MOOD: Bittersweet Surrender and Beef Noodle Soup
Forgive me, Readers, for I have sinned. It has been 1 month and 20 days since my last post. I accuse myself of the following sins (did you know there is a tutorial on how to give a good confession?!):
Lust: C'mon, really? If you know me, you know I need not go into this.
Gluttony: I ate too much food on Turkey Day & Christmas. I also cooked too much. Can those cancel one another out?
Greed: See Lust. ;) You know who you are.
Sloth: I didn't clean my kitchen until the two days after my first catering and I have a serious problem with putting my clothes away and let them pile up on my bed for a week or two. This is my ONE imperfection. Ok, one of a few.
Wrath: Well, at least there's ONE deadly sin I haven't committed. Unless you count how irritated I get at my boss for being oblivious to the social etiquette and graces that should exist in an office. Like, not clipping your fingernails within my ear shot. Or, not standing over my shoulder looking at my computer just because I furrow my brow; just a hint, I don't need your help - I'm a smart girl and can figure it out myself.
Envy: Green with it....towards people with a high metabolism.
Pride: I was always taught to take pride in my appearance and work ethic. I'm not flashy, so I guess that will suffice for not being proud.
So, I've assumed the position and am hunkered down on the banquette, bound (and gagged?!, no that's the OTHER blog) and determined to get this done before midnight and my brain turns into canned pumpkin. I need to bring you up to speed on things. Turkey Day is my fave holiday because it's focused around food and family/friends. My oldest brother came in for a week to visit and actually stayed in my house! I haven't spent more than a couple of hours with him at a time over the last many years, so I wasn't sure how we would fare being in such close proximity of one another. Luckily, he had his own bathroom. Kidding, it was super duper to be able to spend time with him and cook him a mean batch of Creamed Turkey on Toast (white trash spectacular!) after T-Day and to receive a compliment that it rivaled my momma's. She raised me right. So, we had a vegan dinner guest this year. That was cool in that I didn't have to do anything different because he brought his own food. It did make me think about learning some alternative ways of cooking though. Made my special turkey in a bag and mashed potatoes of death along with an amazing pumpkin cheesecake. The usual suspects were also prepared but are far too numerous to mention...actually...it seems like so long ago and I'm old now, so I don't rightly remember.
A few weeks later, DOOMSDAY hit. Yes, my friends, the big 4-0. I think I might add an eighth deadly sin to the list and lie my ass off for a few years about it. However, I'm so cool that I got myself a new tat to ring it in right and took my 14-year-old with me to watch. Took the day off from work for the first time in...ever. My friends were over the top wonderful and spoiled me with gift cards to buy stuff for catering, balloons, AND Kate made me a chocolate mousse cake that took her 3 days to make! I had flowers delivered to me at my office three times from Jen and Kate, so I felt all warm and fuzzy, almost like a girl. Bonus was a special birthday dinner and present(s) from a special someone. It was a good day. If they could all be like that, I'd turn 40 every year.
Christmas...could care less if this holiday came and went and I slept through it. Steven's sister came in for a week for a much needed respite. We always have such great talks and it helps so much with the healing process of losing him. She made me cry with her thoughtful gift; a tri-band ring representing Steven and our two sons. She harassed me about baking some cookies, though...so I'm not sure she's welcome to come back. I cooked a prime rib and ham, twice-baked potatoes, baked beans, roasted green beans, creamed corn, bread...I think that was all I made. That delegating thing isn't working out so well yet as all I can manage to allow my friends to do is make a salad or bring a veggie tray. Someone's got some control issues but I'm not naming names. However, I no longer have ANY problem with them doing the dishes; I have come to truly appreciate this gesture!
So, New Year's Eve...my first catering gig! I got out of work early and went to the store but the snowstorm that hit us substantially cut into the scheduled prep time. Super Kate saved the day by coming over for 4.5 hours to help prep desserts. I stayed up until 2am then up at 9am to get the heavy app menu going before Kate came over to help. There was so much to be done, I even had to put the kid to work dipping strawberries and making bread sticks. We worked up until the last minute before I packed up to get to the location. I posted pics on FB (Diva's Dish Catering - check it out and like it!) Everyone loved the food and it was a perfect first event. On the flip side, my kitchen was to' up from the flo' up! I leisurely washed every pot, pan, baking sheet and utensil that I own over the next 2.5 days and I'm pretty sure that was my penance so I get to start the New Year off with a clean slate (now, where is that lust? oh, here it is in my pocket). In the future, I will be using a commissary kitchen, but this event wasn't "official" so we managed to knock out 9 apps and 8 desserts for 35 people in my little one range/one sink kitchen. Not bad for two hot chicks in fishnets.
