1. ThermoWorks RT345 Fun-Size Thermometer [thermoworks.com]
A keyring sized probe thermometer? From my favorite thermometer company? Only $15? I want one. I want one!
2. Alton Brown interview on the Nerdist Podcast [nerdist.com] (slightly NSFW - language)
My hero in a wide ranging interview. I learned Alton is a Dr. Who fan, got his pilot's license so he could avoid the indignity of airport security, and is working on a new show for Food Network called Food Files. There's a lot more, and Alton and the hosts are having a lot of fun. Give it a listen.
[Thanks to commenter Chris Lukowski for alerting me to this podcast.]
3. Bob Kramer Knife Videos [youtube.com]
Master Bladesmith Bob Kramer shows how a sharp knife should work. Mr. Kramer worked with J.A. Henckels and Sur La Table to make a less expensive version of his custom knives. Less expensive is a relative term - his 8 inch carbon steel chef's knife costs $350. Of course, his custom made knives go for over $200 an inch, if you can get on his years-long waiting list.
As a part of his collaboration, Mr. Kramer made set of videos on sharpening knives. They are must-watch if you are a knife fanatic like me:
What Is Sharp? [This video is embedded above]
Honing Your Knife
Stoning Your Knife
Inside the Foundry
4. Akron Ethnic Market Update: La Chiquita Latinos Market
The former La Michoacana has a new name, a new paint job, and has added a butcher counter. Stop by and check them out.
For my non-Akron readers, this is a reminder to seek out your local markets. They're worth the trip.
5. Non-Food Related Public Service Announcement: Back Up Your Data!
I lost the hard drive on my main computer a week ago. My iMac, which normally chugs along for weeks without needing to reboot, started to crash every few hours. After one of the crashes, I found an error message in the system log, which a Google search translated to "your hard drive is toast."
This computer has my life on it. All the pictures of my family, all my financial information, all my blog history...everything I've done in the last ten years is on that drive.
Thankfully, I have automated backups. My iMac spent the night at the Apple store, getting a new, empty hard drive. Then it spent the day restoring from backup. When it was done, I was back up and running - nothing was lost.
Why am I so careful about backups? Because I've been burned before, and I wasn't prepared. All hard drives are going to fail. It's just a matter of time. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. If you're lucky, maybe not for a decade. But it will fail. It is the nature of hard drives. They're great...right up until a read head crashes into the platter spinning at 7200 RPM.
If you depend on your computer, you need an automated, scheduled backup. Apple's Time Machine backup has saved me many times. (Windows has its own built in backup software.) Mac, PC, Other...it doesn't matter. Get an external USB drive, plug it in, and get that backup going. Now. Tomorrow may be too late for your data.
I also pay $5 a month for CrashPlan's online backup service. In case of a natural disaster, I want a copy of my data off site.
What do you think? Any other fun food finds? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Paula says
ASSEMBLED iansfult
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
I do have one on order. I'll let everyone know what I think of it. (It sure looks small - I think it will be interesting to use over a hot grill...)
Michael Ross says
Mike, if you end up picking up the "fun size" thermometer, I'd love to see a review. I can't find any reviews online. Thanks for the great finds.
Chris Lukowski says
Alsø PS- I wanted to scream when Bob Kramer was grinding that knife against the honing steel to dull it. Oh the humanity!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Sorry, meant to give you a h/t for the Alton Brown tip - I added it to the post. Thank you!
I agree about having an online backup, just in case. My local backup has been useful a number of times, aside from disassters. Mainly when I get a new toy...um, I mean computer. A quick restore from the backup, and the new machine is good to go.
Chris Lukowski says
As a fellow IT guy I cannot agree more with stressing the importance of -automatic- backups. The kind you don't have to think about. My parents lost over a year's worth of photos and other documents thanks to a failed hard disk. You are right, all hard disks do fail eventually. That's one reason I'm not so keen on external hard disks as a primary means of backup. I had a Western Digital external drive that bit the dust before my internal HDD died and I ended up losing some non-backup data on that when it went. My recommendation is to subscribe for an online (or "cloud") based backup service like Carbonite. $60/yr isn't too high a price for never having to worry about losing data ever again.
PS- Glad you liked AB's Nerdist podcast.