Entries Tagged 'kitchen Equipment & Units' ↓

Pat and Jerry Dodson’s nearly 100-year-old four-story home at 2 18th Ave., San Francisco, is a bit of an oxymoron, boasting a history of revelry while also maintaining views that calm the soul.

The 1913 Mediterranean-style home, designed by Oakland Tribune Tower architect Edward T. Foulkes, contained a speakeasy – a Prohibition-era secret drinking hideout that may also have had an adjacent brothel – in the early 20th century. its secret passageway leading to the surrounding Presidio National Park remains.

“There were three exits, as we understand it,” said Pat Dodson, who is downsizing after 19 years in the home now that her son, Sam, is grown. “When people came to the front door, if they ever thought it was the police, there was a way to flicker the lights in the speakeasy and people would know to leave by the two outdoor exits or the secret passageway.”

The light-signaling system to the lower level is long gone, but much of the character of that era was restored during a 2005 renovation. Led by architect Cheryl Chernoff, the renovation created an Art Deco showcase with a bandstand, coffered ceilings, a handmade banister and murals reminiscent of Jazz Era dancing. the residence also has a home theater with eight surround-sound speakers and a 500-bottle wine cellar.

During their nearly two decades in the home, the Dodsons undertook a series of updates. All but one of the home’s rooms was overhauled.

When the Dodsons purchased the home 19 years ago, they chose to transform the onetime illegal hangout into a more family-friendly one. Even with the original 19-foot-long bar, the speakeasy with linoleum floors had become dingy and lacked character, yet it made a prime playroom – something missing from many of the homes they’d perused.

They turned the bar into a soda fountain for Sam, and over the years it was a good spot for his friends to spend time while more adult parties were upstairs.

The 2005 renovation changed the playroom into a more adult room.

The house, which is selling for $3.995 million, has five rooms and 3.5 baths in 5,700 square feet. it is situated at the end of a cul-de-sac. Gardens flank each end of the lower level, making for a child-friendly home. it has mostly hardwood floors. the lower level also has a bedroom or exercise room and laundry facilities. the house has four fireplaces, one of which is in the living room.

The main entry level features an original fountain flanked with stained-glass windows.

The formal octagon-shaped dining room has a detailed ceiling with a chandelier.

The updated kitchen with island, granite counters and custom cabinets empties to a breakfast room that leads outside.

Most of the home’s bedrooms are on the second level.

On the third floor, the master bedroom has dual walk-in closets. the spacious bath has tiled floors, a floating tub and walk-in shower.

The house also includes a lap pool off the kitchen in a former garage.

Despite the grandeur, it was the home’s “country” feel that hooked the couple. They can hear the ocean at night, the fog horns when it’s foggy, howling coyotes and an array of birds tweeting.

“We have this feeling when we’re home that we’re in the country,” Pat Dodson said. “Most people want the Golden Gate Bridge view, but for us to be able to see (the forest) is beautiful.”

She likens the seasonal foliage to having a garden without the fuss of caring for it.

Most rooms feature picture windows overlooking the park, and multiple decks allow for views as well, including from a top-floor deck off the library-office, which has a wall of windows.

“I was just stunned by the vistas,” Jerry Dodson when he first viewed the home, he said.

He hadn’t even seen the onetime speakeasy when the pair purchased the home.

There’s one from the office where you can see to the ocean and also the Presidio. Sunsets from there in the west-facing house are breathtaking.

“When I saw the family room with the bar, the first thing I wanted to do was get the windows to have the same views,” he said.

And they did. three large picture windows showcase the forest views, and nearly every other room has picture windows.

“It wouldn’t make a very good speakeasy now,” Pat Dodson said.

This article appeared on page K – 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle

October 19, 2011

SOUTH HARWICH — Dori Caussey saw the first rat in June as it scurried from the living room, across the kitchen and into a hole in the wall.

• Rats can squeeze through a half-inch-wide hole.
• Rats can gnaw through aluminum sheeting, wood, rubber, vinyl, plastic and concrete block.
• Rats can jump 36 inches vertically and 48 inches horizontally.
• Rats can swim half a mile in open water, dive through water traps in plumbing and travel in sewer lines against a substantial current.
• Rats are very cautious and several days may pass before they approach traps.
• Rats have been associated with infectious jaundice, bubonic plague, and typhus and are responsible for more human illnesses and deaths than any other mammal. Rats can carry as many as 35 diseases that affect humans and livestock.
• Rats communicate with and attract each other through their urine and droppings.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control, University of Illinois Extension Service, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Publications 9.57 10/19/2011 00:10:00 Printed Newsworkflow Unassigned

“I can’t put her down at home because of all the rodent urine and droppings,” Caussey said, her eyes tearing at the living conditions for her, Stella, and an older daughter, 18.

During an inspection of the property on Oct. 6, Harwich Health Director Paula Champagne said she found evidence the rats had invaded all of Caussey’s part of the two-unit house.

She ordered the landlords, Peggy and Brent Hemeon, to hire an exterminator and clean up the property’s prime outdoor rat habitat — the piles of 10 to 15 mattresses and four or five couches behind a metal storage unit.

An exterminator plans to schedule a visit to the house on Thursday or Friday, Caussey said.

Peggy Hemeon said she was only aware recently of the magnitude of the infestation and that it was the first problem in the property’s 20-year rental history.

“She only told me she saw a mouse, a big mouse,” she said Friday, referring to Caussey.

Caussey says she plans to move by the end of the month.

Champagne usually fields only an occasional complaint about a rat sighted at a neighbor’s compost pile. Two summers ago, there was a rash of complaints about rats at bird feeders.

Rats, which are usually nocturnal, are a part of Cape Cod, she said. “You’ll see them along the waterfront and on the revetments. It’s when they interfere with our corner of the world that we see them and it’s not a pleasant thing,” she said.

That seems to happen only occasionally, according to the Times archives. In 2001, a longtime produce market closed in West Harwich after health inspectors found rat feces and strong order of rat urine. In 2002, a Yarmouth health inspector found a rodent colony in a cluttered yard and home, and ordered the owner to hire an exterminator. that same year, Dukes County revived the position of rodent control officer after residents complained about an increase in rats and skunks.

Caussey, 36, said she has lived at the Hemeons’ rental for two years with no problems. Stella’s grandparents, Susan and Bruce Rule, moved in downstairs seven months ago.

The Rules pay $1,000 monthly — they say they are now behind in the rent — and Caussey pays $303, with $707 paid by a state rental subsidy. she also is behind in her rent by a few hundred dollars, Peggy Hemeon said last week, but Caussey said on Tuesday that her rent is up to date.

Champagne said there had not been any previous rodent complaints at the address, 975 Route 28, just complaints from neighbors about the debris in the yard.

The bedding and couches weren’t there when the property was last inspected a few years ago, she said.

Peggy Hemeon said the property’s been an eyesore for the past two years because of the previous tenant who was evicted from the downstairs apartment. On Oct. 8 and 9, the Hemeons had much of the debris, including the mattresses and couches, hauled away as Champagne ordered.

They also took away $150 worth of contaminated baby toys, a tearful Caussey said, and all of her older daughter’s clothing. The yard still looks cluttered, but the Rules said they plan to tidy up their stuff.

There are differing opinions about why it took so long for the rat infestation to get addressed.

Caussey said she had begged and pleaded with the landlords to get an exterminator since May. Peggy Hemeon would drop by weekly to pick up her rent, Caussey said. when told in June about the rat in the kitchen, Hemeon allegedly said, “Oh, you girls can deal with it.”

When the Rules later reported seeing a rat, Peggy Hemeon delivered rat traps — she wanted to avoid the use of poison, if possible. At the end of September, she brought over rat poison.

“Why didn’t you call me before,” she said to the Rules halfway through her inspection. “How could this go to this extent? This did not just happen in a week or a month.”

But Caussey also blamed the health department for its slow response. she said she called and emailed photos on Sept. 27 to a clerk and called back more than once about getting an inspection, she said. a friend finally learned Champagne’s name and helped Caussey call on Oct. 4 and ask to speak to Champagne directly. Champagne then scheduled a visit.

Champagne said she was out of the office when the problem surfaced but was there within a week of Caussey’s first call.

“I can actually get to sleep at night,” Susan Rule said. “It’s a lot better than what it was.”

Champagne’s advice to tenants is to notify the landlord in writing about health issues and try to work with the landlord to solve the problem.

If there’s no success or no response, tenants should call the health department, she said.

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LOUISA, Va. –  Residents of this rural community just outside Richmond know they may be lucky, seeing as how no one died in the earthquake, hurricane and tornado that have hit back-to-back-to-back in the past few months. that doesn’t mean they aren’t bitter: “Louisa cares: Because the feds don’t,” read Friday’s headline atop the local newspaper.

The federal government has refused to help foot the $18 million tab for the damage from the disaster trifecta, most of which was caused by the earthquake, leaving people to host fundraisers and help out neighbors because few homes and businesses had insurance. but they say they can’t do it alone.

Many look at how bad things could have been and note no one was killed in any of the disasters that began when the 5.8-magnitude earthquake began in Louisa County on Aug. 23 and rumbled all along the East Coast. The hurricane and tornado were far less destructive — the former bringing mostly heavy rain and wind gusts, the latter damaging only a plantation home dating to the 18th century. still, they hope they’re in the clear for a while.

“What’s next and how much more does the good Lord think we can take?” asked 44-year-old Fran Grimm, as she helped set up for a community fundraiser in a muddy field near the local high school that closed after suffering cracked walls and damage to the roof from the earthquake. “It’s a miracle that no one was hurt.”

The disasters were themselves unlikely phenomena.

Although the area is in the seismically active central Virginia earthquake zone, the tremors are rarely felt. Only seven other tornadoes have rolled through the county since 1950, only one of which hit in October. and the county is located 150 miles from the coast, usually safe from hurricanes.

“It’s a small town, you don’t think about something like that happening like this, but it did,” said Buddy Brooks, 72, while standing at a farmer’s market and pumpkin stand in downtown Mineral, just a few miles from the town of Louisa. “It’s the Lord’s work I guess.”

Gazing out the windshield while driving along the county’s winding roads, nature’s wrath isn’t apparent in most places. but upon closer inspection, houses can be seen patched with plastic and wood planks where brick should be, windows torn from supports, and crumbled decks and chimneys.

The earthquake damaged nearly all the county’s 200 pre-Civil War era homes, and the tremor brought down ceiling tiles, emptied shelves, and opened long cracks in concrete floors at businesses throughout the community. At one point, locals said some residents were living in tents because their houses were uninhabitable.

Last week, the state learned the Federal Emergency Management Agency had rejected its application for assistance for individuals whose homes or businesses were damaged in the earthquake. Gov. Bob McDonnell said he will appeal FEMA’s decision, and he invited President Barack Obama to stop by Louisa County to see the damage firsthand while he’s in Virginia next week promoting his jobs plan. Obama turned down the invitation on Friday.

“It’s a small county that is facing some big challenges and is just asking for a little help,” said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for McDonnell. “Earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes are natural disasters. The failure of the federal government to help Louisa citizens in this difficult time is a manmade one.”

The county has documented about $18 million in damage to 900 houses, including more than two dozen that were destroyed in the earthquake. Only about two dozen had quake insurance, and most are looking at an average repair bill ranges from about $8,500 for minor repairs to about $73,000 for major damage. There are more than 460 homes with self-reported damage that the county hasn’t even inspected.

Additionally, the county said damages to commercial properties and businesses tallied in at about $645,000, and buildings like churches and other non-profit groups had about $1 million in damages. Officials said costs related to replacing the local high school and an elementary school damaged by the earthquake will likely top $64 million.

As federal, state and local crews reassessed the quake-torn community, others prepared for the fundraiser featuring bands, vendors and local organizations to help raise money for their neighbors, a common sentiment these days.

“It seems like when things happen elsewhere, we’re always there to help them and then it comes to us and there’s nobody here,” said 52-year-old Brenda Mastin of Mineral. “They’re a little upset about not getting any help, but beside that, the county’s really come together.”

Support among neighbors has been especially important in this tight-knit community as the more recent tornado, and another 3.0-magnitude tremor on Wednesday had locals wondering what else is in store for the community. more than 40 aftershocks that have rattled the county since the August quake also are keeping residents on edge.

“Mother Nature is Mother Nature. She’s unpredictable, and all you can do is recover afterward, and that’s really how our community is handling it,” county spokeswoman Amanda Reidelbach said. “The funds and support from the community is tremendous, but the extent of the damage … it’s not something that our local community or local government can repair.”

The ministry at 101 N. 24th St. was established in 2001 and has been at its present location for six years. the expansion that began this year includes a 4,300-square-foot building adjacent to the existing building. the ministry hopes to raise about $47,000 to finish work on the building so food service can be relocated there since additional space is needed, Brown said. the kitchen will remain in the existing building, but will be expanded and upgraded and new equipment will be added.

Brown said some of the new equipment would eliminate the need for paper products and Styrofoam cups and plates, which would save about $1,000 a month. That is the ministry’s largest expense since most of the food is donated.

Sectioned trays will be used to serve meals, and the new equipment will clean them more efficiently, said Gene Cleveland, a member of the way of the Cross board of directors.

The ministry will be able to serve about 100 people at one time, Cleveland said, but turnover will be faster because people will be spread out and servers and the kitchen staff can operate more smoothly. Cleveland said there are times when people have to wait outside for those who are eating to finish and leave.

The group has a luncheon scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 10 to show the new facility to donors and potential donors and present a program on why it is needed.

Cleveland called it a “thank you with your hand out,” and said the goal is to get more people involved in the ministry.

“we want people to say ‘let me be a part of this blessing,’” he said.

Bennett Tucker, who is donating engineering services, said the idea is to thank people who have contributed while also using the event as a fundraiser.

“you don’t have to come over here but one day to see the need,” Tucker said.

Cleveland projects the ministry will serve about 52,000 meals this year, an increase of 5.4 percent from 2010 and 13 percent since 2009. Given the economy, he expects those numbers to continue rising.

“we see nothing slacking off,” Cleveland said.

The ministry has “regulars,” Brown said, but “we see new faces every day.”

Way of the Cross serves a hot meal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, sandwiches on Fridays for lunch and a hot meal Friday evening prior to a worship service.

“That’s our ministry,” Cleveland said.

He said the present dining area seats about 75, and they average serving 209 meals a day.

Cleveland said the new facility should handle future growth, and the existing dining area could be used if necessary as a counseling area or by the community for meetings.

The existing building has a clothes closet and shower facilities upstairs from the kitchen and dining area. Brown said shower facilities will be moved to the new building, and the clothes closet will be phased out so the ministry can concentrate on providing meals.

Different churches help with serving the meals. the ministry received $50,000 from the county’s 1-cent sales tax from the Community Development Committees, and materials have been donated.

Tucker said the organization has spent about $85,000 on the new facility. Funds are needed to complete the interior, including the walls, plumbing and some electrical work and fixtures.

Work also remains to be done on parking and other outside improvements.

The new facility will have an area for health screenings by Gadsden State Community College nursing students, an area for people to get their hair cut or styled and handicap-accessible bathrooms and showers.

Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

It’s only fitting the Foodie Film Feastival begins and ends with “El Bulli: Cooking in Progress.”

The documentary focuses on the recently closed Rosa, Spain, restaurant El Bulli, which earned three Michelin stars and the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Award five times in the past decade. At the heart of the restaurant overlooking Costa Brava, is its owner and chef, Ferran Adria.

Adria has been called the chef of the decade, the father of molecular gastronomy and chef Frankenstein. It’s ironic that a man associated with bringing science to the culinary arts talks so much of magic.

And when the film opens with Adria quietly sitting in the dark with a fluorescent sucker in his mouth, it’s apparent you’re in for a magic show. He pulls flavor from the glowing lollipop a few seconds, shows his now-glowing tongue, then asks, “What protein is this?”

“Fish,” he’s told.

Most of us would ask how it was done, but Adria knows. He probably invented the technique. Instead, Adria wants details: “From where?”

This is the thought process of the celebrated, iconoclastic chef. this is a man who considers ideas, possibilities and magic over boundaries.

For the next 108 minutes, we are invited behind the veil. The wizard of Catalonia invited cameras into his kitchen where for six months a year he and his team prepared a menu for the other half of the year until this past July. El Bulli closed July 30 so that it can become a year-round center for gastronomic creativity and research. Adria is set to continue his culinary Lewis and Clark quest in 2014.

“El Bulli: Cooking in Progress,” the work of German director Gereon Wetzel, takes a minimalist approach, which makes sense. The avant-garde subject plays in stark contrast to the point-and-shoot, music-free, narration-free film and gives it harmony.

We go from conception to service at El Bulli. Hazelnut oil, salt, and water? That’s a cocktail. Freeze-dried peppermint and ice shavings? Dessert is served. In Adria’s kitchen, mushrooms make water, sweet potatoes produce meringue and pasta is meant to vanish. but everything must be delicious and perfect.

This is a film for gourmands — foodies, before the term existed. I expect any and every chef with a shred of ambition will be in attendance to see how the guy at the top of the pyramid conducts himself. Anthony Bourdain filmed two episodes with Adria, once several years ago, and then again just before the restaurant closed. but this film is much more intimate. Adria’s methods are chronicled in painstaking detail, just as the menu at El Bulli was developed.

The camera captures Adria’s palpable genius. His brow rises and falls, eyes broaden and narrow, hands rise and fall, fingers twirl and point and his body rocks and reels as words spill from his mouth. Passion fills the kitchen and ultimately works as an aromatic to each dish.

Whether you were fortunate enough to eat at El Bulli, Wetzel’s documentary will embolden your belief in magic and your desire to taste it.

i want to know.
-what would i have to study because i was looking online and
it has different categories for interior design like
-Interior Design: Commercial (Level III)
Interior Design: Residential
Interior Design: Retail Merchandising
Interior Design
Interior Design Communications
Interior Design Technology
Interior Design
Interior Design: Advanced Certificate
Kitchen and Bath Design
and Residential and Commercial Design

i want to become a reaallll good interior design for houses buisness everything. would i have to learn all that? or what would i do? is that to much. im only 16 about to be 17. help please?

and im not sure what category to put this in?

technically you do not have to have any schooling…just ALOT of experience. i would apply at different places as an office helper, that will give you a better idea of which direction you want to go in.

I am putting a new kitchen in my house, and I am going to put an integrated electric cooker where the old free-standing gas cooker is now. But that will leave the gas pipe behind the new cooker. It has one of those new bayonet type ends, so it will automatically cap itself off when we remove the old cooker and will not be leaking gas, but is it ok to just leave it there?

Favourite option these days is gas or induction hob and eye-level single or double oven.

Yes as long as it is capped off properly.

I lived in a building that had 110 year old pipes for gas lights all over the place and that seemed to be ok.i

August 02, 2011 07:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time 

ELGIN, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD) today announced the acquisition of Auto-Bake Pty ltd, a leading manufacturer of automated baking systems for the food processing industry. Auto-Bake has annualized revenues of approximately $20 million USD and is based in Australia.

“the acquisition of Auto-Bake adds another advanced set of products to our growing food processing platform and further expands the Middleby portfolio of leading brands and technologies”

“The acquisition of Auto-Bake adds another advanced set of products to our growing food processing platform and further expands the Middleby portfolio of leading brands and technologies,” said Selim a. Bassoul, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Middleby Corporation. “The superior design of the Auto-Bake system offers customers a flexible and fully automated baking solution providing for labor savings and reduced energy consumption. Auto-Bake equipment is recognized for its top-quality bake in a compact, space saving footprint. Auto-Bake is well positioned in North America and in emerging markets. we anticipate the well established international infrastructure of Middleby will enable Auto-Bake to accelerate its growth and expand its global reach.”

About the Middleby Corporation

the Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice equipment industry. the company develops, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used for commercial food cooking, preparation and processing. the company’s leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry include Anets®, Blodgett®, Blodgett Combi®, Beech Ovens®, Bloomfield®, Brittania®, Carter Hoffmann®, CookTek®, CTX®, Doyon®, Danfotech®, FriFri®, Giga®, Holman®, Houno®, IMC®, Jade®, Lang®, Lincat®, MagiKitch’n®, Maurer-Atmos®, Middleby Marshall®, Nu-Vu®, PerfectFry®, Pitco Frialator®, Southbend®, Star®, Toastmaster® Turbochef® and Wells®. the company’s leading equipment brands serving the food processing industry include Alkar®, Cozzini®, MP Equipment®, and RapidPak®. the Middleby Corporation has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the best Small Companies in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

For further information about Middleby, visit middleby.com.

My friend and I work together and went to the same church for 10 years. She is divorced. She started a small company. We work together now. We go out of town a lot which is part of our job. She acts differently around me than the other employees. She acts more silly around me. We talk about anything when we travel or by ourselves. She tells me things she would not tell others.She is old fashioned. a guy has to ask the girl out not the other way around. We have a business arrangement. She is 15 years older than me. She is helping me with my algebra class. When we travel, she sometimes does not pay a whole lot of attention to the road. We talk a lot. We always stop to eat lunch when we travel. I can even tell if she is stressed or angry before speaking to her. When we go to shop for supplies it is like we are married. some people think we are a couple. She wanted me to move as a roommate at one point. does she like me more than a friend. There is a lot of eye contact. I do get an email from her before going to bed all the time. She will ask how are you doing a lot. She had me wear her windbreaker when we went to do a job once. are we just friends or is she wanting more from me. I do feel an attraction between us. She is always saying when we pass a resturant, we should eat there next time.

I was wondering where I can get some cooking equipment like sauce pans, whisks, etc. But I don't want to spend too much money.

I'm not even sure why my house doesn't already have some of this stuff… I guess we wouldn't use it that much. Bleh, I'm just not as skilled as my mom and need some of these noobish devices. Hahaha… help?

Start with Wal-Mart or Target. They're cheap, and then you can figure out if you need something better someday or are happy with the cheap stuff. nothing wrong with that! after all these years I still have a mix of cheap stuff and high-end stuff. Expensive isn't always the best. for instance, I buy cheap cookie sheets because I destroy even the expensive ones. when you get the hang of cooking, you'll just know what's important for you.

Walmart is a very good place for some cheap stuff, but beware because you do get what you pay for. I bough a cheap set from Walmart and they give off a nasty scent sometimes. also, I bought cheap cookie sheets, soaked them in water, they now have brown spots on them! So shopping at Walmart is good, but maybe spend the few extra dollars for the better name brand stuff. you can also look at Target, and Kohl's has a great assortment, and you know they always have sales! I would stay away from Bed Bath and Beyond, their stuff is highly overpriced. Have fun shopping!!

you can usually find some cooking supply store at your local mall. Sur La Table has some decent stuff. they have a website. but, if you're looking for quality stuff, stuff that will last, you'll want to go to your local restaurant supply store and look around there.

If you want to try and get something of quality but pay a low price, try Ross or TJ Maxx. they often have pots, pans, knives, etc. at very low prices. you won't find something good every time you go, but just keep going and you might get lucky.

Often places like K-Mart and The warehouse have good prices, but as a rule the price reflects quality.
Decide what service life you want out of a product and buy accordingly.
I have two good quality non stick fry pans 6" + 12" were not cheap, but they were reason by priced.
My pots have been hand me downs which have served me well over a long period of time.

With your snobbish devices, you say you will not use them much and I take it you mean small appliances, think carefully if you need a new one.

Often the second hand shops and auction rooms will have house lots of the stuff, from "deceased estates". you may need help there that you will need to know if all the attachments are with it

If you plan on cooking for a lifetime, it is best to buy good, solid basics that will last, not the cheap stuff. you can find these items less expensively than say, Williams-Sonoma, however. Try the sites listed below, I've had great luck. Buy only items that can be used for the long haul. Avoid single-taskers like an "onion chopper." The best onion chopper is a good chef's knife and the know-how of the chef. Ah, good knives. must have a good chef's knife.