Constant state of flux

Things you can do while in California.

Drive around, that is pretty much what everyone does around here. Drive here, drive there, be stuck in traffic, it just amazing to me how much time these people spend wasting away in traffic. And sadly that is how a good portion of our time was spend yesterday. Though, we did partake of the 99 cent drink offerings in the crazy tiki bar. I was silly enough not to pack a swimsuit, but at around 1 am BG convinced me that swimming in my undies wasn’t that bad of an idea. Those that know me know that I am not really the greatest swimmer in the world, so just getting me into the pool really is saying something. The late night swimming didn’t last all that long, as the security guard kicked us out, so be it. We high tailed it away from the hotel and headed back towards the beach.

The beach (Venice and Santa Monica) was fun, though I did forget to pick up some sand (sorry Kim). Santa Monica is quite the hipster area of town, everyone dresses up quite trendy. Another observation about Southern california is that everyone seems to be driving around with big hats and giant sunglasses, presumably trying to look famous. The same people all gussied up are peering into everyone’s else's windows looking to see if there are other famous people inside. It is quite the game and as a result everyone is trying to be something a little plastic. That is just my observation, plastic people full of plastic parts, it is just silly.

Once again I was darn lucky in my sense of direction, I successfully found the park where grandpa and I hiked up around the Hollywood sign. BG and I did some serious hiking, and “she kicked my ass” climbing one particularly steep incline. There was more smog today than was yesterday, which changed how far we were able to see into the valley.

The hotel last night was near Manhattan beach, which was nice. We ate sushi at the counter of an obscenely trendy sushi bar in Hermosa. Our sushi chef was the only non-Nihon-Jin working at the counter, in fact I think he might have been from India. It was very cool that he was left handed and I noted that his sujihiki had a left handed bevel he added himself.

We hit up the hot-tub back at the hotel with a couple of women who had so fake breasts they just floated in a very creepy way. It wasn’t like I was attracted to them, but it was hard not to stare, like a car wreck. There was also this creepy guy who I guess only came to the hotel to sit in the hot-tub, but luckily he didn’t stay around the entire time.

Then this morning we took the trek up to Lompoc. Up the 101, driving along the Coast, the views were so damn stunning it just blew my mind. I wish I was not the one who was driving, as I wasn’t able to check out the scenery that much. The way the ocean just crested on the side of the coast was freaking great.

We got to the Grandparent house, and finally got to see a portion of my family which I haven’t seen for a really long time. I think it has been about 10 years since the last time I spend ANY time with any of my extended family. As one can imagine, there were a few initial jitters and awkwardness, but that waned quickly. We had a nice lunch and I threw stones at some big trees with my cousins. I totally kicked that tree’s ass! Those branches didn’t know what they had coming. After lunch we headed over to the nursing home where my 97 year old great-grandma has been staying for the last couple of months. It is amazing that she actually remember who I was and knew thing about my life, I guess the rest of the relatives had been talking. She was amazingly sharp and quick witted, for someone of her age. She remember names of my brothers and sisters, which was incredible. I have this idea about people getting old and just slipping mentally, I am glad to see that this isn’t the case all of the time. On the other hand, there was a lady with crazy hair that just looked at each of us as we passed and asked "orange juice?" That is all she would ask, nothing else, she was a little mental out there.

We said our goodbyes, and BG and I headed off to our third hotel, this one a little north of Lompoc. The hotel seems nice enough, though we are the only people I thing in this entire area of the hotel that consists of about 30 rooms. Sunday night in January in Lompoc probably doesn’t have much that draws the people in.

We might just stay the next couple of days up here in this neck of the woods, I think driving all the way down to San Diego just seems silly since we are already here. Also, there is a little something that I never new about this part of California. This entire area is laden with vineyards, and this was the area which was the setting for the movie “Sideways”. So finding a cute BB close to the wine country and just taking tomorrow to do some cruising around sounds like a fun time to me.

So far I am having one hell of a time, I am amazed at how slow the time is going. I should be working a little to get some work done that I know I will need to finish when I return, but right now I am just taking it easy. Work will always be there, I can just catch up when I get back, fuck work (but if anyone has an idea for my article in the newsletter, feel free to give me your advice).

Things you can do while in California.

Drive around, that is pretty much what everyone does around here. Drive here, drive there, be stuck in traffic, it just amazing to me how much time these people spend wasting away in traffic. And sadly that is how a good portion of our time was spend yesterday. Though, we did partake of the 99 cent drink offerings in the crazy tiki bar. I was silly enough not to pack a swimsuit, but at around 1 am BG convinced me that swimming in my undies wasn’t that bad of an idea. Those that know me know that I am not really the greatest swimmer in the world, so just getting me into the pool really is saying something. The late night swimming didn’t last all that long, as the security guard kicked us out, so be it. We high tailed it away from the hotel and headed back towards the beach.

The beach (Venice and Santa Monica) was fun, though I did forget to pick up some sand (sorry Kim). Santa Monica is quite the hipster area of town, everyone dresses up quite trendy. Another observation about Southern california is that everyone seems to be driving around with big hats and giant sunglasses, presumably trying to look famous. The same people all gussied up are peering into everyone’s else's windows looking to see if there are other famous people inside. It is quite the game and as a result everyone is trying to be something a little plastic. That is just my observation, plastic people full of plastic parts, it is just silly.

Once again I was darn lucky in my sense of direction, I successfully found the park where grandpa and I hiked up around the Hollywood sign. BG and I did some serious hiking, and “she kicked my ass” climbing one particularly steep incline. There was more smog today than was yesterday, which changed how far we were able to see into the valley.

The hotel last night was near Manhattan beach, which was nice. We ate sushi at the counter of an obscenely trendy sushi bar in Hermosa. Our sushi chef was the only non-Nihon-Jin working at the counter, in fact I think he might have been from India. It was very cool that he was left handed and I noted that his sujihiki had a left handed bevel he added himself.

We hit up the hot-tub back at the hotel with a couple of women who had so fake breasts they just floated in a very creepy way. It wasn’t like I was attracted to them, but it was hard not to stare, like a car wreck. There was also this creepy guy who I guess only came to the hotel to sit in the hot-tub, but luckily he didn’t stay around the entire time.

Then this morning we took the trek up to Lompoc. Up the 101, driving along the Coast, the views were so damn stunning it just blew my mind. I wish I was not the one who was driving, as I wasn’t able to check out the scenery that much. The way the ocean just crested on the side of the coast was freaking great.

We got to the Grandparent house, and finally got to see a portion of my family which I haven’t seen for a really long time. I think it has been about 10 years since the last time I spend ANY time with any of my extended family. As one can imagine, there were a few initial jitters and awkwardness, but that waned quickly. We had a nice lunch and I threw stones at some big trees with my cousins. I totally kicked that tree’s ass! Those branches didn’t know what they had coming. After lunch we headed over to the nursing home where my 97 year old great-grandma has been staying for the last couple of months. It is amazing that she actually remember who I was and knew thing about my life, I guess the rest of the relatives had been talking. She was amazingly sharp and quick witted, for someone of her age. She remember names of my brothers and sisters, which was incredible. I have this idea about people getting old and just slipping mentally, I am glad to see that this isn’t the case all of the time. On the other hand, there was a lady with crazy hair that just looked at each of us as we passed and asked "orange juice?" That is all she would ask, nothing else, she was a little mental out there.

We said our goodbyes, and BG and I headed off to our third hotel, this one a little north of Lompoc. The hotel seems nice enough, though we are the only people I thing in this entire area of the hotel that consists of about 30 rooms. Sunday night in January in Lompoc probably doesn’t have much that draws the people in.

We might just stay the next couple of days up here in this neck of the woods, I think driving all the way down to San Diego just seems silly since we are already here. Also, there is a little something that I never new about this part of California. This entire area is laden with vineyards, and this was the area which was the setting for the movie “Sideways”. So finding a cute BB close to the wine country and just taking tomorrow to do some cruising around sounds like a fun time to me.

So far I am having one hell of a time, I am amazed at how slow the time is going. I should be working a little to get some work done that I know I will need to finish when I return, but right now I am just taking it easy. Work will always be there, I can just catch up when I get back, fuck work (but if anyone has an idea for my article in the newsletter, feel free to give me your advice).

I guess I am nothing but a liar, they have WIFI in the lobby area of the hotel.

Now onto the hotel, it is freaking a trip. The "theme" is safari or something like that, so there are all sorts of tiki torches and bamboo everywhere. Even the dresser and mirror has bamboo accents, although everything isn't all that "nice". It isn't as if the place is dirty or in any means disgusting, but it could use an update. Those minneapolis people think Psycho Suzi's but as a hotel and not cold as shit outside. The highlights (aside from the price) are the pool, large rooms, and bar. I have not sat down and started drinking yet, but they have 99 cent beer, daiquiris, margharitas and glasses of wine. Another cool thing is that so far I have not heard anyone speaking English, Korean, French, Spanish, and German yes, but no English yet. There is a section of the hotel that is nothing but a bunch of hostel like cabins, which I am assuming are quite cheap. I even think that right now there is some sort of free food buffet going on in the bar area, another added bonus to poor weary travelers. I am guessing that once the night starts to really roll in, hanging around the pool getting shitfaced is going to be an activity enjoyed by more than just myself. Almost forgot, there are parallel pool tables one on each side of the pool, so if nothing else BG and I can drink beer and play the quarter tables.

Well I should go find something for BG to eat when she gets here, I already have the wine (grandpa paid for it) and the cork screw. Now all that I need are some nice cheeses, perhaps an olive or two, fun cured meats and some grapes. You simply not spend a safari night in a South Central Los Angeles hotel without some grapes, that is cause for a riot right there.

Oh and Kim, I will probably visit the beach tomorrow, at least Venice and Santa Monica. It also a pretty fair possibility that somewhere along the road we will stop at another beach, I have a total of four baggies that I can fill up with sand. After that you are SOL ok?

Ok what I did today.

First off the gramps and I woke and had some coffee and breakfast. I didn't complain, but instant decaf isn't my idea of coffee. We waited until after the morning rush hour had subsided (does it ever?) and started heading into LA. I wanted to check out the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market in East LA, because I had heard is was freaking huge. We did end up checking it out and I was not disappointed, the place was gargantuan. We were not supposed to be driving through the area, but we did anyway, because gramps and I are hardcore like that. I did all of the driving, gramps worked the Thomas Street Guide. Luckily I didn't scare grandpa (or myself) that much, even being that I was driving on the notoriously crazy Los Angeles freeway system.

After the market, we headed through east LA where Grandpa was thoroughly disappointed when he saw how that area has degraded. He was born and raised in the area, and it broke his poor heart to see that area so trashed. We drove though downtown, the entire time he was pointing out how this used to be here and that wasn't there, I think he had as much fun as I did checking out the city. He had not had a reason to be in that section of the city for a long time, so it was nice.

From there we headed to some farmer's market, which had an equal portion of old (30-40's) and new construction. It was fun they had an outdoor mall with lots of cool sculptures and fountains. It was very commercialism and for sure expensive, but nice to say the least. I was a little upset when my hazelnut machete cost me 4.50, steep and not worth it. I was in desperate need to quell the caffeine withdrawal I had gotten myself into. Grandpa told me how at the old baseball field that used to be right next to the market, he had seen Babe Ruth with his father many years back. Right before the Babe died, he was doing a circuit to promote some movie he had made, that is why he was there.

We left the market and headed up the Hollywood hills, way up to that top where I could see the enormity of the city. In every direction the city just seemed to stretch on and on, it was massive. We took a little hike, got a nice Korean couple to take a picture of us in front of the skyline. There was a guy from France that was sitting at the top of this hill with a little massage chair. He didn't speak much English and was there just giving massages for cash. Interesting way to make a living, it was probably nice to be able to spend his entire day in such a serene place. To those in the know, we were right next to the observatory, which is still closed for construction. Then we just headed back down the mountain, and over to Santa Fe Springs.

I just learned that BG is actually going to be in town three hours earlier, which kicks ass. I am glad that we do not have to wait such a long time in order to see each other. Originally she was going to be getting into town around 11:30, but now it is going to be 8:20, we actually will be able to do more than just crash when she gets in. I am a little worried that the hotel I reserved isn't the greatest, if for some reason it is just horrible and smelly, I am going to check out and find another better hotel down the street. Since I booked the tickets, 2 people have posted negative reviews of the place on Travelocity, so I hope I luck out. If nothing else we can find a hotel in a better area than just by LAX. I had chosen that hotel just due to proximity to the airport, I didn't want to drive so far at 11:30 at night.

Ok well I wont be near the internet for a while, so forgive me if my updates again become sparse and infrequent.

Turns out that the little pontiac that I have actually is a V6 and not a 4 banger. So that really explains why it was much more fun to drive around on the LA freeway system.

Gramps and I just went to his favorite all time Mexican Restaurant, Casa Gambino. He has known the owner for some 35 years, longer than myself or our cute little waitress have been alive. The food was typical Mexican/American fare, my carnitas burrito wasn't anything that I couldn't get as good or better in Minneapolis. It was nice spending some time with the gramps though, I am getting really excited about tomorrow night however.

Tomorrow La Reina de Brooklyn is going to finally reunite with none other than yours truely. All I have got to say is "About freaking time".

So,

Woke up this morning, had a little cereal and some good conversation with gramps. He has been pretty darn lonely lately, so having someone to talk to really seems to be doing him some good. I really wish I would be able to spend more time with him just not being alone helps.

I then hopped into the Cobalt and hit the 605 to the 5 over to the 101 up to Valley Village to meet up with my (ex) sister-in-law. One thing they never really correctly show in all of those LA based movies and television shows, is the shear amount of time it takes to get from point a to point b. All of the time it feels like what I have been doing is just driving around. The car felt a little squishy on the highway, I chalked it up to not knowing the car and the difference in Minnesota vs California highways. I pulled in front of LL apartment and noticed that my rear passenger side tire was flat. I have no idea how long I really was driving on a low tire, but considering in retrospect how long the car felt funny, it could have been for a while. At least I did notice that the tire dropped some from the time I pulled in, until the time the road side assistance guy showed up. The good thing about having a rental car, if you get a flat they take care of you. The guy slapped on the spare, and told me I should probably take the car in and exchange it, since I still have 6 days I need the car.

Back on the freeway, I drove on the 101 to the 405 south down passed Santa Monica and Venice to the airport where I got the car from. There wasn't any hassle getting the car swapped out, they just got me a new car simple as that. The cool thing about the swap was that they didn't have the same sub-compact which I reserved, so I got a mid-sized car instead. The new car is a Pontiac G6, and is much roomier and has a bigger faster engine. I don't think the MPG is that much difference, but the car is much more comfortable. Little things like power windows and mirror which I don'’t really care about, but are nice to have. The stereo in the G6 is bumps much louder, always a plus.

LL and I drove all around the Ventura Blvd checking out the sites and BSing a bit. We stopped and got some kick ass pizza from a little shop about a mile from her house. I was bummed out that they didn't have the pizza with marrow on it, what can you do eh? We didn'’t get the chance to do much in the way of shopping, only hitting up a little cheese and wine shop. The lady there was trying to get me to buy a kilo of polenta for 10 dollars! Fuck that, even if it did have dried truffle in it. I would rather buy some coarse cornmeal and some truffles and do it the old fashioned way. It my flavor wasn’t strong enough, I could always add a bit of truffle oil right?

LL has also treated me to a piece of chocolate cake, which had a little spicy element. I correctly guessed cayenne, who doesn'’t like chocolate and spicy?

I don'’t quite know yet what tomorrow or tonight will bring, and that is fine with me. I have a kick ass new car to cruise around in, and driving on the LA freeways is fun, either stopped or speeding it is just a blast.

So I will not have to go around and search for a little coffee shop or something in order to get wireless access. Turns out someone in my grandpapa's hood already is "sharing" with the rest of the barrio. Thanks mr Linksys-g you are swell.

I was going to finish the menu rigamaroll that I had not done yet at the airport, but it turns out you need to pay 6.95 to get access, not something I was willing to do. Even more reason I am so happy I found a signal here. It must be really close, I am sitting at full bars.

The plane was good, I wasn't forced to sit next to some smelly fat guy, always a bonus.

The car is ok, chevy Cobalt, not much pick up though. Really what should I expect from a small car with an automatic engine.

The weather is great, 65 and perfect, though still too cold to go swimming in Grandpa's pool.

He just told me a story about one time when he and my other grandfather (passed on) were eating dinner and having drinks at some hotel bar north of here. There was some high roller that was buying everyone drinks, and basically being best friends all around. Turns out he was convicted felon that had stolen someones car and credit cards and was using them to charge up a storm. They busted him that night, but not until after everyone got a little smashed. That is one way to do things I suppose.

Alright well I should really get back to doing nothing.

I cannot really say when the next time I will be able to update, so all of you jonesin for my obscene amount of blog updates, you might just have to chill out a bit and perhaps go ride a bike or something.

I am just waiting for my ride right now, I everything is packed and ready to go.

Phil

First item of business.

Ayer con la Maria, no pude entender bien sus palabras, entonces le mande to heat up and melt the chocolate chips before she made the chocolate chip cookies. The resulting batter was a little peculiar, but the cookies turned out to be alright. A tad sweet and a little chewy, not in a bad way though.

Y el segundo
We were making ganache this evening, and for some reason it was becoming really dull and dry, almost like it was heated too long, but not long enough to cause the fats to separate from the chocolate. My suggestion to the baker was to heat cream and butter to the point of boiling, then pour that mixture on to the chocolate. I have made ganache like this in the past (but to be honest the internet helped me a bit today). The resulting ganache was perfect, and easier to make than the old fashion bain marie method.

y el tricero
I saw parts washer twice today. First time riding a red bike with big handlebars about 2 blocks from the liquor store (12:15 ish) than again riding a huffy into the parking lot of the liquor store around 2:30. I stopped him long enough to ask why, the first trip was to get a pre-lunch 40, the second to get a post-lunch 40. I swear those bike folk might just give restaurant folk a run for the money in the partying arena. Jer-i-zo told me that the aforementioned huffy was actually a pretty sweat bike, and I could see that. I imagine it to be one hell of a project to fix a beat up huffy to the point of awesomness, challenging to be sure.

I think I am mostly ready for the trip, I have a couple of things that I need to get done, but nothing crazy. My bags are packed, at least to a point. I am still waiting for my newest favorite pants to get out of the dryer before I close the bags and zip the zippers. Tracy was nice enough to loan me some bags for the week, that should be helpful. Most of the calls I need to do have been placed, and the bills are all current until the time I get back. I preemptively turned down the thermostat, right now my house is a chilly 55 degrees, thank Allah for wool socks, pullovers and flannel britches. I didn't feel the need to have my heat cranked up to 63 for over a week with no one living here, seems silly. Because of that though, my house is bitch ass cold...

I get to see my ex-sister-in-law Thursday, that should be fun, and hopefully not too awkward given the circumstances. I personally don't care that much, I am sure we can have a good time without bringing up little miss beckteria. I am trying to track down this big produce market that supposedly exists somewhere in LA, major distribution hub for most of the produce in the US. If anyone knows where it is at, feel free to contact me I want to know.

I did cut myself a bit today, and no not with my new knives. I was using my old chef knife at work and my knife slipped a bit off of the end and sliced my palm. I should be able to heal up just fine though, you can be sure I have cut myself worse on a number of occasions. I still have not put my new knives into regular use at the cafe, but I am slowly working to it. The 240cm gyotou (chef knife western style) does have a right handed bevel, so I am going to have to get that fixed before I am able to use it regularly. The knife just shoots away at weird angles when I try to use it, meaning I have to put a greater amount of force and pressure into each cut, which is inefficient and dangerous. I might as well be using a dull knife with how I have to treat it, you can tell even by how the knife sounds, you should not be able to hear a "crunch" when cutting onions. I am thinking about shipping it back to Korin in NYC, or just waiting until the next time I go out there, which will probably be in the next couple of months. They charge a 25 dollar fee to get the bevel fixed on a blade, but until then I will keep the knife in storage. I am using the Usuba often though, so it is feeling more comfortable in my hands and is still hella fast. Ironically enough, the little Damascus petty I bought at korin is getting the most usage, perfect for peeling, and small work.

Damn,

Well I am getting everything planned and figuring out what needs to be done in the next 36 hours at which time my flight leaves to LA. I got all the maps and directions printed out and organized, as well as all the pertinent phone numbers on a smaller sheet which I can put in my wallet in case my cell phone decides it would rather live with someone else.

Being the organized anal retentive freak I am, I just went through and typed a little list of all the things that I would like to get done before I leave. All the loose ends that need to be tied up, you know. So far the list encompasses about 30 different items ranging from menu writing to buying a car adaptor for the ipod. I have my doubts that I will be able to do everything on the list, considering that I also have to work most of the day tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

I might just end up writing the menus on the plane.

Well I just got informed that the only reason I "won" so many of the games we played was that I was the more sober of the bunch. True, there were people intoxicated almost to the point of blood transfusion, but that doesn't make my accomplishments any less valid.

Take that suckers.

(I just woke from a nice long nap, did me hella good)

Check.

Well lets start this right now, lots of ground to cover and I still have too much to do getting ready for my trip in a couple of days.

First off Montana people, all are good, it was really good seeing everyone. I don't know what my problem is, friends I have had since I was a freshman in high school that now live in Minneapolis, and we hardly hang out. That shit has got to change (and will). There is probably more I could elaborate about here, but again nothing important.

Last night, or yesterday depending upon ones perception.

I had to work early, to get some preparation done for this weeks menu. Usually the Sunday night prep shift starts around 2, but last night we had our year end X-mas bash at the cafe. I started a tad bit before 11, and was greeted by one the bakers expressing her frustrations to me literally the moment I walked into the kitchen. That is a nice way to start the day, I didn't even get the chance to take my helmet off before I had to listen to some serious venting. Of all the places in the Cafe, the bakery seems to give us the most problems right now. I don't really know why, probably something to do with the fact that all of the shifts work independently of one another, and there isn't much communication between everyone. So that is my newest project, to get everyone on the same page and communication to one another regularly about what is going on. On the same subject, we started the first of our bakery specific meetings this morning, iron out problems before they explode is the goal. Still in its infancy, I just hope this will work.

Back to the Party.

Jamin and I did prep work for a couple of hours, got mostly caught up. There would still be plenty to do the next morning, but I wasn't about to make either of us be stuck in the kitchen watching everyone else get sloppy while we brunoised some shallots. Food was provided by the Luce, which was normal quality.

I should have known that problems would be afoot when I saw Summer dressed in the most obnoxious sparkling sequined butterfly patterned shirt. I don't really have any problem with sparkle, but her shirt was really over the top, not quite as silly as her underwear, but I will get to that later. Eli brought some karaoke playstation game and a little TV, so that was the entertainment while everyone ate and got ready for bowling.

Betsy gave me a ride to the Alley in her new car, zippy and frankly a little scary. I am not that accustomed to being in the passenger seat lately, especially not when someone is driving like a maniac. Betsy and I had been talking shit all week about who was going to be Champion of the lanes. In a eerie scene when the two of us walked through the front door, "Eye of the Tiger" starts playing, how perfect?

We get the shoes, and the 17 of us start in on some serious competition, well at least Betsy and I did. It was at this time that the booze started to flow, of which it didn't stop for a long time, thanks mostly to Summer and her sparkle hypnotic. Since it was all getting put on the Cafe credit card, summer kept on ordering rounds of shots for everyone. Even la Duena was getting in on the action. Shot and pitcher upon pitcher came to our group, the bartender was having a hard time keeping up.

In a funny twist, the little coffee shop turned wine bar three blocks away from my house also decided that last night would be opportune to have a bowling holiday party. I recognized the owner from talking to him at a restaurant supply place a couple of weeks back, a bit silly though, two small cafes in the same place. Even more silly is seeing my neighbor with the group, I had no clue she worked at the cafe, but I guess she does. I stopped and talked to her for a good 15 minutes, she was a little sloppy and sluttering, as was I. She was trying to convince me to just buy my ex out of the house and get a roommate to make up the difference. Not a bad idea, but that would further solidify my place in Minnesota, something that I am not sure I want to do.

Booze kept on flowing to our party.

I think the tab was over 700 dollar by the time we were done, do the math...

Also not everyone was drinking, at least 2 of our party were being good children.

Things got pretty out of control though. At one point Summer decided to flash the entire group (and bowling alley) her tighty whiteys, which had in big red letters "I like to Fart". That Summer is nothing but trouble, I think without her we would have not even started on the shots. Once we got going, people just ordered a round every time the waitress would drop the tray off.

Jamin decided her really wanted to show off how skinny his ass was, so he took his pants down and let everyone check it out. For the rest of the night he was just walking up to people, leaning against them and asking if they liked what they saw. Silly Jamin, straight up silly.

Oh you are probably all wondering who won the bowling contest?

Guess....


Well I did of course, and actually I think I got the highest score of anyone, which wouldn't be too far out of the ordinary for me. My top game was only 153, but I think the closest challenger was Thadeo with 151... The best thing was that the round where I got 153, Betsy got 76, so I doubled her score.

We also played a little Big Buck Game Hunter, of which of course I won as well.

Our time expired bowling, so we went to the Hex.

FYI Sunday night at the Hex isn't near as fun as Friday or Saturday, it was actually a little scary. At least one of us got cut off, probably should have been the rest of us, but we were more composed (not falling down drunk like he was).

At the Hex we just stayed around long enough to play a couple of games of pool (I won), and a game of darts (I won). The night was probably the most fun I have had out on the town for a good number of years, at least 2. The biggest problem with the whole night was that yours truly had to open the store, meaning I had to be there at 6:45 in the morning. I didn't get home until about one, and didn't get to bed until about 1:30. I ended up getting to work on time, and was actually the first one there. I have to admit I am feeling it a little now, because I am finally sitting down.

Ok well I think that is about all I have to report, if I think of anything I will be sure to post it.

OH!

On butts and underwear, Viggo (Tracy's dog) was puking Saturday night and when Tracy went to clean it up, she noticed that two pairs of her underwear were mixed with the vomit. Sick.

Ok well this is probably stupid, but I am going to tell you anyway.

So this band I (and half the world) am getting into right now is the Decemberists, indie rock I know but I like the songs, even if they get a little slow at times. What I just learned tonight, and what blew my fucking mind, is that the lead singer for the Decemberists was actually in another band that I know. Why does with blow my mind you ask? Because that band was none other than Tarkio, from none other than my little home hamlet of Missoula Montana. That song "Sister Nebraska" was on such frequent rotation on 89.9 right around the time I was leaving Missoula, that one would be hard pressed not to know all of the words. Now I find that this nationally known band has some Montana roots, that is just fucking with my head people. Fucking with my head big time, thanks Theo for being one of the only people who would know that I know who Tarkio was.

Fucking blows my mind.

Is shiny a close second that to sparkle?

Because right now have some bright and shiny chef clogs fresh with a new coat of polish. Despite the dark tones of the leather, I am still a little blinded by the reflection as it hits my eyes. The pair of danskos which I have at work is a little worse in terms of how thrashed they are though, I should do a little swap-a-roo and move my home clogs into work circulation. That isn't going to happen today though, I am too busy sitting at home wondering what else I need to clean. There always is the basement to tackle, I could put together some boxes and start to weed out all the crap bike parts I have around. If no one wants the parts as is, I do know that at least some blacksmiths that wouldn't mind having the metal for scrap.

k.

l8r

So,

Last night.

First I went to work, check how the pasta special went over, considering it was the first time we had tried to do fresh pasta at the restaurant. I had been trying to teach Maria how to roll out La Pasta Fresca, but it didn't go quite as well as I would have liked. I know she will be able to figure it out eventually, but it will just take her a little practice I think. The problem is getting the pasta square and even, she was getting a little aggravated not being able to roll the pasta perfectly, I have faith though. I wouldn't be surprised if soon she gets better than myself, especially if I make her roll 10+ pounds of pasta a day. I think after the first couple of days she would figure it out. The pasta special went over well, we only had 15 to start with, and we sold out by 6:30, so only after an hour and a half. That was a good reception in my book, really a good reason to try more pasta specials. I have a feeling that we could have sold over 30, which would have been fun.

After I left work, I called up Jerzo who was on the greenway. He got turned around and headed back to my 'hood where we hit up the Hex. The hex was good, cheap beer and fun people watching, there was about an equal proportion of blue collar to hipster ratio. Watching people just crack open pulltabs by the stack, just amazes me, such a waste. After a few beers, we both realized that pangs of hunger were screaming at us, so it seemed like time to leave. I saw a bartender from back at the Green Mill, who I didn't recognize myself, but he did remember me. It had been probably 6 years since I worked at the Mill, and he did look familiar, though I didn't really remember his name or anything. I guess there was a big Green Mill gathering, as I saw other former coworkers as I was on the way out. Had I been a little more motivated and not quite as hungry, I probably would have stayed around a bit longer.

Jer and I switched bikes for the 4 block ride to Manny's Tortas, I rode the fuji, he rode the Takara. It was fun riding the fuji, the giant front wheel it was like riding a tank, then again I seem to say that about most bikes. Sad to report that Manny's had just closed, there wasn't a Torta Cubana para el Felipe. When thinking about where we should go for some munchies, I realized the El Nuevo Rodeo was just across the street. I know the night club was still open upstairs, the question was about the kitchen. Hop across the street, walk in and asked about food, luckily for us they were still serving. I guess they serve food until around 4 am, good place to remember next time I am out and about and starving. I had a torta, Jer had some mole enchiladas, both were grubbing. Another good thing to remember is that they have a happy hour EVERY DAY with 2 4 1 's. It is like little t's but with less crowds and cheaper beer.

I rode home and talked to Brooklyn girl for a little while before almost passing out, I had been since 5:30 in the morning, so sleep seemed nice. Instead I noticed that the second season of Chappelle show had just finished downloading, so instead of sleeping, I decided to see if the episodes would play. 3 Hours later, my guts are literally sore, and I am even more tired than I was before. I finally got to bed around 4 am, so I was almost up 24 hours for no good reason.

So 23 YO girl has been calling me again. I don't really know how to just not hang out with her without hurting her feelings. I really should not have gotten a little "friendly" after a few drinks on her birthday, that would make the entire "I don't want to hang out with you" conversation that much easier. She is a good girl, just the difference in age and experience seems a bit insurmountable. Heck I am here with one marriage under my belt at the tender age of 27, I don't think she has even lived with a boyfriend before. Not to say that is a huge deal, but it is a big enough deal to keep me from wanting to pursue anything lasting. Anyway, Brooklyn girl kicks way more ass than "Minneapolis from St Paul" girl. Brooklyn girl just got a new tattoo this evening, who can resist a girl with tattoos I ask you? Not I.

Alright well I should hop on the bike and start causing trouble.

First though a difficult call to make.

(Oh tomorrow is a Montana pool playing reunion show someplace in these twin cities, so far the participants are Shawn, Travis and Theo, anyone else is welcome to follow. Be warned though, obscene amounts of drunken antics might just take place.)

This is going to be quick and hopefully without much pain for all of you folk out there.

I am writing about my favorite stoplight here in Minneapolis, at least on a bike. The sensor is very liberal, even triggered with my skinny ass on my equally skinny tired bicycle. Given, I don't always wait for the light to change before I speed through on to the other side of Lake street. Yes, this light is right there on Lake Street probably about 6 blocks from my house intersecting with 39th avenue. One one side is the lesbian owned and frequented Blue Moon Coffee shop, which makes a mean hazelnut machiato, which reminds me, I have a sufficiently punched free card in my wallet. On the other side of the street is an abandoned SuperAmerica, abandoned due to the insatiable expansion of the SA juggernaut and acquisitions that have brought the variety of convenience stores in the twin cities down sufficiently. There is a bigger and better SA just 4 blocks to the east on Lake, so this small annoying one became obsolete.

I just like the light, treats me well near everyday. In contrast, the light on Lake and 36th can bugger off.

Last one first.
Bikes, just got back from a ride which really didn't have any purpose. Most of the time I am such a utility bicycle rider, if there isn't a destination, I don't typically get on the saddle. The problem is worsened when I look outside and it is dark, cold and dreary like it is right now. I somehow worked up the gumption to go for a little ride though, not over 15 miles, but it is night dark outside. It felt good just to be on the bike again, my one mile commute is hardly enough to get me started. Another aspect of winter riding is that it focuses my attention span. I find that I am getting more and more into a mind set of just listening to the first 30 second to a minute of a song before I skip to the next track. With my massive gloves hindering my finger dexterity, I have no means of shortening the songs (they have not created the iPod mind plug yet). When I get to listen to an entire track, I get a greater appreciation for the music, for the same reason I like listening to whole records.

Cheese.
This rep just brought in some goat cheese from a small town in Montana. Organic humanly raised goats produce this cheese in none other than Belgrade Montana, where my mom lives. I think a little goat dairy tour will be in order the next time I make it back to Montana. My mom is always trying to get me to move back to Montana, talking up how much better paying the jobs are than when I left. Granted I wouldn't have much difficulty finding a cooking job around Bozeman, there are umpteen bazillion resorts in that area. Back to the cheese, I am currently eating some of the "Truffled Chevre" on my grilled cheese sandwich. The truffle flavor is there, albeit a little subdued, hard to tell though considering I slathered the whole mess with some black truffle oil I had lying around.

Bread.
This same grilled cheese sandwich I am eating right now is on Birchwood bread, which has gotten so freaking good in the last month or so. We have a new baker who is dealing with all the bread baking and recipe writing right now, and the results have been stupendous. Everyday I try a different of his creations and am impressed more and more. This that I am eating right now is the whole wheat bread, chuck full of whole grain goodness. I also noticed this afternoon when getting the Whole Grain Milling price sheet that they are now offering a whole wheat bread flour. Usually when making whole wheat bread, you have to put some portion of white flour in, just to offset the lack of gluten in the wheat flour, this wheat is supposedly super nice and doesn't need near the amount of white flour (if any). The delivery driver (owner?) said that it was some of the nicest wheat he had ever gotten, and where was it from you ask?

Mon-Fucking-Tana, where else?

What is best is that I save 6 dollars a bag by getting the flour from WGM, think 5 bags a week, times 52 weeks, that could mean about 1.5k savings AND a better product. Freaking awesome if you ask me.

This won't go down without a fight. I have visions of all the Birchwood staff snapping and cruising down the street, strutting waiting to meet up with those birchwood impostors. They want a war? War is exactly what they will get, a world of hurt is about to be opened.

Ok what should I be doing right now?

Considering that it is my "admin" day and I don't have anything to do in the kitchen, I should be working, not blogging. I spent the morning in meetings again, which were surprisingly pleasant and very unobtrusive, I like that. I probably am sounding a little like a broken record here, but that whole sitting down in a meeting for extended periods of time just makes me frustrated and bored.

It seems as though we (management staff) are going to be taking a retreat up north here in the next month or so. The guy who is like a occupational advisor (or something like that) has offered up his house to us as a location. I must admit a little trepidation on my part, just thinking about the Cafe being without all the big guns for 2 whole days, but we should be ok. I know the Kitchen will operate just fine without me being there, at least for two days. It is the front of the house that would be a little harder to handle with the two Managers not there, but really I am just being my normal worried self. It would be up at his house on Lake Superior over looking the lake and with equipped with sauna, hot tub and supposedly giant kitchen. I think it would be a fun weekend, even if we would have to talk all about work stuff the entire time. He has himself a pretty good gig, he spends 10 days up north and 4 days in the city working. I am sure he spends a fair amount of his time preparing for all of his clients while at home, as well I am sure he relaxes a great deal. The is only 2 days a week that he is down here "working" practically opposite of everyone else in the US.

I think I just figured out at least next weeks menu, now I have to think about the following week. I going to be in a far off land (Cali) when we roll out the next menu, so I should make sure we know everything that we are planning on doing.

That is mostly just silly though.

Angelita called me today, seems her new job as a wine rep is treating her nicely. What I think is funny is that although literally EVERYONE knows about her hooking up with the Chef of a place I used to work at, she is not telling anyone about it, or at least not me. There was a rumor going around that their little trysts somehow contributed to her getting let go from that job, but no one knows for sure. I have a fear that she is going to have a difficult time adjusting to the rigors of a workweek that entails less than 65 hours, like the rest of us put in as restaurant folk. Lately I myself have been able to limit myself to right around 50 hours, which for me is really good. That of course doesn't take into account the extra work I do at home, like menu writing, and/or cruising different food websites, that is all "research" right? Even so, 50 hours a week is so much better than the 85 hour weeks that made themselves painfully commonplace during this past summer. Now I know come the busy season, I might again have to work more, and really I am ok with that, bring it on.

Tracy wanted me to post this on my blog, so here I go. Feel free to pass the word onto anyone and everyone you know, I will probably be there doing the food, if you care to come up and say hi!

Calling all Bike Geeks!
On February 26th, at the St. Paul Academy School Gym, from 9:30 to 2:30, Birchwood Cafe and the National Sports Center Velodrome are pairing up to sponsor this year’s Twin Cities Cycling Community Annual Swap Meet. Whether you’re buying or selling, you won’t want to miss this event where a mere $5 dollar entry fee brings Christmas in February for all bike geeks. Bring the whole family and shop till your heart’s content. Wheels, frames, tubes, accessories, and small shiny chrome things will all be for sale. Or perhaps you’re looking to rid your basement of wheels, frames, tubes, accessories and small shiny chrome things. Now’s your chance to cash it all in (and buy more bike stuff!) Tables to sell are $30 and the price includes admission for 2, so really it’s like $20 a table. Or as an alternative, for $5 a bike you can saddle up to our bike corral and sell your steed there. Did I mention Birchwood baked goods, Peace Coffee and door prizes? Proceeds support the National Sports Center Velodrome. See www.mcf.net for more info or directions to the swap. See ya there!





If anyone wants the original PDF for printing purposes, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Alright people, we in Minneapolis are looking out our windows to see a lush snow fall coating everything and anything in its path. I had some errand running to do this evening, and I have not returned Tracy's camera yet so here are some pictures.



Look my bike is bluffing.

Bike or Car? One is much easier to scrap off.

At work I park next to the dumpster, that is Jamin's bike next to mine, I let him borrow my pedal wrench tonight so he could install the new pedals I gave him.

Ten bucks if you name the intersection.

Hmmm I think I have seen that house somewhere before.

No! YOUR perspective is whack.

Yeah that is me, I where a helmet, call me loony.

First off I would like to take this moment to apologize to all of you about the silly size of my even sillier bicycle images. I had originally planned on just doing the fun caption adding in photo shop, at which time I would have been able to just adjust the JPEG compression ratio while saving the file. Things got all screwy, so I didn't end up being able to use photoshop (don't ask) so I used a different program before I uploaded the pictures to my FTP server. I kind of forgot about upping the compression, so that is why my page too so long to load for a while there. I fixed the problem, or at least I think I did.

I found this pretty fun program Imagewell which makes the whole manipulation process pretty dang fun. The best part is that you can send the pictures directly from the program to your FTP site without having to save to your desktop. You also get to add stupid little text boxes and crop the picture into cute shapes, silly I know but I like it, once again creating a pretty dang strong argument for my dorkiness. Sorry all you PC users, this is another Mac specific proggy.



That is a picture of the phantom new bike I have been talking about for at least the last month, I will probably get more pictures up soon enough.

There was more stuff that happened today, but I am too lazy to go into much detail, suffice to say it involves organic maple syrup, costco and a girl who was born less than 50 miles away from where I was in California. Really though, not too interesting. Knowing me I will talk in detail later after I get a shower in.

Roger Moore, you are a sexy little bitch aren't you?

I never realized the true beauty of the old school Bond films until just tonight, and I have to say that Sir Roger made quite the dashing 007. A role model to be rivaled by no one, not even that fraud Sean Connery or the hack Bronsen, they both just pale in comparison.

I am now thinking about saying to hell with this cooking gig, I am fairly confident that my true calling in life is that of a British secret agent. Hmm, think they make a school for that?

Well I guess this is 100 posts on this blog, so I might as well make this a fun one.


Here are some pictures of my winter bike, enjoy.

First off, I would like to think the winter gods for allowing us a little reprieve from this cold and aggravating winter season. I think it was actually almost 40 degrees today!! The sun was shining to boot, perfect weather for, you guessed it, bike terrorism. Ok well terrorism might be a little too drastic of a term, bicycle silliness might be more apt a phrase.

I am thinking really hard about organizing a bicycle u-lock fight club, helmets mandatory. Those of you with those long tempered steel chains aren't invited, that just wouldn't be fair

After I gave a review, I had nothing to do so I headed out upon the bicycle super highway on my way to uptown. It felt nice not having to worry about snow or ice underneath my skinny slick bicycle tires. I still think I need to get on the bike more often, I am no where near to my normal riding shape, this winter of 1 mile commutes isn't really enough to build up them old leg muscles.

My plan was to stop by Kitchen Window and get myself a whet stone, preferably a ceramic. I really should have purchased one when I was in NY, the would have been the smart thing to do, I just wasn't thinking about it at the time. The selection was sparse and expensive at the cute kitchen supply store tucked deep into Calhoun square. I decided to just forgo that purchase for today, opting to do a little internet searching before I drop 70 dollars on piece of equipment to sharpen my knives. I will probably hold off breaking my new knives into rotation at the restaurant, I have this fear of a careless employee lopping off a finger in a moment of haste. A knife isn't something that should be handled lightly, respect is key.

I headed upstairs to The Independent for a beer and some happy hour eats, I hadn't really had much to eat all day. I got my blue moon with orange garnish, and waited for my pizza and zucchini fries to arrive. Just a few notes first off about the pizza, first off they don't roll their own crusts, obviously sysco cracker crust. Second, when the menu states fresh mozzarella, I expect as such, not your average part-skim shredded mozz on every cheap pizza from here to Tijuana. Third, when you say julienned basil on top of the margharita, I expect basil, not spinach cleverly cut thin in hopes that no one will notice the substitution. I know what happened, who ever did the order didn't order enough basil, and the resourceful cook used what ever they had on hand, which happened to be spinach. I don't know if most people would have noticed, but there is a big difference between basil and spinach. The zucchini fries were a disappointment as well, the breading just wasn't adhering to the zucchini, so instead of fries, I got greasy, soggy, disgusting pieces of vegetable.

Well I did take the rest of the pizza home, but I didn't hardly touch the fries, not worth it. And to think I almost got a job working as the sous for that restaurant a couple of years back, in retrospect I am glad I didn't. I remember that they were making their own raviolis and the chef was new and eager to get thing to a more upscale point. Too bad for her, that what ever strides that were attempted didn't quite hit the mark. First and foremost people come to that place for the booze anyway, so I am sure the food is secondary.

I am still sweaty from biking, so I had better take a shower/bath before I stick to my chair.

Alright well it is late and I am sweaty from my bike ride home from the party.

I figured this is the most opportune time to post a picture of my Transformer, Omega Prime who is currently keeping watch over my record collection. Some people have guard dogs, I have a foot and a half tall transforming robot capable of shooting projectiles at who ever is stupid enough to fuck with my shit.

Sadly one of my cooks totally smoked me on the flat lands on the ride over to the party, the only time I ruled was uphill, not good enough.

Again about the transformer, I know I am a geek, fucking sue me already.

I didn't do much tonight well I guess the night still is young right?
I took another nap, seems like that is becoming a trend, not one I really shy away from. I need to get something for a present for the party tonight, probably do the basic bottle of wine, birthday card, that shit. I am all about the consumable gifts, ones that don't require any sort of personal thought behind them, i.e. impersonal.

Had some "fun" phone conversations tonight, don't know if I really am at liberty to talk about them here in this venue, but yeah they kicked ass.

Took a bath, finished cleaning up my little casa, ate some bad food.

Now I am watching Team America (Fuck Yeah!) again, straight up silly.

Listen here, I just spent the last hour organizing my closet. During which I noticed the following things about myself. First off I have at least 45 hats, not including bicycle helmets, hankerchiefs, or head bands. Now at least they are in a semi-organized fashion, brimmed hats here, stocking caps there, etc. I also found out that I have over 20 pairs of shoes!! I had no clue.

Aside from that I have just been spending the morning cleaning and stuff like that, pretty boring actually. I did sleep until after 12, a recent new record for me to be sure. I could have slept longer, but I got a call from work asking about some cheese which was over ordered.

Now that I have my house clean, I don't really have much to do until tonight's big board game/booze party in Nord East. I might go and weed through my basement full of bike/computer parts and start to fashion boxes full of crap to give away on craigslist. I can imagine some people might have a purpose for all of the shit that I don't need. After all when I finally move into that cramped 1 room Brooklyn apartment, there wont be much room for anything but my shoes and hats.

A jesus cristo!!

I just chopped an onion faster than I EVER have before. Thing about that people, I have been working in kitchens chopping onions for at least 10 years, and I just chopped an onion faster than I have before.

This is big, like bigger than big, like maybe up to the category of huge.

I used the USUBA which is the left handed specific vegetable knife. I was a little worried at first at how it would work, but I exhibit a little trepidation everytime I am handling a new knife, I like to call it respect.

It was crazy though, and I know the newly honed edge of the knife probably had a great deal to do with the quick chopping, but I think the design of the blade also was to blame. This usuba is very heavy weighted to the front of the blade, so it naturally likes to fall towards the cutting surface. I think I could see this blade becoming one of my top three most used, which is saying something.

Alright well I have onions carmelizing I must attend to.

Oh well now that I think about things, there really isn't any need to be hasty, really what else do I have to do tonight?

So I may just change this entry to be titled, slow and boring update, which might be more appropriate.

First off, I went thrift store hopping again today, hit two shops, which I didn't get around to yesterday. Did I buy some stuff? Well of course I did, it wouldn't be a trip to the thrift store without finding something to buy. That is the great thing, you get cheap stuff, so if you end up not liking it, or it doesn't fit into your "style" there is no reason not to just place it back into the thrift store network and allow whatever item to get sucked up by the next sucker.

I got myself a couple of hoodies, a pair of wranglers (them butts drive me nuts), and two shirts.

There was a little confusion as I was walking to the changing room of the first place; a Mexican (I say this because of how he talked) man was trying to figure out something about a watch. The lady working the counter didn't understand this gentleman’s English, and granted it was a little sloppy and heavy with a deep Morelos accent. I asked him in Spanish what he wanted to know, which was if the watch was waterproof or not. Although I did relay the question to the counter girl, I didn't wait to hear the answer, it was obvious that the watch was not close to waterproof. The counter lady then called me "Awesome" (no shit) and I just walked into the dressing room to check out my ass in my tight new jeans. It boggles my mind that people living in any city can get around without speaking Spanish in this day and age, not a day goes by where I don't spend at least 1/4 of my conversations either totally in Spanish or if nothing else translating. This might have something to do with my line of work, and the ubiquity of Latinos working in the service industry, but still I don't think it is a phenomenon limited to restaurants.

A while back I heard a statistic that stated by the year 2050, there would be more native Spanish speakers in this country than English speakers, and I have no problem believing this. Even when I look at my friends, of those who are native English speakers (read white) they just aren't reproducing. In contrast, most of my friends from south of the border (read Ecuador, Mexico, and Dominican Republic) all have children and are eager to have more. It might be that my experience is isolated to those familiar to me, but I have a sinking suspicion the birth rates are higher among Latinos. Catholic upbringing might have something to do with this, or maybe just a higher regard of "family" which is in stark contrast to the narcissistic tendencies exhibited by my friends (any myself). Couple this disparity between birthrates with the influx of migration from Spanish speaking countries and it is easy to imagine how the population will be a little diverse in a short time. I personally think it is for the best, change the status quo a little, stir things up, and hopefully bring a different perspective to the population in general. Getting rid of the xenophobia so prevalent across our fair country would do nothing but good in my book.

After my shopping I called up my ex-sister-in-law and got things in line to pick up the knives that I have been waiting for. I never really expected that the knives would actually get to me, after all I asked for them far in advance of my ex-wife’s little trip to Japan. As it became clear that things were more hostile and uncomfortable between us, I figured I would just have to buy my own knives here stateside. I didn’t really care that much, my knives are still “redneck” sharp, which is the gold standard of knives among at least those I work with. In fact those enigmatic knives finally made their way into my hands and I am gawking at them as I type this. It is more difficult for me to actually find high quality Japanese knives here in the states, mostly because of my handicap, or left-handedness. Funny thing is though, one of the knives that I got, wasn’t left handed at all, and I have the feeling I could have purchased the EXACT same knife back in NYC with the proper bevel for a comparable price. The other (usuba) would have been a little more difficult to find here in the US, even at the store I went to in NY, which would have had to order it like everyone else.

All and all I like the knives, although they aren’t what I had asked for.

I hit up the Chatterbox last night, yes again. This time it was because of a birthday gathering, which I really could not have missed. Sitting talking shit with the “crew” I saw some old Chefs I used to work with a couple of years ago come in. I guess the Chatterbox is their Thursday hang out, they get together and talk shop, drink beer, cause trouble. I talked to them for a while, and during the conversation Esteban stated that he might try and write a little piece on the Café and I for a local magazine. I wouldn’t turn down the publicity, bring it on right?

There was a bunch more that happened, but I don’t know how much more I will be able to keep all of your interests. So I am inserting some strategically placed photos of my knives, just to break of the monotony of my prose, I hear that is a good way to keep the readers attention.

Well I have to write this article every month for the newsletter, just a paragraph long.

Here is my rough draft, tell me if it sucks ass.

Now that the revelry and excitement of the holiday season has passed and things are returning to normal, it is hard to stay enthusiastic about life during our grating Minnesota winters. Having weeks at a time where the sun doesn’t peek through the clouds and the temperature hovering in the lower end of the mercury makes even the most jovial of folks a little down. It is during these dark and gloomy times that we must stay strong and think about how great this state becomes as the planet moves to the opposite side of its orbit. Keeping my going is the thought of all the wonderful produce awaiting us at the Birchwood this summer. Early this week I had a discussion with Greg from Riverbend Farms, the local organic farmer of whom we buy a great deal of product. Looking at the lists of what he is planning to grow this coming year did wonders to my overall mood and outlook towards the future. Thinking about the heirloom tomatoes, funky eggplant and organic spicy arugula just got my mouth salivating. Knowing how few levels exist between the farm and the table is quite nice. So if at all you are feeling down this winter, just think about our sidewalk patio and the wonderful fresh and local foods we will be offering all of you and smile as you take a quick little mental jaunt into the future. Just don’t forget to shovel the snow.


I know it is a little cheesy and probably stupid, but whatever.

Sure I am here trying to get my finances in order so I can take this big Cali trip with little or no problem, everything was on track. I was just about even with being able to pay off all my bills, finance the trip and still have enough to pay the ever daunting mortgage payment. The way I operate is to pay all my credit cards, bills and everything outstanding down to zero every month. The idea of paying interest or late fees is akin to fingernails on chalkboard for me. Now I might just have to wait a month or two until I get back into the black, which sucks. The two things that really are the culprits here are the fact that the gas bill was about 250 and some knives that were sent to me from Japan. The knives I am sure are to be a great bargain compared to what I would be able to find here stateside, but even so I am going to have to pay well over three bills for them. I hope that there isn't anything else I am forgetting about which could sneak up and bite me in the ass, that would pretty much suck.

FYI The longer that I sat at the Chatterbox, the more the proportion of women to men shifted. When I got there it was full of stripped shirt types (like those I used to have to see when I went out with my ex), probably corporate workers finishing their "hard" days work. Starting around 7 they dynamic shifted to more hipster women, and they started arriving in packs. I was blessed enough to get a couple of free beers from my friend who was managing that night. She probably is going to have me fix her bikes or something in trade, which is fine by me.

I did a little thrift shopping this evening, went to a shop that Betsy told me about in Richfield. There was lots of cool shit, I left with a pair of pants (equipped with candy wrappers in the pockets!!) couple of shirts and that was all. I was thinking about getting some more sweaters, but talked myself out of it. Summer and I must have left the Cafe within 10 minutes of each other, and we randomly showed up at the same store at the same time. She was trying to convince me to purchase her purse and cartoon book, I wasn't having none of that. I need to save my money right now, I hate operating with less than an paycheck in the bank.

I did a quick Costco run in the morning, 30 minutes round trip!! Costco is like 7 miles from the Cafe and that doesn't even include shopping time. Lucky I knew exactly what and where all the products I needed were, I practically sprinted through the store. I needed to get back to make sure things were still going well at the Cafe, so leisurely shopping wasn't really an option.

Nap time now...

I should be writing an article for the newsletter, but that is now on the back burner.

Another day, another dollar right?

Today was a little more aggravating than normal.

First off let me say that my days when I am doing nothing but working in the kitchen I am fine. Bring on the 12-15 hour shifts busting ass the entire way, sweating and smelling like food. I have no problems just putting the pedal straight down to the floor and letting that carb purr full bore as I just do more than any man should be able to handle. Something about keeping moving and always having something to do which is well within my comfort zone.

Then we have days like today. Not that today was bad by anymeans, but it just isn't what I normally like to do. Instead of being busy cooking and cleaning like I usually am, I spent the first 8 hours of my day stuck in meetings. The meetings really don't bother me much either, and the majority of the time I actually find them helpful, you know putting everyone on the same page. Today the first meeting was really fun, it was with the organic farmer which we bought the majority of our produce from this year (during the growing season of course). He brought us statistics of all we bought, broken down by item and compared to his other accounts. I was surprised to see that we were 5th in the rankings for purchases, and above us were all really busy restaurants and or co-ops. We could have been 4th if I would have just bought 1 case more of buttercup squash or a few extra radishes it could have been ours. I liked talking to him immensely, he always has a different perspective on life, and is really nice to boot. I didn't really have anything that interesting which I would want that he didn't have available for the next growing season. I have the links to a couple of organic/heirloom seed websites, so I am going to be doing some perusing here in a little bit.

The next meeting was a little more aggravating. There are so many little things that I need to get done around the restaurant, it almost feels a little insurmountable, or if nothing else overwhelming. I sometimes have a hard time just keeping up with the day to day operations of the cafe, add on writing some manuals, lists, guides and job descriptions and I get a little flustered. I can handle just that, it isn't like I am incompetent or anything, but I then bring in a business consultant who wants me to help plan the implementing of bringing our products to a retail location and I start to feel a little busy. Now I understand that there is a market to bring some of our goods the co-ops and grocery stores, but I just wish it wasn't I who had to figure out how to write nutritional labels, recipes and specs. I am busy enough just planning our weekly changing menu and doing all the ordering. I could let someone else do the ordering, that is true, I just am so much better and more thorough than everyone else is. I don't like leaving things up to chance, which is how it feels sometimes.

I had about 1/2 an hour between the big long meeting and having to conduct another review. This review went well, I think I am getting better about being the whole boss/manager thing. I feel like I am more level headed and sure than I ever was in the past. It is like the pants I bought while I was a little chubby are finally sliding over my engorged thighs, they still feel a little tight, not as comfortable as I like, but I still like showing them off.

Well I think that is about all I had to do today, but there is probably something I missed.

Wait

I got a flat tire as I was leaving work, talk about insult to injury.

I also went for a run, that seems to never fail in making me feel better.

Now I am back at the Chatterbox, (again), and am sad to say that the odds are not really in my favor anymore.

At least that will make Brooklyn girl happy...

16 days left...

Tonight was busy, to be point of being around 1000 dollars more than average. Given that we are a small cute neighborhood cafe, that is really saying something. I keep waiting for the slow season, but it just isn't coming, not a bad problem to have. I have been telling all of the employees that I am going to have to be cutting hours soon, and so far no cutting has had to occur.

I don't really have the free time to dedicate to blogging right now, so I will make this short.

Tomorrow I get to meet with a farmer talking about last season and planning for next, that meeting is taking place early so I should sleep soon. I was always super happy with the product this particular little organic farm in the western suburbs was able to supply us with, I am anxious to see what he has on the slate for next year.

Bike riding was good, awesome weather.

Baby Jamie wiped out right in front of me while trying to attempt a side moving dismount off of his surly cross check. Call me an evil heartless man, but I just couldn't help but laugh. He was literally 10 feet in front of me and I had just done my patented jump off the saddle/spin/catch the saddle dismount, I think he was trying to one up me. Well it didn't work now did it Baby Jamie? Who is laughing now? HA!

The day was super busy, there was always something going on, which I like. I made two good soups, one vegan, one with free range turkey and bacon. I liked the vegan sweet potato puree with chili, lime and pepitas more than the turkey with roasted vegetables fennel and rosemary, even though I dig on meat.

Naked Man by the Butthold Surfers just popped onto my iTunes, I have not really thought about that song for a couple of years anyway.

Apple revealed the new computers based upon the intel processors. Too bad I don't have much cash right now, I wouldn't mind a computer practically the same as mine but 3 times faster. Fucking technology, you can never be one up on it.

Ok well that is all I have for you people, fuck off if you want more, you will have to wait.

Out.

OK well I don't really like to repeat myself when I post stuff, but I am not going to go through the effort of actually reading through my old posts. You see I sometimes forget what I post and what I am just thinking about posting and what I really do. Like right now I cannot remember if I actually said anything about cleaning up my bike. My poor poor winter bike has been brutalized this winter, as happens practically every winter. The snow, salt and sleet just kick the poor bikes ass, turning nice new parts into rusty messes within such a short period of time it boggles the imagination to think about it. I had a chain go from being brand new to stiff as hell in about a months time. Now I probably could have taken a little better care, cleaned the drivetrain and lubed it up periodically through the season, but I just didn't Something about having to carry my bike through the entire house, dripping sand and salt every step of the way in order to reach my basement bicycle room just isn't my idea of a good time. So instead I just parked the bike in my 3 season porch, with some old towel underneath to catch what ever dripped off.

Long story short, the bike was seeming a little neglected and was practically begging for some loving.

Now I really like working on my bikes, and I especially enjoy when I have something dirty and decrepit and make it beautiful again. Here is a quick break down of what I did in order to make my bike better.

1) Scrubbed the whole bike down, removed all the grit and grime and left it clean again.
2) Removed the old rusty chain and replaced it with the stainless steel chain that I got for my birthday.
3) Took off the wheels and did a deep toothbrush/orange degreaser cleaning, it took a while but really it was worth it.
4) Took the bike into Parts Washer and had him true them up, which needed to be done. When truing up the front wheel, he noticed that the reason it was a little out of whack had to do with a broken aluminum nipple, so one spoke was utterly useless.
5) Lubed up the entire drivetrain making it smooth like butter, like it should be. Given that I spent well over 500 dollars to build the Phil Wood/Open Pro Wheelset, there is no reason my bike shouldn't just fly down the road. It is amazing how a poorly tuned drive train makes even the best of componentry sub-par, chalk one up to maintenance I guess.
6) Replaced the batteries in my bike lights, this wasn't needed exactly, but I like to be bright as I ride my bike. Felipe road pizza isn't a role I care to play anytime soon.
7) Switched saddles, now my ass isn't as sore (mind out of gutters people) probably the most important and personal part of a bike yet I figured I could get away with a crappy random generic POS saddle. Now I have one of my favorite saddles, a Terry Liberator, which I bought probably a bit over 2 years ago. It isn't my absolute favorite, but in the top three.

I think that is about all I did, I wasn't really working on the bike for that long, so I cannot imagine what else I would have done. Now the bike rides perfect, better than perfect in fact. This bike I built up just to be a winter bike, but I just have the feeling like I might end up falling in love like I have a proclivity to do on a semi-regular basis. The front wheel being with a broken spoke had kept me from riding the bike for the last couple of days, so now I really have no excuse.

Like I said before, I cannot remember if I said any of this before, but I am sure I didn't go into as much depth as I am going right now.

Work was well, slow but well. We didn't sell many Prix Fixe at all, which was depressing for me, after I go through all of the work getting the menu ready and doing all of the prep work. It is just seeming a little futile to run the pri-fi on Mondays, I am going to petition for a moving of days to Thursdays, I hope that will spur a little interest. Part of the problem is the perception that people have of our restaurant, which I might not be able to change myself. We just do too much business given the facility to focus as closely to each plate as people would expect in a more upscale place. So I have to deal with how things are right now and count my chips as the lay, just be happy I am doing such a good job of running the place despite the limitations.

FYI I am at the Chatterbox again, and again there is a high proportion of females to males. Too bad I am not really looking for anything right now, I probably could work my MoJo on a few of the women singing Karaoke.

Ok well I am at work right now, looking for some items to order off of the impossible to navigate eSYSCO website. What sucks is that the site is riddled with misspellings and a counter intuitive way of searching for the items. So even though there are items I am 100% certain are for available, I am having a bitch of a time finding them.

So that is frustrating.

I made some pasta for our Prix Fixe menu tonight, it will be the first time since I started that I am actually able to use my pasta making prowess at all. Pasta with beets and gorgonzola, should be a winner in my book.

I should get back to work now, and if there are any spelling errors just ignore them, I am too lazy to spellcheck.

Out.

I find it amazing that something so simple yet complicated can be of the potential to cause such frustration.

One of you my readers will understand what I am referring to, the rest of you can just fuck off, but in a nice way.

I am sitting in the office, being my usual procrastinating self and waiting to get everything ready for the big meeting I have here in about an hour. I cannot say I am super fired up about standing in front of everyone, being the center of attention, not really my deal. I don't have much of a choice though, so I am just going to make the best of it. At least this isn't the first meeting I have ever had to put on, and those little nervous jitters and butterflies in my stomach aren't near to the level they were before.

I just typed up what I want to talk about, so that will help me if I become a loss for words. There really aren't that many issue to be addressed, so for everyone's sake I hope the meeting can be pressed through at supersonic speeds. There is nothing more annoying in my book than a long drawn out meeting with little or no real content.

Tonight I get to go to the BLB and Barbette employee party, which I am near certain will turn into a drunken debacle of hedonistic proportions. No one knows where the party is to be at yet, but there are some rumors being thrown around. One such rumor is that the BLB is going to have to move here shortly and that the party is going to be such to unveil the new location. Then again, it might just be a punk rock bar, both options are possible.

Alright less blogging more work.

I am getting my lazy bored ass awake and getting going, something about mornings that I just despise. What is worse is how I have to get up on a semi-regular basis at 5 am, a time that I should be happy underneath my flannel sheets, relaxing, enjoying my slumber. Instead of the aforementioned bliss, I am subjected to being rudely awakened by the obnoxious alarm clock and have to walk around barefoot throughout this cold empty house. On a little side note, I am not one who wakes up easy to the alarm, usually it takes a couple of slapping of the big oblong snooze button before I work up the gumption to roll out of bed. My alarm clock has two alarms, and I set them both along with an alarm on my cell phone. Every morning I have three alarms going of near concurrently, yet I usually have no desire to get up.

That said, I am obviously awake right now.

I just got a call about a dishwasher not coming into work, how is it such a recurring problem, sucks I say. First last night the dishwasher didn't come in, and now a different dishwasher didn't come in, both of them didn't call out of fear of the language barrier. Sucks I say again.

The party was a blast last night, vegetarian sushi, yum yum. I tried to make it to the BLB in time to take part in the cavalcade of hummer limos which were rented for the occasion. On my way to the alley, I was passed by 2 of the aforementioned limos and had to do a quick little u-turn in order to start the pursuit. The location was maintained a secret, so I couldn't just meet them there. Luck I was in cell phone contact with Chris the entire while and arrived at the same time everyone else did. There were more people than I had expected who were employees of the two places, must be more part timers than anything else. I spent the whole night talking with other cooks about food stuff, which is quite common of me. Go with what you know right? I knew just a few people there, but I met more as the night progressed. There was a little drinking of which I took part in, but I tried to keep it in check, I limited myself to 3 10 oz beers over the course of 2 hours. Last thing I want to do is get myself a DUI or worse hurt someone due to my retarded reaction speed. I felt fine, and waited another 1/2 hour after the last beer before I attempted to drive. The drive was really slow, we had a bit of freezing rain and snow that made my ABS brake pedal jump at me more than once. I practiced my down shifting as I got closer to the stop signs, and down shifting rocks in the winter, slows the car down like no ones business.

Oh the meeting went well, I wasn't nervous come time to actually "stand" in front of my staff and start talking. I didn't have much to talk about, so I was shooting for a 15 minute meeting. With what everyone else's comments the meeting dragged on to a tooth grinding 45 minutes, of which the majority of the discussions didn't apply to everyone. So that was a bit frustrating, hell we had a crap load of prep work to do, which ended up making me a little late to the party. Anyway it went well and I wasn't nervous like I said, so that was a welcome surprise.

I still need to book the car/hotel for my pending super kick ass California extravaganza. I should do that right now instead of sitting here and blogging.

That said I am going now.

Just so you all know,

hereNT and I concluded that the female/male is about 4 to 1 and not 2 to 1.... As I look, the place is packed and I see perhaps 4 other men here.

FYI

Well I didn't realize in until I thought about tomorrow being my bro's 30th birthday, but today would have been my 6th wedding anniversary. Fitting as well me and the ex did our little cyberspace version of fighting, of course having to do mostly with money more than anything else. Things get complicated and tempers tend to flare when you don't agree upon things. It made me upset, and I am sure it made her upset, who after all cares to deal with conflict. Conflict is what the majority of us being Americans try our best to avoid. Especially in Minnesota, everyone puts on this front, a false sense of benevolence that just clouds the true feelings they hold for each other. "Minnesota Nice" is nothing but a front, a false and almost forced set of social interaction which don't mean shit. Given that, conflict is something I as well don't like to deal with, I would rather just sincerely get along with everyone, but that isn't the case (sadly).

So my day at work was a little wack, just because of my mood being soured.

I ran bread over to JPs (we are selling to them right now) and was lucky enough to talk to Edgar and Nancy, whom I have not seen for about a year. I remember back in the day I was actually the one who filled out Edgar's application to work at JPs, as well I helped out doing a little minor translating, nothing serious. When I think back on it, my Spanish wasn't near as good as it is today, how did I ever get along translating? It wasn 't until I was sous at Tres Pescados when I started to become proficient and confident at the language, before I was just gung-ho. I wasn't afraid to just speak up and make a fool of myself, just to practice, learn, get better. Nancy and Edgar just had a boy 6 months ago, which is good for them, although I don't know the legal ramifications considering they might not be totally legit and the baby was born here. Nancy proposed to me though, right in front of her "husband". Once she learned of my divorce, she was really anxious to get married to me, probably has more to do with the papers than actual affection shared between us, nonetheless I was a little flattered.

I saw Mai and Aella at Plan B, talked for quite a while, but I wanted to get out of uptown and into my little section of the world. Aella played Barbie games on my iBook, which were sinister and devious in nature, seeing as the "prize" is some credit at the online Barbie store. So the children think that they are actually winning something, when in reality all they are is convincing the parental figures to buy more and more Barbies. Evil devils, marketing to little children, they really should be ashamed of themselves.

On a little side note, I never new that the Chatterbox had WIFI, but they do.

I am just sitting here waiting for hereNT, drinking a pint. I am planning on getting some food here in a bit, but I figure I should wait until he joins me. Also there was just a 9 top that ordered in front of me, and that will undoubtedly affect the timeliness and quality of my meal. In a small kitchen, a large order near ALWAYS acts as a wrench in the cogs, sometimes bringing the works to a screeching halt. So because of that I am planning on waiting just a little bit.

I think this everytime I come here, but how is it that the proportion of women to men in this pub is always 2-1?

Works in our favor it does.

Ok well it is certain now people, I am going to California.

I still have a billion little things to get done before I leave, so I am sure to be busy for the next couple of weeks planning. Right now the tentative plan is to just rent a car once in LA and drive all around the State. I will be in the city by myself for the first couple of days, then a visitor will come and say hello. After I visit my South Cali family, I will probably drive up the coast, stopping along the way to visit the rest of my family. I am a little worried I will not be able to visit everyone, there are quite a few cousins, aunts, and just a plethora of misc relatives throughout the state of California.

I do have a destination in mind though, at least for a couple of days. The idea is to go to NAPA, tour around wineries, relax, drink wine, and enjoy the scenery. Napa is over 6 hours if you take the direct route, so following the coast it will probably take even more time. Having a rental car and camping gear should make it easy to just drive around, not a care in the world.

I am uber excited to get this whole thing planned out, for more than one reason. The whole ordeal just seems like a win-win situation, not a negative anywhere.

Ok well I still have yet to finish my menus, or take a shower, and Brooklyn girl needs to know my plans. Like I haven't talked to her enough already, I feel compelled to call her again, after all she is pretty "awesome".

hereNT fixed his eyes, which is insanity, technology just baffles me.

I have about an hour to kill here right now.

Although if I think about it, I still have a bunch of things I should be doing.

For example, I need to deposit some money into the bank. Usually I would just use the ATM, but depositing money orders from Japan require doing so in person. The bank line always moves really slow, I cannot say I am looking forward to it.

Working on menus, I should have done this last night, but again I was slacking a little. Instead I just relaxed and wasted the night away, cruising the net, causing trouble around the casita. Tonight is really the last night I can work on them, as I will need to know what to order for the weekend.

I also need to buy my tickets for my California trip coming up here at the end of the month. It will be really nice, visiting family and being away from Minnesota during peak winter season. I also hope that a certain someone will be able to follow me, at least for a couple of days.

Work was good, the oven is now completely fixed.

I got a weird phone call from a number I didn't recognize this afternoon. They left a message in Spanish, but didn't leave a name. It was a female voice, I was able to narrow it down that far, and her accent was for sure Ecuadorian, so it could have been one of about 6 people that would potentially call me. I figured out it was this women Nancy who I used to work with about 3 years ago. I had to call back the number to be sure though. I was able to narrow it down even more precisely due to the fact that she asked me to "saludar a su espocita" or "say hello to your wife". Of all the potentials, she was one of the only who might not have know about my wife and I splitting up.

Anyway it was just funny.

I wish I could take a nap right now, I am bitch ass tired for some reason.

Coffee instead, I don't have enough time wait before I have to pick Jeremy up.

Heh,

I only had to work 7 hours, and I was still able to finish everything I had planned to do.

The inventory is done, the oven is (almost) fixed. The schedule is done, I had to switch some things around a little, just so I can go to a Barbette party with Chromeeyes. Sounds like a good time, so I switched my starting time with the other supervisor. I guess last year they all got picked up at the BLB in Limos and dragged off to some undisclosed location where copious amounts of revelry ensued. Drunken debauchery with all the cool kids that work in all the cool restaurants might just prove to be a little dangerous. I guess they are asking only that you dress up, and bring cab fare back home, something devilish might just be afoot.

I also need to figure out the menu for next week, that is my task for tonight. First off I might just order myself a muffaletta from Luce and pop open a bottle of the plum reisling I made a couple years back. I am still not back into full on working mode, relaxation even though I just returned from a short vacation is how I feel like spending my time.

I also should just go out and purchase my tickets to California, sooner rather than later. I am shooting for the last week of January, as Tracy is heading to Kenya the last two weeks of February. I am getting a little worried about money, but I can always just take some cash out of the house for a short term "loan", hopefully it wouldn't come to that though.