A week later......

Yes, I have been ignoring my blog for lack of much to say and because last week I actually was busy for three days!   Jenn was in Philadelphia to visit Hurricane Irene and she passed a catering gig on to me, all by myself.  Sixteen people, menu mostly created by the hostess, in Dallas on Saturday.  I spend Friday morning getting lost in Dallas to buy the groceries she needed from the vendors she chose.  Friday afternoon was spent prepping and cooking, as was all Saturday morning.  Lots of courses, lots of work to get ready for the dinner.  I was at the dinner location in the late afternoon, finished preparing everything, serving and then waiting for them to all eat so we (myself and one server) could begin the clean-up.  Since all the dishes, glassware, flatware and serving pieces were "special" none could to into the dishwasher so all were done by hand.  I got home about thirty minutes past midnight, exhausted.

But the money was good and Sunday was a day of rest.  It was good for me to do it.  I was hesitant about taking on such a challenge because I had never cooked for that many strangers before, by myself.  It is one thing to cook for your friends and family and it never matters if there are 8 or 18 or 28.  It's always fun and no one cares if the green beans are a little overcooked or if the bread is store-bought.  But if someone is paying you to make a delicious dinner, it has to be spot-on, those green beans need to be perfect.  Plus cooking for strangers in a strange home means you don't get to have a glass of wine while cooking, you don't get to laugh with your guests, you can't assign tasks in the kitchen ("Martha, will you come and stir the corn while I carve the meat?") and no one offers to do the dishes.  The atmosphere is completely different.  But I did it, it was very successful, the guests and the hostess were quite happy and I got a chunk of change to put in the bank. 

Of course, money comes, money goes. I now need 4 new tires on my car before I take off for the west coast.  Sigh.  My unemployment benefits have ceased and I still don't have a job.  I spend a couple of hours each day applying on-line and am keeping my fingers crossed that something will come my way soon.

We are in for another triple digit temperature day.  In fact, every single day I have been in Texas the temp has been over 100.  When I was in SF for 5 days the Texas temp dropped to the mid 90's but zoomed back up the moment my plane landed back here.  According to the weather map, the entire US is being baked to a crisp right now. The only areas not blazing hot are the very edges of the northern parts of the coasts, both left and right.  And Governor Perry here in TX doesn't believe in global warming!  What a guy!

I wanted to be on the road back to coolness by now but with the new information about the pitiful state of my tires, it looks like I won't be hitting the road for another day or so.  And then it's Labor Day weekend, and I don't want to be driving along with all the rest of the Americans so I might wait til Sunday or Monday.  Jenn is seriously lobbying for me to stay ("....but there is no reason for you to leave other than the crappy weather and so why don't you just stay another week or so......") but I am jonesing to leave.  So I will.  Soon.

A book review is forthcoming, as is a new recipe.  Stay tuned.

Zucchini fritters, coming soon.

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