Today was Cafe Davis warp speed style. I'm frankly amazed that we pulled it off. Mike conducted interviews again all day and I worked until 5:00. We met up in the parking lot behind his office around 5:15, and took off for a JMU reception - one of those events that we really couldn't miss. We made our appearance, mingled and snacked, and took off around 6:15. Then once we got home, we literally ran for an hour. We were thankful again for Jeff, our photographer/gopher (photogopher - a new term perhaps?!?), who really helps to make the magic happen. Thanks again for the ice, aluminum foil and toilet paper, buddy. That's a weird collection of stuff, but all necessary!
Even though we were in a huge hurry, I only "yelled" at Mike once (his word, not mine). All I said was, "We're running low on time!" as I flew through the kitchen. To be fair, he was standing in the kitchen and dancing, so I thought he needed a gentle reminder. But seriously y'all - wow. He got everything cooked and we sat down to eat at 8:02. Miracles do happen. The menu was comfort food Italian. We had mushroom cheese puffs (which were astoundingly delicious, and should be a staple in any party food rotation), Caesar salad, stuffed shells, linguine with clams, and provolone bread. Plus dessert - so much dessert! It was all delicious, and I'm pretty sure no one left hungry except maybe the poor vegetarian who I forgot to mark in my spreadsheet and was relegated to salad, bread, and leftover grits as her meal. Again, my humble apologies to you! Tonight was also challenging because we were way overbooked - thanks a lot, stupid spam folder. Everyone got cozy and hopefully had a good time. There were some repeat cafe attendees, including two Melindas - one is mental health professional and an awesome Episco-PAL we know from church, and the other a financial industry client service associate who enthusiastically likes to bake. We also had Caroline (speech pathologist) and Ryan (landscaper) for their 3rd visit, but the first one with their very soon-to-be born bundle of joy. The rest of the repeat offenders included John, a JMU political science professor married to one of the Melindas; Erin, a former Kindergarten teacher and current SAHM who came last year on crazy ladies' night; and Josh, another great Episco-PAL who has been so amazingly helpful to my mom as of late. We appreciate him so much. The newbies included Tad, who raises cattle but lives in a townhouse - we're still not sure how that works, but we think it's maybe something like this - as well as Sam and Cindy. Sam and Mike met when they were trying to get the Friendly City Food Co-Op up and running. Cindy loves to entertain, and amused us with her stories of Peace Corp life in Mauritania. Finally, there was a small cadre of debaters: Sarah, who hails from Washington state; Samantha, Emme's BFF; and Shawn, who gets animated when talking about cassette tapes. Last but not least, I want to say "thanks" to those of you who have made contributions to the Food Pantry ministry of Emmanuel Episcopal Church. At the end of night 2, we were already at $75, and that will go a long way. Thanks for your generosity! Comments are closed.
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