Christmas Day

Kids have gone off to dads after the morning carnage and Brion is back in bed. I will head in to the shop today to get more briskets in brine for pastrami and corned beef. We will most certainly run out next week, at least of corned beef if not both. We were so busy we blew through the product we had and didn't have time to make more.

I am very nervous about next week. Stein will be in Southern California with his family (a vacation he more than deserves) and while it should be very quiet (most of the local businesses close between Xmas and New Years), it should have been very quiet last week and it wasn't. I am going to just take each day as it comes and if we run out of stuff, I will do the best I can with what we have. Brion will be helping me most of the week, but will have to work on Thursday, so my daughter will come in and be counter help. It will mean we are doing a very pared down menu, one daily soup and no complicated specials.

I also need to proces one pig head for testa and get some duck breast into cure for a client. I really want to make some bratwurst for next week, or some Andoullie for the special. It has been far too long since I've made sausages and I am mssing it. Plus it would be a pretty simple special I could put in the steam table up front... like brats, spetzle and bacon and wine cooked cabbage (or something along those lines) or Andouille with dirty rice and colard greens.

I also got a giant pork loin to put into cure for some ham and some lonza. If I can work on meat stuff today, I can probably just come in and work on soups and specials tomorrow and get a little ahead that way. It will be strange to be in the back of the house next week. I really like seeing my regulars and chatting. I know Brion will do a great job though. I am still not sure what I want to do for soups.. I think a white bean and bacon soup plus maybe.... I am not sure. Maybe leek and potato? Fennel orange beet? With cream and bacon?

I am looking forward to things being more in a groove so I don't feel so fuzzy and unfocused. I know that time is coming, I just need to keep moving things into a more settled pattern.