Pizza Rustica and Pink Pearl Lady Cake

I was sitting at my computer, thinking about just how little I felt like writing up a blog post about the last two recipes from the Rose’s Alpha Bakers group (along with the pretzel bread from the Bread Bible Bakers group), and I realized that I don’t *really* need to write them up. I can just post pictures, since, after all, a picture’s worth 1000 words, right?

First, the Pizza Rustica. Not really a pizza. Not really a quiche. Kind of a cross between the two, but really mostly cheese. Thanks to Marie, I got a last minute ingredient list on Wednesday, and put this together that evening, for my Thursday lunch crew at work.

Thursday morning, we got a note that one guy was home with a sick kid, and one abandoned us for lunch with a friend, so it was just 4 of us. We still managed to make sure none of this went to waste. Along with a Caesar salad and a small apple pie. We just might be gluttons. We really need to recruit some replacement BBQ club members.

Next up, the Pink Lady Pearl Cake!

Jay and I talked a couple of weeks ago about maybe going to the Canadian Auto Show in Toronto, which is running from this past Friday through next weekend. One of my colleagues has been visiting from India for the past couple of weeks, and he thought he might go as well, so we made some vague plans to go on Saturday. Then he decided it may not be the best idea to go on an adventure the day he’d be flying home, so we were on our own again. I reached out to a pair of friends that live in Toronto… Kelly said something to the effect of: “I can’t think of anything better than two unrelated childless couples spending family day weekend together.” We had a great day together, ending it off with an early steak dinner at The Keg, right at the base of their condo building. We stopped at Starbucks for hot drinks on the way back up to their place for “pink lady pearl cake” after dinner. We had a great chat about leadership, mentorship, inter-personal interactions, what it means to lead by influence rather than authority, how much you have to manipulate the system when it comes to some forms of performance reviews, coaching upwards, downwards, sideways, and everything in between. If you’re interested in any of these topics, it’s really worth your time to check out Dave Dame’s feed on Facebook (davedameagilitycoach), Twitter (@TheAgilityEdge), or at his blog. He’s one of my favourite people, and that’s not just because we get to take the “crip wagon” (his word for the WheelTrans bus) and skip lines when we go anywhere with him.

Well into adulthood, I’m really finally realizing just how true it is that “friends are the family you choose for yourself.” My mom had that in framed embroidery on the wall at the top of our stairs in the house I grew up in. It’s really sinking in lately just how much I love my friends, how much I love spending time with them, and how much I appreciate them. And it’s all the stupid little things that you don’t realize you appreciate until you stop and reflect, often once those things you took for granted are gone (or at least different). The other day, I forgot my lunch at home, checked my wallet and had no money. I also knew I had a somewhat short lunch break, with meetings on both sides. We’ve got a guy who comes in at around 11:30 every day and sells sandwiches and other lunch stuff, and I knew I’d be in a meeting when he got there. My first thought when I realized that I didn’t have my lunch was to ask a guy who buys (bought) his lunch almost every day to pick something up for me. I’ve relied on Matt numerous times in the past, and he’s sometimes asked me to do the same when he’s been stuck on a call or in a meeting. But he got laid off while I was away last November. 😦 Then for a split second, I thought I could at least borrow some cash from Doug, before I glanced at the office that was his a few weeks ago. Damn. Finally, I turned to a former teammate, and he was happy to grab me something. This guy introduced me to his wife as his “work wife” when my team came over at Christmas one year, and when another teammate (you remember Gilad, right?) left the company shortly after I switched from Development into Product Management, we joked that we’d broken up, I’d moved on, and we had just been staying together “for the kids” (aka our team). I’ve gotta remember to pay him back tomorrow. 🙂 Thanks, Chris!

Huh. I said I didn’t want to write tonight, but I guess I just can’t stop myself when I’m gushing about my friends. ❤