Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I would guess that these would roast to tender perfection, for those who suffer a fear of frying.

They sound delish...gotta see if I can find them at the not-so-local butcher. I live in a one horse town and such delicacies are a rare find.

Wow, my first marriage proposal. What would my dowry look like? A stewed pig's head and ten tails, for starters.

Not Yukio: Check Hispanic / Italian butchers. I've never seen tails at Chinese stores, for some reason. This surprises me b/c the Chinese love trotters, and pig tails are like trotters in that both share copious amounts of skin, fat, and gelatinous tendon. I just happen to like tails more b/c there's more meat on the bones.

Chichi, I love your posts!
I always thought my soulmate would be a Swedish olympic diver that would enjoy collecting antiques and my extensive collection of Spandau Ballet albums. How wrong I was.

I think this ad is great.

Blot the tails dry before reintroducing them to the oil, and dust them with cornstarch or flour before frying them the second time. It cuts down on the explosive effect.

A deep pot and a splatter screen might take care of some splatters, but it may not preclude the worst. Some of the oil from the pot traveled from the stove to halfway across the room - a good four to five feet, I estimate. So I would say that goggles are a good idea on top of any other precautionary measures!

The next time I fry tails, I'll also try coating them in a bit of flour, and see if that provides a temporary coating.

In principle, I'm against the trans fat and smoking bans (I am not drinking beer and eating donuts for my health, yeesh!), I think that there is a need to educate the masses. Until we have junk food taxes to incentivize people to make the right decision, this is what is needed. But we also need our government to provide people with access to fresh produce and heatlhy food. It simply doesn't exist in many areas of the city.

it's actually our government who has allowed the agra-corn-business to fatten up our population, by the way..... so, now it's up to the government to undo the mess.

the tobacco companies got busted down because people put the pressure on, maybe a few other lobbies need to get busted as well.
the people hold the power but they're too fogged up to exert it.

@cambriana: what's with the liberal bashing? and nanny state? really? the gov't can say whatever they want, i don't see anyone physically stopping people from eating crap.

Julie,

Sorry it's taken so long to post here!

I had a meeting with our library board and they are in total support of our coffee shop.

They are also understanding of the public's desire to have a place at the library for family eating.

While they had planned for folks to come to the library and buy items from the cafe and eat or drink at the available tables, they did not plan for people bringing their own food. Since this is a public library they would like to accommodate their patrons.

I think they have decided to amend our lease, with no extra cost to us, to include the 6 tables in the entryway. The four tables outside are to be for public use.

This really works for me as I figure the outside tables are least profitable. Here in Iowa they are not used at all during winter and later this summer it will be to hot to sit outside. The tables are metal. I have also stopped maintaining those tables to discourage people from using them! Since they are not part of the lease I feel it's not my responsibility to clean off the bird poop, except for my customers who want to use them, of course!

I highly recommend you meet with your foundation people, they support your shop, yes? and find out what their expectations are for your space. Let them know how detrimental to your business the practice of customers bringing food and beverage into your coffee shop. I know you said you chase them to outside tables, that is good and you must continue to do this. I would encourage you to put signage on your tables letting people know which tables are for coffee shop use exclusively (with the support of the library) and which can be used for the public (hopefully none of them) and be very vocal about enforcing this decision.

I personally told a lady unloading her fast food onto a table the other day that she needed to take it outside. She replied that it was raining (it wasn't!) so I told her she needed to take it inside and she did. I let her know those are my tables and to move on!

Yes the table had signage that said tables reserved for our customers!

Once you let people take over your space they will continue to do so. Most customers appreciate the signs and feel people bringing food in are rude.

Get the support of your library and enforce it!

By the by, I spoke with another library coffee shop and they pay a bit less rent that I do but they only rent the counter and the space behind it so the serving portion of the shop is library property but they still maintain it and ask people to leave if they are busy. They said while they allow people to bring in food and drink it is rare and they really hate it when people leave their trash to be cleaned up! Can you imagine?

Look forward to hearing how you're doing

Vicki

Julie,

Thanks for all your comments. I too have used the health department to discourage folks from bringing in outside items. However, when I checked with them the other day I learned they HAVE NO REGULATIONS regarding restaurant seating and tables. They recommend that the tables are cleaned and sanitized a minimum of every 4 hours! Consumers beware! Can you believe that? Behind that counter I practically have to wash my hands every minute and sanitize everything with bleach water after each use, but hey after it leaves the counter you all are on your own! It also turns out that my insurance already covers the outdoor and indoor seating areas so I will meet with the library to see how I can get those tables in the lease for as little money as possible. They are extremely interested in our success and I think are somewhat disappointed in the folks who said "if you build it we will be there". Not that we are struggling but I think that allowing people to bring in food and drink is very detrimental to what I'm trying to accomplish here. I will meet with them next week and keep you posted. For the most part if I ask people to leave they do so as they consider the library tables are something of a picnic ground. They do not know that I pay the library rent, how else would it work? There is another library coffee shop not far away and I know the owner, she has the same problem and I'm going to give her a call and see how she is handling this situation.

TTFN
Vicki

Julie, I did check your site and congratulate you on your success. I am interested in how your business is structured. Currently I pay rent to the library and have to pay insurance, to the tune of $1600 + per year, on the space that I rent which is less than 600 square feet. There are six tables just outside my facility and 4 tables outdoors that are not included in the rent. Several times since opening people have brought in food and drinks that have been purchased outside of my business. Lately I have put signs on the tables stating that they are for Cafe del Sol Coffee & Tea patrons only and that product from other sources can be consumed inside the library. I have had a positive response to these signs as customers think it is rude for people to bring food and drinks into areas that I maintain. I have also asked people to take their food elsewhere. Legally I have no right to do this as these are not included in the rent. To include them would be a huge increase, possibly not in rent, but in insurance cost. I feel food and drink being brought to tables that I maintain is rude and extremely detrimental to my business as I offer these items also. Any thoughts or comments on this?