Why are chef's pants so ugly?

My school uniform finally arrived on Tuesday. It's definitely something. My chef's jacket is way too big. It covers the majority of my hands when the sleeves are rolled down. They sent me the wrong apron. And the pants....I understand that I'm working in a kitchen. Does that mean that my pants have to be high-waisted, tapered-leg monstrosities? I mean really. Food is art. Fashion is art. Can't one be fashionable while making food? I'd be happy with a boot cut pant. That's all I'm asking for.

Kelly Sue's first day at school went well. I was really nervous at first. It's a big class. About 30 of us. I'm not the oldest. I'm not the youngest. I wasn't the only one in those awful, dreadful pants. And it was awesome! Everyone in there loves food the way I do! We talked about knife skills, different kinds of knives, different ways to cut veggies, the difference in various types of salt, seasoning vs. spice, and the need to have a cookbook and food magazine obsession. It was awesome! My only gripe is that we were only in the kitchen for about 2 hours. Considering the class runs from 9 am to 9 pm, that's not much.

There's not much else that's new to report. I worked a ton last week. I'm starting to feel like I fit in a little better there.

Oh!

I bought myself some wine this evening. Geyser Peak Reserve Cabernet. I normally wouldn't spend as much as I did on wine. I won't tell you how much. But it's super, duper yum. It's certainly a big, California cab. Every time I take a sip, it tastes different. I've not had a wine of this caliber before. Good stuff.

That's all the news for now.

Dinner this evening

Dinner tonight...Roasted Chicken with Spicy Herbed Olivada, Green Bean and Tomato Salad, and Orzo with pine nuts and feta. Yum. Wish I could say I made it all up, but epicurious.com had a lot to do with it. The husband loved it, though. "This chicken is so perfectly cooked!" I think he's a little biased. But, I'll take it. :-)

I'm loving the new job. Not only is the atmosphere nicer, but the hours as well. I don't have to work again until Saturday (a double). I have all this time off to clean house and cook fancy-schmancy dinners. It's lovely.

I got an e-mail from Sissy yesterday. She's in Paris, and loving every minute. Apparently, she's loving it in spite of her luggage being lost, getting stuck on the metro, being attacked on the metro (to this, I demanded more details and the use of taxi's for the rest of the trip), her credit card isn't working there, and the hotel didn't have her reservation. And all she could follow up with was that she loves Paris. I'm glad she's having a good time. I'm also jealous that I'm stuck in Richmond. I did a quick restaurant search for her and found a place called Il Vino. The menu lists only wine. The chef plans your menu based on what wine you order. How cool is that?!?!? I told her that she better take notes if she goes. I want details!

Oh! How could I forget? I have a beautiful new cookbook. It's actually a textbook from the CIA. But that just means it's a big, beautiful, helpful cookbook. It was WAY more that I would ever spend on a book. Or a pair of shoes. Or jeans. But I love it. I figure it will come in handy during school. I can't stop looking at it. Over 400 pages of recipes and instructions. I'm such a geek.

Wine of the day...Twin Fin Sunset Rose (I paid $6 for it, so we're not talking serious stuff). I've been reading about rose's lately. They're supposed to be great summer wines. It is not what I expected, which was sweet and light. This thing is full of flavor. Think strawberries and raspberries. A very light, chilled Merlot. I say Merlot because you can taste some tannins. Nice. Different. Good on a hot summer night.

That's all the excitement from downtown Richmond. Two more days of playing house until work on Saturday morning. Off to chat with the husband. Love you all!

"Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered."

RAY BRADBURY, Dandelion Wine