Just finished my usual Sunday day shift and found we have a couple young ladies who are less than happy with their employment. One 18 and one 19. Both have their own problems and both are unhappy with the hours they’re getting. One showed up an hour late for work this evening with lots of excuses. Sigh.. Just when I thought I’d start getting two days off a week… 
But, I’m in a great mood this evening.. Listening to Buena Vista Social Club. Munching a Caramel Drumstick (I never said I ate healthy..)
No knitting pictures, but I’ve got a photo backlog of the unusual and interesting that I’m just going to start to share.
Da Tung is a 12 foot tall bronze sculpture that’s located in the North Park Blocks in downtown Portland. A replica of a Chinese antique, it was donated to the city by a Chinese businessman.
Every year Nora Barlow Columbine returns to my garden. A *very* old spurless columbine, it just begs to be photographed each year. And I’m usually able to get a shot that I really like. This is this year’s photo.
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First off… Still alive. Little sweater still not complete, but I’m working on it — Slowly —
Life is slowly turning around. I had two days off this past week and it looks like I’ll get two days off next week. We’ve picked up a couple of new people, including a guy with a printed resume and a recommendation from one of the big name pizza joints, but the owner is still pushing hours on me and we’ve managed to make more money on Thursday and Friday dinner than was brought in all day for the first part of the week.
I’ve been spending long hours in the restaurant kitchen lately and it seems that every time I turn around, there’s something foodie to relate to.
One of the gals I work with is married to an Hispanic gentleman and we talk about Mexican/Hispanic food from time to time. A little place in my closest city serves Mexican food and is consistently frequented by Hispanics. Along with the usual burritos and tacos, they serve the less usual. Like Tripa (Tripe) Burritos and Lengua (Tongue) Burritos. I’ve tried the Lengua and it’s quite good and next time I’ll get the Tripa. Jessica mentioned eating Pupusa when she was in Los Angeles and said she hadn’t had a decent one in a long time. This afternoon I discovered a little food cart in Portland selling made-to-order Pupusa and it was delicious. Hand made, grilled in front of me with homemade fresh salsa, a very nice cabbage salad, homemade tomato sauce and sour cream for $4.00. A delicious, filling lunch for less than McDonald’s. How can you beat that
In the mean time, I’ve been reading Anthony Bourdain’s Nasty Bits. While I don’t cook at any where the level that Tony does, his books do speak to me. Michael Ruhlman is my favorite overall food author, but the down and dirty of Tony Bourdain hits more chords for day to day work.
If things continue they way they seem to be going, I should be back to *somewhat regular* posting from here on out.
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A quick Friday post to let you all know I’m still around and still alive.
Work is still hectic. Still only two of us qualified to close the kitchen, and while I’m not getting much overtime, I’m still pulling 9-10 hour shifts and folks seem to think that late night pizzas are the way to go.
Life is a bit quieter, but only because I’m only getting a single day off each week and don’t have time to dwell on how crappy my life is… 
Back to work on the little sweater. Most of one sleeve finished. One more to go and then the collar and we’re done. I’ll see if I can get some pictures later.
Harold McGee is a food scientist who wrote one of the most intriguing books about food — “On Food & Cooking: The Science & Lore of the Kitchen”. He also has a column in the New York Times that also dwells on the science of food. His latest article looks at The Five Second Rule. You remember the rule, right? If a piece of food drops on the floor and you pick it up in less than 5 seconds, it’s safe to eat. 
(If you don’t have a New York Times login, you can use BugMeNot for some usable username/password combinations).
Later….
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Lot’s of stuff going on right now. Work and life have gotten to the point that I’m going to take a rest from blogging for a bit.
I’ll be back…
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