Fallen Souffle

Or you grocery store cashier or the person at the gas station. It’s really sad when I, as a bakery worker, try to be nice and pleasant and helpful to someone and all they can do is blab on their cell phone. It is so annoying. I bet atleast 10 people come into the bakery on their cell phone and proceed to place an order while still talking to their podiatrist or their accountant or their lonely best friend. I actually had a 10 year old come in and do it today to me. I would hate to think I am interrupting a very important conversation when I ask “Would you like your honey whole wheat sliced?” People don’t even have the decency to smile and be grateful for the fact that people are on their feet for 8 hours straight, doing back breaking work and still have a smile on their face. Even worse is when people come in on their cell phone and proceed to help themselves to the bread we offer samples of with their grimey hands. Eww disgusting, I want to throw the bread away in front of them. I would be happy to slice you a large piece of bread if you would just be patient! We are a busy bakery!

Even worse is when people were mean during Thanksgiving week. It’s bad enough we all had to neglect our families for a week and then we had to deal with rude people who were mad we weren’t making low carb cinnamon raisin walnut bread on Wednesday.

I guess what I am trying to say is be nice to the people that help you out in your day to day life. I always try to be extra nice to the high school kid bagging my groceries and I always thank them for it! A smile does wonders to a person’s day, I try my best to smile when people come in the store the least you could do is smile back and give the respect that is deserved…and get off your damn cell phone!

On that note, I leave you a picture of our Christmas tree. It is in shades of blues and teals and silvers except for the odd red ornament or two, my husband’s NC State ornaments.

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Ahh! I am so slow, I have had my Blogging by Mail 3 package for almost a week and I have not posted about it yet!

I received a absolutely wonderful package from the hostess herself, Cathy from My Little Kitchen on Monday and the timing could not have been any better seeing as all the drama began on Monday! It definitely lifted my spirits to see a package waiting for me!

I received some wonderful goodies from the Maryland/DC area where Cathy is from including some Bean Soup and a lovely ornament. She also baked me some yummy treats including her Grandmother’s Date Bread (which I must confess I have not tried because I am taking it to my parent’s for Thankgiving so we can all enjoy it!)as well as some Swedish Tea Cookies, her Mother’s recipe. I have all but devoured the cookies and cannot wait to make more! They are my new favorite cookies!

And how could I forget the Scharffen Berger Cacao Nibs which made my Mom absolutely jealous. I have to hide these babies from Evan! I also received some Maple Candies which represent her holiday plans of visiting her brother in Vermont- I am so jealous- I have always wanted to go to Vermont! This all in addition to a magazine of the area as well as her local food section and store flyer made for a spectacular care package!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Cathy for a very thoughtful package, I have thoroughly enjoyed it all!

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My parents are in town this weekend from Virginia Beach, so that is why I haven’t posted in a while! I promise I haven’t forgotten about the site! I have so many things to post, so look for new things tommorrow (Sunday!)

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So I will have to postpone tonight’s Crockpot Appreciation post because life took an interesting turn as of 5:53 pm today…I was laid off of my job. Now most of my family and friends know that I was unhappy with this job, I felt underutilized and I was simply bored with the work that I was doing. But I pressed on hoping they would give me new projects to work on or let me come up with new ideas. I had been passed up once for a “promotion” by a girl younger than me and with less education. I attribute this to the fact that I am not an a$$ kisser and I speak my mind, probably more than I should- but I feel a healthy, thriving business should be open to ideas. Well I guess my big mouth got me in trouble…or maybe the fact that this idiot company launched a new company, Fortune Interactive that is in direct competition with the company my husband currently works for. I was seen as a threat and I obviously would not be moved over into that area, even though I have an interest in the field, and even a bit of knowledge.

So I was told they were re-structuring and that they were bringing in a new Director of Marketing and Sales who would be in charge of personnel for our department. And through this re-organization my position no longer existed. Well…gee…thanks. I happen to recall on my first day I was told by the President and CEO that they liked to diversify and that if one company did not succeed the employees would not be left out in the cold but would be moved to a new company. I really want to throw that in their face right now. I wanted to yell and scream and them as I left the building but I was in such shock. Even the agency manager didn’t have a clue but said this would probably be the best thing for me…So he obviously knows something I don’t know.

Well I guess it is their loss, no more baked good for them…and definitely no Christmas pound cake for them!

I guess it will be scariest when I wake up tomorrow morning with no where to go. So I plan to make the best of it by visiting the bakery (and trying to get some hours), going to my favorite Italian market and maybe even volunteer at the SPCA, it’s been a while and it would be nice to see some puppies. I’m sure I will be baking and cooking more, which means Evan needs to join that gym soon

I know everything happens for a reason, and I know there is a grand plan for me, I guess I just wanted this to happen on my terms, not any one else’s.

Well enough blubbering…I want to conclude my saying I have the best husband in the entire universe, he knows exactly what to say to make me feel better and took me out to a wonderful Italian meal that took my mind off the entire ordeal for a while. Check out Evan’s post on Fortune Interactive if you want a little more brash opinion. Thanks for reading…hopefully I didn’t bore you too much.

We will return to our regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow…I promise

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So we are having a dinner party tonight..in like 2 hours, and where am I…stuck at work for another 25 minutes. I have just been informed that another friend is coming over bringing the grand total of mouths to feed to 9! Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to see everyone. So the issue is that we have a nice large pub style table that seats 8, and being that it is pub style (higher than a normal dining room table) means we can’t just add a random chair, we have to add a bar stool. Not only that but I specifically bought 8 matching placemats and ironed 8 crisp white napkins (I know I am totally OCD and it is so shining through now!), so my loving husband gets to balance on a backless barstool with a paper napkin and an ugly placemat…it’s like he’s at the kid’s table at Thanksgiving. Not that he or anyone else will really care, but I guess this is the domestic diva in me. Now I just hope I have enough food! It’s like a trial run for Thanksgiving I guess…with twice as many people!

I need a glass of wine……

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I can’t help it, it’s probably my favorite picture of us. We just past the 7 month mark, and it’s been the best 7 months of my life.

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So for some odd reason, as I awoke at 7:30 to let the mutts out, I decided it was time to clean out the pantry and spice cabinet. I pulled everything out of the pantry and grouped it on the counter, I was amazed at the amount of items we have had since moving to NC a year ago…scary! I also like to hoard baking items…apparently..as I had 4 bags of chocolate chips, numerous dried fruits and plenty or flour…all types! I am ready for any major holiday or natural disaster, which at times may be one in the same

So I sorted through things we really don’t need and threw it all in a big shopping bag for my poor college sister, hopefully this will diversify her current menu of PB&J’s and Lucky Charms. I did realize that we are not eating as much processed foods, or I should say I am using fewer “meals in the box” like the hugable puffy glove we all grew up with. I am proud of myself for branching out and making things from scratch.

After the pantry was nice and neat I venured to the spice cabinet. I have become a bit of a spice snob, I will only buy from a lady at the flea market, her spices are always fresh and much cheaper than the grocery store. Though I must admit, when Kroger has a 10 for $10 sale on spices, I am tempted to buy a few

After sorting all of the bottle I found that we had 6 bottle of garlic powder! I am totally serious! Some bottles date back to when Evan started college and were now a weird orangey color. We also had an abundance of cinnamon, I hope Steph likes garlic bread and snickerdoodles.

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So in the spirit of community I thought it would be cool to have a different “theme” each week in which we can all share our latest and greatest creations, whether is be crafty, cooking, baking, or just coming up with a cool cleaning trick. This way we can all be inspired and add new projects to our ever growing to-do list. You can thanks me later

This week is Recipe Week. I am always on the lookout for new tried and true recipes, or even brand spanking new ones that seem semi edible. I, like many people, can easily get in a rut and make the same dishes for lunch and dinner each week and it gets pretty darn boring, atleast to me.

So post your favorite recipes, I will try and makes some of them and share the results including reaction from my Chief Taste Tester, my dear husband Evan.

Happy Cooking!

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