Crate & Barrel Pop Up Store in Crossgates

Every so often, I get invited to a store opening. Not sure why I am extended the offer, but I try to go when I can make it. This morning, I was invited to preview the Crate & Barrel shop opening today in Crossgates. The store is called The Tree Lot and is next door to Williams Sonoma at the JC Penny and Pottery Barn end of the mall.

This place is seriously decked out for the holiday season and I actually appreciate them not opening before Halloween.

 

 
 At the front of the store, there is a little photo opportunity area complete with some props.

Now this shop isn't exactly what I think of when I think about Crate & Barrel. I think about their Boston store (which has apparently moved out of Copley Plaza since my last visit years ago). There where tons of kitchen gadgets, plates, glassware, pots, pans...basically a food nuts dream. But this store isn't trying to be that and there is no way they would be able to fit that kind of store in this space. This place is more about holiday entertaining and gifts. Want some holiday themed serving dishes, they've got them. Fancy glass ornaments, tons of them. And mixed in with the holiday gifts are a few things that are still gifts, but not necessarily only holiday gifts.

This is the first year Crate and Barrel is trying out the concept. I suspect the store will be packed in December. The Tree Lot opens today at 10 and will be open until December 31.

The Cost of a Thanksgiving Turkey

I get email from Farmie Market. Never bought anything from them, but I poke around their site once in awhile. The last time I looked at the site the were advertising nitrate free bacon. I sent in an inquiry to see if it was actually nitrate free (most things labeled nitrate free or no nitrates added have nitrates in the form of celery salt). The reply indicated that this bacon was in fact nitrate free. The ingredient list was pork, water, sea salt and brown sugar. The downside to this bacon was that it priced out at $18 a pound. A little to steep for me. I'd post a link to the bacon but it is currently sold out so the price wasn't too steep for everyone.

Yesterday, I got an email from Farmie Market outlining the true cost of raising a pastured turkey. Here it is.

It basically says that a farmer has $53 plus labor into a farm raised turkey. These turkeys are selling for $6.25 a pound and are delivered frozen. At that price, and 18 pound turkey costs $112. That just seems excessive to me. While it is true that meat labeling has become increasingly deceptive - organic, natural, and humane all have USDA definitions that don't necessarily match Webster's - The Co Op is selling  Local, Natural, Pasture Raised turkeys from Misty Knolls at $2.99 a pound. If you want to add organic from Jaindl it is $4.99 a pound. Comparing these farms isn't apples to apples especially with vague definitions of "pastured." Certainly a farmer needs to make a profit, but the price of a turkey breaking $100 just seems high. Although they must not be too high for everyone. They sold out last year. 

I got accepted to Harvard

Well, kind of…it’s an online class and everyone that wants to take it gets accepted.

The course is being run through edX and is titled: Science and Cooking From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. Each week there are about 90 minutes of lectures to watch, recommended reading out of Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking, a homework assignment, and a lab to do.

I did the first homework assignment. It was real homework. Nothing too difficult, but time consuming. A lot of it was centered around a Toll House cookie recipe. Based on the questions that come up in between video lectures, I thought the homework was going to be a breeze. But instead of questions like “Do you like to drink milk while you eat chocolate chip cookies?” it was more like: Glutenin (molecular weight 75,000 amu) makes up about 60% of the protein in all-purpose flour. Assuming all purpose flour is 10% protein by weight, about how many molecules of glutenin are in this recipe? 

Certainly doable for a nerd like myself. I’ve never thought of ingredients as molecules so that aspect is interesting, but I haven’t done this kind of chemistry homework since the early 90’s. It was a little bit of a shock to the system. In case you were wondering, I came up with 130,600,000,000,000,000,000 molecules also known as a shit-ton. I hope to get to do the lab tomorrow. In the lab, you calibrate your oven using the phase change of sugar. Since the melting point of sugar is 366 deg F, when set to 350 the sugar shouldn’t melt. I’m interested to see how the new kitchen oven does.

If you are interested, you can sign up and join the course. The tuition is free and to allow people more time to join, the first assignments aren't due until mid-November.

Not a local sign

Back in August, we took a family vacation to Vermont. A more detailed post of the trip never happened because while driving to Vermont, we agreed on a purchase price for the house we are currently moving into. So basically since we got into the car on August 10, everything has been and continues to be chaotic.

I was moving some files around on the computer and I stumbled across this sign I saw at a gas station just outside Killington, VT. I've only seen the opposite of this sign locally.

To erase any doubt I was in the Capital District, the mini-mart at this gas station had a surprisingly good wine selection at reasonable prices.

And here's a picture of me trying to fly at Okemo.

 

I would describe the leap as "whiplash-y." A friend's daughter that also made the leap showed wisdom beyond her years when she told me, "I'm glad I did the jump to experience it, but I don't need to do it again." Couldn't agree more.

Ripped from the pages of an old notebook

In preparing to move a mile up the street, we are purging stuff that has been residing in the corner of our basement. Among the things being recycled are lots of old college notebooks, tests and homework assignments. I pretty much scrapped anything I did at RPI. Haven't looked at any of that stuff since I finished a grad degree about 7 years ago. I had a bunch of stuff from Northeastern and UCONN too. I started my lengthy college career (Sophomore year of college...best 3 years of my life) in Boston as a business major. It didn't take. Especially economics.

I hated economics class. Hated the professor. This guy was a jerk. Once, while I was giving a presentation, he left the room. On his way out the door, he told me to keep going. It was awkward to say the least. I didn't want to give the presentation and the class had no interest in hearing it. Everyone's presentation was a useless circus show for him.

Following the professor's "blow off the class" example, I used to write bizarre SAT style multiple choice questions where horrible things happened to horrible economists instead of taking notes or paying attention to a lecture.

So here, you go...a circa 1990 page from the only college notebook I'm keeping:

See if you can answer this...

Two Economists, A and B, decide to take skydiving lesons. Neither A nor B recognize their Skydiving Instructor, C. At one time, C was a student in A's class and B was C's TA while C was in A's class at College D which is located in the northern part of State E in Country F. A and B have finished their lessons and are ready for their first jump out of Plane G. G is now cruising at Speed H and at an Altitude I. If C pushes A and B out of G without parachutes, how long will it take A and B to make a dent in the ground of E in F?

1) A and B will survive by making a parachute out of their clothes.
2) 27.6 seconds
3) Does it really matter?

The Unofficial End

Back at the end of June, the slide went out into the Sacandaga Lake signifying the unofficial start of summer. If the local apple harvest isn't a big enough clue that summer is gone, there's this too.

Curling Open Houses

Want to give curling a try? Maybe saw it in the Olympics and thought curling could be fun? 

As I type, the ice is being made. Next weekend, all the lines and houses get painted. Hard to believe that the curling season is coming. Especially since it was so hot and humid earlier this week.

The Schenectady Curling Club is inviting anyone that want to try the sport to attend an open house. At the open you'll learn a few rules, got over how to make a shot and then head out onto the ice to give it a whirl. All you'll need to bring is clean sneakers and maybe a few layers of comfortable clothes. Even if it is warm outside, the air temperature is below 40 out on the ice.

Did I mention it's free?

Stop by the Schenectady Curling Club on Balltown Road (not too far off of Union Street) on:

Friday, October 4 between 6:30 and 9:30 PM   or
Saturday, October 5 between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM

You can check out the details at curling club website.