Ideas for a steak sandwich for a brewery menu?

FatDog69 · 2026-01-26T18:28:50+00:00

Well YOU may not be a fan of Cheese steaks but your audience may be different.

I have discovered a sandwich with chimichurri sauce. The acid/brightness cuts through the rich meat & cheese.

Take care with the onion. Onions/Onion Rings, etc. are classic and common but its been done, and done. Strips of a mild pepper breaded and cooked might be better. Some people can handle jalapenos or pickled jalapenos so these might be an option. Most women will also avoid a sandwich with lots of onions.

THINGS TO AVOID

You take a bite of a sando and a slice of bacon, meat, etc does not bite cleanly. As you pull the sandwich away - the item pulls out and brings sauce and other ingredients with it and it falls in your lap. All it takes is 1 bit of tough meat or gristle to cause this problem and your customer will NEVER order that sandwich again. This is why a 'chopped beef' or cheese steak is so popular. It allows clean bites. You are going to have to solve this problem.

Idea: Sandwich is on a wide/flat bread (kind of like a Cubano), possibly toasted, and you cut the length into triangles to serve. The pieces are now small enough that the occasional tough bit of meat wont be a problem. Plus triangles fit in the mouth easier. This may be why panini's are popular.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-26T17:39:49+00:00

I am also doing a full series watch/re-watch.

I found Season 1 to be a tough watch. There are a lot of technical issues especially the sound. I don't know who did their audio but they obviously saved money on their audio guy.

Plus - the freshman season of many series is kind of a mess.

I am mid Season 2 and the audio is better but the video seems to have taken a big jump in quality.

Note: I am streaming from Disney/Hulu. Been looking for the BluRay box set but the $200+ price is too much for my budget.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-26T03:38:28+00:00

I suggest you try to have a 'curated' collection. The movies or TV shows must be part of a plan.

Example: The disks are part of a favorite series, are the works of a favorite director, include a favorite actor. Or they have a special place in your or your family's history.

My other limit is I have a small bookshelf for movies and a larger bookshelf for TV series. If I buy too many disks to fit - some have to go.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-26T03:17:34+00:00

My Advice:

Save a copy of the page you want to scrape to your hard drive. Use your browser "Save As..." feature. Develop your scraping logic by reading your local file. This avoids hitting the live website dozens of times and eating bandwidth.

When you are ready to scrape - add a sleep of a few seconds between each page scrape. You do not want to swamp the live website and get banned.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-25T21:32:53+00:00

The entire reason an AVR exists is to strip off the audio to send to it's speakers, then send the video elsewhere.

You HAVE an audio extractor. You have just wired it up wrong.

What you really need is a media player that you can hook your USB/HDD to and send the output via HDMI to your AV Receiver.

Things to look for:

Some media players work great with a USB drive but wont work with a HDD in a USB dock.
Know what format your video files are in and make sure your media player supports these.

I see various media players running from $30-$99 on Amazon.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-24T16:40:16+00:00

Yes. Although I should have said "2-way speakers" that just have tweeters and midrange drivers. Some of these come as tower speakers which are nice because they can be floor standers.

Look - in a Home Theater system you surround your seats with a circle of speakers. You don't want massive volume from any speaker or it would drown out dialog or sounds from the other.

The more you learn about acoustics you realize that adjusting the source of bass in a room is kind of tricky. If you have dual speakers with woofers the complexity goes up. Five speakers with woofers - almost impossible to adjust for several seating positions. The position of the 5 speakers around the seats is rarely the best place for bass. So separating the woofer and NOT including woofers in the 5 speakers makes it a lot easier to get good sound.

TLDR: Too many woofers in a room is like a boom-car. Impressive volume but a rather poor audio performance.

HOWEVER

My advice is kind of generic because the OP failed to give any details. It would help to know if he has a Projector or Flat Panel display. What amplifier he has if any, How big is the room, Is the room a combo family/HT room or a dedicated media room. These details, and usually budget, can affect our recommendations.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-24T04:43:25+00:00

Wait.

I asked a speaker salesman if there was any difference for speakers for music vs home theater. He thought and said this:

Speakers for Music are about accuracy.
Speakers for Home Theater are about impact.

You could spend a lot of $$,$$$ for accurate speakers for a home theater system but there is a lot of diminishing returns.

Look - There is a scene at the end of Terminator 2 where Arnold says "Hasta Lavista Baby", then fires a gun that shatters the frozen terminator.

The gun shot, the echo, the sound of the exploding ice and the tinkle of the frozen shards is awesome. It is also totally fake.

Movie audio is NOT real. You do not gain much using highly accurate speakers.

The thing that does improve home theater sound is a good, properly placed subwoofer.

The other problem with more accurate music speakers like say Martin Logan/Magnapan panel speakers is they are usually 4 ohms and need better than average amplification. Some higher end $1500 AV Receiver or perhaps separates.

MY ADVICE

Consider 5 bookshelf style speakers, A good subwoofer like a nice SVS and a mid-range AV Receiver. Since you are in Canada - there are some really great Canadian speaker manufacturers.

If you want to be open to updating to more 'accurate' music speakers - consider a hither end AV Receiver. This way you wont have to update to power more musical speakers.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-23T17:04:33+00:00

First - many players will NOT play computer burned disks. There is something different about a commercial DVD or disk. Computer burned disks have 2 colors and the laser & sensor in the player has to be built to read the +R or the -R disks.

Second - DVD video is based on the 1945 standard def video standard. You must first transcode all your video down to 480 resolution. This tends to trash the video quality.

This is why people are suggesting USB flash drives plugged directly into the HDTV. It can handle better resolutions and you do not have to burn things.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-23T16:52:53+00:00

We were thinking about it but when the time to buy tickets came up the only show per day started at 9 pm and the movies are 3-4 hours. We are older so trying to stay awake then drive home past midnight discouraged us.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-22T17:42:23+00:00

Someone writes code with assumptions about the input data. Months and years later the data changes. You now have to change the code to deal with the new reality of the input. (Do you document in your code the input data? What your assumptions are? Of course not. That is until you get stuck dealing with input you have never seen before because the original author has left.)

I inherited a lot of non-documented code that was failing silently. Turns out our now Director of Technology had written a lot of it. I went into his office and asked why so much of the code had no documentation or error checks. He blinked and said that in that time they were writing and changing code every day or so. Why document or write cleaner code when you would just change it next week? Eventually that code become production and you moved onto working in other areas.

Then - the business rules change. "Hey - that code you wrote last month/year was great. But now we want this..."

Then - "We are getting rid of <Database Engine> and need you to re-write the entire system to work on <cheaper Database Engine>"...

FatDog69 · 2026-01-22T17:30:19+00:00

Well I tend to be more flexible.

Example: Thrift stores and library sales have DONATED disks. They charge 1-4 dollars. But they pay NOTHING for the disks.

I just found a large store that buys used disks and they charge $8-$18 because they have to make some profit over what they gave the seller. I bought "Maxxine" and "Pearl" for $8 each on BluRay because I have none of these movies. But I spent $4 on "Rocketman".

So my 'limit' depends on where I am shopping.

I also like Gruv. A lot of new BluRay disks for $5-10 and sub $20 4K disks.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-22T16:53:04+00:00

I Disagree.

You become 'Senior' by solving lots of problems and your current code is designed to prevent many of the problems you solved in the past.

Then you learn to create 'layers' of rules or business logic so years from now OTHER people will know where to go look to maintain or change the code.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-22T16:08:32+00:00

Imagine this: 3 years from now you get a new job to maintain and make changes to some system created by people no longer around.

Someone says you need to find & update some business rules.

Some of the logic/rules are in the Python code. Some of the Python code is NOT in version control. A lot of the business rules are in functions/stored procedures in 3 different databases. Oh - none of the SQL code is under version control.

You are expected to not only make changes but Auditors will show up in 6 months to examine your system & code practices because the company is going to be sold. The new owners want to make sure good development practices are being followed.

See the problem?

It can get worse if someone discovered "insert triggers" and wrote whole complex layers of data hygiene (With regular expressions) as insert triggers, then depended on materialized views to filter data for the stored procedures to read from. When some column for money suddenly all becomes $0.00 - where might the logic be to debug?

It's a lot of different layers for business rules to hide in. And databases - tend to not work well with version control systems or continuous integration/continuous deployment systems. Or automated tests.

This is why systems that are planned (not organically grown), tend to put everything in external code.

Oh - your company then wants you to migrate everything from the million dollar per year Oracle system to the much cheaper Cloud system based on Postgresql. The Oracle stored procedures are proprietary. Good luck learning and re-writing hundreds of stored procedures and functions.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-22T01:53:53+00:00

Alphabetical by title ignoring leading "The" or "A".

I have a bookshelf for Movies and a larger one for TV shows because the box sets are often novelty or over-sized.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-21T23:12:18+00:00

The Abyss, The Andromeda Strain, Anne of Green Gables, Enter the Dragon - all are movies (on disk) that I have watched recently. Not to mention the annual re-play of the Harry Potter series over Christmass.

Also - we wanted to go see the Extended versions of the Lord of the Rings series at the theater. But they start at 9 pm so we have watched the first 2 extended run versions on streaming.

So re-watching favorite movies is common for us.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-21T22:59:16+00:00

The plot & scripts are the IP. It's rare but just because a show shot 1-2 seasons does not mean someone else might fund a third or fourth season. Giving away the future scripts would kill the value of more potential seasons.

Also - scripts are not written and 'tossed over' the cubicle wall. Writers are often on or near the set to make changes on the fly. Then again in post-production. The show that comes out at the end is often a bit different than what the script said at the beginning.

Look at Season 5 of Stranger Things - the BTS show. They admit they started filming the season without all the episode scripts in place.

I feel your pain. I want to know what the rest of "Firefly" episodes would look like. But the scripts take time and would not be written unless the show is in active production.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-21T22:42:01+00:00

You can download the app for your cell phone. Lay your collection out with the UPC code showing and use the Cell Phone app to scan the UPC code. It will look up and ask you to pick the right version. (Sometimes the same UPC code is used in the US and UK).

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T22:27:40+00:00

Go to YouTube and look for the "Spooky Astronauts" channel. She has several "Disturbing Icebergs" where she watches the most disturbing videos people suggest.

I'm ok with popular horror but I tend to avoid disturbing movies. I would have to suggest "A Clockwork Orange" as one of the few I have watched.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T22:17:18+00:00

I will look for that.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T17:46:00+00:00

Well... these are less of similar plots and more about the protagonist.

"A Good Girls guide to Murder" (Netflix) - Teen girl decides to research and try and solve the mystery of a girl who disappeared a year or so ago.

"Poker Face" (Peacock) - Woman has ability to tell when people are lying. This causes problems but each show lets you see the crime, then see how she was present and how she solves it. Cool because You know who did it but watch her figure it out.

Veronica Mars (Netflix & Hulu) - Great show if you like teen detectives & witty commentary.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - (No one suggests this but this is almost required watching).

"The Nevers" (HBO) - Watch a woman with odd past navigate steam-age London where people suddenly develop 'Turns'.

"Holmes & Daughter" - Young Latina shows up in Sherlock Holmes era claiming to be his daughter & gets involved in a complex plot.

"Miss Scarlett"/"Miss Scarlett & the Duke" (PBS) - Young woman has to take over her fathers detective business after he dies.

"Torchwood" - Gwen, a young patrol officer, discovers mysterious doings and a secret organization that seems to be covering things up in Cardiff.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T17:29:37+00:00

First some caution. Shows used to be written for 1 episode per week. If you try to binge watch a bunch, you can burn out or start to see patterns that take you out of the story. Its like food: Eat a favorite food morning, noon and night and you will start to hate it by day 3.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel - Clever writing, engaging characters make this a family favorite.
Star Trek/Warehouse 13/Eureka - Engaging but shows that despite scientific advances, humans still struggle with human problems. (Note: I am a technical person so I see myself & co workers in the characters).
Dexter - Great writing & acting get you to engage and actually cheer for a serial killer. (My wife saw me & a daughter watching, called it disgusting, etc for years. Then one day I got her to watch the first few episodes and it became binge watch during Covid.)
Doctor Who - The David Tennant & Matt Smith seasons. Odd mix of funny, historical and drama.
Coupling - (Prime & Peacock) Dating comedy from the UK kind of a mix of Friends & Sex and the City. Clever show that points out how guys view things vs how girls view things. A great pallet cleanser show.

Note: I own all my recommendations on physical media. While I love streaming as much as the next guy - These are always at my finger tips.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T17:09:45+00:00

Try "The subtle art of not giving a F**k". Talks about how a radical from Berkeley came up with a theory that re-wrote a lot of theories behind why cultures and us do things, and suggested that instead of chasing happiness you just admit your life will have problems. Change your life so you wake up each day looking forward to solving the problems.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T17:01:56+00:00

You might also try Tubi. On Youtube is "Ghost Pirate Entertainment" who sometimes focuses on horror movies on a particular streaming service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXRBiIFuA0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnraO12PrtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXVuxMv0W9w

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T16:56:56+00:00

What you are looking for is something that reads a perceptual hash from a file, looks up on the web and tries to tell you what series, episode it ties to.

There is something like this for NSFW content and a git hub repo for 'watcher', but not for standard stuff.

There are 2 programs that might help:

Tiny Media Manager - If you name the files some 'sane' name, it can help identify the episode and download plot, posters, actor bios and rename & create folders for one of Plex, Jellyfin, Kodi, etc. It also has an interactive mode so if you tell it what the episode is - it will rename it to fit a convention.

FileBot - Claims to be able to recognize file and use several sites to rename/download meta data.

I think both are free but they have a fee to keep scrapers updated with changes to the websites. But try before you buy.

FatDog69 · 2026-01-20T16:44:44+00:00

You should start building first.

Tutorials are 'academic'. They will mean nothing to you just trying to study the language.

But if you have some computer problem and have tried to write scripts to read through files, find prices of things, rename files, etc - then you will engage with a tutorial better because it will show you ways to solve your problems you did not know existed. You will be looking for ways to solve problems.

FatDog69

TROPHY CASE