ZingIT

Cooking for Geeks

Craig — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:21:04 +0000

O’Reilly, the publisher of excellent tech guides and MAKE magazine, has just put out their latest guide: Cooking for Geeks Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food. It’s now on my wishlist.

Sharpie™ Pencil

JoeG — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:08:51 +0000

Coming in September:

Sharpie the pen makers have created a Liquid Pencil that contains an “ink” made from liquid graphite. Its liquid graphite “ink” allows the user to erase at will for up to three days. After three days the liquid graphite will then turn to ink and will become permanent, to a degree…

hat tip

.co domains have gone on sale

Elph — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:25:06 +0000

After much talk the .co domains are now available. Though it remains to be seen how pervasive these will become in internet culture there is a lot of enthusiasm right now. Of course, you can get them from our reseller site, http://zingitdomains.com/, or all the other domain registrars.

I’ve taken the opportunity to register zingermans.co and elph.co. Just in case it’s useful. The prices seem to be standardized around the web at $29.99 per year.

Load Batteries in Either Direction with Instaload

Craig — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:15:34 +0000

Microsoft has come up with a simple tech fix for the festering problem of figuring out which direction to insert batteries into a device. Forgo the cryptic symbols and dark spaces, and simply put them in any direction you want. Via wired.

IT 3 Steps to Great Customer Service

Elph — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:14:55 +0000

Here at Zingerman’s we teach 3 steps to giving great customer service to all of our staff. In the IT dept we embellished the 3 steps with details that would help us geeks.

3 Steps to Great Customer Service

1. Figure  out what the guests wants

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Be proactive in finding solutions
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Review the trouble ticket and respond within 24 hours

Ask questions to help solve the issue and engage the client

Feel free to apologize for their trouble

Provide a time assessment for a resolution

2. Get it For Them

Accurately

Ask questions to understand any bigger issues

Document by sending an email to client and IT or enter in ticket system

Communicate progress and when issue is resolved

Follow up with the client after the issue is resolved

Politely

Communicate using the basics (please, thank you) and other social skills

Resolve in a timely way or renegotiate timeline

Enthusiastically

Make the client feel that they are the best part of your day

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Do not blame the client (even in jest)
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Be cheerful
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3. Go the Extra Mile

Do  something extra for the client that they didn't ask for or expect

When to Use Comic Sans

JoeG — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:51:39 +0000

A helpful process map for the best use of Comic Sans font.

Zingerman’s Warehouse Sale List for June 18, 2010

Billie — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:07:45 +0000

Three extra special treats this Friday:
Ari Weinzweig will be signing copies of his Guide to Better Bacon book from 11am to noon.
Our friends from Moosejaw, the outdoors equipment fun guys, will be bringing a truckload full of camping, hiking, rock climbing items at big discounts!
Free hot dogs and lemonade!

And the list:
1. Allgauer Bergkase Cheese…was $15.50, now $10
2. Beaufort Cheese…was $23, now $12
3. 2-year Remeker Cheese…was $18, now $10
4. Appleby’s Cheshire Cheese…was $17, now $8
5. Brandied Cherries…was $13, now $7
6. Mo’s Dark Bacon Bar…was $10, now $5
7. Bonne Maman Butter Cookies…was $6, now $3
8. Cope’s Dried Sweet Corn…was $11, now $6
9. Chocolate Dipped Figs, 3-Pack…was $5, now $2
10. Testour Pasta Sauce…was $16, now $8
11. Green Mountain Salsa…was $7.50, now $4
12. Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans…was $9, now $4
13. Finnish Black Licorice…was $6, now $4
14. Pasta di Aldo Fettuccine…was $14, now $7
15. Fregula Sarda Pasta…was $12, now $7
16. Buckwheat Pancake Mix…was $9, now $5
17. Cunesi Rum Truffles…was $35, now $17
18. Plum & Anise Preserves…was $14, now $7
19. Koeze Cream Nut Clusters…was $19, now $9
20. Licorice Chocolate Bar…was $10, now four for $10
21. Maple Syrup…was $15, now $8
22. Terra Cotta Sauce Warmer…was $15, now $5
23. Zingerman’s Diner Mug…was $10, now $5
24. Porcini Powder…was $15, now $10
25. Parisienne Drinking Chocolate…was $20, now $10
26. Moscato Vinegar…was $35, now $18
27. D. Barbero Hard Torrone…was $55, now $30
28. Venchi Dubledo Hazelnut Fudge…was $18, now $8
29. Flyer Costa Rican Chocolate Bar…was $7, now $4
30. Plugra Salted Butter…was $8, now $5
31. Welsh Sea Salt Sampler…was $30, now $15
32. Fever Tree Tonic Water…was $12, now $6
33. Heather Honey with Whiskey…was $29, now $14
34. Marta’s Olive Oil…was $45, now $25
35. Cherries in Balsamic Compote…was $15, now $7
36. Denoix Pastis Mustard…was $13, now $7
37. Pepperoncini Conditi…was $25, now $15
38. Spudmaster Potato Chips…was $10, now $5
39. Cold Brew Coffee…was $5, now $3
40. Garden of Eatin’ Tortilla Chips…was $5, now $1

Where: 610 Phoenix Drive, Ann Arbor MI 48108
When: Fridays, 11am to 3pm

IT Dinner #14 – Spanish Tapas

Billie — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:11:28 +0000

Elph’s House
June 5, 2010

Lots of little servings, loads of flavor!

Iberico Ham, white hoofed
Iberico Ham, black hoofed (sweeter)
Garlic and tomato-rubbed bruschetta
Kippered salmon
Garlic mushrooms
Polenta sticks and mole
Nettle soup
Jillian’s garden salad
Asparagus
Roasted almonds
Arbequina olives
Cheese plate including Manchego, Lenor, quince paste, grapes
Almond gelato
Flourless lemon-almond cake
Natillas (Spanish custard) with fresh raspberries
Rioja wine

Perilla Leaves

Elph — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:09:08 +0000

Kristen and Ji Hye of San Street fixed dinner for Great Oak last night. Wow. They spent all day cooking pork shoulder and getting all the sauces and other ingredients together – the end result was a menu of build-your-own wraps. Core wrap items were pulled pork or mushrooms and picked daikon and cucumber. Plus sauces. Then wrapped in either lettuce, steamed buns, or perilla leaves. They managed to meet Great Oak’s vegetarian and gluten-free needs and everyone was quite happy. The sweet tea and asian pears for dessert were gobbled up.

The perilla leaves were a first for me. Lovely looking and tasty flavored. Kind of a bright yet light anise or mint like flavor. They made great wraps.

Tea at the Library

Elph — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:29:42 +0000

I had the good pleasure of being invited by the Provost of the University to a Tea, honoring Jan & Dan Longone and celebrating their donation of material to the culinary archive at the Clements. The archive is now called the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive, or JBLCA as Jan refers to it.

It really was special to see them honored in this way because they are such wonderful people. They are passionate about the subject of culinary history and have made it their lives to know and to collect material and then share it with others. Jan and Dan are great role models in our community.