Subj : Cookware [1] To : Dave Drum From : Ruth Haffly Date : Tue Apr 02 2024 13:17:04 Hi Dave, DD> I'lb bet Gus Belt (S&S founder) is spinning like a top in his crypt. DD> I've eaten at the #1 location where he started it all, just 50 mor so DD> miles up the road from me. RH> Like other founders who started something good, only to have it RH> corrupted over the years so it bears little resemblence to the RH> original. DD> Not only in business but government and religion. When life evolves DD> it's not always in a positive way. Bv(= True, those are the times when I say life has devolved. (G) DD> Panera's is OK as a bakery or maker of bagels. My Sunday morning DD> breakfast bunch went there once for breakfast at the suggestion of one DD> of our guys. We've never gone back, RH> We've gone there a few times, more so when we lived in GA than up here. RH> They are good for a change from the usual fast food place in that a cup RH> of soup and a half sandwich are just as filling. There's usually a RH> variety of soups and sandwiches to choose from also. DD> Panera soups are quite good. As long as I can treat them like a Fats DD> Food joint I've no problem. But I dob't care for them as a sit-down DD> restaurant. No, we took our meal to go the last time we went; the place did not have a good "sit down and enjoy your food here" vibe. DD> I still see many of my (former) S&S servers in different venues. One DD> of them told me that she couldn't afford to stay w/Steak & Shake as DD> her average tipped hourly income was north of U$20/hr (More than I DD> make after 18 years @ AutoZone. RH> A food service job is quite strenuous; I did it one summer while in RH> high school but couldn't do it now. DD> I never found food service to be "strenuous". Although at 82 all those DD> hours on my feet and the hustling food would probably do me in. I'd DD> have to settle for sitting o a tall stool and running the ca$h DD> register. You're on your feet for long hours, careful when carrying the tray that you don't trip, bump into anything, etc. After I did my knee in while in college, I couldn't take a job like that any more. DD> 8<----- MAPLE SIRUP DRAINED ----->8 RH> also checked out the Sabret (?) outlet--they do knives--but found RH> nothing there that wasn't covered by our Rada collection for our needs. DD> I've got some Rada (mostly steak) knives from my sister's church fund DD> raisers over the years. I'm not a big fan of the metal handles. RH> You can get them with black composite handles. We had one knife with RH> that handle (metal handle was sold out at that place) but found the RH> same knife with the metal handle a couple of years ago. The composite RH> handle one is now part of the camper kitchen. Found a set of 6 brand RH> new steak knives at a yard sale for (IIRC) $15. a few years ago so got RH> them, added a couple more. Most of our knife blocks (2) are filled with RH> Rada knives. DD> When Georgia was flogging them for her church group fund-raiser all I DD> ever saw available was the brushed aluminum handles. The composite DD> hanles would have been (very) nice. They're just as good as the brushed aluminum; when we started buying them, the aluminum handle was on all the pieces we wanted but for the utility knife. Bought the composite handle for that, found another outlet in West Amana, IA a couple of years ago. BTW, we were introduced to Rada by our friend that passed away in PA about 3 weeks ago & we bought most of our knives at Amish or Mennonite stores up there. DD> My "sharps" are a mish-mash of Wusthof, Henkels, a Viktoronix 8" DD> chef's knifw I scored for U$1 at a flea market and some Santoku DD> Japanese knives. But, my overall most used/go to knife is an old "Old DD> Hickory" butcher's knife. It has a 10" forged steel blade, riveted DD> wood handle and I keep it sharp with my whet stone and steel hone. I've got a Henkels chef's knife I picked up in Savannah, a couple of Victorinox paring knives (one straight, one serrated) and a small Victorinox bread knife I got at a small hardware store in Gruendelwald, Switzerland for a few francs each. Plus a wooden handle santoku (Steve's favorite) that he got at H Mart in MD at our first echo picnic, a cleaver and a boning knife from a cheap set (only pieces worth keeping of about 20 knives) we got in HI and a few other odds and ends of knives. For years my favorite knife was a squared off blade chef's type knife I got for $1. at a yard sale in San Angelo, TX. It had a plastic handle that Steve patched several times over the years until we got the chef's knife about 24 years later. DD> Had I not scored such a super deal I'd not have been able to afford DD> new Le Creuset pieces. I'm interested to see what Lodge's enamelled DD> pieces go for. RH> If I remember in September, I'll jot down some prices at the outlet RH> store. DD> I looked on te interweb and their 7 1/2 qt. oval, enamelle,d Dutch DD> oven can be had @ Target the outlet store. DD> They also offer ths: An oval casserole in 2 Quart size. DD> https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-EC2C43-Oval-casserole-Quart/dp/B07GVPV2YL DD> th=1 I've got a 2.5 and a 3.5 oval casseroles in Corning Ware so I'm set there. Also have a god number of round casseroles in various sizes from 1/2 qt to (IIRC) 4 qt. One of my 1.5 qt ones gets used a lot for heating soup, cooking vegetables, etc--just right for the 2 of us. --- Catch you later, Ruth rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28 .... Gone crazy, be back later. leave a message at the Beep! --- PPoint 3.01 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28) .