Power surge
Jul. 13th, 2009 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rikibethI am not used to having a day where everything seems to go RIGHT.
I woke up this morning, and, because of my heroic efforts this weekend, I had clean work clothes all ready for me, and didn't have to hunt for them in a laundry basket or anything. I got out of the house early enough to get gas BEFORE the car got really empty (3/4 tank, I'd meant to do it at 1/2, but ah well). Derek had gotten in earlier than usual, so the door was OPEN and I could punch in when I got there, instead of having to wait around.
Then, there was a short prep list, which was nice to see on a day where deliveries were due. I was able to get a start on grinding the beef before the Fowler produce order arrived, and it was a light enough order that it went away QUICKLY, letting me get back to the meat and FINISH it before City Line came in.
I decided that today was more of an album day than a shuffle day, and I entertained myself with Airborne Toxic Event and the Psychedelic Furs -- that latter one because I've been EARWORMED with "Pretty in Pink" ever since naming my inaugural little pink hatchling Caroline Laughs.
Everything just seemed to MESH. I was able to properly rotate all the boxes in the freezer, and made liberal use of the Use First stickers -- and it seems like people are starting to pay ATTENTION to them. Yay. And I'd finish a task, go outside to take the stuff to the walk-in, and spot a truck pulling up, which would give me enough time to break down the grinder and wipe down my prep bench while the driver unloaded, and then I could put away what arrived without having to interrupt a prep task, and then go back to the next thing on the list. When US Foodservice (which I swear I still think of as Kraft) pulled up, I even had time to pull all the ingredients for veggie burgers, which not only involves snagging things from the fridge, but also requires going up a LADDER to get the cans of beans. Then, it was a new driver, and he apologized for being late, and I reassured him that actually it was really convenient today so don't worry, and he ASKED how I wanted the stuff unloaded, so I pointed and said "this is the walk-in door, so pile the refrigerated stuff up next to it, the dry storage stuff goes by this door, and over here's our freezer," and he not only did that, he unloaded the frozen stuff first, so I was able to check off that section of the invoice and put all the frozen things AWAY while he was getting the refrigerated and the dry stuff, which is always a plus in 80 degree weather.
I didn't have to do romaine today, because Helbreth did it while I was doing the veggie burger mix. I did full cases on Saturday AND Sunday, and I was pretty sick of it, so that was also nice. And I had shuffle on, because I'd run out of album inspiration, when "Five Years" came on, and I took that as a sign that I needed to listen to the whole Ziggy Stardust album, which was also great. Because of the assorted machinery hums and other background noise, I DID play it "at maximum volume." And the timing worked out that Helbreth was finishing chopping the last of the romaine just when I needed the slicer (stored under the prep table he was working at), so I could have him put it up on my bench without interrupting his work flow -- natural break point before he started spinning it dry.
I've worked out how to do beer battered cod filets and NOT get beer batter all over my clothes, and how to make the case work out to even 8oz portions with a minimum of trimming. Presentation is supposed to be one piece, but one piece plus an extra nugget is acceptable. Today it worked out that there was one portion that scaled correctly but was four trimmed nuggets, so I decided that it was my lunch today. It's yummy. Probably didn't hurt that it was made with fish delivered AND prepped today.
While I was eating lunch outside, I was chatting with Derek. I mentioned how sad it was that we didn't do our own veggie stock, with all these good trimmings going to waste, and he explained that we didn't do vegetarian soups often enough, so it didn't make sense, and he was totally cool with the idea of me bringing in a bukkit for the scraps and taking them home to make my own stock. whee!
The other entertaining bit was pointing out the volunteer cilantro by one of the overhang posts. I figured out how it must have gotten there -- some stray coriander seeds from spilled pickle juice must have taken root! Derek's thinking of trying to transplant it and use it.
Then I finished my lunch and got out, driving in beautiful weather with the windows down and the car radio giving me "Just Can't Get Enough," and I made it to the farmers' market before Beltane Farms sold out of yogurt, and their Vesper cheese was ON SALE (it has a line of ash separating morning and evening milkings, how awesome is that?), and there were all sorts of lovely vegetables, and I was able to pick up the few other ingredients I needed to make what I wanted out of the haul, and I was home in enough time to start laundry, do dishes, take out trash, hose out the kitchen garbage can, an start the broccoli and snow pea tofu stir fry for dinner before![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eternaleponine got home.
Like I said. Everything going RIGHT for once.
The only thing that didn't go right was a dragon. :( I'd promisedeternaleponine that she could have my balloon hatchling if it gendered male, and we tried to do the abandon-and-grab, but she couldn't catch it in time. :( I managed to get another balloon egg, at least. I hope the new one ALSO hatches a boy because I have an awesome name on tap for a male balloon dragon -- but I can tweak it a little if it's a girl, so, not TOO bad. I'm sorry eternaleponine didn't get her male balloon dragon, though.
Here they are:
and two that areeternaleponine's:
I woke up this morning, and, because of my heroic efforts this weekend, I had clean work clothes all ready for me, and didn't have to hunt for them in a laundry basket or anything. I got out of the house early enough to get gas BEFORE the car got really empty (3/4 tank, I'd meant to do it at 1/2, but ah well). Derek had gotten in earlier than usual, so the door was OPEN and I could punch in when I got there, instead of having to wait around.
Then, there was a short prep list, which was nice to see on a day where deliveries were due. I was able to get a start on grinding the beef before the Fowler produce order arrived, and it was a light enough order that it went away QUICKLY, letting me get back to the meat and FINISH it before City Line came in.
I decided that today was more of an album day than a shuffle day, and I entertained myself with Airborne Toxic Event and the Psychedelic Furs -- that latter one because I've been EARWORMED with "Pretty in Pink" ever since naming my inaugural little pink hatchling Caroline Laughs.
Everything just seemed to MESH. I was able to properly rotate all the boxes in the freezer, and made liberal use of the Use First stickers -- and it seems like people are starting to pay ATTENTION to them. Yay. And I'd finish a task, go outside to take the stuff to the walk-in, and spot a truck pulling up, which would give me enough time to break down the grinder and wipe down my prep bench while the driver unloaded, and then I could put away what arrived without having to interrupt a prep task, and then go back to the next thing on the list. When US Foodservice (which I swear I still think of as Kraft) pulled up, I even had time to pull all the ingredients for veggie burgers, which not only involves snagging things from the fridge, but also requires going up a LADDER to get the cans of beans. Then, it was a new driver, and he apologized for being late, and I reassured him that actually it was really convenient today so don't worry, and he ASKED how I wanted the stuff unloaded, so I pointed and said "this is the walk-in door, so pile the refrigerated stuff up next to it, the dry storage stuff goes by this door, and over here's our freezer," and he not only did that, he unloaded the frozen stuff first, so I was able to check off that section of the invoice and put all the frozen things AWAY while he was getting the refrigerated and the dry stuff, which is always a plus in 80 degree weather.
I didn't have to do romaine today, because Helbreth did it while I was doing the veggie burger mix. I did full cases on Saturday AND Sunday, and I was pretty sick of it, so that was also nice. And I had shuffle on, because I'd run out of album inspiration, when "Five Years" came on, and I took that as a sign that I needed to listen to the whole Ziggy Stardust album, which was also great. Because of the assorted machinery hums and other background noise, I DID play it "at maximum volume." And the timing worked out that Helbreth was finishing chopping the last of the romaine just when I needed the slicer (stored under the prep table he was working at), so I could have him put it up on my bench without interrupting his work flow -- natural break point before he started spinning it dry.
I've worked out how to do beer battered cod filets and NOT get beer batter all over my clothes, and how to make the case work out to even 8oz portions with a minimum of trimming. Presentation is supposed to be one piece, but one piece plus an extra nugget is acceptable. Today it worked out that there was one portion that scaled correctly but was four trimmed nuggets, so I decided that it was my lunch today. It's yummy. Probably didn't hurt that it was made with fish delivered AND prepped today.
While I was eating lunch outside, I was chatting with Derek. I mentioned how sad it was that we didn't do our own veggie stock, with all these good trimmings going to waste, and he explained that we didn't do vegetarian soups often enough, so it didn't make sense, and he was totally cool with the idea of me bringing in a bukkit for the scraps and taking them home to make my own stock. whee!
The other entertaining bit was pointing out the volunteer cilantro by one of the overhang posts. I figured out how it must have gotten there -- some stray coriander seeds from spilled pickle juice must have taken root! Derek's thinking of trying to transplant it and use it.
Then I finished my lunch and got out, driving in beautiful weather with the windows down and the car radio giving me "Just Can't Get Enough," and I made it to the farmers' market before Beltane Farms sold out of yogurt, and their Vesper cheese was ON SALE (it has a line of ash separating morning and evening milkings, how awesome is that?), and there were all sorts of lovely vegetables, and I was able to pick up the few other ingredients I needed to make what I wanted out of the haul, and I was home in enough time to start laundry, do dishes, take out trash, hose out the kitchen garbage can, an start the broccoli and snow pea tofu stir fry for dinner before
eternaleponine got home.Like I said. Everything going RIGHT for once.
The only thing that didn't go right was a dragon. :( I'd promised
eternaleponine that she could have my balloon hatchling if it gendered male, and we tried to do the abandon-and-grab, but she couldn't catch it in time. :( I managed to get another balloon egg, at least. I hope the new one ALSO hatches a boy because I have an awesome name on tap for a male balloon dragon -- but I can tweak it a little if it's a girl, so, not TOO bad. I'm sorry eternaleponine didn't get her male balloon dragon, though.Here they are:
and two that are
eternaleponine's:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 12:37 am (UTC)ETA: Also, I totally need to look into whether they make household sized Rapi-Kools, or if I should maybe repurpose a 1.5 liter Evian bottle or something.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 10:44 am (UTC)http://www.allheartchefs.com/ah16200.html
no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 11:58 am (UTC)but I'd need like 4 pairs and I have other uses for $40