_____ version deux

so another success...there were some hiccups to be sure, and if you are brave enough to ask, i might just tell you what those were. but for the most part it was pretty smooth. the second night was better than the first, at least in terms of flow. although the response from the guests were more mixed on the second night; i think though that was perhaps due to the type of guests that we had on the second night - more foodie types. anyway, both nights were a blast and i am looking forward to the next.

basil and licorice

so, i have been saying - for some time now - that basil has a hint of licorice in it. and, i have had many doubters.
the experiment: next time you are in a supermarket, or a farmers market, whatever, take a basil leaf and fold it over, pressing it between your thumb and forefinger, then smell. that smell, at the back of the overwhelming basilly smell, is licorice.
and now finally i have some affirmation.

feast pt 2

and if the aforementioned food editor would write a review this is what it would say.

feast

found this interesting...apparenty, the food editor from st. louis magazine came to a certain event that was put on this past weekend. and this is what he wrote. he would write something like this in anticipation, and he would probably write a review of it at a later point. so, these _____ground things are popping up all over the place i guess.

"_____"

pictures will be forthcoming, but this past weekend i put together the first _____ground restaurant in the st. louis area. now, it may have happened and i just didn't know about it. but from what i was told by one of my esteemed customers, this was the first. and hopefully not the last. there are lots of ideas that i would like to put into place, cool locations, interactive menu's, fully educational experiences. the down side to all of this was that i cost my family nearly 300 dollars. we are not in the position to lose 300 bucks on any given weekend. from a business angle however "_____" made nearly 200 bucks. i don't want to get rich doing this but i would love it if there was a way i could make some money - support my fam - while doing what i really enjoy doing. i suppose we shall see.

last weekend i preached. i preached on genesis 48: this is the story of jacob blessing josephs two sons, ephraim and manasseh. jacob pulls a switcharoo and crosses his hands, giving the greater blessing to the younger of the two boys. joseph flips out. it occured to me that we are often much like joseph, we demand that god bless us a certain way, and if he doesn't we react with anger. there is this assumption, stated or not, that we are the ones that have our best interest at heart, not god, and therefore we know what we need. so we demand that god bless us according to our needs. i need this, and if you don't bless me in this way, then you really don't love me and you really don't care. this is such a human impulse and i fall prey to it all the time. it routinely exposes my fundamental doubt about the goodness of god.

it feels good to put something up here. now that i am in school i have several hours at a time sitting in class during which i can write...so, there will be more.

retiring the clogs, etc.

two days ago i recieved my new clogs, the mario batali bistro edition. still orange, but now with an improved grippy sole on the bottom. no more slipping. i am working at another restaurant in town. this one is called niche. a contemporary american bistro. today is my second day and i am running the lunch station, first day of lunch. yikes stripes!
anyway, i will write more later.
i am leading worship on sunday. this also is another first. i am a bit terrified of it. after all, how does one lead others in worship when he himself finds worship to be elusive and difficult to experience?
thoughts?

too long

it's been too long since i have written something on here, and i have a lot of things to write about: the end of my/our trip to seattle, father's day, the death of a close friend, an iron and wine concert, various ice cream making experiments, the impending death of my "c" key on my computer keyboard, and a reahearsal dinner catering gig in a week which should be a blast...oh well, i'll do it later.
in the meantime for all of the facebookers, enjoy this article from slate on facebook etiquette.