Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I'm kind of in the same situation as Ilene; it would be easier if I lived in Center City instead of the 'burbs

K- mission figs are hard to find? I went crazy once trying to find them and did so at our bulk food chain. Dried only though. Funny thing is when I finally found (and bought) them I couldn't find the recipe that specifically requested mission figs that sent me in search of them. Still haven't.

True, when you work with the public, management is everything. I know it's the same in restaurants.

Most stores, though are trying the McDonald's approach -- make the workers as interchangeable as possible -- rely on your "system", not your employees. I'd be willing to bet that the good stores are still paying a little more for labor -- more training, more workers on the floor, even if the hourly wage is the same. It is cost-effective to create a happy work environment, because it translates into a pleasant place to shop, and that means more customers coming and wanting to linger long enough to buy more, probably even enough to negate the effect of spending more money. But that's taking the broad view, something that it seems fewer and fewer stores want to do. At my last job, it became increasingly clear that not only did they not want employees who could think for themselves, they didn't really want managers who could think either, just implement systems and policies. Hell, there was a folder that told the managers in what situations they could offer refunds. I don't think, in that kind of environment, that you get quality managers or employees, or if you do they are so u-empowered and dispirited, that they may as well suck at their jobs, because no one cares if they can make good decisions or how much knowledge they have. Believe me, when you have to fit 6 hours of cleaning into 3, while running to a cash register every twenty minutes because heaven forfend that a customer should have to wait in a line for ten minutes (they might actually get an idea of how much they are spending and decide to put something back), because someone in an office 10 states away has decided that you have enough people on a floor they have never even seen and that they know better than the manager who is there every day, it's all too easy to get surly and stupid.

I'm ranting, I know. There are rants like this all over the internet. They are always followed by someone saying that perhaps the ranter shouldn't be working retail. I was actually very very good at what I did and I rather enjoyed it when I had the time to. I won't say I could sell air-conditioners to an Inuit, but I could definitely convince him to buy twice as much long underwear as he had planned on. But, with no support and more work to do than 1 uninterrupted person could accomplish, it was really hard to turn on the "friendly, knowledgeable sales staff" beam and do that.

Wow, I got really off subject. I think I'm actually agreeing with you, Wino, if from a somewhat different angle. Stores that are willing to invest in their staffs (and that sounds like the kind of store you ran) end up with better staffs and better sales. However, that does, in the end, mean spending more, either in paying higher wages, or in simply raising the number of labor-hours so that your employees aren't constantly burning out trying to do more than is humanly possible for a sustained amount of time. Too many companies think that if they can throw enough free rah-rah bullshit at their employees without backing it up in the form of real empowerment and support, they will get a high-quality workforce for nothing.

Also, it just really bothers me that people complain about lousy service all the time. Most people I've worked with want to be friendly and helpful, but they have next to no power or time to do that. Most of them would love to walk you all over the store discussing products and just generally helping you out, but they have to make a decision -- what course of action will piss off the person who can fire them the least? If the manager is more likely to blow a gasket because the place is a mess, they will try to get rid of you as quickly as possible, so they can get back to cleaning. Of course, there are crappy service people -- there are people in every job who are stupid, lazy, and incompetent. I'm just saying that if you find a store completely full of them, you've found a store with a toxic environment, one that very well may extend to the corporate environment. I can also guarantee you that the company cares as little about you as a person as they do about their employees.

I keep saying: that is why Wegman's is the #3 employer according to Forbes. They pay their staff well, give benefits and have mobility. All department managers are degreed. In the 80's, the HBR started recommending that employers not get the best people: the best ones want a good salary, benefits, and upward mobility. The lesser employees, (think Walbarf) are grateful to have a job at all, and they don't expect too much.

Nothing new here, but I did want to add my votes:
chicken/poultry
raw milk
crab
I am very lucky to have a lot of stuff available to me, in Boston, from my local farmstand, like vegetables, fruits, honey, eggs but it's illegal for them to sell raw milk and they don't sell any meat (yet!! maybe this year...)

I remember reading some of the benefits of non-pasteurized cream on TOBB (I think it whipped up better) but I must admit, I'm unaware of the advantages of "raw milk". What are the taste and cooking benefits?

Gerard

Gerard,

I don't know if there's any benefit to drinking raw milk, but if you want to make cheese, some fancy cheeses require it. Even a ricotta is better for using raw milk, although not really $10 worth of better.

Ditto on the crème fraîche, or so I've heard. To get raw milk in Michigan, one must participate in a herd share and I haven't found any on this side of the state.

Jes,

Like Amy said, make it at home. You do not need raw milk or cream. I use pasteurized cream with no additive but that is not really required.

Kenji Alt actually provided a recipe on Serious Eats - LINKY

CC

Oops, sorry. When I said ditto on the crème fraîche, I meant that it is also supposed to be better made from raw cream. I do make it at home, at first because it was unavailable where I used to live, now because it's just cheaper.