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Jenn-Air Dual-Fuel Range

Finally, after dealing with the crappy, original glass-top electric range in our house for as long as possible, I’ve had enough. Generally, modern glass-top electric ranges run the spectrum from crappy to very good. This old battlehorse was probably the very first one ever built, before the technology had progressed, so it had gotten a bit, well, slow over the years.

In fact, if I took your palm and placed it flat on the biggest burner on the range, turned that burner up to high, within 30-45 minutes you’d say, “Gee… I might need to start thinking about moving this hand in a little while”. Yes. It was that slow (well, maybe not really, but it was slow).

So, feeling flush from my recent ongoing adjunct teaching gig at Midwest Culinary Institute, I decided to purchase an upgraded range. And boy, did I!

After careful & considerable research, I decided on a Jenn-Air Stainless Double Oven Dual-Fuel Range. “Dual-fuel” means that the ovens are electric and the 5-burner continuous-surface cooktop is gas (pictured top right of this article). The larger of the two ovens is convection. The cooktop ranges from 600 BTUs to 16,000, so we’ve got a good spread there.

Chris, an guy specializing in such things, came to finish the gas line to the stove and to make sure that the ovens were perfectly level (Wendy had grown tired of lopsided cakes from the old oven). The old oven was quickly claimed by a guy from FreeCycle.ORG (a truly wonderful service if you’ve got stuff to get rid of) and was out of our lives.

The new stove is awesome. I am really, really happy with my purchase, and I got a great deal (and great service) from Bridgeville Appliance in Pennsylvania. Work with Jim there — he’s a nice, honest guy.

Here are some specs on my range…

Control Panel

• Customization options include control lockout and 72-hour Sabbath Mode.
• Bread Proofing protects bread dough from room temperature changes or drafts during proofing.
• Electronic oven controls with keypad entry activate with just a light touch.
• Electronic clock with timer provides a sleek look and easy operation.
• Auto Convection Conversion takes the guesswork out of convection cooking for consistent results.
• Drying feature makes it easy to dry fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in the oven.
• Favorite Setting makes it easy to program and save the oven settings for a favorite family recipe.
• Cook & Hold setting keeps food warm in the oven for up to one hour after the preset cook time has expired.
• Keep Warm option keeps food warm while you’re waiting for guests to arrive or finishing up the meal.
• Delay-start cooking and cleaning puts your oven to work while you’re doing other things.

Cooktop

• Five sealed gas burners with lift-off burner caps provide easy cleanup and great cooking flexibility.
• Gas cooking surface provides the excellent heating control cooks prefer.
• SureFlame ignition protection prevents flame from being accidentally extinguished by drafts.
• Ultra high performance 16,000 BTU burner offers quick heat-up for boiling.
• Ultra low output simmer burner reduces to 600 BTUs for heating delicate sauces.
• Porcelain-on-cast iron burner grates are durable and stylish.
• Infinite surface control settings provide pinpoint temperature control for gourmet cooks.

Exterior

• Brushed stainless finish control knobs provide a sleek style accent that enhances any décor.
• Extra-large Panaview oven window allows you to see what’s cooking, without opening the door.
• Stainless steel towel bar oven door handle combines form with function for a distinctive look.
• Double oven cooking flexibility in a range that fits in the same space as a traditional range.

Oven

• Electric Two-Speed MultiMode convection oven provides Convect Bake, Convect Roast and Drying capabilities for outstanding results.
• Electric double ovens allow you to cook two different foods at two different temperatures.
• Two ovens allow you to cook two different foods at two different temperatures.
• Create-A-Space half-rack in lower oven converts from a full-width oven rack to provide extra room for a side dish.
• 5.22 cu. Ft. overall capacity provides ample space to cook an entire meal with ease.
• CustomClean self-cleaning oven enables you to match cleaning levels to soil buildup to keep oven sparkling clean.
• Bread Proofing, Drying, Cook & Hold and Keep Warm options expand oven capabilities.
• Upper oven is fully-equipped with bake, broil, toast and keep warm function to meet most of your basic cooking needs.

Performance

• Gas cooking surface provides the excellent heating control cooks prefer.
• Electric double ovens allow you to cook two different foods at two different temperatures.
• Infinite surface control settings provide pinpoint temperature control for gourmet cooks.
• Ultra high performance 16,000 BTU burner offers quick heat-up for boiling.
• Ultra low output simmer burner reduces to 600 BTUs for heating delicate sauces and melting chocolate.

Thanks, EatLiver.COM:

This month’s selection, by Ted, of the outing for HAPPY MOUTH SUPPER CLUB came as an accidental surprise. Apparently, when Ted was seeking a place for us to go, someone mentioned Maribelle’s CAKERY, which Ted misunderstood as Maribelle’s TAVERN, which he picked as our destination.

A happy accident it was, too… Situated near the river on the east side of town, this small neighborhood place offered good upscale-bar-type food and beverages at reasonable prices. Everything was plenty tasty! A few mis-steps here and there (some of our party had overcooked food and heavy seasoning on a few items). Accidental or not, it was a good pick, Ted!

Julie, a blogger over at Wine Me Dine Me Cincinnati, asked in this article if female bloggers are taken seriously. Here’s my reaction:

To be honest, I am not sure the gender of the blogger matters to me at all… Content rules. My selection of blogs to read is not influenced by the gender of the writer (it seems unlikely to me that I’d recommend a blog to someone just because, “it’s written by a man!”. If I recommended a blog to you in such a way, I imagine that your first question would be, “What’s the blog about?” — asking about the content).

In fact, of the blogs I read regularly (I have a giant list of feeds in my FeedDemon) that aren’t specifically gender-focused, I tend not to know the gender of the author in most cases. The content is what’s important and is the ultimate measure of the value of the blog in my world.

Also, though I cannot speak to the motiviations of your friend who said, “Does it really matter?” , I suspect that he was commenting on the fact that content, not gender, should determine if a blog is taken seriously. That being said, I feel it was short-sighted that the author of the local article did not include female bloggers, or any bloggers other than white males.

My short answer to the question of if female bloggers are taken seriously is the same answer to the question of if male bloggers are taken seriously: No. Bloggers are not taken seriously solely as a function of gender. If the content is good and should be taken seriously, then they are — and should be — taken seriously as bloggers. Regardless of gender.

Do I feel that people should or should not read my blog solely because of my gender? No. I hope to attract and keep them with my (infrequently-updated) content that happens to be written by a male.

The broader question — are bloggers taken seriously? — is a salient one even removing the gender issue. As a blogger of more than 12 years (and sysop of The Cafe’ BBS for years before that), I believe that bloggers are not taken as seriously as “traditional” journalists. And, in my opinion as a long-time blogger, that’s okay. I take my blogging seriously, but do not think that I am doing anything more than sharing my opinion with those who care to read it.

The oldest blogs (not counting “finger” .plans which date into the late 1970’s, but don’t fit into the widely-accepted definition of “blogs”) ON THE PLANET are less than 30 years old (the first “dot com” was registered in 1985). Just one example, I’ve got copies of GOURMET magazine from the 1950s in my house, and they’re not “early” issues! GOURMET was founding in the early 1940’s, I think, so they’re incredibly established and therefore have a longer, more enduring reputation to uphold. It’s far too easy to start a blog — no matter if one has the “chops” or not — and call oneself a ‘journalist’, expecting to be taken seriously.

Do I think this will always be the case? No, of course not. We’re exploring the web and blogging as new media and the validity of bloggers seems to be increasing. But just because one has a keyboard and a blank page, it doesn’t make one a writer any more than having a knife and a pan makes one a chef.

Wednesday, July 16 2008 was a Wine Dinner event at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. It was hosted by Chef Matt Winterrowd and the cooking staff of The Summit restaurant, and they did a great job.

First Course
Scallops with gnocchi and fava beans served with Basa Blanco Rueda 2007

Soft-shell crab

Second Course
Soft shell crab with black beans, avocado, lime and chilies with Vega Sindoa Chardonnay 2006

Roasted Pork

Third Course
Roasted Pork with tomatillo, jicama and plaintain with Tres Picos Garnacha 2006

Grilled Wagyu

Fourth Course
Grilled Wagyu Hanger Steak with Porcini, Polenta and Pecorino and kale with Bodegas Volver Tempranillo 2005 and Altos De Luzon 2004

Cheese course

Fifth Course
Cheese Tray of LaSerena, raw sheep, Spain
Drunken Goat, Spain
Mrs. Quickes Cheddar, England
Bleu d/Auvergne, France
and white chocolate truffle with Jorge Ordonez Especial Muscat 2005

Wendy's winning cake

This cake by Wendy just won Best Of Show at the Butler County Fair. Congratulations!

I think we can retire on the prize money.

You owe it to yourself to go here — quickly (before Sunday July 20, 2008 at midnight) — and watch this. Start at the beginning and enjoy!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Update: Dr. Horrible is no longer on the web free, but you can get the entire series for less than $5 at iTunes! Totally worth it.

I recently purchased a Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC, my first foray into the world of laptop/tablet PCs. I quickly noticed that the machine gets fairly warm during normal laptop operation, and that it sits fairly flat on my desk, making airflow underneath difficult. Plus the angle of the keyboard was flat and made long typing sessions a bit uncomfortable.

I tried to think of an inexpensive solution to these issues… I’d read about using wine corks to elevate the back of the machine, and even tried small pads of Post-It notes but nothing satisfied me.

That is, until I was cleaning out a closet and came across an old Jenga game. Judging from its position near the very back of the closet, up on a top shelf, it was apparent that it hadn’t been thought of, let alone played with in years. So I swiped a couple pieces from the game and placed them under the back corners of my XT. The pieces are nice and solid, they raise the machine just enough to make the keyboard more comfortable, and very, very inexpensive (you can probably get Jenga games at a second-hand shop for next to nothing — and who cares if the set is incomplete!).

Now, I keep a couple Jenga pieces on the desk in my office and at home, and I threw a couple into both of my travel bags, so I’ve always got them with me and ready to use.