I love my job! I manage the cafe’ at my church. By manage, I mean that I am responsible for every aspect of the cafe’ … shopping, cooking, menu planning … whatever it takes to cook for our congregation. By manage, I also mean that I personally cook nearly everything that we serve; that which I don’t cook, I still plan.  It is freshly made — bread, biscuits, gravy and all the rest. Sometimes, it’s very hard — even though I love it!

Generally, when a person comes up to the counter at the cafe’, they’ve decided what they want. We have a menu board that is easily seen and we put the menu up on the web and text it out to those who choose that delivery. Everyone once in awhile, though, someone falters; it’s kinda like that commercial where everyone’s paying with their debit card and then someone has cash. Really bolluxes up the whole works.

When this happens, sometimes they’re just looking for a bit of direction. Knowing a lot of people’s food likes and dislikes helps. I might be able to tell someone that maybe they’d be better off with another dish, or I know for a fact that they’re going to like that week’s dinner. But, there’s always someone…”Is that Stuff Pork Loin any good?,” “Is that homemade Minestrone Soup any good??” Really??? You’re asking me???

Something you should know about me:  I have a very low threshold for idiocracy. Low mercy, it’s my gift.  I know this and embrace it. I do have patience, but some things really tick me off. One of those things happens to be the question, “Is that any good?”

How am I supposed to answer that, truly? It just stops me in my tracks. It happens enough that it shouldn’t take me by surprise, but it always does. It takes me a few seconds to reply in a kind manner, “I’m not sure I can answer that…I made it so, I do think it tastes good.” The few minutes are required for me to not scream, “No, it tastes like crap!”

Now, I could understand [Read more...]