Capital's got this fix coming!!! I am a newbie to GW and this is my first post. I am building a new house and was looking to put in a high end rangetop in the kitchen. I came across the CC while searching but had no idea about the brand. So I searched the GW for info on the Culinarian. Thanks for all the info and feedback from everyone, they were very helpful. However, I was concerned about the lack of a true simmer burner (contrary to what Capital's marketing says) as noted in various threads here. So I called Eurostove today to find out if this is a real problem and if Capital has fixed it by now. Trevor Lawson informed me that it is a known problem. However, he said Capital is working on a real simmer burner for the Culi, an 8K or 9K burner, that just contains the inner burner holes. This would be offered as a retrofit kit to current owners. Expected availability is 4-6 weeks from today, so that puts it around end of July 2012. Perhaps Capital's engineers saw Billy's fix and thought we can do it too. The simmer issue was one thing that bugged me about going with the CC, but now that is being fixed, I think I will buy the 48" CC with the BBQ when the simmer is incorporated into the design.

I would be tempted to make up a little envelope full of brochures on Italy, with a little note saying, "Surprise! I booked us a trip for May!". As soon as a look of shock/dread crosses his face tell him the truth. I'm a brat. I wouldn't be able to resist.

Just catching up with this. I didn't see the Trevi Fountain. It's under repair although I understand you can still walk past it on some sort of scaffolding. Coins prohibited during repairs! The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel were mind blowing. Same for The Borghese Gallery. Bernini's sculpture of Apollo andDaphne was beautiful, along with many others. The Borghese Gardens reminded me of a mini Central Park. After 19 days, I was ready to come home although I miss being so busy and having so much company. I was lucky that the people on my tour were so nice (well, a couple pills). I've had major jet lag all week.I actually get to have the end of Daylight Saving twice -- once in Italy last week and then again at home tonight. My internal clock will never figure it all out, but I am always grateful for more sleep. The company is Overseas Adventure Travel. I can't say enough good things about them. I was originally attracted because they do not charge a single supplement, which is a huge plus for me. They limit the number of people on the tour to sixteen, max. I saw some of the larger tour groups walk by and I would have been miserable with them. Some looked as if there were as many as 60+ people, all following a leader who had to hold up a stick with a scarf or fuzzy duck to be seen by all. One group all wore lanyards with ID cards. Ugh. I understand it takes half an hour to get everyone on or off the bus. We had a small bus that seated maybe 20 people. Plenty of room for all and it was able to go places a big bus could not. Our drivers were friendly and funny. The hotels were all lovely and well located. They took us to great local restaurants for meals, which is possible with a small group. Our tour leader was fabulous. Now there is a job I would never want! We got to see and do many things because the company is well connected and because there weren't so many of us. I gasped when I saw The Pieta. So moving. Anyway, anyone postponing travel -- time to get out there and do it!

I don't buy fish or meat from BJ's so I didn't even know where to look for crab. I did find some today so I guess they carry it regularly. Earlier today I shopped at Wegmsn's and while I was looking for shrimp I found King Crab from Russia and I bought about 3/4 of a pound. The price makes it something for a very special holiday. Wegman's also has lobster on sale "through the holidays" so I will buy some for me and my son (married, but DIL doesn't eat it) for New Year's Day. He makes it into Alfredo. I eat my lobster hot, soaked in butter or cold, as in a lobster roll. I am interested in ordering crab from Alaska too. Nancy