lperry

I've used the two drinks per hour per person "rule" with success.

All anyone needs to do it right.

While you're fixing things, print out some name badges that say, "Manager" on them. Another problem solved.

Two things. One, you know what I look like. How many people look at me and think, hey, there's someone with a doctorate in Anthropology, and I bet she's published in Science and Nature, too. My life is still pretty good. Two, I worked customer service when I was finishing my dissertation and for a year afterward. By the time someone got to me, the problem was big enough that it didn't matter who I was, it mattered that I made things right. That's what being in the service industry is about. It wasn't about my feelings, it was about making it right for the customer. I admire that you spend a lot of time advocating for the restaurant industry, and encouraging people to speak with managers when there is a problem is something that comes up here quite a bit. I get it. I really do. I am one who is not a contact-the-manager-with-a-problem sort of person for some of the reasons that have been discussed elsewhere on this site. So now, when something is bad enough with the meal or service that I am compelled to talk to a manager, I have to screw up my courage to take that step knowing there could be blowback that might ruin my evening even further, and I also have to take the time to be sure not to offend someone who is supposed to be the end point in the chain of customer service? (Insert - hands in the air with a bewildered "what do you want from me" look on my face - emoticon.) Cripes. I just wanted to have a nice meal, you know?

Blah, blah, blah. "May I speak to a manager" is not a rude phrase by any definition.

^ Unless you have Texas squirrels. LA Mart in Springfield has boxes of seeds for very interesting vegetables right now, and they have a big display of vegetable plants and fruit trees outside. Prices are ridiculously low. I had never been in but was nearby and went in to get some white eggs ('tis the season). I ended up buying quite a bit more.

It did. I found it pretty annoying that you proposed that diners change their behavior only when speaking to people of a certain gender.

Roasted tomato (freezer), leek (freezer), and dandelion (take that, weeds) risotto, finished with some goat cheese Roasted cauliflower

^ I'm not sure what it means either, but I think it was one of those sentences that was crafted to be both memorable and to let the reader know that s/he would be in for an interesting ride.

Oh no. I have goosebumps reading that passage and thinking about the story. Cien Años de Soledád was the first novel I read in Spanish, and I remember stopping on the first sentence and setting the book aside for months. Truly. I read only the first sentence. I had to look up the word for firing squad, and knew somehow that I had misunderstood his father taking him to see the ice, so I was certain there was no hope for me to ever understand it. I'm so happy I picked it back up, and I'm simply stunned that he is gone. We have lost one of the greats.

A very quick and early dinner for one. Penne in a roasted red pepper sauce, a glass of a cheap but quite enjoyable Piquepoul, and a piece of a dark chocolate/ginger bar.

Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate Bar No. 13, Dark Ginger. Phenomenal. Fruity, smooth, rich chocolate with these tiny, gritty, crystalline pockets of sugared ginger embedded within. I'm so happy.

Sun dried tomato hummus with toasted tortilla chips.

They did not seem short staffed. We only figured out it was the hostess' responsibility to pour water at the end of the meal when our glasses were dry and our server said something to her, after which she grabbed the pitcher and went around the room. I don't know why he just didn't fill the glasses. There was also a runner bringing food out, so he could have done it too, I suppose. The manager wasn't rude to the employees, just loud with the instructions. It felt strange - like the diners were an afterthought to the work that needed to be done for the restaurant.

At a recent meal, we were surprised by a couple of activities that were going on during our meal. First, the hostess was seated in the front dining area completing some sort of filing and paperwork. Second, a manager or owner was giving instructions to an employee, quite loudly, in front of guests. We both thought it was odd, particularly giving instructions in public, and it took away from the relaxing ambiance we were hoping to find. If it matters, the hostess was doing her greeting and seating duties quite well, but she was also supposed to be refilling drinks, and there were many dry glasses in the room. Is this the new "normal?"

Easing back into solid food for dinner after a 15 day juicing adventure. Mr. lperry says he wants to go every other day with the juicing for a while, so light and vegan is on the menu. Cider-glazed carrot and quinoa salad from the March 2013 Bon Appetit. This is a delicious salad, especially with homemade pickled beets that are made with cider vinegar. Hacks: no dill in the garden, so no dill, no onion on hand, so a half cup or so of minced chives, and I used Meyer lemon, which didn't work. I ended up squeezing some lime on it to get the acidity it needed to counteract the sweetness of the carrots. A definite make again, and I look forward to trying it with the dill this summer.

^ That is a deal for today only, so run, don't walk, etc. etc.

Weed the garden, make brunch. Tender, baby dandelions stirred into grits with shreds of manchego, topped with poached eggs.

Lucky day #13 of juice for dinner. Carrot, banana, grapefruit, and ginger, all squashed through the Hurom.

Yep. A friend once told me that he had read that squirrels are not after the fruit, they are after water. We have "birdbaths" on the ground that we keep filled all summer long, and I usually have just a couple of tomatoes pilfered out of hundreds. Now, if I could just keep them from chewing up my Halloween pumpkins to get at the seeds, all would be well.

^ A little off topic, but I loved the artwork behind the paper towel guy enough to look it up.

250 pounds of rabbit manure got put in the beds this past weekend, and I spent last night looking through the seeds and arranging them so I could plant my giant summer flat this afternoon. Into the cold frame (which is feeling tropical right now), went two or three seeds of just about everything except the squash and melons. I think it's still early for them, and I don't want to have the disappointment like last summer when everything suffered in the cold, wet, early summer and bore next to nothing later on. Tomatoes: Black Krim, Pink Brandywine, Sun Gold, Hillbilly, Black Cherry, and a generic, Ferry Morse, red cherry tomato that is fantastic in paella. Also in the flat (it has lots of little compartments - I love that thing) Chinese eggplants, Yolo red bells, Hungarian red paprika peppers (amazing fresh - really thick walls), poblanos, habaneros, and a slew of little ornamental peppers from gifted seeds. Those include something called "lemon," a multicolor hot one, and a sweet, red datil from my uncle in Florida. Everything from a couple of weeks ago came up and is now in the cold frame too. Slow starts this year. Come on, summer.

I mentioned the fruit groves and liqueurs in the Amalfi Coast thread, and here I'll recommend with a caveat the Taverna Azzurra. The food was good, not outstanding, but the view of the water and Mount Vesuvius across the bay was spectacular at sunset.

I spent some time yesterday leafing through the magazines that have stacked up and are spilling out of the basket that is supposed to contain them, and i decided I need to use the ideas in them a little more frequently. So, not exactly like the recipe from an old Bon Appetit, but pretty close considering I have no herbs in the garden yet. Eggs shirred in a chipotle-seasoned tomato sauce, finished with some feta that was made bubbly under the broiler, served with arepas.

Dinner for two, night five in what will probably be a two-week go at losing the winter blahs that are hanging about our midsections. Carrot, grapefruit, ginger. Lovely.