Neanderthals can throw in their thoughts on cooking over an open fire, and I'm sure the Turners could teach us a few things about rotisserie cooking. We'll let the Carvers answer those pesky holiday questions about turkeys and hams and legs of lamb. The Finish guys will cover sauces and glazes. I see where this could be a most helpful forum. You wouldn't have to search all over the internet for something fancy to prepare for dinner with your partner, you could discuss wood working with your friends and get their advice on great food all at the same time. So let's hear your suggestions for the new forum name.


Please note, this really is a joke so don't start giving me grief about monkeying with a good thing!!:D:p

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Belinda.....I can only speak for myself but I'm not sure my waistline could handle this new sub-forum you are suggesting.....

[Rich Engelhardt]

LOL!
Clever turn of words, Belinda!
I'll second the idea of something cutting edge to help us shape not only our projects, but ourselves as well.
The best route to a man's heart is via his stomach, as they say.
I knew before I even saw this post you'd come up with something to hammer out the details.

& Ken, don't be so quick to nail this idea down!
I'm sure w/all of us putting our heads together we can find a way to trim away the excess such a forum would generate.

[Dan Hintz]

We'll have to let the guys who prefer a natural look to their projects deal with any cooking done with grains. Grains and Gouges?

[Matt Meiser]

In order to address Ken's concerns, perhaps a requirement of a 1:1 posting ratio of food to exercise posts in the new forum?

[Gary Hodgin]

Presently I'm on a diet, but I'm getting tired of it. I strongly support the idea of a food sub-forum. I actually enjoy eating good food more than woodworking (and more than about anything else other than the humans in my life), but I don't view them as mutually exclusive.

It would need to be closely moderated. My experience with food discussions is that they can become quite argumentatiive with threats, name-calling and all, kind of like sharpening methods.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

BTW....I really wasnt' worried about waddling into shop as I have a 36" walk-in door and a 10' garage door. It would not take much to put a remote contolled garage door opener on the garage door.

Getting into the house, OTOH, could become a problem as the back door that I normally use is only 32" but luckily the front door is 36". Walking the extra distance would qualify as exercise.

[Belinda Barfield]

In order to address Ken's concerns, perhaps a requirement of a 1:1 posting ratio of food to exercise posts in the new forum?

Good idea Matt.


Presently I'm on a diet, but I'm getting tired of it. I strongly support the idea of a food sub-forum. I actually enjoy eating good food more than woodworking (and more than about anything else other than the humans in my life), but I don't view them as mutually exclusive.

It would need to be closely moderated. My experience with food discussions is that they can become quite argumentatiive with threats, name-calling and all, kind of like sharpening methods.

I see your point, Gary, it's like that peecan/pecon debate. Folks can get mighty particular when it comes to recipes and such. A dash of this, a smidge of that . . . hmmm, I wonder if they make measuring spoons that measure 32nds. When it comes to food and wine I'm somewhat of a SNOB (seeking newly opened bottle).

[ray hampton]

is this a 32nd of a ounce or of a inch ? 32nd of a oz is already in the book

[Shawn Pixley]

I"m definitely in! Though I agree this could turn to the dark side. Can you imagine the arguments around the precision needed for baking vs. that needed for cooking. Cooking is Jazz. Baking is precision.

[Randy Moore]

I like my steaks almost walking(VERY, VERY RARE), my chicken cooked on the grill, corn on the cob on the grill. Ah heck cook everything outside and I .......headed to the kitchen for food.

[Mark Bolton]

How about "Wood Food", kind of hoakey play on good food. My single obsession in life is eating and trying new food, new restaurants. For different reasons that those mentioned this could be dangerous as I may go broke. Great idea though.

Mark

[Randy Moore]

Belinda, I figured you'd start something like this.:rolleyes:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I wonder if we could get L-V to make some precision cooking utensils......or Onieda to make a cooking DC......5 HP...sucks the laminate off you countertop....keep the kids out of the kitchen or look for them in barrel.........the rants about the Grizzly mixer ....or whether Harbor Freight isn't just as good at 1/4th the price.


We'll need to add some more Mods, I'm sure.

[Belinda Barfield]

Belinda, I figured you'd start something like this.:rolleyes:

It's my calling Randy, I'm going for 100 posts . . .


I wonder if we could get L-V to make some precision cooking utensils......or Onieda to make a cooking DC......5 HP...sucks the laminate off you countertop....keep the kids out of the kitchen or look for them in barrel.........the rants about the Grizzly mixer ....or whether Harbor Freight isn't just as good at 1/4th the price.


We'll need to add some more Mods, I'm sure.

More Mods - yep, I'm thinkin' so. The Grizzly mixer, by the way, is a work of art! For butter molds and such Harbor Freight is just as good as any other supplier. If you are talking cast iron though, I do believe there are better producers.

[Gary Hodgin]

What are the best wood chips for various meats and do you cut your own? I use hickory mostly for pork and mesquite for beef, but that's all I've experimented with. I've got some cherry, but haven't tried it. I bought mine precut at the store. In a way, this is woodworking. We might want to avoid marinates all together. They're about as controversial as politics and religion.

[John Coloccia]

Excellent idea, Belinda. I was actually thinking of asking Keith to do just this but didn't get around to it. I was thinking we should call it "Foodworking".

[Ken Fitzgerald]

What are the best wood chips for various meats and do you cut your own? I use hickory mostly for pork and mesquite for beef, but that's all I've experimented with. I've got some cherry, but haven't tried it. I bought mine precut at the store. .

Gary........Did you buy your wood chips at the store...or your meats.........or both.

[Gary Hodgin]

Gary........Did you buy your wood chips at the store...or your meats.........or both.

Unfortunately, I have to do both. I probably could do the wood chips, except I don't know of a local supplier of mesquite and I'd have to find someone that'd let me could down their apple or peach tree. I could hand the hickory and cherry parts, but I hate to cut up some cherry for wood chips.

My dad would be ashamed at me for having to buy all my meat at the store. He loved to hunt and fish. Since I don't have any hogs or cattle I'd have to hunt or fish. I gave up hunting years ago and don't fish much anymore. There are some squirrels and a few rabbits hanging around in our sub-division. I could probably take a few of them out with my pellet gun, but I never really cared much for the their meat, although my grandmother made some great squirrel and dumplings. My grandfather loved squirrel and people would bring them all the time. I think the reason I like the S&D so well was that I loved dumplings and my grandmother always served them with some delicious cornbread.I'd still be fishing if I could catch enough for a meal even though I normally threw them back. I was a catch-and-release guy, but when when you're not catching, the sport losses its fascination pretty fast.

[curtis rosche]

''mess hall''
''how to cook for dummies, woodworkers adition''
''making saw dust makes you hungry"
"food and wood"
""THE KITCHEN" the other workshop"
just some name ideas :P

[Dan Hintz]

We make a lot of sawdust... how about "Chips and Salsa"? :)

[Mark Major]

SMC >Saw Mill Culinaries :)


Mark

[Belinda Barfield]

SMC >Saw Mill Culinaries :)


Mark

or SMC - Sawmill Creek Cuisine

[Belinda Barfield]

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sawdust-salad/Detail.aspx

Sawdust Salad . . . our first recipe.:D

[Ben Hatcher]

Chips, chops, and other edibles?

[Eric DeSilva]

This should be fun for my budget. The cooking forums I've been involved with in the past have demonstrated to me quite clearly that you can be as tool obsessed in the kitchen as you can be in the shop. And the tools are every bit as expensive.

[Joe Angrisani]

.....The cooking forums I've been involved with in the past have demonstrated to me quite clearly that you can be as tool obsessed in the kitchen as you can be in the shop. And the tools are every bit as expensive.

And often every bit as unnecessary. There are few jobs in the kitchen that can't be handled with a couple of good knives and an accurate thermometer. Beware the widgets, in shop and in kitchen!

[David G Baker]

Saw-Dust Salad sounds awesome. I copied and pasted the recipe for future reference. Thanks Belinda. I think you are on to something. :D

[Eric DeSilva]

And often every bit as unnecessary. There are few jobs in the kitchen that can't be handled with a couple of good knives and an accurate thermometer. Beware the widgets, in shop and in kitchen!

So make me some ice cream. Heck, make me some whipped cream to go with it.

The question, as with any tool, is whether it is justified in your kitchen based on the type of work you do in there.

[Belinda Barfield]

So make me some ice cream. Heck, make me some whipped cream to go with it.

The question, as with any tool, is whether it is justified in your kitchen based on the type of work you do in there.

Good point, Eric. I don't care how finely you chop it you can't make whipped cream with knives. A whisk is the bare minimum here.

[Dan Hintz]

The cooking forums I've been involved with in the past have demonstrated to me quite clearly that you can be as tool obsessed in the kitchen as you can be in the shop. And the tools are every bit as expensive.
My dad and I have always sworn if they would put "Craftsman" on kitchen tools, you'd see a lot more men in the kitchen...

[Ryan Mooney]

Re: precision - try doing some of the molecular cooking stuff... You're working with hundredths of a gram of some ingredients for full recipes. Good times :D

[Russ Filtz]

"Butcherblock Banter"

"The Breadboard"

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Only the Neander kitchens should be considered. No power tools......electric knives, blenders, gas stove.....electric stove, refrigerators.....cut the cords....lets all be purists.

[Dan Hintz]

Only the Neander kitchens should be considered. No power tools......electric knives, blenders, gas stove.....electric stove, refrigerators.....cut the cords....lets all be purists.
But I can whip up five souffles with my electric mixers in the time it takes you knuckle-draggers to make one. And surely my temperature-controlled induction stovetop makes for a more evenly cooked meal than your last-century resistive-element range.









:D

[Joe Angrisani]

So make me some ice cream. Heck, make me some whipped cream to go with it.


Good point, Eric. I don't care how finely you chop it you can't make whipped cream with knives. A whisk is the bare minimum here.

That's right, guys. I said every job in the kitchen. No wait, I said "few jobs". Not sure what you read. :eek:

Sheese..... I see that all opinions are ok as long as they're your opinions. :) Thank god I held my tongue regarding the jello salad.

You're reachng, anyway, Eric. Ice cream is hardly "cooking", and Belinda's whisk and a chilled bowl will make whipped cream in a few minutes. But my point was the generalization that you don't NEED a food processor and you don't NEED three kinds of blenders and mixers and you don't NEED a chinois to cook good, or even "fine" food. Don't get hung up on gadgets and forget that it's all about the ingredients.

[Belinda Barfield]

That's right, guys. I said every job in the kitchen. No wait, I said "few jobs". Not sure what you read. :eek:

Sheese..... I see that all opinions are ok as long as they're your opinions. :) Thank god I held my tongue regarding the jello salad.

You're reachng, anyway, Eric. Ice cream is hardly "cooking", and Belinda's whisk and a chilled bowl will make whipped cream in a few minutes. But my point was the generalization that you don't NEED a food processor and you don't NEED three kinds of blenders and mixers and you don't NEED a chinois to cook good, or even "fine" food. Don't get hung up on gadgets and forget that it's all about the ingredients.

All in good fun, Joe, please don't take it personally. Actually, I don't like jello salad . . . so opine away. :) It was the only recipe that I could find with "sawdust" in the name.

For the record, I own a blender but only because I like Margaritas - don't think I've ever used it for anything else. Oh wait, I got on a fruit smoothie breakfast kick at one point and it did come in handy then. I have one of those big ol' Oster kitchen centers packed up in the garage. Most meals I cook using one small sauce pan, a cast iron frying pan, and a cookie sheet - LOL. I make butter with a quart mason jar, and cheese with one large stock pot, a colander, a ladle and a bowl.

[Joe Angrisani]

Yes. Always in good fun. Sometimes the inflection is easily lost.

And I'm not a neander in the kitchen. Love my blender. Had a berry smoothie for breakfast. Love my heavy duty mixer because I enjoy breads. But so much can be done with BASIC kitchen tools.

There are definitely two "modes" in the kitchen for me. Some nights it's just food....sustinence. Can Peanut Butter Crunch for dinner easily happen a few times a year? Youbetcha!! But sometimes I enjoy pulling off something special. And being cork dorks, our wine dollar goes three times further at home. Days like that I enjoy the hours in preparation of something "fancy" for Beck.

[Marty Paulus]

If you have ever watched Good Eats on the food network with Alton Brown his montra is there is only one single purpose tool in the kitchen, the fire extinguisher. All others must multitask! Now if only I could do that in the shop.....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

But I can whip up five souffles with my electric mixers in the time it takes you knuckle-draggers to make one. And surely my temperature-controlled induction stovetop makes for a more evenly cooked meal than your last-century resistive-element range.:D

While I may be knuckle-dragger, it has everything to do about heredity and nothing to do about my suggested cooking style.I may have to report that post.:eek::rolleyes::D;)

[Eric DeSilva]

Joe, I could come up with hundreds of cooking tasks you can't do with just a knife and a thermometer--"few jobs" is rhetorical silliness and shame on you for defending it like it isn't. And, your argument that I'm "reaching" is... well... reaching. Most ice creams are frozen custards and, in point of fact, most custards are heated on a stove. So, saying ice cream is "hardly 'cooking'" is sort of irrational. But I digress.

Here's the real, core point. In the "[n]ot sure what you read" category, I didn't actually say that you, or anyone else, NEED a food processor, or three blenders, or a chinois to make fine food. And that is really my gripe against your comment--the implication that anything beyond a basic knife and thermometer is unnecessary and therefore bad. Look at your last sentence--getting "hung up" on gadgets seems to carry the implication that "forget that it's all about the ingredients." That is pure folly. I can be as hung up on gadgets as I want without forgetting about ingredients and taste; the two have nothing to do with one another. (The argument is just as absurd in this context as it is in the wood shop; I think most neanders will say that they pursue that approach because they enjoy the process, but I don't think any of them would call Sam Maloof a pedant because he uses a bandsaw).

I'll state it for the record. I do not believe a good cook needs more than basic tools to create art. I further believe that there are minimalist chefs who enjoy the process of interacting with food on a fully manual basis, and I understand that and support it. But to tell me that because I own a Cuisinart I've forgotten that it's all about the ingredients or taste is unjustified, unsubstantiated and a complete non sequitur. Professional chefs use a host of specialized gadgets--from immersion blenders to pasta machines to food processors to sous vide baths to zesters to french fry cutters to tortilla presses. Having a bunch of tools doesn't make you a professional chef, but not having them doesn't grant you culinary enlightenment either.

[Eric DeSilva]

Actually, Alton Brown has a french fry cutter mounted to the wall of his home kitchen, a prototypical single purpose device, so I've never understood his (or his followers) near religious condemnation of unitaskers. Heck, if I'm not counterspace constrained, and having a citrus juicer makes sense to me because I drink a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice and make a lot of lemonade, who cares if it can or can't be used for anything else? I swear I've seen him invent alternative uses for certain gadgets to justify them--who really cooks porridge in a rice maker? But, if you are like me and grew up in an Asian family, a rice cooker is one of the most used implements in the kitchen...

[Belinda Barfield]

I'm one of the poor unfortunates who is counterspace constrained, and cabinetspace constrained.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doubt that you are any more constrained than we are Belinda. When I installed a new counter top 28 years ago, I bought a single 4x8 sheet of formica. Cut off enough to cover the sides...1 1/2"..installed it. Took the remaining less than 3'8" by 8' and covered the entire counter and cut out the unneeded portion with a router.

[Belinda Barfield]

Doubt that you are any more constrained than we are Belinda. When I installed a new counter top 28 years ago, I bought a single 4x8 sheet of formica. Cut off enough to cover the sides...1 1/2"..installed it. Took the remaining less than 3'8" by 8' and covered the entire counter and cut out the unneeded portion with a router.

I'll let you do the comparison. Dishwasher - sink base cabinet - corner dead space - 12 inch base cabinet - stove - 12 inch base cabinet - refrigerator.

[Matt Meiser]

Isn't it ironic that the counter top maker pretty much doesn't have counter tops?

[Belinda Barfield]

Isn't it ironic that the counter top maker pretty much doesn't have counter tops?

It really is, Matt.