Tools I want to add to my Kitchen Arsenal

I am always working on my cooking. I have been cooking since the age of 7 when I started making coffee for my parents, but after that I always watched and worked with my grandparents on holiday dinners and everyday cooking and retained as much as I could. I am also in a culinary 101 course of 5 classes to sharpen my cooking skills.

One of the things I want to get to use in my cooking is a new chefs knife. I have been using a set of Global knives to try them out and see how they feel in my hand. The one I like right now is a Global G-4 Oriental Cook knife. It has a good feel and balance and fits well in my hand. The other thing I like about this is the short bald for a cooks knife. It’s good to use for close work, a 6 inch or 8 inch chefs knife is sometime to big for me when I am cutting and dicing vegetables.

The other tool I want to get is an immersion blender. The one that cooks Illustrated rated as the number 1 is the KITCHENAID immersion blender.

I am sure there are other things I want to add to my kitchen arsenal, but those are the ones at the top of the list.

To all sysadmins in the PA/NJ/DE/NY/CT area..

If your boss won’t send you to Usenix/LISA because it is too expensive…

The League of Professional System Administrators (LOPSA) now offers
an accelerated-learning-style conference at a lower cost to
participants. This unique two-day program was specifically designed to
reach system administrators, particularly those who work at smaller and
mid-sized organizations. The compression of the time spent in classes
means attendees will only be out of the office for two to three days
but will have an opportunity to take four classes, thereby lowering
hotel and travel costs, as well as the direct impact on business needs.

Sysadmin Days will be held on August 6-7 at the Clarion Hotel and
Conference Center, Cherry Hill, NJ. The workshop will feature 12
industry experts who will teach 16 half-day sessions on a variety of
topics, most with an emphasis on practical tools and face-to-face
advice from other professionals in the field.

Registration fees are under $1,000 per participant, and LOPSA offers
discounts for members, students and educational institutions. LOPSA
believes the net effect of this unique program will be to provide
system administrators with more training and tools to do their jobs.

“LOPSA wants to reach as many system administrators as we can
because that’s what LOPSA is about,” David Parter, a LOPSA board of
directors member, said. “Our goal is to serve the profession and to
help our members grow in their careers.”

“LOPSA knows that the informed system administrator can raise issues
about critical business needs and better serve customers,” Parter said.
“This training is focused on imparting practical and valuable
knowledge.”

http://lopsa.org/SysadminDays

Register soon!

How to Eat Dinner in Princeton NJ

Step 1: Very slowly and carefully, leave Princeton.

I was looking up info on a restaurant that a friend of mine recomended and stumbled on to the “How to Eat Dinner in Princeton” page.  It was written by an Assistant Professor of Mathematics that use to work at Princeton U.  The listing of restaruants to try is perfect and he even got DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pie in Trenton on the list. So if you are going
to go out to dinner in the Princeton area check out the How to Eat Dinner in Princeton NJ page.

Well another Thanksgiving has come and gone. This year we had a few people
in for a great meal. I think this was the most low stress one I have
had yet. The turkey came out perfect..I cooked it on the grill this
year so it freed up the oven so I could cook the stuffing and a great
sweet potato casserole that came out so well. So that was
Thanksgiving… ;)

Let the Christmas craziness begin…

We all stayed away from the malls and stores yesterday…Carolyn and
I headed to an early showing of then new James Bond movie - Casino Royal. It was great and there was no crowd. :)

I have jury duty next week, I don’t have to report Monday morning
but have to call in around 11:30am to see if I have to report in for
the afternoon session. I hope I get called in on Monday and get
rejected or not used so I can have the rest of the week to get ready
for the LISA conference in Washington DC the first week in December.

I have fallen off the wagon

Well things have gotten crazy at work and I realized the other day that
I was at the same weight when I stopped drinking soda. So to calm my
nerves and to get a cold caffeine high I decided to have a cold coke.
Well a Coke Zero…the jury is still out on weather I will keep
drinking it or go back to the Classic Red can coke.