Chocolate

On Saturday night we we presented with the staff meal challenge. We (servers) were to bring in ingredients, and they (cooks) would do something with them. So, with mole sauce in mind, I brought in a bag of dark cocoa- only to be told that this was "lame", "impossible", and that I "must shop at 7-11 for Christmas presents".
So. Let it be known that I will NEVER bring in anything for those monsters again. We ended up having mac and cheese with vegetables and spicy chocolate milk. It was very tasty and bad for you.

Despite that naughtiness, it is a glorious time of year at our restaurant. Some of my favorite things are featured on the menu right now (Pasta with tripe! Strawberry shortcake! Rabbit with mustard sauce!). We are getting in the most beautiful early summer produce. I am getting very excited for my garden to start producing some veggies I can cook with- it looks like the purple bush beans may come first!

In other news, I recently had a very dramatic day of estate sale-ing that started with fun and laughter and ended with someone running over my foot and me bursting into tears.

At the first sale, I ran directly to the kitchen. On the stove was a big, dirty, chocolate brown dutch oven-type pot. My heart, it fluttered. Could it be? Yes. It was, in fact, a 15 quart Le Creuset goose pot. The bottom looked awful. Maybe rusted, and maybe missing some enamel. (After Kevin spent the afternoon scrubbing, it emerged as a perfect specimen.) The gentlemen running the sale appeared to be more college sports kinds of guys than french cookery fans, and they were selling the pot for $1.

$1. Please see above for photo. Also notice jewel colored Italian metal cups and our new backyard bar (the trailer).

As far as the foot incident goes, lets just say a certain person that I love didn't realize that I was exiting our slowly moving car and somehow the back of my heel was nearly crushed. It was painful, but I got a milkshake AND a magazine cut-out of Mount Hood to make me feel better. Both were very soothing.