Category Archives: Work

Happy Holidays!

November 29, 2023Domestic Goddess, HolidayMush

In which it’s been grey, overcast, and foggy for a few days but it FEELS like it’s been MONTHS.

We had T-day alone, just the two of us. Which is how we normally do it, because we spent so much time so far away from family. This year most of the family had mild medical reasons for not gathering together, and that suited us fine. I do the relish plate and the spinach & artichoke dip on t-day eve, for dinner, and then we eat the leftovers on Thanksgiving morning for brunch, and eat dinner in the evening.

Regular Thanksgiving dinner menu for us this year, except for meat I made him chicken thighs rather than ham steak, because they were already in the freezer.

Christmas decor is up! Used the tiny tree again because it’d be more hassle than it’s worth to get the Yeti to go and get a tree. Plus real trees drop needles everywhere.

Yesterday I did a fuckton of chores. Huge list. Domestic as fuck. House looks great.

Today I slept in, did my spiritual practices, and had a latte. Ate some leftover Indian food. Fucked around online.

The Yeti’s dinner is on the stove, and I have laundry to fold. I’m probably going to watch Star Wars shows all evening because I just signed up for Disney+ (It was $2 a month on Cyber Monday). I have tomorrow off again.

A few months ago, I asked work if I could temporarily take a break from closing. (After closing for four years straight, I just needed a break.) Cleaning the grill and closing the dipping cabinet and in general putting the place to bed every single night was getting on my nerves.

Well, they said yes, switched me to mid-shift, and… promptly cut my hours by 25%. I keep asking for more hours, but last week I got nine, and this week, nineteen.

While I do like my job, a lot, I do actually go there primarily for the money. I’m about to demand I get my old schedule back, because I’m a little broke. I think they think they’re being nice to me, and taking care of me with this new schedule, but what I need is more hours and fewer long shifts during which I never get to sit down. (My old legs and feet can’t do seven hours straight of walking and standing on concrete floors anymore. It fucking hurts, A LOT, and takes multiple painful hours—three or four after I get home—to recover from. I may think of myself as 43, but my leg veins? Are closer to 60.)

I’ve ordered the Yeti’s Christmas gifts, and will give local family the same cheese & crackers snack bags I always do. I personally don’t really need or want anything for Christmas, of course. I’m just glad we have a festival this time of year, when it’s so fucking dark all the time, at which it’s appropriate to hang fairy lights everywhere. I love Christmas lights!

Don’t forget you can run fireplace screensavers on your TV all winter if you like! It’s your house, you’re the boss!

I passed!

September 11, 2023CheeseMush

In which I have letters after my name now.

Got the results email, for the cheese professional test I took in July, and am pleased and surprised to learn that I passed!

I thought for sure I’d failed. I mean, I got all the questions about Ossau Iraty wrong because I’d never eaten it and didn’t know what style it was or where it was even from! ALthough I did feel confident about all the cheesemaking questions, and vaguely alright about the markup/math questions. I dunno much beyond feeling very certain I did NOT pass. But I did! Amazing!

Anyway, now I’m an ACS CCP®! Whoo hoo!

It’s November already?!

November 6, 2022Life, WorkMush

In which there is no thematic element, just a random, sloppy post.

Somebody finally moved into our old house across the street! Naturally this means I’m sitting on my couch, right in front of the plate glass window, with the drapes wide open, watching him wash his car, in completely blatant “nosy old white lady” fashion.

His car is CLEAN as FUCK, guys. He’s got a hose attachment, detergent, chamois and everything. After he dried it, he put it in the garage and covered it! Who puts a car cover over a car in a garage?! Absolutely fascinating.

It’s a chilly and grey November day, with splashes of sunlight, and lots of breeze and golden leaves gently spiraling… picture-perfect autumn. I should probably go rake leaves or some shit, but this couch is damn comfortable.

We went out to brunch earlier at The Sunny Side, which is next door to the liquor store, so I grabbed myself some Oregon-made vodka and a couple mixers. I may be starting cocktail hour pretty early. Like, any minute now, or whenever I decide what I want: bloody Mary? Vodka soda? Vodka cran? Screwdriver? Lemon drop? Vodka gimlet? Little bit vapor-locked with all the potentials, here.

Speaking of time, FUCK DST, IT’S SO FUCKING STUPID, WHY CAN’T THE FUCKING FEDERAL GOVERNMENT KILL WHATEVER IT IS THAT KEEPS STATES FROM BEING ABLE TO OPT-OUT TO STANDARD TIME?!?! The entire left coast has voted to kill the clock changes, but we can’t opt out unless we go to permanent DST rather than standard time. I hate it.

The shop is doing more business every month, and my boss told me that “a lot of that is thanks to you,” and I’ve never been so pleased. I love that little cheese shop, and I’m pleased and proud it’s doing so well. Yesterday was extremely busy (for a tiny shop in a rural town of 9,000) and honestly, I had a blast. Lots of lunch customers, lots of grocery customers, locals and tourists alike. Really enjoyable! I’m so lucky to have a good job: one in which I have responsibilities I actually enjoy, and where I am not treated like ignorant, replaceable shit.

Honestly, I think I have some genuine PTSD from working low-level corporate America jobs. Comcast, Home Depot, places like that are truly abusive and awful. If I can manage it, I will NEVER take any job ever again that isn’t operated directly by the owner. (It’s so much harder to be an abusive fuck if you actually have to look your employees in the eye every day.)

Apropos of nothing: I bought a new vape mod last weekend, and I love it. The box said it was “mint green,” but it’s actually metallic-peacock-blue-shading-to-bright-teal. It’s actually quite pretty.

I think I forgot to water the dogwoods at all this week? I have “water dogwoods” in my planner last Thursday, but I feel like I wrote that to remind myself and then never did it. I love these little trees and want them to thrive, and the internet and my aunt Kathy both say we need to water them deeply on a regular basis for at least the first entire year, so that they can grow deep roots, and I really don’t want to fuck it up!

My dad’s leaving the country for a month, to vacation in Costa Rica, and we’ll be sitting his cat. I’m really excited to have a temporary cat guest! I don’t really want to commit to a pet, mostly because they always die, but having a visiting cat? Fucking fantastic! I hope she settles in quickly and likes to cuddle, I haven’t been purred on it quite awhile.

LOOK AT MY NEW KITCHEN

April 2, 2022Domestic Goddess, LifeMush

In which we bought the house across the street and moved into it.

Look at this adorable kitchen!

I thought I’d hate the yellow, but it’s growing on me. Looks cute with my blue stuff.

Still hate the pink living room and hallway, though! Have a painter coming Tuesday morning to give us a quote for painting over the pink.

The kitchen is mostly together, and the bedroom and office are unpacked. Still need to connect the washer & dryer, and the guest room is half full of boxes. Plus it needs furniture.

We love this house!

ranting about work!

December 1, 2021Admissions, WorkMush

in which i stayed an hour late tonight because of reasons

there’s new staff at the creamery (we lost five people in a single week a couple months ago) and they tend to leave their shit all over the work benches even when they’re not using them

“shit” in this context is buckets, scissors, slicers, knives, pens, vac bags, labels, tape, notes, and cheese. all these things have places they belong, and those places are NOT on on a work bench other staff need to use

nothing wastes more time than having to clean both before and after i do a task; workstations should either be actively in use or CLEAN, not abandoned and dirty

anybody starting a task should be able to do so from a fully reset kitchen, every single time, which means everybody needs to fucking clean as they go

when i went to slice and package charcuterie today, i had to clean the fucking slicer first, and then i had to clean & sanitize the bench, and then i had to clean the vac sealer

the number of times i have had to wash the wire cutter and knife and planer and bench and scale before i could even start cutting cheese lately is, well, too fucking many

i do too many dishes and bench resets for other people. like, i DO NOT mind helping out when it’s crazy busy, but this happens every single day now: i have to clean equipment and work areas before i can start to do my own tasks

i had to return an entire cart worth of buckets and molds (at least they were clean, i’m grateful for that!) to the creamery, where they belong (and where they traditionally sit to air-dry), from the kitchen, where they didn’t, just so i could clear enough room on the drying rack to do somebody else’s dishes after they left without doing them

all but one of the morning staff left without finishing their cleaning and dishes, and i staged their overflowing trash for them by the exit to go out but they all just walked past it so i took seven bags out myself tonight

i need to figure out how to communicate “clean as you go” and “take the trash out when you clock out” and “do your fucking dishes so i don’t have to wash equipment before i can work” and “don’t take a break until you’ve cleared your work area” without sounding as annoyed as i actually am

two of them have repeatedly told me they’re “so busy,” but they’re also standing around talking for the bulk of the first two hours of my shift; now, i know you’ve been there for hours already when i arrive, and i don’t mind if you sit down for awhile, please do take a break, but IF YOU FUCKING RESET THE KITCHEN FIRST, MAYBE I CAN ACTUALLY START DOING WHAT I NEED TO DO instead of waiting for a clean workstation and clean equipment or cleaning up after you again

i’m very glad i no longer have to package the hundreds of pounds of curds they do every week, and, as i said, i’m absolutely happy to pitch in WHEN NEEDED, but i don’t like having to clean the whole goddamned kitchen before i can do my job because everybody’s decided to just not clean up after themselves

so today i basically faffed around the shop for a couple hours when i got there, decorating for christmas, because i didn’t feel like doing everybody’s dishes and trash and bench resets, but i ultimately ended up cleaning the entire kitchen after they all left anyway, then doing my own work, and then closing (aka cleaning the kitchen again so it’s ready for them in the morning), which is why i clocked out an hour late

lol YES, I KNOW this is just another short stanza in the eternal open-versus-close-staff war, and basically, in spite of the above bitching and attitude and do-not-like nonsense, i’ve decided my approach: i’ll just fucking clean! i’m not too good for it, i’m not above it, i don’t need to have ego about it, and i’m just gonna set the standard and keep it myself without being invested in how other people respond, because the bulk of this rant is, i realize, just ego and attachment and judgement

yes.

Hello from Wednesday Evening

July 21, 2021Food, Weather, WorkMush

In which I’m making soup!

I’ve just put some vegetables, herbs de Provence, and broth into the Instantpot. Will add cream when it’s done and blend it.

Baked a stunning loaf of bread last night; gonna make a brie sandwich with it and that’ll be dinner!

Pluto has a channel that just plays endless back-to-back episodes of The Love Boat and I’m super into it these past few days. What a weird-ass show! It’s so incredibly horny.

I cut my hair yesterday. The only cut I ever do: pull it all carefully to the nape, whack it off. Instant asymmetrical bob! I don’t really like how thin, straight, dry, and awful my hair is these days, but what can you do. I also don’t like being old and fat, either. Oh, well.

Work is insane lately. They’re making cheese probably four or five times a week, there’s ice cream now, foot traffic is really picking up, and we’re hosting Poutine, Eh? (a Tri-cities Restaurant) in pop-up format every Saturday. I used to order from the distributor every two months, now it’s twice as often and we’re always perpetually nearly out of crackers. I spend a lot of time making custom snack packs for local tasting rooms.

I’m the only person still wearing a mask at work; I’m doing it because the global consensus appears to be that it’s the best approach, even if local mandates say otherwise. As of today, I only know personally of two people who have caught Covid-19 (an uncle of his, and a co-worker of mine) but with everybody going back to normal and variants, well I want to do the right thing.

The kitchen window sill is full of herbs and a jade tree cutting Embo gave me. None of the several tomato plants out front have set any fruit. I guess next year I’ll just put flowers in the raised beds since it’s a rental and I don’t care enough to replace all the soil. (Did tell the owners we’d buy it if it were ever for sale, but I doubt they want to sell since this is their designated house-to-retire-into.)

Today’s the first day the high temp was under 95 in weeks. It’s been unbelievably hot and dry. It’s supposed to get down to 55 tonight so I’m going to turn off the A/C for only the third time in as many weeks (once for service, and a few nights ago to air out the stuffiness) and open the house up.

Time to go eat some soup!

Ripe

July 7, 2020CheeseMush

In which there’s cheese!

I ordered the gift box from Alemar again. (Their cheese is so good! Plus they treat me right when I order and usually throw in something extra and fun, like curds or toma. Last order had cream cheese, which I used in some yummy pasta!) When it arrived, back in the end of May, neither the brie nor camembert were ready, so I took them to work and left them in the cave to mature.

Brought the camembert home Saturday and just got around to bread baking today, so, here it is!

(Yes, I realize you can do things with camembert other than just eat it with good, crusty bread, but I don’t care about those things.)

Soft, ripe camembert is a DELIGHT and a TREASURE and I ADORE it. Alemar’s camembert is really fantastic, but if you get a wheel that doesn’t give when you gently press the center, do hold it until it’s soft (ideally at a humidity-controlled 50 or so degrees, but a regular fridge will do if you have a few months). It’s absolutely worth the wait!

I keep ordering from Alemar because I love their cheese, they ship to my house, and even though I work in a cheese shop we don’t make bloomy rind cheeses and rarely have them in stock long when I do get to order them. (Embo and I usually end up buying at least half ourselves!)

I’d love to carry local soft rind cheeses, but can’t find any Oregon or Washington creameries that work with our distributor or ship. Few things more lovely than a creamy, glossy brie or camembert. Yum.

DUDE I BOUGHT A TINY GRILL!!!

April 21, 2020Domestic Goddess, FoodMush

In which there’s a TINY GRILL!

So I use a Chase VISA that gives me points. I spent some on this little grill and it arrived today.

I realize it’s a pandemic and I probably should have turned those points into cash but JUST LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE, PORTABLE LITTLE THING. Holy shit. Smitten.

Now I know people often shop specifically for foods to cook on the BBQ, but I want to play with this thing NOW and I’m not going to the store unless I really, really need to (because nobody out here is social distancing for SHIT).

So I rustled up some stuff and tossed it all in a bowl with olive oil and salt & pepper.

Potato, tomato, mushrooms, garlic, onion, jalapeno, halloumi, and a 2-day old baguette.

FIRE! WHOO!

We already had charcoal, lighter fluid, and a grill set in the garage because my aunt gave them to us last year.

Is there anything more wonderful than sitting next to a little grill on a blanket next to an irrigation ditch on an absolutely GORGEOUS, BREEZY spring day?

No, there is NOT.

Ate this smoky bounty with some garlic tomato sauce I keep in the fridge for pizzas. (Recipe is canned tomato, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper, in the blender. Super easy and super delicious.)

Grilled bread and halloumi with garlic tomato sauce is FANTASTIC. With mushrooms and garlic and onions? Sort of a deconstructed grilled pizza!

Put the tomato, jalapeno, and some of the onion and garlic in the blender with a can of diced tomatoes and some cilantro, for salsa.

Possibly the very best afternoon EVER! Just sittin’ outside, slowly grilling (I only used 15 briquettes because there’s no point in wasting fuel) and eating, enjoying the creek and the breeze and the warmth and the green and some pink wine.

FUCK YEAH TINY GRILL!

Bonus salsa!

I AM SO HAPPY!

So Here’s My Version of the Famous Bread Recipe

March 29, 2020Domestic Goddess, Food, RecipesMush

In which, okay, I know I’ve posted too much about bread lately, and some of these pics are recycled, but this is my adaptation of someone else’s adaptation of the ‘Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day’ method.

I think I’ve got my dough recipe dialed in! This has amazing crust and crumb. Here we go!

One part hot tap water (3 cups).

One packet yeast.

Two parts flour (about 6 unsifted cups):
– 50% King Arthur all-purpose
– 25% atta (whole wheat flour, used to make Indian chapati)
– 25% grocery store white all-purpose flour

Salt (a tablespoon or so).

In a large bowl, place the water (100F or so, no hotter) and the yeast. Dump in all the flour, then the salt. Stir together into a shaggy, wet mass (I use the handle of a spatula, it’s chrome and sort of like a dough hook).

Cover loosely and let rise at room temperature for two hours (I put mine in the oven with the light on, and use one of those plastic bowl covers with elastic) and then refrigerate.

When you remember it’s there later (as soon as a few hours, as late as ten days), use kitchen shears to cut off a chunk of the dough, maybe the size of an apple. It’ll be really sticky, so flour your hands. Shape it into a ball with the tuck-and-turn method shown here (I do mine on a pastry mat, but you can do it anywhere, really).

Put a metal bowl or pan into your oven, big enough to hold at least a cup of water, but larger is fine (I use a stainless dog bowl). Also place a baking stone or cast iron (shallow frying pan or griddle) into your oven.

Set the oven temperature to at least 450 (I do most of my baking between 450 and 500F).

When your dough’s warmed up some (you don’t want it super cold in the center as that will affect how it bakes, especially with boules, but you don’t need to bring it all the way to room temp), put it on a piece of parchment paper. Then score the top with a serrated knife. This is to allow for oven spring, but you can get all fancy decorative if you’re like that.

Get a cup or so of hot tap water.

Open your oven, and quickly put the bread on its parchment directly on the hot stone or cast iron, pour the hot water into the pan or bowl, and close the door.

If you have a clean spray bottle, fill it with water, and spray the inside of the oven thoroughly at least three times during the first seven minutes to keep the loaf moist and encourage oven spring. After 7 or 10 minutes, you can quit spraying and let the crust develop.

Bake your bread until it’s a light golden brown, somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes depending on the size of the loaf.

Cool on a wire rack.

To make baguette, I let it sit in a round for about ten minutes, dust it with flour again, and roll it out gently with the palms of my hands. Sometimes I pick it up and let its own weight stretch it out a bit. You want to handle it gently so you don’t pop all the air bubbles inside, so getting an even baguette is tricky; mine usually have a big lump somewhere but they taste fantastic.

To make pita, flour the hell out of the dough and roll it into thin rounds. Bake at 500F on the hot stone or cast iron; no water pan or misting is needed. The moisture in the dough will be trapped by the flour cloak, and the pita will steam inside. Keep in a tea towel so it doesn’t dry out.

For pizza, let it sit in a ball for ten minutes, then roll into a thin round and top. Bake on the stone or use a separate cookie sheet or pizza pan. I do the water pan but it’s not strictly necessary.