The other side of the island.

I have combined all of my blogs into one Femi-cooking, Twi-crunchy, blog. Here it is

http://www.bohemimom.blogspot.com/

Open letter to the rude lady at the Co-op.

To the owners of Good Foods Co-op and Café,




Today I met a friend for lunch at the Good Foods Co-op Café. She brought her young daughter and I had my 3 year old and 1 year old children with me as well. We enjoyed our lunch, bemoaning about how difficult it was to try to do anything in public with our small children. When we got up to leave things turned hectic. My friend had to run with her daughter to the restroom to avoid a mishap, and I had to wrestle my little boy into the stroller while my daughter had escaped and was running out the side door to the café. My priority at that point was to get the kids into the stroller and out the door to prevent a further scene. As we headed out, my friend and I met back up to say good bye and go our separate ways. A lady approached us and in a very confrontational tone she told us that we had forgotten to bus our table, which was policy. My friend pointed out that we had our hands full and asked if she worked there. The lady stated that she did not but that she was an owner. She had no knowledge of our owner status. At this point a manager approached us asking if there was a problem and attempted to diffuse the situation. She apologized for the woman’s actions. Oddly, the woman quickly disappeared.



It is unfortunate that this incident occurred. Whenever I go in public with my children I am constantly reminded that our mere presence is a hindrance to others. Children are usually loud, sometimes hard to handle and most of the time require a lot of attention. Yes, we did leave the table as it was, and for that I did apologize to the manager. But I was faced with the choice of letting everyone around us be witness to a set of tantrums from both my children, one of whom had just run out the door and towards the parking lot. My choices were this: Do I let my three year old run into traffic while I take the time to clean the table? Do I leave my screaming one year old unattended while I take the garbage to the trash can some ways away? Should my friend have let her potty training daughter wet herself while she tended to cleaning the table? These were the choices we were faced with and we chose to gather up our children and head out the door.



It is a shame that we live in a society where young parents are unable to enjoy a lunch outing without feeling the scrutiny of others. Parenting is hard, harder than most jobs and most of the time thankless to many degrees. This woman who confronted us did so as an owner of the co-op. This makes me sad, not only for the reasons stated above but also because I believe in the co-op and have been a faithful patron for some time. My husband and I strive to teach our children sustainability and a connectedness with the world. Good Foods has been a business which we can respect and patronize often, but any business is comprised of its people and can only be as strong as is given with the quality of its people.



If this woman stands alone in shaming us for our decision to tend to our children’s needs rather than cleaning off a table then the other owners of the co-op need to be aware of her actions. I also feel it is important to point out that having a Master’s degree in Marketing has not only made me a much more conscientious consumer, but has taught me that the most powerful form of advertising is word of mouth. Plus, a negative experience with a business is talked about ten times more often then a positive experience. The owners need to keep each other accountable in regards to how customers are treated at this place of business.



Thank you for taking the time to address this concern. I may or may not return as a customer, but I will certainly be quite vocal regarding this incident.



Sincerely,



Rebecca G. Westerman

Natural beauty.

Excellent essay on the state of things here. I have always wondered about this myself.

Crock Pot, Part II

So it turned out okay, I suppose. It made for a good hearty dinner. Truthfully, it was a little bland, which is easy to remedy. Next time I'll add a bay leaf or two, some sea salt and black pepper. That might do the trick. Of course with our teensy weensy family we have LOADS of leftovers which is never bad. As it was cooked in the crock pot, the meat turned out really super tender and the potatoes were exactly right. G gobbled everything up, but M turned her nose up at the pork. She thought she was holding out for ice cream, but at our house the rule is "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat." So she did not get any ice cream, and we now can have lots of pork sandwiches.

What's in the Crock Pot?

About 8 Fingerling potatoes
About 4 Boiler Onions, peeled
1 Shallot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Pork Tenderloin cut
1 Peeled whole apple
A sprinkling of Mrs. Dash, grill flavor

Arrange the ingredients in order, with the meat on top. Sort of nestle the apple in the middle with the meat wrapped around it. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I don't know how it's going to turn out, because its cooking right now. I'll post an update.

Like I said.

Here is another blog that I am also working on.

http://www.uninsuredinusa.blogspot.com/

I have had a few readers ask me why I call myself the "Gothgirl" as I look very much like everyone else and I don't even wear black any more. My response as I have come to realize is this. When Gothgirl's grow up they become what I am today: A socially aware housewife with multiple degrees, a laptop and a vendetta. Trust me, you don't want to get on my bad side. Ultimately, one does not need to be a fishnet prone waif dripping in eyeliner to be a true Gothgirl. If one is Goth in one's heart, then one is Goth enough...

I forgot to add the Egg.

Add one egg to the mixture, too. Otherwise everything will fall apart.

Salmon Patty Yumminess!!

One 6oz. package of wild caught Alaskan Salmon
3 Tblspoons Pastured Butter
One Shallot Finely diced (or chopped or whatever manner of cutting up you prefer)
One Garlic Clove Finely diced (see addendum for shallot)
One leftover biscuit, crumbled up
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Italian Spices, salt, pepper, etc. to taste.

Melt butter in a small frying pan on low heat.

Mix remaining ingredients and form into patties. Turn heat up to medium, no higher than that, and place patties in pan. Cook each side about 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with romaine lettuce leaves or whatever you want to make.

Mmmmmm!! Tasty, and a good source of Omega 3s!!

Mulligan

So, once one gets distracted by silly things like NaNoWriMo and what not, one tends to loose one's momentum for blogging. I do so enjoy having such an online presence and folks have chided me for not updating regularly. Alas, I am in the final throws of grad school, flailing blindly towards eeking out my degree qualifications, so this time next month I should be well and truly qualified to, you know, market stuff. So if anyone is in need of some Marketing wisdom, I am the one to call.

How did my NaNo story pan out, you say? Well, the goal was 50,000 words in one month. I think I made it to 8,000. Which isn't bad in my opinion, because that is 8,000 MORE words than I would have done if I had not taken part in NaNoWriMo. My current goal is to round it out at some point and make it into a cute little short story. Currently, it is stagnating in a computer file folder somewhere, with the two main characters frozen in time in a broken down elevator hanging seventeen stories above the basement level of a prominent downtown hotel. I will eventually have to figure out what to do with them....

Today, I am hiding out at the library, truthfully getting some work done (aside from the fact that I am taking a blog break!). I am reveling a bit in the blissful pages-rustling-silence that is the atmosphere of the local library. When one is surrounded by squealing toddlers and grabby-sticky-hands, freedom takes on a whole new meaning.

So as for this give-away. I am leaning towards wristlets, either black and white striped. Or green and purple striped. What says the reading public? Either way, they will have sort of a Tim Burton/ Cat in the Hat look about them. Once they are done, I will post a picture, and on the honor system, draw a name from the current members on the facebook link. Sounds like fun to me!

I have five weeks left in school, and in the meantime I will henceforth try, try to post more blogs. Thank you all for your immense patience.