Thur Sept 18 2008

Well, another interesting and action-packed day. Up at 5, very cloudy, very sultry, little bit of rain. Cleared by 7 so not bad.

Worked all morning on recipes - some successful, some not so much - need to 'retool' some. Peach balsamic vinaigrette - good. Needs more ginger though.

Cleaned the crab, 12 oz. of meat from 3 lbs. of crab. LOVE the flavor of the spider crab though - sweeter and fuller flavor than claws or legs but have to get a better price. At $4.50bz an ounce means crab cakes would have to be priced too high. Going to make them up and see what yield is...

Spring rolls, mixed deal. Filling turned out great but rice noodles never softened up. Last time I made the rolls there was too much liquid so instead of cooking/soaking the noodles first thought it would be a good idea to add them to the mixture, let them soak up the moisture. Should have worked, right? Nope. After sitting for three hours, still stiff as toothpicks. So will re-do that one and cook off the current 'batch'. Stir-fry anyone?

Snagged a ton of fresh basil from Rico's garden (no worries - have permission and they're closed until season anyway). Made up the house vinaigrette - basil dijon. Perfect. Check that one offa da list.

Another trip to Hariri's for forgotten supplies. Sam's used to that - doesn't even look askance when I come dashing in for some random ingredient at 7am. "Green peppers, mango juice and coconut milk? Uh, ok" Prolly thinks I'm making some crazy gringo omelet or something. =)

Ginger rum sauce - good. Roasted red pepper tarragon sauce - good. Caramelized walnuts - needs work, never got crispy after roasting. Too much humidity? Not enough cook time? Don't know. Will re-do tomorrow.

Good thing I have very willing and understanding 'guinea pigs' down at the Fido's office. Have to qualify the source though - some give good useful, honest and critical feedback, some eat it all and comment is "great".

"But what about the crunchy rice noodles that poke through the rice skin wrapper?"

"There were rice noodles? Crunchy? I like crunchy. Another please?"

And so it goes...

Headed down to restaurant about noon to meet with crew to start clean out process of sushi bar to get it ready for the 'facelift'. Lots to do there but they're up for the task - good workers.

Met with electrician on Nautica stuff. Need a new exhaust fan for kitchen and two more lights. Over to hardware store, got the lights, no fans. Over to other hardware store, got the fan, back to restaurant.

Work going great, beams look awesome, ceiling fans up and running, wiring in place, workers everywhere - looked like an ant hill. Just the way I like it...

Went to bank to open merchant account for credit card processing, more paperwork. Back to restaurant, went over the plan for exterior stairs with contractor. Should work great.

Cut check for materials for bench seat, check for electrician for labor so far. Missing a check. Dang, searched everywhere - no check. No time to worry about that right now, have to work on specs for bench.

Got that lined out, back to hardware store for more bulbs and plate to cover electrical box we have to cover because wall light doesn't fit in original location (too close to wine rack. HAVE to have the wine rack). Solution: move the light 3 inches, cover old box with blank plate, paint to hide. Problem solved.

Packed up my stuff to go, found the missing check under my backpack. Note to self: not so bad to lose tape measure. Not good to lose checks.

Finally home at 6. Shower felt great. Rum and the porch even better. Friend called, tempted me with wine and 'quality' porch time. Couldn't resist - I'm so easily swayed. Had a good time though and needed the break.

About 8:30 decided we were hungry, neither of us had eaten anything (hence the rapid buzz I suppose). Cooked up a big batch of shrimp stir fry (from the ill-fated spring roll mix). Turned out great. Must have been quite a site - two tipsy (drunk) women in the kitchen with sharp knives and hot skillets. But no injuries or damage to property and great food. Win-win-win.

After she left, stayed up working on paperwork and felt obligated to finish the wine so did. Resulting headache but worth it. I should buy stock in Tylenol...