Category Archives: Work

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Today was a mixed bag of MANY strange things…

Today was one of those days where I think stabbing myself in the forehead with a fork *might* have been more pleasant!  I work up feeling well rested since I went to bed at a reasonable time so I was optimistic!  Perhaps too much so…  I was happy to have my dental appointment as well because I hadn\’t been to a proper dental appointment in over a decade which is bad, really bad!  Dentists cost a retarded amount of money which I don\’t have an unlike my tattoo artist, I can\’t leave dental work \”half done when I run out of money\” its pretty much all or nothing.

Anyway today at work was full of FAIL! My customers DROVE ME UP THE DAMN WALL! First off today was crispy chicken with orange & ginger sauce, a popular one. I usually make it with lemon & herb rice in case you were wondering because it goes along nicely with the citrus in the sauce. Anyhow, I don\’t have a commercial range at work. I have the same stove that most people have in their homes which doesn\’t generally give me any issues except for space. I have to admit, the one thing I DO miss about working in a more commercial setting is a 6-10 burner gas range. So I utilize the commercial convection oven downstairs in the bakery because I can use a larger baking sheet and the temperature is far more consistent then a regular range and the cooking time is also faster.
The only downfall to using ANYTHING in the bakery is that its not only in the basement its also 2 doors down (the bakery opened first and isn\’t connected to the tea room in anyway). So I have to carry this baking pan up the stairs, outside and to the tea room which isn\’t an issue in the spring but caused me some grave concern in the winter.   So I\’m walking in and this one customer who is ALWAYS a pain in the ass is standing at the counter blocking the entrance to the kitchen bitching to Krystal that her soup isn\’t hot enough. So I being ever so cautious said:\”behind you, careful this is hot.\” So hotly replies well my soup is cold and almost slammed her face into a hot pan of chicken which would have served the bitch right! I should have said move your fat ass outta my way but I didn\’t… That REALLY pissed me off!

Then once again we get another customer who can\’t pronounce quiche properly. I didn\’t serve them but Krystal mentioned that she got a request for a spinach guiche. Since I work there and the closest thing to the modification expert all the staff now know what a (NSFW LINK>) guiche piercing is.  Which is always good for a giggle!  Its almost impossible to keep a straight face when a customer asked for a guiche, especially a woman.  I have to bite my tongue from saying \”well I could give you one but you don\’t have the right anatomy for it, I\’m sorry\”  🙂  So let it be know that there is a VAST difference between this and what you really want which is this.

We had a tea party booked this afternoon.  Which does resemble said picture (that is in fact my work) except we now have the three tier tea trays that we use.  Which is always a thorn in EVERYONE\’S side because quite simply its a lot of work.  A million little things go into the preparation of this dainty tea (not to be confused with high tea mind you) because dammit there is a DIFFERENCE! anyway enough of my random ranting.  So this party was booked for 3:00pm but this snooty bitch.  I had to leave at 4pm because I had a LONG overdue dental appointment at 5pm which required me to get from one end of town to the other.  Of course she shows up late, she phoned and mentioned as much but said that she would be arriving at 3:15, she strolls in rather dramatically at 3:35pm and doesn\’t like the table she\’s sitting at.  Setting the table properly for afternoon tea is a hassle and its done BEFORE you arrive, Krystal started to re-locate her to placate her but then she changed her mind (WTF lady seriously?)

We have two ceiling fans going in the tea room because it can get quite stuffy in there.  She requested that one of them be turned off because she\’s an opera singer and it might harm her vocal chords.  Are you kidding me?  Yes I know that singers in general DO need to go to some great lengths to maintain the integrity of their vocal chords I can respect that.  Her voice is her lively hood just as my hands are very precious to me because they\’re what allow me to create.  However I WAS married to a musician at one point (specifically the lead singer) and the only damage that a fan would do to her vocal chords short of trying to swallow it while it was still rotating would be for it to hit her in the throat somehow.  She\’s nothing but a pompous spoiled bitch and I felt EXCEPTIONALLY bad for poor Krystal having to deal with the self proclaimed fuss bucket or whatever she called herself.  Of course the table wasn\’t adequate for Ms. Pain in the ass picky pants either so her and her friend re-located themselves.  Sadly I had to leave so I don\’t know what the rest of the final hour was like but I know that Krystal was not happy when I left and well who in the hell can blame her!

So I leave to go to my dental appointment thinking that I was getting a minor tooth repair on a chipped tooth that happened a few months ago.  She takes x-rays, there\’s infected nerve damage and a cavity or something.  I need a fucking root canal which she DOESN\’T do so she has to bring in a specialist which will cost me $500.00 which my insurance only pays 50% of.  So I told this to her, because I can ill afford it and my insurance plan ONLY covers $500.00 for the ENTIRE YEAR regardless of what service your in need of.  Jesus Christ! So she says what do you want me to do?  I asked for a temporary filling so I could at least eat without  getting food stuck in my tooth all the time.  So turns out that I most likely have periodontal (aka gum) disease which is causing one of my FRONT teeth to loosen which is REALLY bad.  So I have to get some major cleaning done and she\’s like well you should see your dentist (meaning her) more regularly blah blah blah trying to lay on this quilt trip.  I said flat out to her face:\” No offense but private practice  dentists are rich for a reason, because YOUR EXPENSIVE!\”  She just glared at me for that comment but I told her flat out, it comes down to money.  I have bills to pay, I don\’t make a ton of cash and that\’s that!  Can\’t get blood from a stone now can you!  So I asked how much this treatment was, she just said it was expensive (how nice) and didn\’t actually give me a proper answer to my question soooo I\’m going to apply to be a patient at McGill university\’s dental training program which boasts that its usually 50% LESS then seeing a private dentist.  Because its a training hospital for graduates.  So yeah it\’ll take longer but it\’ll still be done properly and under the watchful eye of a licensed dentist and should it all go to hell well it\’s in a hospital so I\’m not worried lol.  It\’ll be well worth the $40.00 to try and get a second opinion in any case!  They also take insurance hooray!

So the temporary filling is in and throbbing, SO MUCH FOR THE NERVES BEING DEAD DR. REGINA!  If my damn nerves were dead, I wouldn\’t be feeling this irritating pulse now would I?  At least the Novocaine is starting to wear off, I was getting a little tired of not being able to talk properly and drooling on myself.

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Sunday is almost over!

Its mothers day in Canada & the US, so I made sure to call my mommy today to tell her how awesome she was!  I also made a point to individually tell all my friends who are mom\’s on face book the same thing as opposed to posting a generic message in lieu of their status.  I just find that its more personal, and of course some mutual friends of other friends did the same after me ha ha.  I guess I started a trend!  I miss my mom on mother\’s day, we used to go out for lunch or dinner & go shopping or something but now she\’s 9 hours away and we can\’t do that anymore 🙁  That\’s the one crappy thing about living in another province sometimes.

My great uncle Jim passed away Friday, from what I am not sure.  No one bothered to call my father and tell him and in spite of our differences I thought that was pretty ignorant of my family!  They didn\’t find out until an hour ago when I called home to talk to my mom.  I only found out because all of his sisters are on face book, go figure!   RIP Uncle Jim, you were pretty awesome!  He\’s with my Nannie now who was his sister so that makes me feel better.

I didn\’t do that much this weekend aside from get more work done on the website which is a good thing!  A lot of things needed to be re-worked, tweaked a few pages, added some more sections that I still need to upload but things are rolling along finally.  My desire to work on the site comes in spurts.  I think I went into overkill the last time around I really had NO desire to do any work on it in a while.  Not since the middle of March!  I\’ve had the domain for almost a year now so time to get something happening.  Thankfully 89% of the bulk of the \”main\” section is completed.  Of course I still need LOTS of content and I hope that can start happening sooner as opposed to later but I\’m pleased with the progress this far.  I\’ve done all the work on my own this far with a few tips and tricks from Jason and a little help from him fixing internal things that I \”broke\” thank God for him!

So that\’s about it, I really have nothing new to report because I didn\’t do anything even remotely interesting this weekend but work.  So off to my regular m-f job tomorrow and the dentist on Tuesday which I can\’t wait for!  It\’ll be SO nice to finally catch up on the things i\’ve had to \”neglect\” because I simply couldn\’t afford them!  Hopefully next week I can get new glasses that will be nice too 🙂

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Random Thursday stuff… & my chocolate review

Today at work was \”interesting\” to say the least.  It was a constant flow ALL damn day!  Which is really irritating because it just doesn\’t stop.  Thankfully I didn\’t have a bunch of other work to catch up on which is rare, otherwise today would have been one hell of a hindrance!  Although I did have a rather humorous moment with some of my all time favorite Thursday regulars today who always brighten my day.  I bring their food to the table which is something I don\’t normally do but I always make an exception for them.  There was a little bit of icing sugar on on of their napkins so he says to me\” Hey Chef Steph, what\’s this white stuff on my napkin?\” I just sniffed really loud and said I had no idea lol.  He laughed at that, which is good because they have an awesome sense of humor!

I got a rather bitchy e-mail from the property manager because I haven\’t sent in the revised lease renewal/rent increase forms.  So I send a bitchy one back informing her that she STILL hasn\’t had my heat repaired and my hot water is still epically screwed and only works on occasion ( these occasions are generally NOT when I need to shower of course!) and the front door lock is broken AGAIN, the people upstairs are STILL a thorn in my side among countless other things so off to the Regie du logement I go after I send her a registered letter stating my long list of complaints and if they\’re not dealt with in a certain period of time that I specify then I can file a complaint with the regie.  Generally the Regie falls in favor of the tenant and that generally scares the crap outta landlords 🙂  I of course will use this in MY favor!

Anyway moving along to my promised chocolate review 🙂  First though I should mention that I am NOT a fan of white or dark chocolate.  I find white chocolate WAY too sweet for my liking and dark chocolate is too bitter (for my tastes) if the cacao content is too high.  30%-40% is OK but this 90% nonsense, might as well suck on some coco beans. Yeah its healthier but well not my style, unless its paired up with something yummy like orange ganache.

Anyway my lovely friend Lisa who is also a foodie like myself sent me a lovely assortment from Russell Stover.  One of my favorite chocolatiers if I want something simple yet delish!  I\’d never seen this one before: The urban collection: Modern world chocolates my box was blue, good choice since its my favorite color!  I was intrigued to say the least!  Can\’t find these in Canada (not that I looked very hard but I have never seen them here).

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I tried the Sea Salt Soft Caramel first, and I was surprised that it was actually quite tasty and not salty in the least.  Unlike regular caramels it wasn\’t very sweet and yes in case your wondering there was visible sea salt in the caramel itself.  Its not something I would eat all the time as it did leave an unusual aftertaste but I liked it! Rating 6

Dark Cacao from Ghana was next…  Again not a dark chocolate fan but this was decent.  The taste wasn\’t too bitter but a little bland for my tastes.  Rating 5

Key Lime was my next victim and it SUCKED!  Essentially its a white chocolate base that I picked of because I really couldn\’t stomach it and nibbled on the middle.  Not too limey, mostly it just tasted kind of strange.  The potential is there, I think a dark chocolate base would have been better.  Rating 4.5

Pistachio Nougatine was my next choice, not a big pistachio fan but I love chewy things.  Its milk chocolate that has been rolled in red colored sugar crystals which made for an interesting first impression (and hurt the roof of my mouth) but it was SO good!  So good in fact that I would have to say that this is indeed my favorite one of this collection.  Had a true to form flavor, was bright green inside and was chewy.  I give this one a 7

Grapefruit Ganache looked really cool on a first glance but was an EPIC FAIL on the taste scale!  The middle was somewhat grapefruit-ish but left an odd aftertaste.  The texture was kind of hard and well the white chocolate shell left a lot to be desired.  Again I think this one could be better, and would likely taste better with a slightly darker chocolate shell.  I rated this one a 3

Espresso Truffle was the last one left in my 1/4 eaten box of chocolates.  Again this one also looks very artsy and I was excited about trying this one!  Truffles and espresso teamed up with chocolate? YES PLEASE!  I took a bite, after drinking some water to get the taste of grapefruit ganache fail out of my mouth and I found the dark chocolate base to be too bitter for my tastes.  The espresso truffle in the middle somewhat fell flat but the taste was intense which was good but I felt that it was slightly overpowered by the dark chocolate shell.  I would think that milk chocolate or even a less coca intense dark chocolate would have please me more personally.  I give this one a 6.7

Overall I wouldn\’t buy it again but it was certainly worth the taste trip!  It satisfied my need to try something new, it is artistically pleasing and would make a nice gift for any foodie who likes chocolate.  Although likely better suited to more adventurous types and people who like ALL chocolate overall.

This brings me to my ALL time favorite chocolatiers and that would be Lindt, you can\’t go wrong there!  John got me a heart shaped box of chocolates last year for valentines day and I have to say that I loved the whole thing (even the white chocolate and dark chocolate are decent!)  So when I went home to ON for Christmas I spotted a box of Lindt Petits Desserts at my moms house.  I was intrigued as they looked SO yummy!  Each chocolate is designed after a dessert: Chocolate log, Macaroon, Lemon tart, Meringue, Brownie, Tiramisu and Creme Brulee.  My mom had a mini gift box and of course wasn\’t willing to share.

However whilst shopping after boxing day madness was over I was in the pharmacy looking to score a bottle of my favorite perfume So De La Renta by Oscar de la renta (which retails for about $85.00 CAD) yet always goes on sale at Christmas for $20.00 and lasts me for a LONG time.  Which they were sold out of so I bought my second favorite Volupte instead at a bargain price.  Anyway as I was walking to the cash I noticed a GIANT box of this chocolate collection on sale for $10.50 regular price $28.00 which is more in my budget and for 41 of these assorted chocolates it was a steal!

I didn\’t open it until I got home to Montreal because it was sealed in plastic and I didn\’t want to spill my precious chocolate all over my luggage!  When I did finally decide to indulge I was drooling and couldn\’t decide which one I wanted to taste first!  Let it be noted that I can really only consume 1 or 2 of these before I have had enough and I still have some left from Christmas and its May now lol.

The chocolate logs are divine!  Milk chocolate filled with dark chocolate and marzipan which made for an interesting combination and a lovely silky texture inside that was music to my taste buds!

Meringues were also yummy and certainly one of my favorites in this collection!  Its soft center milk chocolate with crunchy pieces of meringue and exceptionally smooth as per the usual with Lindt.

Tiramisu was a little disappointing!  Its my favorite dessert EVER and even though it claims to have a coffee and tiramisu flavored center I beg to differ.  Still tasty overall but not as good as I had expected or hoped.  I even tolerated the white chocolate top for this one.

Creme Brulee was interesting visually as it does resemble a edible chocolate \”bowl\” filled with white chocolate acting as the brulee that was infused with biscuit pieces that I couldn\’t quite detect, brulee and caramelized sugar.  While it was super cute and even looked like a real creme brulee the white chocolate was a little sweet for my tastes with the extra added sugar and such but it was still good if you like a sweeter tasting chocolate.

Lemon tarts were the cutest of the bunch!  They very tiny and very much resemble a little lemon tart with milk chocolate of course acting as the \”tart shell\” and the inside was filled with a decedent creamy white chocolate truffle center, lemon flavor and these mysterious biscuits.  While the lemon flavor was almost an afterthought ( I am a DIE HARD lemon dessert fan) so I was disappointed in the truffle\’s sweetness overpowering the lemon and I don\’t know where these biscuits were supposed to be (possibly in the base) I didn\’t detect them much.

Brownies were interesting…  Its a dark chocolate truffle with a dark chocolate/hazelnut flavored base.  While I did enjoy these I felt that the dark chocolate somewhat over powered the hazelnut just a smidge but these too were adorable and they are shaped like itty bitty brownies!  Ah hell the whole collection is adorable!

Last but not least is the macaroon another one of my favorites that still lingers in the box because I want to savor it!  Its dome shaped milk chocolate infused with biscuits (yes I can actually see them in this particular chocolate) infused with almond praline and they are heavenly!

Worth the price overall but I being the thrifty one would certainly buy these again.  Most likely when I visit the Lindt Chocolate factory that recently opened not to far from my mom\’s house!  Makes a lovely gift, they\’re adorable to look at and delicious to consume as well!

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Dear God is it a full moon?!?

OK seriously, I love my job *most* of the time…  I tell you though yesterday and today was like bitch, moan and complain fest!  Monday\’s special du jour was classic mac & cheese.  So this one rather nice although pain in my ass customer was like what\’s that?  I\’m like its mac and cheese (meanwhile I\’m thinking WTF you don\’t know what mac & cheese is are you kidding me?)  Well whats in it? Cream sauce, cheese and pasta that\’s pretty much it.  Can I see it?  Where is it?  No its in the oven.   Is it Kraft dinner? (are you for real lady?) so I said you betcha! Oh well can I have this like this and only half of that oh and can I have this for my son and so on.  OK fine, so she wants me to split one in half so she can share it with her aunt.  Fair enough the portions are a little on the large side anyway.  I bring the food to the table and all I hear is OMG that\’s half its the same size as Corey\’s! No its not, I promise you its only half.  Are you sure? Yes…  Corey could see I was getting a little steamed…  He\’s a good guy, I like him.  Anyway then she announces to me that she needs to move because the lights on the ceiling fan/along with the ceiling fan are giving her a migraine.  Thankfully Shane and Dana showed up and saved me from her!

Move on to Today (Tuesday) it was warm-ish outside and stupid hot inside because I had the oven on and 3 out of 4 burners going all morning so we opened the front and the back door so that we could get a nice cross breeze in there.  All the customers were comfortable because it was a tad too warm until Miss High Maintenance shows up…  First off it would seem that she knew 90% of the people in there which is the norm at my work.  So she\’s at this table and stops to chat it up with one of her friends before placing her order.  Friend says oh I haven\’t see you in a while.  Miss High Maintenance replies (rather loudly I might add) Oh I just got back from MEXICO.  The whole room fell silent, you could hear a pin drop!  I\’m thinking OK lady there\’s a MAJOR flu going around that originated from Mexico, the US is about to declare it an epidemic and the media is making it sound like the entire nation is going to die anytime now its so OVER hyped and you make an announcement like that?  I was appalled!

They place their order and go sit by the window, beside the open door.  Less then a minute later I hear this: umm excuse me miss (talking to Krystal not me) can we close the door please we\’re a little chilly…  Yeah I bet the 15 degree weather we have here must not compare to flu ridden Mexico!  So we had to close the door much to EVERY-ONE\’S dismay!  So the second she was up to leave, that damn door was open again in no time flat!  OK yeah it gets a little windy but the fans don\’t do anything except push the warm air around.  Then the tea room rejoiced!  It was quite magical I tell you…

Then one of our older, \”more distinguished\” spoiled, old pain in the ass customers whom the boss likes to ass kiss arrives.  Asked Krystal if she could turn the fans down because it was too windy in the tea room (WTF ARE YOU KIDDING ME!) so she did and she shut the front door, again and of course made all of our customers bitch  that it was too hot.  Boss lady says oh humor him he\’s a good customer blah blah blah.  You see, I don\’t go outta my way to kiss anyone\’s ass EVER!  So it was a small victory when even he thought it was too warm in there and he himself opened the front door.

Its tiny, 8 tables that\’s it.  I\’m willing to bet that, actually I know that if he would have complained like that in a bigger establishment that  they wouldn\’t have \”humoured\” him like our boss expects us to.  Thank God its almost Wed, which brings me that much closer to Friday!