Next week a mini heat wave to look forward to, with heavy rain falling on the snowy mountains. It should be an impressive spring run off. Hopefully not "too" impressive for those of us perched along riverbanks.
Today is Caregivers Appreciation Day. A big shout-out to sister Marji, who selflessly and lovingly cares for our (almost) 99-year old Dad. You are both amazing!
Have a good weekend.
The dough comes from large cold tubs, scooped out rock hard like ice cream unto cookie sheets. The cookies are baked in the big kitchen fan oven, hot as a furnace, with the volunteer responsible for pulling them out before they burn to a crisp and stink up the entire Senior Center. (I use my Apple Watch timer.)
Unless you are Martha Stewart, perfect cookie uniformity isn't a big deal at home. Not so in a restaurant, where portions should all be the same size, for obvious reasons.
They just switched the cookie dough to a gourmet brand, and now they spread all over the sheet. The chocolate chip ones especially, the peanut butter not so much. Oh, the trials of commercial kitchen work. Mine looked pretty bad yesterday. The old lardy dough was easier and faster for the volunteers and frankly the seniors didn't care. But then I don't run the show.
Anyway, I'm a good home cook but in this setting I feel all thumbs. The Cafe manager constantly points out the many mistakes volunteers make-- anything from setting something down on the wrong surface to bad cookie scooping technique. Well, that's her job and I learned long ago at Microsoft to never take job criticism personally. So fire me.
I don't think they will, because I heard chef talking about changing the "Free Cookie for Members" to my work day. A constant stream of seniors waiting for a cookie, and not just any cookie. Guess that's my reward for doing a good job. Ha.
Speaking of hell's kitchen, if you like dark, black comedy, don't miss the 2022 movie "The Menu," starring the brilliant Ralph Fiennes. Kinda puts things in perspective.
The only big disappointment on the drive was the Cle Elum McDonald's was closed. That's a pathetic thing to even admit. It's not that we're crazy about fast food, but there's a clean(ish) restroom for the price of an Egg McMuffin or burger.
Instead, we had to go inside the big, chaotic grocery store. The parking lot as usual was covered in ice and snow. Shame on Safeway. I once slipped out there and will forever hold a grudge. Yes, there are sit down restaurants along the way, but it's better keeping to the same routine, our other stop being Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso, a world away from McDonald's.
Just a nice ordinary week coming up here. Despite the cold weather, the forsythia is blooming and bulbs poking up in the garden.
Speaking of long roads, we're headed back to Seattle this morning. It's another grey and cold morning, but looks like decent driving conditions over the mountain passes.
When two parties set out on a long road trip at different times, with no awareness of each other, then randomly meet up?
That's what happened to John yesterday going into Lone Pine at the exact minute Amanda, her best friend Gina and the four kids were coming out. They were on their way to Wenatchee for a girl's shopping trip, and John headed in the other direction to Twisp.
The sunrise this morning was pretty, although now it's clouding up again and expecting some light snow. Yesterday was a good day for driving though, and it was beautiful in Twisp.
I walked down to the river, expecting to post hole through the snow, extremely annoying, but the surface was frozen solid. That was the first time I've been down there since last October, and sat for a while on a warmish rock enjoying the view.
The patterns of ice along the bank looking exactly like winter landscapes from far above. Water physics is water physics-- just a matter of scale.
But had to watch my step in different way. You've heard of the "Trail of Tears?" Well, this is the "Trail of Poop" through the front yard.
