Working out the Bugs 2.0

Lunch with Ashley Part 2  

 

It's a been a year since my last post, and I have since left the place I was working where I got the idea for this blog. It's been a long time, but I haven't given up on this sweet blog, and I intend to keep it up. However, as I no longer work in an office, I will now invite my friends, neighbors, family, etc. I am really excited, and hope this will bring me closer to my community, and help me make new friends.

However, even though it's been a year, I want to finish my report on my first attempt at making lunch.

So... Ashley.

Making lunch at work is not easy. You have to bring a crap ton of stuff to make it happen. I put off my menu plan until about two days before, and even on the morning of I had to stop at the store for last minute items like ghee (a dairy free butter, that I had never cooked with, but why not try something new when you're going to display your cooking talents for a co-worker right?), gluten and wheat free crackers, etc. Let me interject here and say that I hope I learn from my mistakes. Mistakes like procrastination. Yeah. I'd really like to avoid procrastination.

Anyhoo, equipped with a laundry basket full of supplies from home, I went into work. You know, they say hind sight is 20/20. Boy o boy is that true. I left myself sooo much prep work to be done at work. All the chopping, cutting, etc. What I thought was a simple lunch took a century to prepare. Of course my nerves were a wreck, wanting everything to be perfect. As I was down in the kitchen preparing the lunch, some interesting things started to happen I hadn't taken into consideration. First, I was making this lunch in a public kitchen, so there were people coming in and out, watching, commenting, and making me so nervous! Second, pretty soon the smells from the kitchen starting wafting through the building, and started to draw even more attention. What I didn't know was the owner of the company was there for some important meetings, and pretty soon I had him, and what seemed like the entire executive board in the kitchen with me, wondering what was going on!!! It was hard enough taking this risk, but then doing it on display adds a whole crazy element. Ashley had come into the kitchen so that we could get started, and I turned on some classical music to give us a nice ambiance. You could hardly hear it over the hustle and bustle. This was supposed to be a "get to know you' experience, but with all the passers by, and the utter chaos, and the fact that I was cooking up a storm, I couldn't pay any attention to my guest, and it left little time for conversation.

I overcooked the omelettes.

Perhaps it was the ghee they were cooked in. Or the fact I was using unfamiliar pans and equipment. The salad turned out nice, with a simple dressing of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. The soup was delicious. I used the recipe from my superb, 'Joy of Cooking,' and it did not disappoint. The wheat and gluten free crackers were gross. Serves me right for just guessing with no taste test. We didn't even get to the fresh raspberries.

Ashley ate like a bird. Seriously, like two bites of her omelette. She seemed to like the soup and salad okay, though.

We had a nice conversation, where I learned she was doing her own, 'Happiness Project,' á la, Gretchen Rubin. So cool. She had taken the idea and made it her own. A month to explore religion, was planning a month for travel, a month for art, etc. Looking for what would really make her happy. Really, that's all we had time to discuss. The lunch hour was taken up with my prepping, and explaining to everyone who walked in what on earth we were doing.

Phew! It was hard. It kind of felt like a disaster, but was a great learning experience. I made an extra omelette and gave it to Jessica, who's desk is right by mine, and she said it was delicious :). What do I want to remember for next time? So many things.
1- Taste test all food before serving
2- Do a practice run to work out kinks and snags
3- Don't use unfamiliar products/equipment
4- Don't procrastinate
5- Be more prepared so the focus can be on the guest and not the food prep!

I am not extinguished, though. Until next time, friends, bon appétit!

Working out the bugs

Lunch with Ashley part 1

How do you go about getting started with something? Do you like to ease your way into things, or just jump in, wholeheartedly? I'm a wholehearted gal myself. I'm not the cautious lady at the pool that sneaks in, one toe at a time, and worries her hair will get wet. I'm the jump in the deep end and get the hair wet lady. Come to think of it, I always think about slowly lowering myself daintily into the pool, but there's one major problem I always come up against: I am not dainty. Refined, maybe. Elegant, perhaps. Romantic, for sure. But not dainty. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that with my cannonball attitude, sometimes I learn things by trial and error, as opposed to well thought out execution. All great ideas can take a while to get going. You’ll recall that Edison made over a thousand unsuccessful attempts to create the lightbulb.  Hopefully, this blog idea won’t take quite so many tries, but attempt number one was very Edison-like in nature. Let me tell you about it.


The first, (and so far only), time I've tried making lunch here at work was for Ashley. As a fellow dreamer and creative soul, I told Ashley about my idea way back when it had first come to me. Being the sweet, supportive person she is, she not only encouraged me, she made me promise that she'd be my first guest. Enthused, I agreed! I then remembered feeling a sense of dread when I realized what I'd done. Ashley had some food restrictions I would need to take into account. However, I didn't realize just how extensive those restrictions were. Ashley couldn't eat gluten, wheat, sugar, or dairy. 


Yeah. This is pretty much how I felt.

There are countless delicious alternatives to gluten, wheat, sugar, and dairy, but I don't know what they are, and I certainly didn't know at that time either. I was scared. How was I going to pull this off?

So, you know how I mentioned above that I like just to jump into things? Well, let me retract that statement and modify it to say, I like to jump into things that don't terrify me. Add fear, and you might as well pull up a chair and get comfy because I will be taking my sweet time.

Weeks later, and countless instances of running into Ashley and promising her we'd do lunch next week, I decided to bite the bullet. I set a date, and we were going to do this!

In all those long weeks I'd been running menus in my head of what I could prepare for her. Should I do fish, chicken, a main course salad, salad on the side, soup, no soup? Sheesh. I agonized over whether she would like certain spices and what dressing to go with, could I sneak in a little sugar, or should I adhere strictly to her diet? Finally, after much self-inflicted agony, I decided to do a three-course experience and serve potato leek soup with gluten free crackers, a french style omelet with sauteed mushrooms and spinach and mixed greens on the side, and fresh fruit for dessert. A simple, easy meal I could whip up at work. Yeah. Right.

Eating lunch away from your desk + no distractions = Crazy ideas

Have you heard of the Daily Connoisseur? Well, if you haven't, she's awesome. She's all about living life at a higher level. Wear your best clothes, eat off your best dishes, make everyday life something special. It was after watching her Youtube video on eating that I decided to try her advice: eat lunch free from distractions. No phone, no computer, not even a book or magazine. Just sit down, make your table setting look nice, and eat your food. You can play some soft music if desired, but that's it. No other distractions.

The first time I tried this, it was tougher than I thought it was going to be. I had more than one impulse to grab my phone and distract myself. Never before had the business magazine on the lunch room table looked so enticing. But I persevered. I just sat there and ate my quick Thai noodles, canned peaches, and celery.

Now, I'm a day dreamer. Like, seriously. So if I'm left with a period of time where I just get to let my thoughts run wild, they totally will. As I was eating my noodles, I was fantasizing about blogging, and cooking, and how it would be more fun to be eating with someone, and having lunch dates with the people in my office. We'd have lots of great conversations, and get to know each other so well.  Of course, it wouldn't be fair for me to make myself something yummy, and not share with my lunch partner, so I dreamed I could make lunch for them too. Then the thought struck me like a lightening bolt right there in the lunch room. A crazy idea that blended all my thoughts into one kooky plan. I would make lunch for someone in my office each week, and blog about it.

As soon as I had thought it, I knew I'd struck a gold mine. This idea was especially great because I needed a way to get to know people at work better. I am the receptionist at my job, and it's imperative for me and my company, that I be the face of the office. That I be the one everyone knows and can feel comfortable around. What better way to get to know someone than at lunch? What better way to give of myself than to make food and share it? Yep. A gold mine.

As I finished the last of my peaches, I was truly in awe. What if I had been on my phone, or skimming magazine pages? I never would have dreamed up my crazy, kooky plan.

I am so excited to embark on this experience and share my findings with you. I hope you have crazy kooky plans too. Not able to come up with any? Well, try eating alone and distraction free sometime. You might just discover your best idea yet.

My Journey to Making Lunch

Welp, I might as well start things off by telling you a little of what drove me to start this blog in the first place.

1. First of all, I just love blogs. I feel drawn to them. What a cool way to share your life with other people. Read enough of them, and you start to want to make your own.

2. One of  my favorite blogs is the Daily Connoisseur by Jennifer Scott. One thing she talks about that has inspired me is using your best at each meal. Use your fine china, play some soft music, cook something nice. I've tried this, and there is something powerful about it. In fact, it was eating my lunch in this way that lead me to this blog idea. More on that later.

3. A big part of my day job is getting to know people. Seriously, I can't know the people at work well enough. My job won't be complete until I'm best friends with every last employee at my large company. What better way to make friends with someone than to have lunch together? As part of this blog, I intend to get to know the people at my company over lunch. Lunch that I make. For them. Yep. That's right. I am going to make lunch for my coworkers, and get to know them better in the process.

4. I love to cook. I am fascinated by it.There is just something special about making a meal. I'm nowhere near pro level, but I hope to increase my skill as I write this blog.

There you have it. Four great reasons for writing a blog. So, here I go. Embarking on a journey with my knife, a few pots and pans, and a computer.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy!