call me a sucker.

This is food related...

The morning after

You would think that Jacky and Hiro did all the work yesterday because they are EXHAUSTED. They both put themselves to bed before people had even left last night, and now are both still trying to sleep off their hangovers.
I am also in rough shape, due to lack of sleep and my own little hangover. But really, I can't complain. Yesterday was awesome. Jessika came over early in the day to get things going, and its a good thing she did. Kevin was running around the house and cleaning, I was in a baking frenzy with two pumpkin pies (which I think sucked), two apple tarts (one of which my landlord's brother knocked off the porch railing as it cooled, if only you could have seen his face) and a tray of sticky buns (glorious). Jessika had to manage the brussels sprouts, the cheese platters, the gratin, the stuffing, gravy, dinner rolls... I was too frantic to even pay attention to everything she was doing. We made beets and sunchokes with lemon rind and candied carrots as well, now that I think of it.
And the sangria! It was glorious. Red wine, sparkling cider and triple sec with cranberries and apples. I am now even more convinced that it's not a party without sangria. We drank tons of wine and also did plenty of Mexican brandy+peach brandy+sugared lemon shots (something Kevin used to serve a lot of in Arizona...creepy...). That might explain the hangover. Or maybe it was the Manhattan's.
I am excited to eat leftovers today because last night I was so overwhelmed and full from eating a million appetizers that I couldn't really fit much more in by dinner time- let alone dessert. We have so many leftovers. The turkey carcass is sitting outside in a cambro, waiting for me. When we ran out of refrigerator room we had to start using the porch. It's coldish outside...
As for now, I am going to start cleaning. We got so much help from everyone last night that my job isn't too overwhelming, but still I'd rather be taking a bath or sticking pins in my eyes.
Which reminds me- this morning a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death at 5 AM by a crowd of redneck psycho shoppers, so skip the errands today people.

Creeping in the dark

I just crept into a sleeping house... with a bottle of riesling... a quart of lard... and a twenty pound turkey. I felt weird driving all these new friends home. Just us girls! The turkey is so large and pink, I wondered if I should buckle it up. It was a struggle carrying it all in at once (never a second trip- not with 3 flights of stairs each way). As I struggled with the contents of the refrigerator to make some room for this toddler sized bird, I managed to make enough noise to awaken Kevin- sending him into a "we're being robbed" panic. This is something I do frequently, though usually I am waking him up because of imagined wild animals roaming through the house and my mind. All is well now, but I am wondering how we are going to fit anything else into the fridge.

Much to your relief, we had staff meal tonight after I voiced my anxieties several times. We had a cauliflower and romanesco salad with anchovies, lemon and parmesean cheese. We had open faced pig face sandies with cheese and onions, and a brussels sprout salad with onions and liver dressing. Lots of salad, I was very happy. I was more happy when I won the wine contest of the night- I sold both a certain dollar amount of wine and also more than Shane. Those were the requirements to get a free bottle, chosen by Anna. Getting this wine really made up for when I forgot to ring in a bottle last night and had to pay for it myself. Not that I like documenting my errors- but hey. I'm only uman.
One last thing- of course I'll be making ants on a log. I feel that that should go with out saying. Did I mention sticky buns? Homemade butter? But of course.

Flushity Pushity Marshalades!!!!

I am making marshmallows just for funsies. They are cooling off right now, but I will update as soon as I get to to the fun part- cutting them and dusting them.
This morning was the kick-off for Thanksgiving preparations. Jessika, my dad and I went to the farmers market (Kevin fired my dad, so he was available for shopping) to pick out our veggies. We were on a mission to get chestnuts, but alas, there were none to be had. We did, however, find purple (Purple!) brussels sprouts! We also got green ones, leeks, sunchokes, 2 kinds of apples, 2 kinds of tiny pears, and quince. Yesterday I went to Marshalls, my most favorite store, and I found a Le Creuset casserole dish and also many Portuguese serving platters. Bam! It's going to be an extravaganza. Holiday of the year. For those of you who decided not to come or who are banned from our house (Morty), be prepared to be DEPRESSED when you see photos of the venison terrine. To CRY at a glimpse of the 4 layer chocolate cake. The rustic apple tart. The purple (Purple!) brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts (which we found at New Seasons). The turkey! The stuffings! The romanesco and cauliflower gratin! Silas and Leslie's cipollini onion delight! I don't even KNOW what else we are having because it's so overwhelming and I am too busy thinking about my marshmallows. Oh yes- I will also be making pumpkin pies. Kevin has a knack for them, but I'm pretty sure that with my newly acquired secret ingredients (secret only to those who don't read Cooks Illustrated. Ok, they are maple syrup and yams.) I will be the pie princess! If, for whatever reason, his is better, I will give him that very title. Cause I'm fair like that.
I am also busy worrying about staff meal tonight. Will we have one? Will it be delicious, creative and well-themed? I really, really hope so. Yesterday when I got to work there was some sort of Paella with saffron rice, clams and mussels. That was acceptable, but then I ate two of David's chocolates and went into a coma before service. I recovered and had another. (I had permission this time, by the way.)
I must go tend to the mallows. Photos soon!

We're all fancy on the inside.

My auntie Esther was just in town with her fabulous pal Marsha. Though Esther had a 60 pound gremlin attached to her leg for most of the visit, we still had a good time. That's my cousin Pearl I'm referring to, (not Marsha). She is both 6 and ferocious. What she wants for Christmas: A kitten... with a broken leg. I have my suspicions about where she might be headed as far as her teen years go. I also have my suspicions about who she's going to call when she needs $2000 and ride home from Canada.

So, for Esther and Marsha's trip, we ate lots of biscuits at both the farmers market and the restaurant. We had a huge lunch at Park Kitchen, and took a long walk at Sauvie Island. Everyone, including my boyfriend but not including me, got together on Saturday night for a pizza party (I was at stupid work.) For the grand finale, we went to the Steve's Cheese anniversary party. I stationed my self next to Caroline who was working the Raclette station and had like 19 little baguette slices with melted cheese. Then we parked it at David's chocolate barn and had 10 dixie cups of Champs Chocolate Milk- the Pine State chocolate milk of choice. Dave dared me to down the whole pitcher, and believe me I could do it. But I wanted to save him from himself and his own bad ideas. Contrary to popular belief, having some girl chug a pitcher of chocolate milk in front of your stand where you are trying to sell food product is not a good sales pitch. You're WELCOME Dave, for NOT accepting your dare.

The reason I did not write about saturday night's staff meal yet this week is that... well... yes, we were insanely busy, and no, I didn't slap any one all night, but.... There was no staff meal.

I looked into the kitchen longingly at about 11 pm, only to see cobwebs and hear that sound affect music they use when you enter a deserted western town in movies. I was all, What? Who? Where? Seriously, what the fuck? I'm hungry- I have a blog at home that will die with out this....
Nothing.
Shane and I made the cook feel really, really bad, which was easy because he is a very nice guy. We put our best efforts into expressing both anger and sorrow about his error. But still I feel the sting of the plates that remained empty on Saturday night.

I just hope for you, Staff Meal Blog, that this never happens again. As Shane said, even a big flank steak salad goes a long way with us servers... sniff...

"No more Mrs. Nice Gay"

The title of this post is a poster I saw today at the farmers market for a No on Prop 8 Rally! I love it! I am so sad about what happened in California this election. I was obviously THRILLED about Obama, but when I saw the Prop 8 news, I was totally disheartened.

However. My family, the coolest people I know, were out in Portsmouth NH this morning protesting against it. I am taking an activism class right now- and why? It's already in the family!

Time lapse

Please excuse my absence, I was on glam rock vaca at me mums house in Maine.
And to have left the day after my favorite staff meal ever! Tragic to leave it unwritten so long!
David Briggs, "Heart-o-Gold" Beefcake, whatever that guys name is- made us meatball subs and fairy bread. Meatball subs? Fairy bread? Go on... Meatball subs were all homemade with the tangiest tomato sauce, the softest of balls, and the most vietnamese of rolls (so those weren't homemade but from a vietnamese bakery). We sprinkled them liberally with cheddar cheese. It was sad though because immediately Scott docked me a ball and made me share. Not fair, not fair. But anyway. Fairy bread, according to Briggs, is a midday snack at any little kid who's anyone's birthday party in Australia. White bread. Slather with butter or margarine. Sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles (dots, not dashes). Enjoy! Every bite you take leaves a teeth shaped absence in the half inch of butter you are working through, and boy does that ever feel satisfying. Thank you Briggs!

Maine was one hundred percent fun. My mom picked me up after my nonstop flight (boo-ya) and we went straight to Portsmouth, where we had osso bucco for dinner. The trip was filled with grandparents forcing me to eat more lobster, key lime pie, etc, my girlfriends being the cutest girls on the planet, and the tv show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I know- what the hell? I blame Priscilla. My mom got a new kitten, Fuzzy, who I beat up the whole time. She is a floppity, fuzzity, purrball. One of the number one treats of my trip was getting to see my friends Melvern Taylor and Jon Nolan play a show in Portsmouth. Their voices are meant to be together, it has been scientifically proven. Melvern would turn around after songs and ask us what we wanted to hear next. Drunk with power! I was! If you do not have their records, go get them. If you click on their names above, you will be sent to their websites. Lucky you. I have been loving those boys for a long time so I can finally listen to other records (sometimes, rarely). I just got a new ipod and all of the sudden I have music again! Walking to school has never been so much fun, and how else would I have realized the both of the Black Keys have enormous crushes on me?? Its awkward, but true.

In other news, what is North America's problem? Did anyone notice that we do not have monkeys? We were watching the Planet Earth series, disk one, last night, and I came to realize that everyone else gets monkeys but us. I mean, I have Jacky Scrapple so I'm ok, but for the most part, no monkeys! Other things we don't have: Pandas, birds from New Guiney, snow leopards or any leopards, 6 foot long salamanders. I'm not sure where I plan on moving to, China seems to be pretty much full of cute animals, but Africa also seems bumping. I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, I actually have to go back to work tonight. Boo! But someone has to pay for my exotic animal habit.

Meals, wheels

Staff meal last saturday night was viewed as a kind of "last meal". Jon, the man who has been so inspired by cooking for his fellow staff, has switched shifts and will no longer be working on saturday nights. So, as his good bye meal, he made yet another bar- taco bar. We had ground beef, pig face, cheese, salsa something (sorry Jessika, I know you made it but I don't remember what fancy name you gave it), homemade tortillas (Not made by the famous tortilla maker, Caroline, but by Jessika, her #2 fan). Jon brought in some homemade pickles and fried them up for us too. Fried pickles: a southern snack, apparently. Thank you Jon, for all you did for us, and may you warn your replacement that I will light them on fire if they don't follow suit.

On a lighter note, election night! What a night it was. First, lets talk about the menu. Miss Emily made pigs in a blanket, chips with velveta cheese dip with ground turkey and jalapenos and chocolate chip cookies. I brought carrot sticks with blue cheese dip, and Shaney made us, honestly, the best Manhattan's I have ever had. I think they were the reason Obama won, don't you? *Editors note- blogger see's "Obama" as a spelling error. Um, hello google, are you out there?
We ate our special 'merican treats while we sweat, cried, and cheered. None of us could believe it was true- but of course it was! We wondered how to celebrate and naturally decided to go to the Victory. We ordered bottles of Cava and shots of whiskey, my dad came and joined us, and we did some serious whooping and hollering.

This is a historical moment for the whole globe. I am, finally? once again? proud to be american. Obama!

Victory

OBAMA!

At least we looked good.

Halloween was a serious night at work. And by that I mean only 4 people came in and they all were clearly trying to avoid the holiday at all costs, only to be assaulted by more costumes. Holly was a good Christian mom from the 80's who loved baking carob brownies. Shane was remarkably annoying and also Dee Dee Ramone. David was Michael Jackson, as usual, and I was a dead sailor. Seriously, no one commented on the fact I was wearing dead person makeup and had seaweed in my hair. WTF? We had fun anyway.