Life's a Banquet
'...and most poor fools are starvin to death!' ~Mame

Here we are at the cafe, Erin, Mark and I. We have already worked 6 hours and Mark and I only have 7 1/2 left before we close up for the weekend. I love the mornings here, when folks trickle in and pick up lots of yummy treats for the day, or just grab their latte for the road. I love that we are the first stop of the morning for a few special people and we get to start their day off nicely! While we normally go out of town and escape during this holiday weekend (it is, after all, the longest stretch of time off we all get here) this year I have extra projects to do. Since we are staying home I will work part of Thursday & most of Friday, and hopefully be able to have all of Saturday & Sunday off. That would be really nice! We will go to Mark's mom and dad's for Thanksgiving dinner and it is always nice and relaxing over there. I always end up sitting in a chair with my feet up just enjoying the company and down time.

We did not get nearly as many pre-orders this year as we have in past years. I am not sure what this signifies, though that fact, combined with sales being down 14% and costs of goods being up 13%, we are worried. Nonetheless we are forging on and still baking all the extra rolls, pies and cinnamon bread that we usually do in hopes of a big walk in traffic day. I have a big plan perking around in my head that I will announce next month, and the my FABULOUS staff team is rallying and coming up with some great ideas of their own, and we are going to turn this thing around. Until then, we will hang on tight and keep on trying! December is our 'No Peeking' red envelope giveaway, where we give out 1000 envelopes, each containing a secret prize, that the bearer may not open until s/he returns in January. Each envelope gets opened in front of us and we award the bearer the prize right away. It is so much fun! No one can see through the envelopes to try to see their prize before hand, though many have tried. Plus Mrs Claus will visit on the 12th and that is a wonderful family event for the kids.

Last Saturday was our staff meeting and we had so much fun. We always invite our past staffers to join us at the 'after party', and our current team is welcome to stay after the meeting for us to wine and dine them. While us gals take care of business for a couple of hours, Mark makes pizza dough, pizza sauce, cranks up the ovens and gets all the toppings ready for us. When the meeting is over and we have all hugged it out we tromp down the stairs and there is a flurry of activity. The girls go in the kitchen and are all chatting, getting wine glasses out and pouring for each other, getting excited for a fun evening. I am always the last one down and my very most favoritest thing in the world is slightly self indulgent (as all the best things are) and just a quiet moment. As I come through the door into the downstairs dining room I pause and listen. The happy chatter of those I love, all working together and happy to be with one another, is delightful to my ears and heart. It is slightly self indulgent because I know that I have created this loving environment and built this fabulous team, and it is some of the best results of my hard work. From the moment I decided to be a boss it has been my goal to be the kind of boss that I always wanted and never had. I work on it every day, and some days I am more successful than others, and yet every day I have at least a small victory in reaching that goal. Our gals are awesome! (and yes, it is in part because they let me call them 'my girls'! Even though one is slightly older than me...)

We also had a new discovery that has gone over very well. Now mind you I KNOW it sounds disgusting, and it doesn't even look very good. It is called "Chocovine" and the label says it is a blend of 'Dutch Chocolate and Fine French Cabernet Wine'! Gross, right? You shake it up, serve it cold and it would last up to 6 months in the fridge if you could possibly resist drinking it all. It has the alcohol content of wine (14%, so a high alcohol wine) and only costs $12.95 a bottle (or $20 for 2 in a lovely gift box) and it is SO good! We handed out samples at the wine tasting Friday night, all day Saturday, and for a couple of hours on Monday, and all 4 cases are gone. That is how good it is! It tastes like a cross between Kahlua and Bailey's, and at half the price of those bottles how can you go wrong? We have more on order and will get it Friday December 4 and I wish it were going to be sooner because everybody wants more now. It is the oddest wine I have ever carried, though since it is very unique I think it fits our quirky little wine collection. Such great wine and so little time!

Sunday was my first MLS game, at the MLS cup (thanks to Kat who gave us great tickets!!) and it was awesome! Especially since LA went DOWN! We were outside at the peanut stand where the peanuts are far more reasonably priced than inside, and I noticed a familiar package. They had CB's Nuts!! From Kingston! I bought a bag right away and a woman asked me 'what's the difference between those and the others?" I was very happy to tell her that they are roasted in Kitsap County and the best nuts you can eat! She bought a bag too... keepin' it local, baby! I can't wait to go to a Sounders game next season, so anyone who wants to take me to one let me know.

Friday is Erin's birthday and she wants us all to meet at Indochine in Tacoma, which is really not a chore since we LOVE their food. It's her birthday and she gets to eat what she wants on that day for sure! Saturday for fun we could go to the 55th annual Silverdale Christmas Tree Lighting around 5 pm (Santa arrives at 5:45 by police escort (though I think that speaks more to his dignitary status than to any criminal tendencies) and lights the 131 foot tall Douglas Grand Fir. (I have mixed feelings about that... though I don't know where they got it.) Another fun activity this weekend will be the Harrison Foundation's Festival of Trees which runs both Saturday and Sunday. For those of us in the south end there is always WinterFest at Peninsula High School in Purdy. I love that festival and have not gotten there in several years so I may just take a peek this weekend.

What will you do to get into the holiday spirit? Or would you rather not? I enjoy it for the month of December and not before or after, so we don't get burned out on it. I need to go pull the turkey out of the fridge so it can rest at room temp before I cook it. Thanks to Farmer George's meats in Port Orchard we got a 15 lb local bird and it is gonna be good! I will share with you my mashed potatoes method (as it is more a method than a recipe) in case you want to change up your method a bit. Have a wonderful weekend!

A bunch of yukon gold potatoes (It depends on how many you want to feed)
Cut them into chunks and boil them in chicken broth. I use a food mill so I just leave the skins on.

Meanwhile, carmelize an onion or two, and roast a few heads of garlic.
set out a tub of mascarpone cheese so it gets to room temp, as well as some unsalted butter.

When the spuds are done (fork tender) drain them, reserving the liquid for later.

Put them through the food mill (or ricer, or masher, or whatever you use and plop in a good blob of mascarpone and butter (yes, 'plop' and 'blob' are technical terms!) while the potatoes are still hot so the butter and creamy cheese can melt.

Salt the heck out of em, add some pepper, toss in the onions and garlic (you can chop those up more if you want to) and blend it all together. If you need more liquid add in a little of the broth that you set aside earlier. Keep mixing until you have it they way you want it. Eat em up! YUM!

You can use that broth later for your turkey soup, the starchy from the spuds is quite all right.

Ciao for now!