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Team Manager
Richard F. Potter, CEC, PCEC, CCA,  AAC
Executive Chef / Owner at Stringtown Bar & Grill, Florence, KY

Competitors
Alan J. Neace Sr., CEC,  AAC
Culinary Instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute, Cincinnati, OH

Greg M. Skibinski, CEC
Executive Chef at Western Hills Country Club, Cincinnati, OH

Assistants to the Chefs
Andrew Vogel, CC
Adjunct Culinary Instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute, Cincinnati, OH

Brian Willis
Culinary Student at Midwest Culinary Institute, Cincinnati, OH

I’ve been invited to participate in the International Culinary Olympics (http://www.culinary-olympics.com) as part of a 5-man team called the 2008 Midwest Culinary Institute Olympic Team (http://www.culinarymasters.org). We are one of 8-12 regional teams from the United States attending the world-wide competition.

We’re traveling to Erfurt, Germany for the competition. Our trip will be October 16-25, 2008. In addition to loads of culinary equipment, we’re taking a slew of computers and cameras. I will blog the events each day, data access permitting. Articles will appear in this category. If you’d like to subscribe to this category in your RSS feed reader and keep track of our journey, add this URL: http://www.drewvogel.com/category/drewvogelcom/articles/2008-culinary-olympics/feed

This review was written by Wendy.

I spent 7 nights at the Iberostar Cozumel with my brother in the beginning of September, sandwiching luckily between Gustav and Ike. This is a perfectly nice hotel on a mediocre beach but nearest the best scuba diving reef I’ve seen. Skip to the end if you’re easily bored; stay with me if you want all the details. I have stayed at the Barcelo Beach and Dreams Tulum resorts in the Mayan Riviera and at the Barcelo Palace in Punta Cana for all-inclusive reference.

We booked through our local travel agent Anna at OK Travel, GoGoTours was the group. Flew American Airlines right into Coz, laying over in Miami. The second leg into Coz is on a little turboprop, but it was very smooth. Nice to land right in Coz and not have to deal with the Cancun madness and ferryboat ride. No problems with the flights or airport, van from Olympus Tours was there to bring us to the hotel. It’s about 20 m south of the airport, quite a ways from town. Check in was a breeze and our room was ready. We were in 8114, nearest the beach and the pool on the South side. It was quiet and clean, small as others have noted but perfectly acceptable. The closet does not give you a lot of room to spread out clothing, but how much stuff do you need? It’s not a fancy place. The minibar was full and the safe worked fine. Each room has a nice balcony and hammock out in front. We did find some tiny ants in the bathroom, but they didn’t seem to bite and were nothing more than a minor annoyance (and my Deet skin spray did not deter them at all).

The hotel is lovely, very jungly with trails weaving in and out of the lush foliage. There is no direct way to get anywhere and you must be prepared to walk a lot. The pool is clean and nice, the swim up bar was handy. There are plenty of chairs but never enough in the shade, and folks stake those out early. There are more chairs in the shade on the beach, though, so you aren’t out of luck if you miss one early. The beach is very nice, good clean sand and you can walk North quite a ways. The water entry is unusable due to coral rocks, so if you want to swim in the sea you must enter off the slippery dock stairs, under which there are a lot of fish all the time. If you like to wade around in the ocean, this is not the place for you… go north to the Occidental or Allegro… .their water entries looked great.

Food service was quite good. There are buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and with 7 nights you get 2 a la carte meals in the specialty restaurants. The breakfast buffet was great every day… .eggs and omelets, meats and potatoes, lots of things I didn’t recognize, lunchmeat for the europeans, lovely cajeta to spread on toast, plenty of fresh fruit and smoothies. You can’t go wrong with breakfast. Morning entertainment was provided by the many birds (mynahs?) who fly in to steal things from the tables… anything you leave is fair game and if you go to the restroom, expect your waffles to have been walked on by the time you get back. If they find no food, they’ll steal the sweetener packets off the tables undeterred by the upturned ashtrays in their way. If you were wondering, the yellow packets of Splenda are the unrivaled winners in the mynah bird taste test; we never saw any other color flying away despite the presence of sweetnlow and sugar packets. The birds did not bother me in the least (nor did the cats at dinner who shared my fish under the table), but some folks might be unnerved by all the nonhuman company in the buffet.

Lunches were held down by the pool bar… various salad things, hot items, plenty of guac and salsa and ice cream. Dinner buffet was quite varied every night as well. We chose the Mexican restaurant and steakhouse for our special dinners… both were excellent, but wear bug spray to the steakhouse as the fans aren’t adequate to blow the skeeters away. Overall I felt that the food was better than the price I paid would suggest, but not as good as Dreams across the channel (but not as expensive, either). I ate absolutely everything I wanted all the time and never had a moment’s bowel question (though it occurred to me this vacation that I eat a lot of cheese at every meal there off the buffet, so frankly it’s a wonder I could poo at all). I only drink bottled water, only rinse toothbrush in bottled water. I have been to Mexico 5 years in a row now and have NEVER had a single shaky poo… ..either I am Ironstomach or you folks who get sick are doing something wrong.

The grounds are lovely, there are flamingos and peacocks and iguanas and cats wandering about. The staff is wonderful and accommodating and kind. On the last day we rented a scooter and drove all around the island… .this was a GREAT choice. Got to spend a few hours in town with the cruise ship people (note to self; never take a cruise with those people) and drive around the windward side where we happened upon a little beach bar where SEA TURTLE babies were hatching at that very moment! There was a cop there making sure they all made it to the sea…he put one in my hand right out of the nest and I got to carry him down and release him into the ocean! What an amazing experience! The scooter ended up being about $60 for the whole day with insurance and all… ..totally worth it, but expensive in the long run because now I have to buy a scooter for myself because they’re so much fun.

Mostly we were there to dive… .after watching the onsite dive shop Dressel load 60 tanks onto one huge dive boat in the afternoon, we were more glad than ever that we had prebooked with BlueXTSea divers. If you want more info on them, PM me. I cannot recommend them highly enough…I will never dive with anyone else on Coz if I can help it.

We had no problems whatsoever with any aspect of our stay until the morning we were to leave and found a text message from a friend (phones didn’t work there at all, TMobile or AT&T, but text messages went through… .strange) who mentioned that our flight to Miami had been cancelled. After much fussing at the Olympus guy Valentin (who kept saying “tomorrow, tomorrow” like some Little Orpan Annie auditionee… as if Hurricane Ike was going to completely clear the Gulf in 1 freakin’ day), we got AA to reroute us to Dallas via a Cessna hop from Coz to Cancun (fun in a scary way).

So let’s sum up. I can compare this resort to mainland resorts I’ve been to. The food was a bit better than Barcelo, not as good as Dreams. The room was smaller than either. The hotel was smaller than either. The beach was not as nice as either. Staff is great everywhere. The scuba diving was WAY WAY WAY better here than anywhere else. So on the whole, what did I think? If I were coming on a dive vacation, I would happily stay here again. It’s farthest south on the island, closest to Palancar and Maricaibo reefs which are simply unparalleled anywhere I’ve seen. If I just wanted a beach vacation and were not a diver, I would probably not come to Cozumel at all, but stay anywhere on the mainland (Riviera Maya) where the beach is nicer and the hotels are fancier for the same or lower price (they have to be… the diving isn’t as good!).

Thanks for hanging in there through this review… .feel free to email me if you have specific questions!

Finally! Since being without power at my datacenter (actually, my computer room (actually, my spare bedroom)) since Sunday, September 14, the power finally came back on last night around 1:00am. Trying to get things back to normal around here…

The webserver is back (obviously), the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) is back, and my Network Accessible Storage (NAS) stack … needs some attention. It booted but all the drives (over 1 terrabyte) are not back online yet. That may be part of the NAS’s internal boot-up verification process, or it might be a problem. Will diagnose — and fix — this evening when I am back in Cincinnati (I am currently in Lexington Kentucky).

UPDATE: The NAS stack is back up and running. Doing final configuration checks to ensure that it’s re-integrated into the server network, but it’s looking promising.

Wow! That was… unexpected!

After a LONG time of not upgrading my site’s operating system, various initiatives I am undertaking required me to update from Fedora Core 5 (released March 20, 2006) to Fedora Core 9 (released May 13, 2008).

I was very nervous about this upgrade since it spanned so many versions of the operating system, but I started out with high hopes. I backed up my system to DVD using MondoArchive, an excellent bare-metal backup solution. Then, I inserted the Fedora Core 9 DVD, rebooted, and started the upgrade proceedure only to be told that one of my drives was a bit short of space (249 megs, to be exact).

The solution ended up being repartioning-in-place using a great product from Acronis which handled all the heavy lifting of the non-destructive repartition for me. I repartitioned the particular drive to a size large enough to make sure this particular problem will never surface again.

Launching the Fedora Core 9 DVD’s upgrade procedure a second time worked, using the newly-widened partition… The installer updated 890 files and rebooted successfully (I was worried about it rebooting successfully!)

However, that’s when I ran into two things… First, the webserver failed to launch because of a configuration error. Secondly, I ran into a time limit and we had to leave for dinner with friends. So, the site was down for a few hours while we enjoyed a very nice meal and evening with Brian, Milan, and Erin.

We came home, went to bed, and I was lying awake thinking of how to address the issues on the server. Next thing I knew, my feet carried me in to the server room and I started tinkering. An hour later (and about 10 minutes ago), I got the site online at last. But there is still more tweaking and testing to do… I need to ensure that the changes I made manually that got the site online will “stick” after the server is rebooted, which I will attempt to do after posting this article.

It was immediately apparent that the new operating system is considerably faster than the old one. Cold-booting takes less than 40 seconds on Fedora Core 9. I’m not sure how long it took on Fedora Core 5, but I know it was longer.

I apologize for the downtime, but it was necessary, and moving forward should be considerably smoother from now on. There is still a fair amount to do — applying non-critical patches & upgrades to the system and then another comprehensive backup, but being back online is enough for tonight.

UPDATE: Rebooting works… mostly. After rebooting, I need to enter “dhclient eth0″, “tzoupdate” and “service httpd start” to get things rolling properly. I need to determine how to automate those steps so the system reboots to an online state.

UPDATE 2: I’ve got the system configured properly now, so it boots into an online state.

My Brother, the King

He shoots beer from his fingertips.

In this article, I present a brief overview of how I use EverNote 2.2.1 to manage the stuff in my life.

I have two main EverNote databases (”ENbases”) — one for my office and one for everything else — and I keep them completely separate… Due to FERPA restrictions on student data leaving my office (I work in a college at a local university), I do not intermingle office and everything else at all.

OFFICE:
For my office, we decided that it would be useful to maintain a list of CONTACTS (phone, email, or in-person) so that we formally document our relationship with individuals. We wanted to record notes, comments, impressions, etc about individuals in a non-official, secure, private way (ie: not associated with the student’s official application packet, etc). This contact list also enables gathering of statistics about the workload (as a side note, during a typical three-month period, I recorded nearly 1500 contacts).

I started to develop a database for our office, but decided to see what was already available out there so I didn’t have to re-invent the wheel. I searched for “phone log” and various other terms and stumbled upon the Wired article that says that EverNote is “del.icio.us for your life”. Since I am an avid del.icio.us user, I understood this statement, and I started to explore EverNote. Within a few hours of playing with the free version, I purchased the PLUS version. I am so glad I did.

The ENbase for my office uses a slightly customized template (thanks Crane!) to record notes about conversations I have with prospective students and their families. If I receive a voicemail message, I record the name, telephone number, and brief notes from the caller’s message. Adding a template to the note list automatically assigns the “To Do” and “Phone Message” category. This way, I can quickly glance at my To Do category to see what’s on my plate, and using the category intersection panel, see only phone messages. Once I return the call, I check the Done box and add a “status” category (such as “Talked with caller”, “Left message”, “No answer”, or “Bad number”, etc) so I know the outcome of the call. The template also features a text box where I can make notes about our conversation for later reference. I can search EverNote by name, email, and phone number and have, at a glance, the most current information about the student’s relationship with the college. Additionally, I use my office ENbase to record policy changes, directives, things my boss said, and other work-related materials, and more.

EVERYTHING ELSE:
My everything else ENbase is the more interesting, and certainly the more varied, of these two databases. It contains aspects of my personal life organized into categories and sub-categories (and sub-sub-categories, etc, as necessary).

I like to keep the top-level as clear as possible, so I have a category called “Personal” (a throwback to the time before I split office & personal ENbases, though if I were to do it all again, I would probably keep the Personal category because it keeps things tidy) under which I keep the bulk of my sub-categories.

This image shows my Category panel in EverNote as I like to keep it when I’m not actively working in EverNote — a tidy, compact list of categories. As you can see, the Personal category contains a lot (763) of notes. While I have LOTS of different topics (175 categories at last count) in my everything else ENbase, I mainly focus on a few things… Culinary arts including recipes & menus, entertainment in varied forms (magazines, books, games, television, etc), EverNote, travel, and Getting Things Done/productivity. Here’s what part of that category looks like if it’s expanded…

* Culinary — I am passionate about cooking and I cook professionally at a 4-star French restaurant in town. I host elaborate multi-course dinner parties at my home. I have recently completed my first professional culinary certification and am a culinary instructor at the culinary college I attended. The Culinary category in my ENbase contains culinary-related materials, with a few noteworthy features. This category contains my transcripts from culinary school, lists of equivalent measures, Mobil restaurant star definitions, and other general culinary information.

- Certification — all of my research, notes, practice tests, recipes, and plate designs from my preparation for professional certification are stored in this sub-category. The first note in this sub-category was marked as a TO-DO item — I felt a great deal of satisfaction in marking it DONE when I completed my certification!

- Menus — this sub-category contains menus (in individual notes) that I have planned for dinner parties (from which I print the menus presented at the table), the date/time/location of the event, the people who attended, and any special notes (what wines paired well, which table-set we used, etc). This way, I can scan this category to see what dishes I’ve prepared for whom and when. The names of the dishes are internally linked to the recipe contained in EverNote. The menu is also added to the Event Date category so I can see, for example, what menu I prepared on July 28, 2007. The menu is also tagged as a TO-DO item, because I get great satisfaction from marking it DONE upon completion.

- Event Date (for example, a category called “July 28, 2007″ contains information about an event that night) — this sub-category contains specific information about the event on that date. A copy of the invitation email is saved in this category, as is the menu (which is also assigned to the Menus category), the shopping list, mise en place list, and recipes. If a recipe is used in multiple events, it will be assigned to multiple Event Date categories (as well as the Recipes category). This allows me to track the recipes I use most frequently.

- Recipes — if I am surfing the internet and come across a recipe I want to capture, I clip it into EverNote and add “#bigoven#” to the note, which triggers an auto-category that reminds me to add the recipe to BigOven, my recipe manager. Because it is so fast to clip recipes into EverNote, I’ll collect a bunch of recipes from the internet and input them in batches into BigOven. When I add the recipes to BigOven, I either delete the recipe from EverNote or remove the “#bigoven#” text from the note if I want to keep the recipe in EverNote.

If I decide to use a specific recipe stored in EverNote for an event, I add the Event Date category (see above) to the recipe to associate it with the event. If I decide to use a recipe that is not in EverNote for an event, I add it to EverNote.

* EverNote — my EverNote categories contain tips and tricks on using EverNote, records of conversations with MarcClarke (in a sub-category), a list of feature requests and bug reports I’ve submitted, and other related stuff I don’t want to lose.

* Travel — general travel tips (how to turn off email while on vacation, how to sleep on a plane, tips for selecting seats on a plane, directions from my house to the local airports, etc) are placed in this category.

Specific travel plans, research, restaurant info, etc, are placed into sub-categories named for the destination. For example…
- Florida — general Florida travel tips are assigned to this category.
- Bradenton — specifics about traveling to Bradenton, Florida are assigned to this sub-category of Florida. This includes flight itineraries and directions that I’ll use again (to the condo from the airport, for example). Generally, I will delete the flight itineraries after travel is completed. In my culinary pursuits, if I locate a recipe that I want to take with me when I travel there, I will tag it with the destination name. For example, I can get really good, fresh seafood from a fish house near Bradenton (go figure), so I cook lots of seafood while down there. If I locate a good seafood recipe in my wanderings around the internet and want to prepare it while vacationing in Bradenton, I assign it to the following categories: Recipes and Bradenton.

- Las Vegas — general Las Vegas travel tips are assigned to this category. Under this category are names of restaurants in Vegas with reviews, research, and tips. If there is a new restaurant I’d like to try on an upcoming trip, it is tagged with “#dine#” which triggers an auto-category to remind me.

This is a brief overview with a few drill-downs into how I use EverNote. Please let me know of any questions!

Fattie, fat, fat, fat, fattie...

Inspired by this post at Wine Me, Dine Me Cincinnati (and my reply here), followed by the creation of Cincinnati Losers, which focuses entirely on white female bloggers, I must ask the following question:

Are the weight-loss concerns of white, overweight, male bloggers taken seriously?

And my response…

Apparently not, if Cincinnati Losers is to be believed. Cincinnati Losers contains stories about a bunch of overweight (by their definition — I am not labeling anyone!) female bloggers. All the photos of them on the site (not all profiles have photos) indicate that the majority of them are in the majority (if you get my meaning… (If you don’t, the photos are of white females)). Or is the subtle suggestion from Cincinnati Losers that only women — white women — are overweight? This type of exclusionary thinking is what leads to travesties like all-you-can-eat, women’s-only buffets, dogs & cats living together, increased cell phone charges, Steven Seagal movies, and global warming. Please, ladies of Cincinnati Losers… Consider the fat males in the world. The fat white males in the world. The fat white male bloggers in the world… And reach out a grease-covered, chubby hand in friendship and brotherhood. In a spirit of inclusion <makes the interlocking finger gesture> and not exclusion.

What about the weight-loss-support concerns of white, overweight, male bloggers, ladies? Not to mention the non-white, non-overweight, gender-indeterminant bloggers?

Where is the equality?

Where is the love?

Where is the support?

Where is the nearest cheeseburger?!

On Wednesday, August 12, 2008, the Midwest Culinary Institute hosted another Wine Dinner, this time prepared by Chef Kyle Goebel with wines by Chad Johnson, owner of Dusted Valley Vintner Winery. Sadly, we were in Houston, Texas and missed the dinner. But here’s the menu and photos… It sounded great!

Amuse Bouche
Yellowfin Tuna Tataki, Yuzu, Wakame, and Microgreens
La Sera Malvasia 2007

First Course
Watermelon Consomme, Pickled Cucumber Granite, and Lavendar Dust
Boomtown Pinot Gris 2006

Second Course
Sliced, Butter-Poached Lobster, Hearts of Palm, Avocado, Valencia Orange Supreme, and Mango Beurre Blanc
Boomtown Unoaked Chardonnay 2006
or
Dusted Valley Vintner Viognier 2006

Third Course
Duck Confit, Sweet Potato Crepe, Chantrelle Mushrooms with Seared Duck Breast, Bing Cherries, Arugula, and Micro Cilantro
Boomtown Merlot 2004

Fourth Course
Cinnamon-Smoked Lamb T-Bone, Herb Risotto, and Blueberry Gastrique
Boomtown Syrah 2006
or
Dusted Valley Vintner Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Fifth Course
White Donut Peach, Dark Chocolate, and Raisin Compote
Red Head Ranch Late Harvest Zinfandel 2004