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?!

June 9-15 2008 was the annual 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). I had the honor of serving on the Planning Committee for my second year.

7 Days for SIDS raises money for awareness and research towards the eradication of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), the number one cause of death of children from birth to one year, through the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio. And to sustain the Tatiana de Cavel Scholarship Fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

While we’re still sorting through everything, it looks as though Sunday’s Father’s Day Brunch (we’re still adding up the rest of the week’s donations)may put this year in line to be a record-setting year for this event!

I worked the Brunch on Sunday. My responsibilities included assisting chefs with load-in of their food (I worked at the dock to get the chef’s equipment and supplies onto rolling carts, which were delivered to the chef’s table by Erin and Melissa, two students), directing chefs on where to go, solving problems (like getting Jean-Francois’ (Taste from Belgium) power back on when the circuits kept blowing!), general cleanup, mingling with the guests, and announcing various things (for some reason, no one knew how to access the Public Address system in the building, so we resorted to, well, shouting).

Jean-Robert & Annette de Cavel (of Jean-Robert at Pigall’s) were busy most of the day greeting guests as they arrived to the event. While I’m sure being busy didn’t completely quiet their minds, I hope the positive nature of the busy-ness was a relief from the sadness associated with the timing of this event – it falls near the anniversary of the loss of their baby daughter, Tatiana.

During this year’s event, I learned a bit about the history of 7 DAYS FOR SIDS… After Tatiana’s death in 2002, Jean-Robert (“JR”) and Annette wanted to host a one-night memorial/fundraiser event in March of 2003. As word of the event spread throughout the Cincinnati restaurant community, offers of support and participation flooded in from chefs, restaurants, and other businesses to help out in any way they could. With such an outpouring of love and support, the event envisioned by JR & Annette, which was intend to be one-night-only, quickly expanded into a week’s worth of activities

Now, the week includes golf outings, special donations from restaurants (for example, proceeds from the sale of certain menu items during the week), cooking demonstrations (including live cooking demos from 10 chefs at the wonderful kitchens of Homearama), art shows, brunches, bowling, a silent auction, and new this year, a live auction event. Also new this year is a commemorative CD with recipes, chef bios, a video, and SIDS information.

Now in it’s 5th year, 7 DAYS FOR SIDS…

* has raised nearly $400,000 for SIDS research

* is the largest supporter of the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio

* is the second largest SIDS fundraiser in the country

It is our hope to eradicate SIDS so no family has to experience the heartache of losing a child to SIDS.

Because when we put an end to SIDS, we all sleep better at night.

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, Wendy & I dined at The Palace Restaurant in the Cincinnatian Hotel in downtown Cincinnati.

We were greeted warmly at the door by Maitre D’ John McLean who walked us to our table and helped us settle in for a multi-course menu prepared for us by Chef Romuald “Romy” Jung from the restaurant’s menu. It was exciting not to know what was coming out course-by-course, and we enjoyed the surprise when each dish was revealed as the cloche was lifted.

The first course was Chestnut Soup with Granny Smith Apples, which, before we tasted it, put us in the mind of my own Apple and Chestnut Soup, but upon tasting was entirely different. Romy’s soup was based on beef or veal stock, so the flavor was full and hearty with highlights of sweetness from the perfectly-cut batonnet of granny smith apple. Warming and satisfying, this was a very nice first course. This was beautifully paired with Perrier Jouet.

(I must, sadly, note that the server did not keep track of our wine and food pairings as requested. She provided us a menu of what we ate, and the wines are listed on the receipt but not in order. We enjoyed wines from the following distributors: Perrier Jouet, Irony, J. Lohr, Giesen, and Bridlewood.)

The second course was Risotto with Black Truffles, Black Truffle Butter, Parmesan Cheese, and Mascarpone Cheese. Holy smoke was this delicious! Upon service, a wonderful waft of truffle essense delighted us (and the table next to ours). The risotto was cooked perfectly, and the starch made a wonderfully heady sauce, complimented by the cheeses (and, of course, the truffles!). It was truly a truffle overload… No small flavors here!

Third course was a real standout of the entire meal. It was Oxtail Ravioli with Foie Gras Sauce and a Port Reduction. This was truly spectacular, and the pairing with the J. Lohr Chardonnay (I remember that one!) was outstanding. We experienced richness on multiple levels with the oxtail and foie sauce, accented by the sweetness of the port reduction. It was so good, in fact, that we suggested to Chef Romy that it always be served with spoons for getting every last drop of that delicious sauce (they brought us spoons right away). It is truly an expression of the skill of the chef when he can transform humble ingredients like oxtail into something so delicious (throwing some foie gras in there doesn’t hurt!). It is worth the trip to the restaurant just for this dish, though if you eat only this dish, you will miss out on other delights, like…

The fourth course was an unexpected surprise (even our server was expecting halibut). This was French White Asparagus (lovely fat spears) seared with tomato confit, goat cheese, and balsamic reduction.
When the cloches were removed, Wendy & I both chuckled out loud at the novelty of a simple vegetable course like this — just two beautifully-cooked spears of asparagus, their white color tinged slightly brown from the cooking, and topped with the confit, reduction, and goat cheese. Chef Romy has a light hand with seasonings, so the fresh flavor of the asparagus really shone through.

Our fifth course was a seared Diver Scallop served with organic wild mushroom ragut and dry sherry. Beautifully cooked (ever so slightly translucent in the middle), the scallops were sweet with an accent of earthiness from the mushrooms and sherry.

The sixth course was a beautiful Duck Breast with braised endive (which I adore) and an orange demi-glace. Oh, how I enjoy duck, and this one was excellent. Dotted around the plate were little potato dauphinoise, perfect for stabbing with your fork and chasing around every bit of the demi-glace.

Finally, desserts were presented. We very much enjoyed our Pistachio Creme Brulee (I love pistachios and creme brulee, so this was a real treat for me). Wendy’s dessert (they pegged her perfectly) was their “Inside Out Fondue” with chocolate sorbet and a spicy orange sauce, which looked like beignets until cut with a fork, when they oozed warm chocolate ganache from within the crust.

An exceptional meal! Thanks Chef Romy & John!

About mid-way through the meal, the couple seated next to us leaned over and said, “Okay… Who are you two and why are you surprised at every dish? Didn’t you ORDER your food?”. I explained that I am a culinary instructor, and told them that they, too, could call ahead and ask the chef to select their menu. They were pleasantly surprised at this idea; apparently, they hadn’t thought before of this approach. I really enjoy doing this — calling ahead and asking the chef to show me the scope of his menu through a tasting. Chefs seem to enjoy this as well, especially if you go on a non-weekend night (Wednesday is a good choice) and give them plenty of advanced notice. Plus, it’s a great way to see, well, the scope of their menu. Of course, if you have any food aversions or allergies, make sure you inform the restaurant a> at the time of reservation and b> before your meal begins.

I earned my Certified Culinarian!

Some days, big things change in the blink of an eye.

Your direction is modified. Your course, previously charted, requires attention anew.

This is one of those days.

This is very exciting.

During the early part of September each year, the Bethesda Foundation hosts GOURMET SENSATION, one of their signature fund-raising events. Since 1988, chefs from all around the world as well as local chefs have shared their culinary creations with an ever-growing and appreciative crowd to raise funds for Hospice of Cincinnati. This year’s event was on Saturday, September 8, 2007 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

My involvment with GOURMET SENSATION is as an appreciative guest, but I am involved with an event that occurs before GOURMET SENSATION — that is the chefs’ appreciation dinner the night before. For more than 12 years, Michael & Kathy Brown have prepared a multi-course meal for the chefs and their guests. For two of the last three years, Michael & Kathy have allowed me to assist them with preparations and service of this meal (I missed helping in 2006 because I was on vacation). This grand meal is presented in the beautiful dining room of the Cincinnatian Hotel, in their Palace restaurant which closes for the evening to allow Michael and his crew to move in and work in the hotel’s kitchens. This year, we served over 70 people.

On Thursday and Friday September 6 & 7, I went to the Brown’s house to assist with preparation of the meal. Several other professional cooks and enthusiastic amateurs show up to work for short or long shifts at the Brown’s house, so their large kitchen is crowded and bustling with activity.

The menu Michael & Kathy designed was as follows:

• Home Cured Wild Coho Salmon and Gazpacho
  2006 Gunderloch “Redstone” Riesling (Rheinhessen, Germany)
• Medallion of Foie Gras, Viognier Gelee and Fig Compote
  2003 Gregory Graham Viognier (Napa Valley)
• Walleye with Braised Artichokes, Artichoke Puree and Lobster Mushrooms
  2006 Four Sisters Sauvignon Blanc (South Eastern Australia)
• Loin of Veal, Sweetbread, Corn and Apple Ravioli, Honey Crisp Apples and Calvados Sauce
  2004 Four Sisters Shiraz (South Eastern Australia)
• Epí
• Couronne Lochoise, Roasted Beets and Pistachios
  2005 Chateau Calabre (Montravel, France)
  2004 Domaine de Pallus Chinon (Loire, France)
• Chocolate Caramel Walnut Tart
  2003 Gregory Graham “Red Hills” Syrah (Lake County)

The gazpacho was novel — Michael used gelatin filtration (as discussed in McGee’s column in the New York Times (registration required)) so the resulting liquid was intensely flavorful and crystal clear with a reddish tint. The home cured salmon was very tasty (though I only had a nibble).

I prefer seared foie gras to cold, but this preparation of the foie in a tourchon was quite nice (when isn’t foie gras nice?!) and very simple to serve, though I didn’t love the plating — I thought it looked a little crowded. Still, the plates were virtually licked clean when they came back, so the crowd must have been happy. The Viognier gelee was tasty and attractive.

The walleye was cooked very well (Keith has been cooking at the Palace for longer than he cares to admit, and he’s got a real master’s touch with fish and meats), and the lobster mushrooms were a very nice compliment to the flavor of the fish.

A personal favorite dish was the veal — it was beautifully prepared and cooked — very tender, and the sweetbread, corn, and apple ravioli were quite tasty.

The cheese in the cheese course — the Couronne Lochoise, a soft and creamy raw goat’s milk cheese from the Loire valley — was absolutely delicious, though before we portioned them, the individual cheeses looked like glazed yeast doughnuts! We cut each “doughnut” (actually, the word “Couronne” means “crown”) into four wedge-shaped pieces, which was a generous cheese course. The roasted beets & pistachios were wonderful together (very earthy) and complimented the cheese very well. This was one of my favorite elements of the meal.

After the cheese course came Kathy’s delicious Chocolate Caramel Walnut Tart, a beauty for the eyes and a delight on the tongue. Even though I am not a “chocolate person”, I certainly appreciated the rich flavors of this dessert. We served it with a squiggle of Syrah reduction to decorate the plate.

Service of the meal went very quickly and smoothly — Gina, Jody, Tarrick, and others made light work of the plating and service. The menu was well planned and well prepped, so there was very little that needed to be done a la minute. Once service was done, we were taken out into the restaurant and presented to the appreciative crowd.

It was nice to recognize many faces from my previous GOURMET SENSATION experience — good to see Juho and othersm and it was nice to connect with new faces like Nancy & Steve from Baltimore! A few drinks were poured, a lot of conversation, and then I went home and sacked out! I heard reports that lots of the guest chefs went out and painted the town red — some reported getting back to their hotel rooms at 4:30am!

The next evening, Wendy & I attended the GOURMET SENSATION and were very impressed with the dishes prepared by the chefs. While every dish was tasty (and we tried them all), standouts included the bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with bleu cheese, the venison burgers, the sticky toffee pudding, the short ribs, the soft-shell crab, and the fish-in-coconut-milk-broth. A nice upgrade this year was the keepsake wine glass and plastic plate (with wine glass holder). It made juggling food, forks, and wine much easier than before.

Wendy & I were invited to go out with the chefs after GOURMET SENSATION and we intended to… We really did! We went home for a bit of downtime between the event and the partying, and never managed to get back up again to go out. So we missed a good time with the chefs, but I’ve made a promise to myself that next year we will make it!

From this site comes this week’s “10 on Tuesday” question… “What are 10 interesting websites you’d like to share?”. Here are mine, in alphabetical order:

1. AbeBooks — amazing prices on hard-to-find books. I get lots of vintage cookbooks through AbeBooks.
2. Audible — I love audiobooks, and this is where I get them. If you sign up, mention that “vogelap” sent you!
3. Blender.ORG — I am not a graphic/3D artist, but if I was, I would use Blender. I support and follow Blender development.
4. Blue’s News — I am an avid gamer (time permitting). Blue’s site keeps me up-to-date on what’s happing in the gaming world.
5. eGullet & forum – this is the best food-related site & forum on the web, and is where the pros hang out. So much culinary information it will fry your brain.
6. EverNote & forum – simply the best note-management (and much more) software for the PC. Check this out — it will revolutionize your information-management tasks. There are both free and paid versions of the software — most users can be happy with just the free version.
7. I Can Has Cheezburger — LOLcats make me LOL.
8. Lifehacker — constantly informative, constantly interesting. Great resource for GTD tips & tools.
9. Over The Rhine.COM & the Orchard – the official website and forum for a wonderful Cincinnati-based band. I run their forums. Songs available here.
10. SnapStream — home of the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) software that I use. Amazing stuff — throw away your TiVO!

Enjoy these sites! Let me know of your favorite sites in comments…

Since stumbling upon Counterscript some time ago, I have been on a relentless campaign against telemarketers that enter my home through the telephone. My campaign is called “Reactive Telemarketing”.

Whenever a telemarketer calls, I immediately begin asking them questions as listed on the Counterscript (though I do not follow it precisely). Most of the time, the telemarketers don’t mind spelling their name, or telling me how long they’ve been in ‘the business’ (I am surprised at how often their reply is, “this is my first day!”), or offering their opinion about their job, but generally start resisting when the discussion of their income comes up. Several telemarketers have laughed aloud as I ask the pointless questions. Only a few make it through the discussion of the importance of dental health into the promised land of “what toothpaste would you recommend?”. I heartily thank those few that make it that far, wish them well, and hang up the phone – almost certainly leaving a laughing, confused telemarketer on the other end.

I feel that the most important aspect of the Counterscript is to play it straight. Be completely earnest in your pursuit of “completing [your] study”. When they ask what the study is about, I depart the Counterscript and tell them I am studying the “effects of reactive telemarketing”. Sometimes, that answer seems to satisfy them. Other times, not so much. The more serious you are, the funnier.

A couple times, the telemarketer has bounced me up to a manager and this is where playing it straight really becomes important. I generally take the approach that the manager is an equal to my position on my “study”, and approach them with, “Can you help me? Your telemarketer isn’t giving me the requested information. I’ve already started to complete this study form and can’t just throw it away. Can you answer these questions on behalf of the telemarketer?”. Sometimes they do, but frequently they do not and I ask for someone else — “perhaps someone with more authority,” I say — who would be able to answer on the telemarketer’s behalf. This is usually when they hang up on me.

This approach feels less aggressive toward the telemarketers (though my wife disagrees — “just tell them we’re not interested and hang up,” she suggests) and an enjoyable way to get the point across that we don’t want their calls.

Gotta go — the phone is ringing!