I've been enjoying this recent blog post from the New York Times, 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1). In this case, when the author says "restaurant staffers," he really means "servers," but I still found it entertaining. Some highlights:

No. 17:
"Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course."

No. 31:
"Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong."

No. 36:
"Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage."

And so on. Even though the item focuses on so-called "front-of-the-house" workers, that's still a part of the culinary arts. Indeed, most culinary arts programs include a class on dining room management.

So, what about you? Do you have any restaurant pet peeves?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means it's just about time for the yearly flurry of articles from so-called "experts" offering the secrets to roasting the "perfect turkey." But here's one secret no one will dare share with you: The perfectly roasted turkey is a myth.

That's right, there's no such thing — it's a physical impossibility. The reason for this is a phenomenon I call the Poultry Paradox, which is responsible for every mouthful of dry, flavorless, overcooked turkey you've ever had to force down your throat.

Well, it's 2009, people, and it's time to stop the madness. We've landed a man on the moon and we can make a car run on canola oil. It's time to get a handle on the trouble with turkey.

How does food get hot? It's simple, right? Just put it in the oven or heat it on the stovetop.

But the way heat travels from something hot, like a flame or a pot of boiling water, to the food item we intend to cook, is a process called heat transfer, and the different ways this can be accomplished determines how the food is cooked and what the end result will be.

Learn more about the two main methods of heat transfer: conduction and convection.

First of all, why is it called "brown" stock? When you go to the store, you see chicken stock, vegetable stock and beef stock. There's no "brown" stock anywhere, other than the beef stock, which happens to be brown. Because beef is, well, brown. Right?

Not exactly. Yes, stock is made from bones, and beef bones are the most common bones used in making brown stock. But you could also use the bones of veal, venison, buffalo, moose or whatever. The reason a brown stock is brown is because we roast the bones before simmering them, and also because we add a little bit of tomato paste to the bones. The acid in the tomato helps break down collagens in the cartilage and other connective tissues, and also adds color to the stock.

Theoretically, you could make a white stock from beef bones. For a white stock, we blanch the bones, skip the roasting and don't use any tomato product. It's not what kind of bones you use, but what technique you use.

Here's the basic procedure for making brown stock. And here's some more info about making stock:

• The Basics of Stock
• How to Make White Stock
• Basic Chicken Stock Recipe