A Day in the Life

Caesar has been staying with us for the last few days. Caesar is my dad's pug, and while we refer to the two of them as "brothers," Zeus and Caesar couldn't be more different.

He usually squints his right eye, today it was his left...

Zeus is anxious. Like all the time. People constantly remark about the sadness in his eyes and the worried expression seemingly carved out of wrinkles on his face. Despite this anxiousness he is fiercely loyal, affectionate, and insists upon being spooned (by Evan only) AND sleeping under the covers while in bed.

Despite this cute face, know that I'm a naughty, naughty boy...

Caesar is laid back. Not a care in the world. While Zeus is likely to follow me around from room to room, constantly curious about what "we" are doing "together," Caesar can be aloof, and oftentimes only cares about Caesar (except when his pink toy dog, Lyndsey is involved). The other thing about Caesar is that he is highly mischievous. He's constantly getting in to things or finding things to get in to.

For example, today I came home to find our favorite house plant in this condition:

Caesar, what did the snake grass do to you?

There were telling remnants of the plant in Caesar bed, the couch, and in various undergarments of mine he pulled from the dirty laundry basket in the laundry room.

This dog. OH this DOG! What anger this silly, little dog can evoke. But on beautiful, sunny days in February, like the one we experienced today, days where it's warm enough to go outside without a sweater, days where "Mom" can take her "boys" outside for an afternoon play date, it's hard to hold on to those negative feelings. Even when you're left spending your afternoon deep cleaning dirt and fertilizer from your couch cushions. But this was not even how I started my day.

Today was one of those roller coaster days. We arrived at the cafe this morning only to discover that the freezer was somehow left unplugged, and that not only one, but TWO of my newest batches of ice cream (The Elvis: Peanut Butter & Banana, and Lynn's Vietnamese Coffee) freshly churned the previous day were beyond repair. I swear, I feel as though my luck with the ice cream gods has run out. I just want to know how it's possible that after nine months of crafting beautiful, perfectly churned ice cream, that I've been cursed during the most rare of sunniest periods of winter. Why oh why?

Not all was lost however. I did have a spare ice cream batter awaiting churning in the fridge, but given it's unusualness I wasn't sure how well it would actually sell. You see, I kind of have a thing for Girl Scout Cookies. More specifically, for Samoa Girl Scout Cookies. I was more than elated when I discovered the fact that Dryer's ran a special seasonal flavor of this ice cream in particular. Evan was kind enough to purchase a tub of this for me as a surprise last year. unfortunately, I found the entire packaged good to be utterly disappointing. Way too sweet. Almost gummy and syrupy, with none of the satisfying "crunch" one should or could expect from eating an actual Samoa cookie. So this week when our local Girl Scout distributors delivered our order (5 boxes of Samoas, 2 boxes of Thin Mints, and 1 box of Peanut Butter Tag-A-Longs) I knew what I had to do. I had to out-Samoa Dryers. In complete selfishness, I created my ultimate ice cream batter; a Toasted Coconut base with crumbled Samoa cookies folded in.

Like I said, I had no idea how this thing was going to sell. In all reality I had my doubts. thus far in life and in my culinary quest I have encountered far too many people with a certain disdain for coconut (the horror!), as well as an utter hatred for Girl Scout cookies in general. Combining the two? Could be a bad move for the cafe. But I churned the batter anyway this morning. I didn't really have a choice. I would rather face trial by fire than leave my ice cream menu chalkboard blank.

But alas, the Creamery Gods smiled upon us. We nearly sold out of the entire batch in one day!!!

So while I spent my afternoon "off" cleaning up after a dog that just wont quit, my beloved called home to make my day by letting me know that people like Samoas just as much as me.

*Whew* This is me sighing in relief.

*Sigh* This is me spending my "time-off" working, whipping up a new batch for the weekend.

But hey, at least I can do so feeling some camaraderie with my LRBC Peeps. Thanks for making my efforts worth it. Here's to silly little dogs, Samoas, Girl Scouts, and sunny days in February.

Post Script:
I cannot promise, but I can sincerely swear that my greatest intentions for future ice creams are to whip up the cafe's top-requested flavors for this weekend. Including...

Cinnamon
Salted Caramel
Maple & Bacon
Vietnamese Coffee
Peanut Butter and Jelly

Like they say, I'm going to give it the old college try