Friday Night Special

Chris and Jay enjoyed their visit to the point that they spent and extra half day with us. By the time they left, Jay had become an expert on the Segway and Chris was treated to an afternoon tour of as much of the Amish countryside as we could. I’m adding a bit of Jay’s slideshow at the bottom of the post as he’s getting a handle on his new Canon 60D. Friday was back to work. Porkmeister Mike is the mainstay for the Friday night special but I had to fill in for him during his visit to the South Carolina low country. Now it was my turn to come up with a menu for the week’s end special. I chose Ziti marinara with sweet sausage and shredded parmesian cheese accompanied with slices of French bread. It proved to be a bigger hit that I expected. Eighteen pounds of Ziti along with several gallons of my homemade sauce went over the counter from 4 to 8 pm. The compliments I received were well worth the effort. Coupled with the special was training for the newbies, Ken and Gloria. This was the final installment of training I had to provide for the chef from the West. Ken and his wife have come here from Arizona for the summer. They’ll add additional help in the cafe and allow Mike and myself to have a little more time off. I’m not the most patient of teachers. My pedagogical skills have waned long ago since my days of a teacher. I expect others to pick things up as quickly as I had. Not always the case, but Ken was a trooper nonetheless. Hopefully, some of the hints I have offered will pay off and when I follow his shift he’ll leave the kitchen well prepared and well stocked for me. Saturday proved to be our busiest day yet this month. Robin and I worked this alone and that seems to work best for us. I’d rather be busy as hell but have my mind in ‘the zone’ and not have to be concerned about training anyone else. At days end we showered, packed a few bags and headed for southern Jersey. Xavier–grandson, heir apparent, consumer of my thoughts–will be getting baptized on Sunday and he is possessing my thought process. And I love it.