Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Henrietta’s Kitchen – Opentable.com’s Appetite Stimulus Package

I met two friends for dinner at Henrietta’s Kitchen on Friday night. DC1 was there when I arrived. We check in and tell the hostess that we are still waiting for DC2. I like this new trend that I have encountered the last few times I’ve gone out where they ask if you want to wait or be seated right away. Friendly waiter brought menus and water. The entire regular menu is available for opentable.com’s Appetite Stimulus Package.

I order a martini. They have regular Bombay. DC1 gets a glass of wine and DC2 gets a Jim Beam with Diet Coke. My drink is very good, very dry with a twist. My appetizer was the crab cake (it was presented as a crab cake with corn chowder on the appetizer section of the menu but it came with the side that was listed with the crab cake entrée. A cole slaw of some kind and a lot of tartar sauce. It was OK, nothing too special. The spinach salad that Helen and Gayle got looked much better. Very large, nice amount of bacon and a light vinaigrette dressing. DC2 and I got the duck and DC1 got the salmon. The duck was probably the winner of the night. A breast and a leg, nicely cooked and plenty to take home. I got Yukon Gold mashed potatoes as my side. Also plenty to take home. Desserts were the biggest disappointment of the night. I got the apple and blueberry pie. The blueberry and apple were fine but the crust was kind of hard, not flakey. I didn’t take any of that home. DC2 was disappointed with her chocolate bread pudding but DC1 was happy with her tart. The cappuchino was good but not very hot.

Overall, the food had more disappointments than I would have liked. Service was quite good except at the end of the night when we had to wait more than a few minutes for change.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Uh, could I get a look at that map?

From today's Globe article about odor threatening Dorchester condo plan (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/21/odor_threat_jeopardizes_dorchester_condo_plan/):

In one Corcoran Jennison model, Lannan, the company's odor-control specialist, suggested that the stench on the worst days could stretch across South Boston and Dorchester. He delineated the smelliest areas on a map with three circles: red, yellow, and green.

"Inside the red, it would be like a bathroom you'd go into and want to leave," he said. "Inside the yellow, it would be like a bathroom you'd go into and probably continue to do what you needed to do, but you'd want to get out of there as soon as possible. And in the green, it would be like a bathroom."

You have to love the analogy.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Soup, mmm


This is what I cooked last night. It's from Real Simple.


It's a rich, creamy (with no cream) soup. Make the croutons too. It only takes 15 minutes and really enhancing the taste experience.


Butternut Squash Soup with Sage and Parmesan Croutons

1 3-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (5 to 6 cups)


3 tablespoons olive oil


3 teaspoons kosher salt


Pinch of freshly ground black pepper


1 tablespoon butter


1 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)


3 stalks of celery, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)


1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)


6 cups chicken broth


1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan


Sage and Parmesan Croutons


Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for 15 minutes or until they are caramelized; set aside.


In a Dutch oven or a large stockpot, heat the butter and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent and tender, 10 minutes. Add the squash, broth, and the remaining salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid is flavorful. Remove from heat.


Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm.


Top with Sage and Parmesan Croutons and the grated Parmesan

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 298(51% from fat); FAT 17g (sat 4g); CHOLESTEROL 11mg; CALCIUM 201mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31g; SODIUM 1226mg; PROTEIN 8mg; FIBER 5g; IRON 2mg

Sage and Parmesan Croutons

3 ounces rustic white bread (about 3 thick slices), tom into 24 1-inch pieces


1 large clove garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)


1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)


3 tablespoons olive oil


1/2 teaspoon salt


2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan


Preheat oven to 375° F. Toss all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl to coat. Spread the bread evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 108(63% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 1g); CHOLESTEROL 1mg; CALCIUM 33mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8g; SODIUM 306mg; PROTEIN 2mg; FIBER 0g; IRON 0mg

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I can do anything as long as I know when it ends

It ends on January 30. That’s only 13 weeks, 65 work days, 520 hours…seconds? No, I haven’t gone that far…yet.

The it in this case is my current work assignment. I’ve been a contractor/temp providing all sorts of administrative services for, can this be true? - 18 years. Some of the jobs have been interesting – Leslie University (as a temp I got to fire a full time employee who reported to me) and Cowen (crazy hard work as the assistant to the conference planner and trips to NYC, Scottsdale and San Francisco). Some of the jobs are little do-nothing things – Testa Hurwitz right before they disbanded their partnership; any and all Fidelity jobs – places where you sit for 7-8 hours with absolutely nothing to do that is related to the business.

I can read salon.com, chowhound.com, boston.com, and any other .coms for only so long. Same with playing solitaire, looking for dates, shopping Zappos.com. I even ran someone’s campaign for a city government office at a Fidelity job once. Anyone mentions any little bit of trivia or wonders about something in a passing conversation, I’ll research it if I find it even remotely interesting. Yes, you do have to rsvp to showers and you should send a gift if you’re not going. Pumpkin cheese cake recipes with or without baking – got ‘em. Pumpkin cheese cake recipe with ginger snap and graham cracker crust – got those too.

Current job is a good example of the do nothing type of job. It’s a small pharmaceutical company where I am covering a maternity leave. It started at the beginning of October and will end on January 30. Administratively, this place is run like…OK, I think I just have to say it; it doesn’t appear to be run by anyone. No non-technical staff person wants to admit that they are responsible for anything; they can’t answer a straight question; they ignore emails. Worse, they provide answers to questions that you didn’t ask. They pass the buck (usually to someone else who does the same). I do give them credit for raising the ability to dodge questions to an art form.

I have to reconcile the corporate Amex card in their expense system. My email to another secretary, D, who charged a breakfast:

“I think this breakfast charge was for company X’s meeting on 10/30. Can I just list the company name on the expense report or do I need names of attendees? Thanks.”

D’s reply:

“It was a breakfast for Employee Z, Business Development.

Let me know if you need anything more.”

She closes with a smiley face. A freaking smiley face. OK, that’s annoying in and of itself but could you answer the question? Just list company name or attendees’ names?

I’m doing an expense report for one of my bosses.

Email from the A, CEO’s secretary, when I inquire what the mileage reimbursement is:

“I’m not sure that we actually reimburse mileage per se.”

Oy!

I’ve got to get some printing done for a corporate communications piece. I’m told C works with the printer.

Email to C:

“Hi C. Is this something printer could do? Please send the contact info so I can inquire.”

Thanks.”

C’s reply:

“I actually don’t know. I only order the business cards.”

My reply:

“So can I have the contact so I can inquire? Thanks. “

C also later informed me that she orders the first page of company letterhead but not the second.

Seriously, I couldn’t make that one up.

But this is coverage for a maternity leave. It ends. Secretary not coming back? It surprised me that so many of them don’t come back. They all insist they are when they’re interviewing and training you. They have to so they can collect their disability checks. Not my problem, I agreed to cover the maternity leave only.

So January 30 is what keeps me from running, screaming from the building.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Quick Survey

Do we not know that we aren't supposed to walk on railroad tracks?

Friday, November 14, 2008

Beach Girl

My image is Beach Girl, a giclee by Linda Swanson. She is a Laguna Beach artist and you can visit her here:

http://www.lindaswansonart.com/default.asp

I bought the print at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival when I was on vacation this year.