Monday, Monday

A recent email from a cafe supporter reads, "Hello Evan and Ali! Just wanted to wish you a peaceful and restful day off tomorrow. Enjoy it! I hope you're able to sleep in. You deserve it!" Well, friend, (and you know who you are), thank you for the well wishes. We truly appreciate your kind words. Yes, sleeping in would be nice. However, even if we had full intentions for doing so I'm afraid Zeus would have little of it. No, this lil' dog is just as good as any alarm clock and he knows by now that at 5:30am it's time to get up and start thinking about driving over to Fleur de Lis to see his favorite baker of all time, Mr. Greg Mistell. Fortunately for Zeus, Mr. Mistell happens to think the world of him and not only thinks nothing about the fact that we feel the need for a dog escort to the bakery, but actually EXPECTS his presence. There have been more than a few make-out sessions between the two of them. Like I said, these two could be more than just "15-minute-pit-stop-at-the-bakery kind of friends." Unfortunately for us Zeus doesn't get the phrase "day off." No, for Zeus every day is a possibility. Each new day provides one with the opportunity to pull himself up by the bootstraps and go out and achieve.
Would you deny this face? Like. Ever?

So Mondays are more like days where we can enter the cafe after a leisurely coffee'n'waffle breakfast at the Flavourspot. That is really the only guarantee. Well that and our delivery from our lovely Noris Dairy Milkman. Noris is an organic family farm located just south of Salem and is run by the unbelievably adorable Angela and Franz. Every week we have to call Noris to place our order, and every single time we call Franz picks up the phone. We know who to expect when we call and I cannot even begin to tell you what a rarity that personalized attention can be in this business. All I can say is we heart you Noris Dairy/Wenz Family. More. Than. Words. Can. Be. Typed. And. Then. Read.

Yes, each Monday brings us new surprises. Last Monday E and his dad worked finances. They combed through receipts did data entry while I skipped out to do some much needed shopping for the cafe. The Monday before that we spent 7 hours in the cafe hanging artwork, desperately trying to bring back life to our plants, making Mac n' Cheese. You know, the usual. This Monday was different. Only slightly. We did in fact spend another 7 hours in the cafe but this time our energy centered around this:

Organic Whipped Cream & Berries Ice Cream

This decadent treat came to us as a special request for 6 gallons of all organic ice cream for a public event. After some discussion two flavors were created: the Whipped Cream & Berries Ice Cream pictured above, as well as a Very Dark Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream, having received its namesake for the use of Equal Exchange's Organic Very Dark Chocolate Bars to help create it's smooth, pudding-like consistency. Our version of Chocolate Pudding Ice Cream last month was a hit with the kids but I think this darker, richer, okay I'll say it, sexier "adult" version will become a favorite of the party.

After hours and hours of churning, we packed our things up and headed downtown to the very awesome Clogs-N-More, where we became the very proud owners of the beautious clogs pictured above. Not only were we able to "fix" Evan's shoe debacle but we were given a 10% "Industry Discount" for being in food service. Thanks, Clogs-N-More! You rock! I don't know if anyone else has noticed the busted state of the tennis shoes Evan rocked at the cafe but for those who haven't, let's just say he had it coming. I had to do it. I had to make him go shopping with me. Downtown. On his only day off. Needless to say I wasn't the most popular girl on the car ride there but once he slipped them on (this is pre-him rolling his ankle in them shortly thereafter) he looked at me with those loving eyes that say, "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me." Or at least I pretend that's what that look is all about. Even though he may not thank me I know his feet will.

And now we're finally home. Home. Sweet. Home. Where we will crawl into bed and I will scour my vegan cookbooks for inspiration for this week's coming events. Such as...

yes...these...dots..mean...I'm...about...to...announce...something...terribly...big...
DRUMROLL please:

This week's totally too cool to be true but it's not a rumor I swear, I heard it from Evan who heard it from this guy in LA who is also named Evan who might get to know this girl Jo who works at this cafe in Portland, OR who also confirmed the following:
The Chocolate Rabbit, Portland's hottest, newest vegan raw chocolatier is preimering their decadent goods this Tuesday (yes, as in tomorrow) at the Little Red Bike Cafe in North Portland.

In celebration of this most exciting and fully celebratory event, we are collaborating with our coolest Vegan-Chef-Dude-Friends down south, The Hot Knives in honor of two of our favorite things: beer and soup. You may remember our post about these guys last spring. In the post we happened to mention just how much these guys know and love good food. What we didn't happen to mention was that these guys know and love beer just as much. if not more. So...we decided we're going to do a blog'n'menu collaboration of sorts. The ending result? The most honorable vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup you've ever had and Beer Ice Cream. Oh, stop. You don't have to thank me. No seriously, stop...you're embarassing me. Oh, okay, fine. You're welcome.

Also in the works? My version of Vegan Mac will also be making an appearance on this week's menu. Yup, this week's gonna be a big 'ole vegan celebration. No, do not even ask. We will also have non-vegan items as well. Regular menu remains the same. Yes, you can still get your Zoobomb. We're just having a few specials. Consider it our version of a high-five to Jo for all of her hard work in launching her new business, The Chocolate Rabbit. Congrats, Jo! Your efforts and chocolate make our hearts sing! But now our Monday is over and a whole new week begins. I wonder Readers, what wonders will you bring us this week? What tales will be heard? Which familiar faces will grace us? I do happen to know that some very good friends of ours are expecting the arrival of an Andy Jr. on Wednesday. Man, oh, man. What a treat. We just can't wait for that one. Sigh. Sometimes life is just undeniably good.