Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

It was a super busy day today at work - trying to learn how to manage without two of our employees. They were severed on Friday and so Monday was our first day without them. Jackie and Tina did a great job integrating a lot of the new work that was given to them and I was really proud of them for stepping up. Especially Jackie. It's like a breath of fresh air has been blown into her. She sometimes struggles with negative self-image but it's like a fire has been lit and she is glowing. She's still uncertain about things, but that's to be expected when you're doing something new that you're not familiar with.

In the evening, Clint and I met my boss, Steve, and his family at Plate It Up! in Glendale's historic Catlin Court. It's one of those cooking supply stores that has a kitchen in it where they teach classes or do hands-on cooking. We had taken our employees there for a team-building/recognition activity and Steve and I enjoyed it so much that we decided to go there with our families. Steve's wife, two daughters, mother-in-law, sister and brother-in-law-to-be all came and we made a very yummy dinner. We started off with a corn chowder that was actually a corn soup, but was rustic tasting and great for the fall. Then, we had a pork tenderloin that was rubbed with a chipotle spice rub combination and served with a mango chutney. The pork was wrapped in corn husks and again, gave a little bit of a rustic flavor. It was so tender! Next, was the flank steak C and I made. It was stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and blue cheese. It could have used a little more mushrooms, less spinach, and more blue cheese in the center, along with a little more salt, but overall, was de-lish too. Now C wants to buy flank steak! Next, we had a homemade chicken pot pie, yum, but the veggies weren't quite soft enough yet and they were cut too large for my liking. Crust yum. I think with a few modifications, I would make this a lot since both C and I like pot pie. Last, we had creme brulee for dessert, but it was still hot and consequently, runny. It should have been made first and allowed to chill, but the teacher, I think, wanted us to taste it in a way different than the regular way it is served. I wanted to take pictures, but C left my camera in the car and I didn't remember until almost all the cooking was done. Oh well!

Fun night, just was exhausted when I got home. I'd been up since four to get Dad on his way and get to work for my 6:30 conference call staff meeting with New Albany. I needed to stay up and work on a report for a conference call the next day, but I just couldn't. So, I went to bed.