A winner by default

What ever happened to good sportsmanship? Or should I say sportsladyship? This morning I played 9 holes (thankfully NOT a full 18) for the "second chance" round of a matchplay. (Yes -- this means I lost my first match). Anyhow, I openly and willingly admit I am not that great of a golfer -- but I don't take myself very seriously and try to have a good time. Most of us on the league are like this. Then there are "those ladies" that you want to avoid like the plague. I just happened to golf with one of them this morningu -- ugh.

My first clue should have been her attitude at the pro shop register -- she was short and rude to Larry and it rubbed me the wrong way. Just as some side info, my bf is the lawyer for the golf course -- loves the guys that run it and so I take it as a personal insult. Don't mess with my boys! I ask her if she wants to drive the cart (just to be courteous, mind you) and that was a mistake too. Her driving was so jerky, I thought I would get whiplash before we found hole #1.

I have the highest average on the league (NOT a good thing, but I just started so I am totally ok with this), and miss spoil sport is the second highest. You would think she'd just relax since she's basically going to win the game -- but she acted like a complete idiot the entire time. I really tried hard to make her laugh, but it just wasn't working. By hole #4, she had thrown her club on the ground after teeing off, griped about every ball she hit (or failed to hit), and jerked me around in that cart for the last time. She was moaning about her 11, and I pointed out that I had 4 of them (told you I wasn't good) and tried making a joke out of it. She didn't think it was funny and just fumed about it. That and EVERY HOLE THEREAFTER. She kept saying, "this is why they put us together" as if saying, "you are a crappy player too, and I'm bringing you down with me".

I finally took over the driving because I couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't sorry when I accidently jerked the cart either. She lost so many balls or had them in the woods under trees, that a few times I just told her to throw one on so we could get on with the game. I seriously gave her 2 holes because I just wanted the game to be over and get the H out of there.

Finally, it was over and I couldn't get out of that cart fast enough. I told her I'd drop off the score card and see her tomorrow (our regular league play). Then she says, "That was fun. No lunch?" Fun??!! You call that fun, lady??!! No, I'm not going to eat lunch with you, you whackjob! I wonder if she saw the shock on my face? I responded with, "No, I've got an appointment with a photographer, family photos." She then says, "Real family or business?" I am not sure what she means by this, so I reply, "My boyfriend and his kids. I'll drop the card off and see you tomorrow."

Please, oh please, I hope I don't have to golf with her tomorrow. I ended up winning 2 holes and tieing 2. Honestly, I could have taken 4 -- but I couldn't take her attitude. Which reminds me I forgot to include the bit where she tells me about these lessons she's taking on Mondays that I should go to. Thanks, but no thanks. But thanks for telling me where NOT to be on Mondays.

In my mind, I won the round by default. Someone who acts like such an ass should not be the winner of anything. Life is too short to be a jerk playing golf. It's just a game.

Not a thing to wear!!

I just finished trying on my dress collection (the LARGE collection of 5) and I am really not happy with any one of them right now. Too much cleave, too much black, too much shoulder. Oy vey!

I am trying to find something to wear for my dinner date on Saturday. My BF and I are taking a short road trip to Chicago for the night and we made a reservation at Spiaggia, Chicago's only four star Italian restaurant. I can't tell you how excited I am!!! 2 days after we made our reservation, Chef Tony Mantuano makes a reservation at the restaurant where I work! NOT KIDDING, folks!! It was so exciting that night -- I had the pleasure of plating his dessert -- and he had some great things to say about our place!

As I am typing, BF walks in and I tell him my dress dilemna and he admits that he's not real enthusiastic about what he has either! So, we are going to bring what we have -- but maybe do some shopping on the way down and see if we can "get lucky". I love the way he thinks!

Ok, back to Spaggia for a minute -- get this -- they have a cheese cave! Yes, you heard me correctly -- a cheese cave! They have a temperature controlled cheese cave filled with pounds of Italian cheeses!! Oh, I just can't wait!! Formaggio heaven!

I will fill you in on all the details when we get back...

Ciao!!!

I can't believe how fast this summer is moving by! The Fourth of July is come and gone -- now for the fun and busy remaining 2 months of summer!

I have been trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can these days -- school starts in less than 2 months!! I am proud to say that my knife skills are improving tremendously -- sure helps that I learned how to properly hold it! I suppose the 2 lbs of carrots I had to dice (into insanely small cubes) also had something to do with it. I feel like my carrots are like Julia Child's onions!! But, I did "such a great job" on them, I've promoted to the "official carrot dicer" or OCD as we like to call it. So fitting, so fitting. I have to admit, Lady Chef is right --I've seen the dice job from "the others" and mine are much more uniform. I am sure you are not surprised.

Last week we made a new dessert: chocolate bread pudding. 3 words: YUM, YUM, and YUM!! Even though we did hire a new girl that just "graduated" from a pastry program, Lady Chef and I are still baking the desserts. She's pretty young and has a lot to learn. Not to mention, we don't really have the time to mess around like we did in the winter. We are just too busy! I am of course excited because I love to try new things and I have become really fast at making our house dessert -- makes me feel efficient.

Today is a cook and bake day, so it will be exciting to see what adventure Lady Chef has come up with for us! I think we are due for a new fruit dessert.....mmmmmm!!!

I survived!

The holiday weekend, that is! Everything went without a hitch for my first holiday weekend in the restaurant. We ended up with 38 reservations on Friday and 51 on Saturday! It was a just about a full house!

51 may not seem like many to you, but we only seat 60 and do not typically turn tables. What this means is -- you have the table for the night, there is no rush for our customers. I think this is wonderful and wished there were more restaurants were like this. If I am going out for a special meal, I like to be pampered and take my time. Ok, maybe I am a little spoiled....

Our specialty dessert now is our rhubarb & strawberry cobbler. It is made to order and takes about 10 minutes to serve from time prepped to bake time. It is worth every minute. The best part about it is I am learning how to cook fruits for desserts and learning all kinds of tricks and tips. I hope that all this baking will give me a little edge when it comes to my baking class this fall. I never knew that I would like it so much since I was not a real big dessert person. My how things have changed!!

We also are serving sides of sauteed morels, which smell divine. They are too expensive for me to be tasting, but I am ok with this. We've been cleaning and cutting morels for days now -- my fingers were starting to smell like mushrooms. Thankfully, the last box was finished on Tuesday and I won't have to touch another morel for another year. If you ever complain about your job, just remember you are not scrubbing sinkfulls of mushrooms with a toothbrush and move on. Thankfully, I am doing this work on purpose and kind of enjoy it. Spoiled, yet sadistic -- what a combo.

Tonight I have to make our "house" dessert, called Quatro de Leche, which I love making. They are made in special antique pans that lady chef inherited from a relatives bakery. I can't tell you what is in them exactly, but if you know enough about Spanish you can figure part of it out. If you ever come to visit, make sure you order one of these -- you won't regret it.

Well, it's about that time. Time to play with food, time for fun. Have a wonderful day.

Here come the fudgies!!

The season officially begins this weekend. The season that some locals hate, but others love. I live in a tourist/seasonal living area. Memorial Weekend brings them in and Labor Day takes them home. We all have our fun nick names for them, but "fudgies" is by far the oldest term I know. Did you know that in the Upper Penninsula they call us "trolls"? Trolls: People under the bridge. I thought that was aweseme.

Anyhow, I have been busy at the restaurant preparing for this very weekend. I've made hummus, tuscan bean dip, quatro de leche cake, chocolate capri cakes, strawberry rhubarb cobbler, brandy truffles, house dressing, and of course chopping and prepping whatever else comes my way. Yesterday I had to prep and clean 2 pounds of kale -- not the most fun job in the world, but at least I am not sorting peas!

It's going to be a zoo this weekend, but I am really excited for the rush of it all! In exchange for the 2 busiest nights I will have so far in my short career as a cook -- I am getting 2 days off!! Sunday and Monday I am going to hang out with friends, family, and my BF. I am really looking forward to the next several days. It's going to be great!

Welcome to summer in northern Michigan -- enjoy your stay!

It's just a virus

But it's so disabling! My laptop has 5 to 6 viruses on it and has been at the "doctor" for a few days now. I really hope it's ok, I miss it so!

In the mean time, I've been reading my email and such on my phone -- but not replying. It's so cumbersome to pull out the mini keyboard and type a long sentance. Nothing like hen pecking an entire paragraph.

I've finally resolved to use the pc we have hooked to our TV. I honestly don't like working on this darn thing since I have to sit one foot from the screen. The "wireless" keyboard and mouse are so sensitive they don't work right more than a foot from the computer. It's completely annoying. BUT, if I didn't start replying to emails -- my friends would start to wonder what happened to me!

Yes, I am here -- just a little slow to respond these days. I hope to have her back by Friday!

A little rusty

I am so grateful to be back to work for the season! The past few weeks have flown by, the first week back at work and then on a mini vacation to Raleigh, NC. Now it's time to get back to it and I feel so refreshed -- even though it was just for the weekend!

My first few days back I spent cleaning and organizing. They bought a new work station for the bakery area (my domain these days) that has a refridgerated unit in the bottom of the unit. What I had before was just a stainless steel countertop, which was ok, but this new work station -- well, it's the bomb. I also now have my own microwave and plenty of plating counter space. We did pretty well for our first weekend open and I was able to get out of there by 9:45 both Friday and Saturday. I am so excited that I am not scheduled to close!

I also made baked wonton wrappers, helped "design" a plating for a new dessert, and made mignardise for the weekend. We sold 8 of the new desserts our first night! I was so proud that I helped design it! YAY!

Monday (May 2nd) was my first major bake day. I tested 3 organic mixes that we are going to sell in the store. First I made cranberry bran muffins with "no sugar added". I am guessing that means besides the cranberries. I thought they were very tasty, while others thought they needed more sweetness. Secondly, I made corn muffins. I did not like these at all. The texture was all wrong and didn't taste like corn meal at all. Last, but not least, I made the chocolate cake. Besides the fact that I didn't butter the pans enough and they stuck to the pan -- the chocolate cake was SO divine and chocolatey!! I don't even like cake that much and I still thought it was excellent!

Later that day I attempted to make the mignardise, that week it was dark chocolate with a roasted almond inside. Well, I am not sure what my deal was, but I could not get the chocolate to temper correctly and they ended up turning color. I was so frustrated and felt bad for wasting all the chocolate -- and almonds! Not to mention I already was frustrated from the cake sticking incident. Lucky for me, Lady Chef is really cool and said -- "that's ok, you will go on vacation and come back all refreshed and everything will be back to normal."

Fast forward to this past Monday. I did more cleaning and organizing, mainly our freezers which totally needed it. We ended up pulling out some pasta, dumplings, and mini quiches to make for our employee meal. This is one of the awesome benefits I get working there -- she feeds us every night!

Tuesday night I ended up being the only one working besides Lady Chef. There were only 7 reservations, so you'd think it would not be that bad. However, when you have to prep and work 2 stations plus wash dishes, it becomes a bit of a challenge. I didn't get out until 10:20 and I was exhausted! It was a good night though, we make a great team. She was right -- I am getting right back into it.