Blogette (mini blog)

I did a podcast check it out at blackbean.podbean.com/

No.3

The walk into work this morning was beautiful. I walked down the streets staring at the snow covered scene. From the snow on the houses to the cat prints in the snow it was mesmerizing. When I rounded the corner to Main Street I saw the church steeple sprouting from the treetops . (I wondered why were there no Christmas lights. Less than a month after the holiday most signs of it are gone?)It felt like a movie set. Was I in South Berwick Me or Ridgefield Ct or, I thought, even Europe.

Recently I heard a report on how babies cry with accents. You know like here in the states a baby goes wah wah wah, but in France it would go wa wa wa. Liz says that that makes perfect sense. After all when the baby is invetro(?) it hears what is around and then when it is born it will mimic those sounds.

I continue my walk to work. I think that I go to work early in the morning for many reasons. It is peaceful and serene and most importantly I feel that it is a "magic" time. Things happen in these hours that we do not even know but somewhere in our bodies we appreciate all that happens when we are unaware. Things like snow removal, street cleaning, road maintenance, stocking of the grocery store, baking of morning pastries.....These things happen and we are not aware so it makes it seem like magic.

For some reason I think that the brain operates on a different level at this time. Things that to me seem impossible suddenly might actually be possible. I will never get tired, be able to work all day as if it was the beginning, make croissants, be finished before we open, over come the time space continua m, take a vacation, live in Italy....Why do I think that these and much more is possible in the middle of the night but as soon as 6 am hits they are not?

The answer my friend is blowin in the wind!!! It is because somehow during this magic time we(I?) am more us. The outside forces are removed. There is no one telling why this can't happen. The humming of man made forces is far less than in the middle of the day. Liz says that it is because I do not get enough sleep and I start to see things a little askew. And as the 6:00 hour approaches I think she may have a point!!! But it isn't 6 yet so I still hold onto the magic theory. I know that anything is possible.

I pass the picturesque church. Where am I? If babies can have accents can trees or any plant? What about the items made with those trees? What about the energy of the builders? What about my own energy? This scene I am walking in is sparking a memory, whether it is a real memory or just a dream I had I am not sure. I am now walking down lower main street in South Berwick Me USA. If I close my eyes and breath slowly and think of this memory I can time travel. I know I can do this. I continue to walk, my eyes closed, breathing, thinking of the countryside covered in snow. I can see the smoke coming out of the cottage in the distance. I can smell the cocoa being heated on the stove. Holy cow I have done it!! I am in the swiss alps!! Wait this isn't real, it is a painting. It is the package of Swiss Miss cocoa from my childhood!!!

The timer is going off and the sun is coming up. Maybe I can't do anything, but maybe I can, or maybe I can do anything when the stars are out and the wind is blowing just right.

#2

We are entering the second full week of 2010. In keeping with my promise to myself I am writing this now. I am hoping that as I write something will come to me.

It is 4:44 in the morning and I have about 15 minutes to spare.  At a New Years party there was a conversation about routine.  The discussion had to do with whether or not it was how one operated and is it good. As I write this I easily say routine is good. In fact it is the best part of Tuesday.  On Tuesday there is an actual baking schedule. What that means is that I do not have to think about what to make. It is always the same, The Best Bran Muffins, orange scones, cardamom cake and sticky buns. Knowing this is why I have time now to "play".  The idea of the same thing all the time does not appeal to Liz though. To her and others I think it means no growth, boredom and monotony. To me it is safety. I like knowing what to expect in my day.  Generally there is always a feeling that something is going to go wrong with my day, that someone is going to show up with bad news saying that I forgot to do what I said I was going to do. The same routine helps to eliminate this.  Isn't it best to know what is going to happen?

On the other hand yesterday I was thrown a wrench into my routine. I had to go to Boston.  This was not planned and inside I was angry Monday is paperwork day, play day and no worry day. There was however a sense of excitement in going into the city.  I love to stare at people and try to figure out who they are and what they are doing in the same place as me.  While in Boston (it was for a trip to the dentist) I threw caution to the wind and walked a different to the T!!!  There was definite apprehension in this decision, like would I be able to get on a mile down the road and I don't come here that often what about lunch at BOLOCO?  Well as you can tell I made it back and I actually got a reward for going a different. Yoplait was handing out 4 packs of yogurt!  So what if I didn't like it.

My time is up!!! It is time to start the breakfast routine!  I do want to mention that I did try to podcast last week, but pushed the wrong button and erased the show. I will try again later this week.  I also broke the microphone so I have to take care of that issue.

In trying to keep this somewhat related to food. I want to mention what I am thinking about having this week. A curry of some sort, fajitas, figure out what lemongrass is and how to use it, of course some use of a tomato sauce, and maybe I will figure out how to break the bread routine and make cheese bread too!

 

I woke up this morning and things seemed a little different. The house was very quiet. I heard none of the sounds that I generally equate with waking. Their were no breathing sounds, the clock made no noise, the wind was not howling, the refrigerator made no humming sound and the clanking of the furnace was not there.  As I proceeded to the bathroom the sound of me was there, but nothing else, my feet across the carpet, the creaking of the door and the water making its way down the drain.  Outside there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground. It was as if today was fresh, everything was new, waiting to be discovered.

The silence continued as I made my way down the stairs, (backwards saying rabbits, rabbits of course!).  This is when i realized why no breathing sounds. The family made it to midnight as I conked out at 8:30.  They were all sleeping quietly on the couches. I knew they were there and as i focused in on them I heard their slumbered breathing.  The cat starts to move, the refrigerator awakens for a moment and the furnace begins its morning battle to start the day.

Why am I awake? There is no work today,everyone is asleep  yet I want to move about and do something.  There is always work to be done here at the BBC.  During my walk here I think of all the things I can get done in the dark while all is quiet. I will organize the kitchen, prep the tomorrows specials, mop the floors, re-stock the paper items, do some bookkeeping the list is endless. The walk down as always awakens me and I am ready for the New Year to start with me in control beginning now!!

Well maybe before I start I will play one game of solitaire and free cell. Oh yeah I have this silly Sponge Bob camera of Owen's that I need to figure out.  I also have been trying to set up a skype time with my sisters and parents. I should check on those things.  Four hours later it is time to get  ready for the family events of the new year and besides winning $182 in solitaire, playing and winning 3 games of Free Cell , hooking up this camera that takes blurry pictures I have done nothing productive.  I still know that this year is going to be the year that things get done. Maybe they wont all be done today but they will get done, really right after this game of solitaire. 

PS I did manage to make a gingerbread trifle for today, and took 2 pictures of it with Owen's             Sponge Bob camera!!!

december

i do not feel like following rules now. that means i am not going to capitalize  or check my spelling!! i am just ;going to type.  I have been sitting here for about 2 hours now. I found this thing to download on the internet a few months back. it is to make a podcast. why would i want to podcast?  I hav no idea.  i think  that it must have something to do with wanting to hear the sound of my own voice, yet i feel uncomfortable hearing my voice.

back to the subject at hand. did you ever want to learn to do someything and tried but just couldn't get it. I can remember learning how to make bread. i just couldn;t get it right. didn't rise high enough it was lopsided, it was un even or to dry. Forget about rolling out a baguette or tieing a not to make a roll. Then one day it just happened. You don't know how, but all of the sudden you are doing it. You wonder what was so hard about doing that.

This morning on my way into work i was talking to my self and thought you have to get a blog out. as i was talking i remembered about this podcast thing. i had tried it once or twice before but it said things that just didn't make sense to me. the site that runs the software is no longer up so i thought oh well it is free i will try anyway, sounds kinda a cool, I can be that talk show host that i always wanted to be.  It was like looking at a foreign language, I would stare at the screen with my mouth open drool coming out and just push buttons. Nothing made sense, what is the point it is just sounds and it doesn't go anywhere. Today was different.  It was like  I could finally see my face in the shirt!!! 

After 2 hours of play ing with it i got it!!! and it is really cool. I feel like i just got my christmas gift and just want to play with it all day. But alas i have spent way to much time on this and now i abslolutely have to start work. If you are curious as to what took me 2 hours to do go here.  I think that i can customize the page, but of course that will be another couple of hours!!

PS  We celebrated six years in business this month. it has been a great six years with lots of changes and growing. Thanks for all of the support we would be nowhere without all of the encouragement and patronage of all. I was thinking about what is my favorite thing about doing this and it is the sounds of a bustling restaurant. While i am cooking and can hear plates clanking people chattering and laughing it warms my heart and makes me know why i am doing this. Merry Christmas!!

To Be or Not To Be

I was watching When Harry met Sally the other day. There were many things that I wondered about when watching this movie. One was, how could this be on ABC Family? Then of course I thought have I turned into one of those prudish parents who likes to keep sexually oriented things away from my kids? Or maybe it wasn't  family time (3:00 Sat. afternoon) the kids should be outside playing, the parents inside watching tv . I just found this to be odd.

What I really got out of the movie was all the people in the background!! It is weird, I think that I have spent the last 20 years of my life figuring out how to do things when no one is around! Before the BBC I would always work nights and weekends. My time off was when everyone else was working. No lines at the grocery store, how many people would go to a matinee on a Tues afternoon!!, when i would venture to the mall there were not as many people and the bars were not nearly as crowded or noisey on a Monday or Tuesday.

Now I am a business owner. My business is nestled between two small communities, I believe the population of the two towns is less than 5,000? I generally think it is the perfect situation. Then I see this movie, I also spent a day in downtown Newburyport MA over the summer, and wow there are people all over the place!! Do I want this? What would it be like to have a business in a place where people hang, not a business where people hang. Don't get me wrong the best part of this place is that people come here to hang. I guess it is just that I keep thinking I need to try hard,to do better and more is better.

Shoot I have only been here for six months. We are doing better than before, we see way more people come through our doors than at the old place 1 block away.

That was last week. I am not really sure where I was going with all that. Here is my re-cap so that I can move on. Seeing people in bustling downtowns over that past few weeks made me wonder, would the Black Bean do well in a well traveled area. My conclusion is that I don't want to find out just yet. We are a great business in a great local. I am a lucky man to be able to do what I do and to do it where I do. When I need a fix of crowds I will take a trip to Portsmouth. Now I will relish my life in the hamlets of South Berwick and Rollinsford.

Shine a Light

So someone mentioned this "contest" to me a month or so ago. I paid no attention. Then I saw an ad for it. Then Alice nominated me. Now I am curious. I think the BBC is a very community oriented place, the kind of place that every community needs.What the hey, I really want to see what happens with this. If you think it is at all worth your time check out the website below and shine a light on the black bean cafe!!!


Now for a brief blog update. Even though I have not blogged here all summer I have kept it up in my head! the summer has gone very well. the move has worked out well, in all ways, so far.

Josh, the cook behind the scene is off to culinary school in CA. I still keep waiting for him to stroll in and start working. We now have Heidi in the kitchen. She worked for us the first year we opened and is giving us another try. The breakfast this weekend and last weekend were amazing. California Benedict, Apple Pie French Toast and of course she has already mastered out famous corned beef hash. Like Owen says about 2nd grade, "if things go the way they have it will be the best year ever"

We have a few things in store over the next couple of weeks. We all look forward to the onset of Fall. the food starts to come alive this time of year!! Orange,greens, red and yellow show up in the food as well as in the trees. Kate, my daughter, will be getting married in October. Family will be around, and I have to get the wedding cake made!!!

I have been trying to ride my bike farther. I went about 12 miles last Monday. And 6 on Tuesday. On Friday I had a fall!! Minor injuries, unfortunately i am the only one who can see them, remember when you see me that the slow movement is from the fall, not age or is the fall from age.

I am not correcting this or anything,, if i do it will never get posted!!!!

I hope to see you all at the bean soon, the soup is on!!!!