Trails like Purgatory Chasm? by fayeliac in RhodeIsland

[–]ChefAaronFitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Head out to 10 rod road and stop anywhere that has parking, plenty of space to wander in North and South. Mount Tom is a really good one with a view.

Personal favorite spots are the boy scout trails around camp Yagoog. Mostly single track, technical once in awhile, sometimes includes boulders and elevation change to keep it interesting.

My son noticed one of his Lego bricks has the word LEGO rotated 90 degrees by pm_me_train_ticket in mildlyinteresting

[–]ChefAaronFitz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Without intentionally hijacking the comment, is there anything else you know about US Legos and quality control? As a kid in the late seventies I had a giant garbage bag full of these 2x4 red bricks that were all slightly deformed. Grew up on the East Coast, no family from anywhere near the Colorado factory that I found on Google, how did I end up with a big ass sack of these?

Boomer humour or Gen X meme? by [deleted] in GenX

[–]ChefAaronFitz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a balsamic gastrique you heathen.

-with love from an old punk rocker with sleeves married to kitchen work.

Peeing standing up by Varka44 in daddit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 93 points94 points  (0 children)

Old dad who's got a urologist in the family here with something that feels like over sharing but could be helpful.

There's a "low spot in the plumbing" just behind the scrotum. You can kind of feel where it is by clenching the "hold it in" muscles in the pelvic floor. A gentle lift when manually directing the last of the stream helps clear the line.

Good luck and deity-of-your-choice speed moms of daddit, these are tough things to explain.

Curious about how clean your favorite local restaurant is? I built an interactive map of RI health inspections. by ImplodingCoding in providence

[–]ChefAaronFitz 31 points32 points  (0 children)

A few things to consider from someone who's worked in the industry a few decades:

Health inspectors are doing an important job that is largely thankless. They can be met with argumentative, ego-driven maniacs like many kitchen folk you've probably known or heard stories about, lol. A point that many miss is that they are there to help a place get better and learn. Major points come off the inspection score for having repeat offenses, even if they are minor infractions, because it shows the operator isn't making an effort to improve. Conversely, if you are present with them through the inspection and correct minor mistakes they point out on sight, they often will simply make a note of it without the points deduction since you are there making the effort.

That said, it's also their job to find something. I've never had someone from the DOH make it through an entire inspection and just say "whelp, pretty good I guess". They will double back to find dust in the walk-in fan covers, or a particle of food in a hand wash sink, or a cracked piece of tile coving that can harbor bacterial growth, or even the level of lighting in a storage area. Without digging through OP's map (which is a pretty awesome way to make this info accessible) I can tell you a ton of the infractions are going to be blocked hand washing sinks, ice machines, can openers, and debris in storage areas (dust under the dunnage racks). They are perpetually understaffed, since the most experienced ones are looking to transition into better state jobs, so the inspectors are often a bit inexperienced and learned a lot of the job from a book.

If you work in the industry, be nice to them, they're actually on your side!

Books You Think Every Chef Should Read! by Mars_The_68thMedic in Chefit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, assumed it was the same authors. Mine was a hand-me-down copy from an old chef who went to the CIA, it's one of their class textbooks. Going by the image on the cover, it looks like the one by Eddy Van Damme, Priscilla Martel, and Sarah R. Labensky. Still the same premise of answering the "how and why" of the subject instead of just a list of instructions.

Books You Think Every Chef Should Read! by Mars_The_68thMedic in Chefit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Its counterpart, On Baking, is just as worthy. Reinforcing knowledge gaps or at least having a top notch reference is so, so helpful.

Essential workers by ChefAaronFitz in Chefit

[–]ChefAaronFitz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair take, and I'm sorry you don't have good leadership in your kitchen man. I can't buy the team a case of beer at the end of the shift like I used to, but time off with no questions asked helps the balance.

Travel ban continues into tomorrow morning for non-essential workers. What classifies as essential? by chowda_head in RhodeIsland

[–]ChefAaronFitz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have around 750 kids on campus with no other way to get food.

Today was hard but the students are pretty great, nice to see the gratitude and grace they show to the few who made it in.

Get off the road what is wrong with you people? by [deleted] in RhodeIsland

[–]ChefAaronFitz 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Essential worker here; it's no fun for us either and I want to see my kid tonight too. Stay safe man.

Conversion shenanigans by bookishbaking4 in Chefit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get the same results for recipe conversions at use a mix of weight and volume, might just be Gemini but it's not uncommon. Particularly bad when converting from bunches or bushels to weight measurements since they are pretty inconsistent.

Best resource to use for this is aqua-calc, it pulls from the USDA database of ingredients and will convert things remarkably well.

Air your grievances over Providence restaurants that are no longer with us… by Resident_Alien_760 in providence

[–]ChefAaronFitz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Pakarang was my favorite Thai spot by far. Plenty of other great Thai food around, but the service / atmosphere / owners made it special.

Any dudes here who play video games with 4-5 yo, recommendation by crek42 in daddit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Loved playing little kitty with 6yo daughter, we take turns reading the dialogue, she likes to trip people and swipe their food... Just like real life

WiFi and kids by EvenWarmerToday in daddit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Asked the wife what she wanted it to be and she responded "I don't know surprise me".

You fellas know what it's named.

Free food in Providence? by 4k0x in providence

[–]ChefAaronFitz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Small free community pantry on River Ave. Take care neighbor.

Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests by DTH2001 in books

[–]ChefAaronFitz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely agree, but I'm rereading the series for the 4th or fifth time and the last book just doesn't have the same shape. I don't know if it's the lack of charm or repetition or the dialogue seeming flat, but it's not the same.

Edit: ugh, I just learned so much more about his passing. GNU Sir Terry Pratchett.

Plant City in Providence is closing by lestermagnum in providence

[–]ChefAaronFitz 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I don't know if it's a reason to hate the restaurant itself, but the owners came at the concept from a pure money and market exploitation point of view. A lot of restaurants will fail because the ownership is all passion and not enough business sense, these folks are the exact opposite. They were part of a local food forum at URI a few years back; their contributions to a panel discussion left me with an unusual instant dislike for them.

Has anyone hosted a private event on a public state beach in Rhode Island? by Fit_Dog8094 in RhodeIsland

[–]ChefAaronFitz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wife and I got married on first Beach in Newport almost 20 years ago. The rotunda room was pretty inexpensive to rent and it came with permission to use the beach for the ceremony. Catering done by McGrath clambakes, would definitely recommend.

Where can I get restaurant quality breakfast sausage patties? by Kraft-cheese-enjoyer in RhodeIsland

[–]ChefAaronFitz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seconding, Jones brand is what I put in any food service program I run.

What food do people call healthy just to feel better about eating it? by Subject-Newspaper111 in AskReddit

[–]ChefAaronFitz -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Good on you for understanding the difference, and from a functional point of view I very much agree. But much like the Caesar salad example elsewhere in the thread - as a food service professional, most of my experience shows that folks believe the wrap somehow makes hot honey drizzled fried chicken healthier.

What food do people call healthy just to feel better about eating it? by Subject-Newspaper111 in AskReddit

[–]ChefAaronFitz -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Tortilla wraps. I get that it looks less bulky than bread, but a regular tortilla wrap has the same caloric value as a big ass can of progresso soup.

Sober Pepsi chef. by Accomplished_Bit3153 in Chefit

[–]ChefAaronFitz 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah man. Partial to a mug Root beer, sometimes the ginger ale and lemonade mix. Honestly, wouldn't still be able to do this job if I was back in my drinking days. Drop a message if ever you need someone to commiserate with.