H/T to Tommy Tune and the Musical "Seesaw".This was my second-to-last day at the jewelry store. Tomorrow will be the end of a 12-year run and by the total of holiday sales the decision to close the store on the 31st. was the right one. Granted, sales were down all over the area this year, but the luxury items took the biggest hit. My sales have been the lowest in all my years with the company and there will be no New Year's bonus to look forward to, either.
I want to get through tomorrow without breaking down or blubbering like an old fool, but at this point all bets are off. I don't know how I'm going to feel. We have conflicting emotions about the way the situation was handled by the owner and his wife. We're all feeling kind of used and abused as details of the larger picture come into view. No matter, once I punch out for the last time tomorrow I will not be looking back.
The 3 people I've worked with over those years helped me through the most difficult times of my life - the break-up, surgeries, homelessness, and the side effects of the drugs I was on for over a year - I owe them a lot. I'm sure we will stay in touch but it will be different, even a bit alien at times. The tie that bound us will be gone. We'll move on to the important things in our own lives.
There is rent to pay, hospital bills to continue paying off, living expenses and other obligations to meet, so the focus is shifting back to me, as it should.
Having time off Christmas day and yesterday I used the time to rest and work at getting rid of this damned cold. I slept when I wanted to, ate when I felt hungry, knocked back copious amounts of water, tea and juices, read, and watched a concert on DVD. The only sort of 'work' I did was cooking. (Well ain't that a surprise!) I've had this interesting recipe for pulled pork for a while and last week found a Boston Butt on sale at a very low price. The 3+ pound roast cost under $3.00! So I cooked it up, let it rest a few hours on a platter trimming off the remaining fat, as I made the vinegar barbecue sauce. Returned the roast to the pot (we call it a Dutch Oven - sorry Peter! Or is there a connection?) and let it simmer to absorb the sauce and additional spices. After shredding the meat I made a sandwich on a baguette with lettuce and tomatoes. It was tender, spicy, juicy, and close to heaven. There will be more of those in the future as well as baked potatoes stuffed with the pork, drizzled with the sauce and served with a salad over the next month or so.
Health wise, I'm feeling better, less stuffy, but still have the nagging cough. Most annoying. Hopefully, the worst is over and I'm on the road to recovery. Must be careful though, folks who've had this crud say one can easily experience a relapse. I don't want that to happen. I can't afford any more down time.
Time for a festive cocktail and a bit of supper - in that order.
And so it goes.
*
Oh my mouth was watering when I read your description of you pulling your pork.
ReplyDeleteRest well my friend. Tomorrow will bring new adventures to grope with. (I think I've been watching too much Dame Edna.)
Hoping that the cold is passing for good!
ReplyDeleteThat pork sounds *so* good!
Of course there's a connection...
ReplyDeleteEarly European history
During the late 1600s the Dutch system of producing these cast metal cooking vessels was more advanced than the English system. The Dutch used dry sand to make their molds, giving their pots a smoother surface. Consequently, metal cooking vessels produced in the Netherlands were imported into Britain. In 1704, an Englishman named Abraham Darby decided to go to the Netherlands to observe the Dutch system for making these cooking vessels. Four years later, back in England, Darby patented a casting procedure similar to the Dutch process and began to produce cast metal cooking vessels for Britain and her new American Colonies. It is possible that because Darby’s patent was based upon his research into the Dutch foundry system that the cooking vessels he produced came to be referred to as “Dutch” ovens. Other researchers believe that this term may have come from the itinerant Dutch traders who sold cooking vessels out of their wagons as they traveled from town to town and door to door. Maybe both accounts are true. In any event, the term “Dutch oven” has endured for over 300 years.
American history
Over time the Dutch oven used in the American Colonies began to change. The pot became shallower and legs were added to hold the oven above the coals. A flange was added to the lid to keep the coals on the lid and out of the food.
The cast-iron cookware was loved by colonists and settlers because of its versatility and durability. It could be used for boiling, baking, stews, frying, roasting, and just about any other use. The ovens were so valuable that wills in the 18th and 19th centuries frequently spelled out the desired inheritor of the cast iron cookware. For example, Mary Ball Washington (mother of President George Washington) specified in her will, dated 20 May 1788, that one-half of her "iron kitchen furniture" should go to her grandson, Fielding Lewis, and the other half to Betty Carter, a granddaughter. Several Dutch ovens were among Mary's "iron kitchen furniture."
When the young American country began to spread westward across the North American continent, so did the Dutch oven. A Dutch oven was among the gear Lewis and Clark carried when they explored the great American Northwest in 1804-1806. The pioneers who settled the American West also took along their Dutch ovens. In fact, a statue raised to honor the Mormon handcart companies who entered Utah’s Salt Lake Valley in the 1850s proudly displays a Dutch oven hanging from the front of the handcart. The Dutch oven is also the official state cooking pot of Utah.
Mountain men exploring the great American frontier used Dutch ovens into the late 1800s. Dutch oven cooking was also prominent among those who took part in the western cattle drives that lasted from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s.
[from Wikipedia]