Was Gonna

Well, at least I finished the editing job. My procrastination with regard to same means that I'm not really prepared for tomorrow, but eh. Tomorrow I want to go to a yoga class at 9 am, which means I must leave here by 8 am, which means I have to have my bag packed for Monday, because I'm heading to Friend's house right after class, and also means I have to figure out whether I'm going to make tiramisu tomorrow, and, if I am, I have to take the stuff to make it with me, or some of it, anyway.

To be fair, I didn't get back here until 1:00 this afternoon: Friend and I went out to breakfast, then did some errands, one of which included a stop at Trader Joe's so I could get some frozen veggies and some cereal. We stopped to get his skates sharpened, then got some beer, and then he dropped me off with my TJ haul. He had two hockey games tonight, one downtown and the other out in the burbs; the second one should be underway about now. I wanted to finish the aforementioned editing, and I tried to call a couple of friends up with whom I've been trying to catch.

You know: a regular weekend.

My cell rang yesterday around 3:00, and it was Bossman, wondering if I had my little notebook with me, because he wanted to know how much filling to put in the tarts du sou bois. I said, do you need to know right away? "No, 3:20 would be okay," he said. He still cracks me up. We chatted for a minute, and I managed to more or less remember, and I promised I'd bring my notebook to work so he could call me there with any other questions. I asked who's making the croissants, and he said Cute Boy is doing it, and doing a pretty good job--but they're not as good as mine. Cute Boy is leaving at the end of the month, which means he'll have to hire someone else; I recommended that he not mention just how many croissants the new hire will have to make in July (somewhere around 4700 a week) or the person won't come back for a second day.

Meanwhile, NewBoss gave me some background info yesterday, which leads me to believe that they're really glad to have me on board--me in general, and also me in particular. Friend reminded me that the first two to six months are all cake--that honeymoon thing. And I know he's right, and I know it could all go wrong in ways I can't even fathom right now, but there are some indicators that it could be good. For one thing, NB has brought in most of the management-type people in our section, and he's only been there less than two years; that means there aren't a whole lot of people around who are lamenting (or insisting) that one Must Do It This Way. For another, NB shows signs of being another good boss--and I must say, I have been extraordinarily lucky in that regard. Seriously, I have had so many good bosses, including one who was The Best Boss Ever (and who is now a good friend).

So: tiramisu. Issue one is always that so many recipes call for raw eggs. I don't participate in the freaking out over raw eggs, but, in general, I think they're a less-than-ideal idea, especially if whatever you're making is going to be around for a few days, and/or especially if you're going to be feeding people whose immune systems are not ideal (like my mom, for example). I've made it with a combination of whipped cream and mascarpone, and that certainly works, but it's an artery-clogging solution. I'm wondering if I could use a meringue of some kind to lighten it up . . . dunno, have to think about it.

Second, I'm thinking there's a way to make smaller ones, individual-serving-size ones, perhaps in my ramekins.

Third, while the "classic" version supposedly uses ladyfingers, most of the ones I've ever seen--in a restaurant, for example--use a sponge cake of some kind. I'll have to rummage through my school formulae and figure out which one to use. It has to be thicker than the joconde we used for the opera, because you want to be able to get the liquids soaked into the cake, but you don't want the cake to dissolve.

It has occurred to me that I could do a tiramisu jelly roll, which would solve several problems at once: the slices would be individual-size, and the cake would be of the requisite thickness. Well, I'll sleep on it, and, if I wake up early enough, contemplate my cookbooks.