Make Perfect McDonald’s-style French Fries at Home

 
Perfect French Fries (adapted from David Myers's recipe for "pommes frites")
Ingredients:

• 6 Idaho russet potatoes
• Peanut oil
• Sea salt (Myers prefers Sel Gris, a fine light grey French salt)

Method:
Peel and square off potato ends.

Cut into 3/8" batons.

Soak for two hours changing water after an hour.

Dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Heat about an inch of oil (or enough to cover potatoes) in a large, heavy bottomed pot to 290 degrees.

Blanch potatoes gently for about two minutes until cooked through but still completely pale.

Place on a paper-towel lined sheet pan and cool in the refrigerator to stop cooking process.

Re-heat oil to 370 degrees.

Cook fries until golden and crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

If necessary, agitate gently with a spatula to prevent sticking.

Remove from pan and toss with salt to taste (Myers doesn't blot but you can if you want less fat).

Serve immediately. Recipe serves 4 to 6.

Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/perfect-mcdonald-8217-style-french-fries-home-192700419.html

The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading

By Piper Weiss, Shine Staff | Parenting

What's the matter with kids today and why doesn't anyone want them around? In June, Malaysia Airlines banned babies from many of their first class cabins, prompting other major airlines to consider similar policies.

Lately, complaints about screaming kids are being taken seriously, not only by airlines, but by hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and even grocery stores.

Read more about restaurants around the country banning kids.

Earlier this month, McDain's, a Pittsburgh area restaurant that banned kids under 6 became a mascot for the no-kids-zone movement.

According to a Pittsburgh local news poll, more than half of area residents were in favor of the ban. And now big business is paying attention.

"Brat bans could well be the next frontier in destination and leisure-product marketing," writes Robert Klara in an article on the child-free trend in AdWeek.

Klara points to Leavethembehind.com, a travel website for kid-free vacations, with a massive list of yoga retreats, luxury resorts and bargain hotels around the world that ban children.

"Call me a grinch, a misanthrope, a DINK (dual-income-no-kids), or the anti-cute-police, but I hate (hate a thousand times over) ill-behaved children/infants/screaming banshees in upscale restaurants (ok, anywhere, really, but I don't want any death threats)," writes Charlotte Savino on Travel and Leisure's blog. She lists a slew of a popular destination restaurants with kid-free areas and policies for travelers looking for quiet vacation dining.

Traveling is one thing, but what about in kids' own hometowns? Should kids been banned from local movie theaters, like they were at a recent adults-only Harry Potter screening? In Texas, one cinema chain has even flipped the model, banning kids under six altogether, except on specified "baby days".

Even running errands with toddlers may be changing. This summer Whole Foods stores in Missouri are offering child-free shopping hours. Kids are allowed inside but childcare service is available for parents who want to shop kid-free. (Whole Foods contacted Shine to clarify that the company does not have a kid's ban. The store's child-free shopping hours are "about giving parents a break, not about clearing out the kids for those who want a child-free zone," says a spokesperson for the grocery chain.)

Meanwhile in Florida, a controversy brews over whether kids can be banned from a condominium's outdoor area. That's right, some people don't even want kids outdoors.

When did kids become the equivalent of second-hand smoke? Blame a wave of childless adults with money to spare. "Empty nesters continue to wield a huge swath of discretionary spending dollars, and population dips in first-world countries mean more childless couples than ever," writes AdWeek's Klara.

Catering to the child-free community may be good for business but is it good for parents? It could help narrow choices and make kid-friendly environments even kid-friendlier. And let's be honest, babies won't miss flying first class. They won't even remember it. But their moms and dads will.

Most parents with young children have self-imposed limits on spending and leisure. This new movement imposes limits set by the public. And the public isn't as child-friendly as it used to be. As businesses respond to their new breed of 'first-class' clientele, are parents in danger of becoming second-class citizens?

U.K. Eatery Under Fire For Baby Fee; Restaurant Apologizes for Charging $5 Baby Tax

By Piper Weiss, Shine Staff | Parenting

Natasha Young's six-week-old son wasn't ordering off the menu at Cosmo's Restaurant in Croyden. But his mom still had to pay about $5 just to keep him on her lap at the table at England's largest eatery. Another new mom, Ana Sheridan, was told the same thing when she brought her 6-month-old daughter to the same restaurant.

"I was astonished as we explained she was exclusively breastfed and would be sitting on our laps, therefore not consuming any food or occupying an extra seat. They said it was their new policy. That was all," Sheridan told London's Evening Standard.

After an uproar over Cosmo's baby tax policy erupted in parenting forums around the Web, the restaurant posted a public apology to both women on their website for the "mistreatment by our staff."

In the same message, management also clarified their baby fee was only supposed to apply to toddlers who are actually eating the restaurant's food, not those who are swaddled in blankets, clamoring for breast-milk. "COSMO would like to assure customers that this is an isolated incident," writes Cosmo's management. "We will be retraining all employees at Croydon as a matter of urgency."

Maybe it was all a misunderstanding, but through this incident, a larger message was broadcast: Parents with young kids aren't going to take being penalized any longer. The recent trend in kid-free zones and bans on toddlers in restaurants has sparked a backlash. Many parents feel marginalized, even bullied when they take their toddlers out to a restaurant. While they may have gotten used to fellow patrons complaining about their crying babies, being charged extra for the privilege is the last straw.

Earlier this year, at a restaurant in the town of Bath, a group of moms were charged about $3 each for bringing in baby food as opposed to ordering off the children's menu. One message-board mom called the idea of a baby corkage fee "disgusting." Another wrote: "They don't charge for breastfeeding but it's probably only a matter of time!" Two weeks after the story erupted, the Bath restaurant withdrew of its baby fee and donated the profits made off of the surcharge to charity.

It was a victory for long-scorned parents and a battle cry to other establishments considering similar policies. So when word got out of Cosmo's baby charge a few months later, tempers really flared. "Shocking and shame on the management," writes one commenter on the Evening Standard's article. "You might as well charge a pregnant women for taking up extra space."

But not every parent sees it the same way. The Guardian's Hilary Osbourne defends Cosmo's staff for charging customers a baby fee. "As a parent, I know that once babies start weaning they can make a mess, and I can see why restaurants might want to charge for having to clean up after someone who is probably eating something their parents brought from home," she writes.
Guess it all boils down to what kind of 'mess' restaurants are will to clean up: a table full of baby food or a chorus of hungry parents, fed-up with being penalized every time they bring their child out to eat. Suddenly, that table isn't looking so messy.