.
Okay, it wasn’t as if the world was ending, but this was her livelihood. This was how Holly and she paid their bills. It was how they paid their employees, which was even more important. It only took one bad meal for customers never to come back again, and their regulars had already been emailed about the fabulous new dishes they should come in and try.
And she had canned sardines to work with.
Fantastic.
She got a grip, sat down in the nearest chair, and went over the list again, item by item. What could she make with what she had available?
Breakfast was easy. She could do fisherman’s eggs—seasoned sardines in a ramekin, with a soft-cooked egg over the top. Not her usual fare, but it would work for one day.
Dinner was a whole different can of fish. It didn’t help that she loathed sardines. It was like some sick joke that she now had to work with a boatload of it. She groaned at the unintentional pun. They had specials for everything from appetizers to desserts, so she needed to do a sardine extravaganza. Blech.
Okay, a Caesar salad with sardines was easy enough. There were a few different pasta dishes that could withstand the addition of sardines. Spaghetti would probably be best. That was the salad and the entrée…appetizers. She scanned the inventory again. Crostini. Spinach pesto sardine crostini. They’d need to order extra pesto if she used more of it than usual tonight, so she made a note to mention that to Holly.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It would be insane tonight trying to prep her line cooks for a different menu than she’d planned, but that was life. Sometimes you had to adjust.
“They’re closed for the day, but I have the manager’s personal number.” Holly flashed a grin. “We went out once, remember? Anyway, he made some very pissed off calls to his people and they have no idea who changed the order. A new staff member took a call from someone who claimed to work here this morning. The person—not sure if it was a man or a woman—had our customer ID number, all our relevant information. We’ll be getting a new ID, by the way.” She sighed, frustration in the sound. “Apparently, they had to scramble to get enough sardines for us.”
“Well, they can scramble to take it back, then.” The idea of sardine stink filling up her kitchen made Erin’s nose wrinkle in noxious anticipation.
Her cousin shook her head. “Not until tomorrow, babycakes.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I have the specials figured out for dinner and breakfast, but I want this fixed ASAP.”
Spreading her hands, Holly shrugged helplessly. “He’s on it first thing, but this late in the day, there’s not much he can do.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll make do for tonight. But sardines? Ew.”
“I kind of like them.” Holly’s tone was encouraging.
Erin scoffed. “You’ll eat anything with protein, wolfgirl.”
The wolfgirl in question dipped her chin to acknowledge that truth. “I’m going to send out a social networking blast that our chef extraordinaire is serving up some specials with a twist for one night only. Come one, come all.”
“Yeah, let’s just pray they like canned seafood better than I do.”
Holly was already on her smartphone and didn’t even glance up at that comment. “You could make dirty rubber boots taste gourmet. I have faith in you.”
“That makes one of us,” Erin muttered, then stiffened when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She didn’t check it, just in case it was Luca. She didn’t even want to consider if it was her prank caller, so she focused on the vampire. If she didn’t know it was him, she wasn’t really ignoring him, was she? No.
Yeah, that justification sounded weak even in her head. She sighed and turned toward the kitchen to prep her staff before the dinner rush started. She already felt like shit and the day was only going to roll downhill from here. Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out what she was going to do about
Okay, it wasn’t as if the world was ending, but this was her livelihood. This was how Holly and she paid their bills. It was how they paid their employees, which was even more important. It only took one bad meal for customers never to come back again, and their regulars had already been emailed about the fabulous new dishes they should come in and try.
And she had canned sardines to work with.
Fantastic.
She got a grip, sat down in the nearest chair, and went over the list again, item by item. What could she make with what she had available?
Breakfast was easy. She could do fisherman’s eggs—seasoned sardines in a ramekin, with a soft-cooked egg over the top. Not her usual fare, but it would work for one day.
Dinner was a whole different can of fish. It didn’t help that she loathed sardines. It was like some sick joke that she now had to work with a boatload of it. She groaned at the unintentional pun. They had specials for everything from appetizers to desserts, so she needed to do a sardine extravaganza. Blech.
Okay, a Caesar salad with sardines was easy enough. There were a few different pasta dishes that could withstand the addition of sardines. Spaghetti would probably be best. That was the salad and the entrée…appetizers. She scanned the inventory again. Crostini. Spinach pesto sardine crostini. They’d need to order extra pesto if she used more of it than usual tonight, so she made a note to mention that to Holly.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It would be insane tonight trying to prep her line cooks for a different menu than she’d planned, but that was life. Sometimes you had to adjust.
“They’re closed for the day, but I have the manager’s personal number.” Holly flashed a grin. “We went out once, remember? Anyway, he made some very pissed off calls to his people and they have no idea who changed the order. A new staff member took a call from someone who claimed to work here this morning. The person—not sure if it was a man or a woman—had our customer ID number, all our relevant information. We’ll be getting a new ID, by the way.” She sighed, frustration in the sound. “Apparently, they had to scramble to get enough sardines for us.”
“Well, they can scramble to take it back, then.” The idea of sardine stink filling up her kitchen made Erin’s nose wrinkle in noxious anticipation.
Her cousin shook her head. “Not until tomorrow, babycakes.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I have the specials figured out for dinner and breakfast, but I want this fixed ASAP.”
Spreading her hands, Holly shrugged helplessly. “He’s on it first thing, but this late in the day, there’s not much he can do.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll make do for tonight. But sardines? Ew.”
“I kind of like them.” Holly’s tone was encouraging.
Erin scoffed. “You’ll eat anything with protein, wolfgirl.”
The wolfgirl in question dipped her chin to acknowledge that truth. “I’m going to send out a social networking blast that our chef extraordinaire is serving up some specials with a twist for one night only. Come one, come all.”
“Yeah, let’s just pray they like canned seafood better than I do.”
Holly was already on her smartphone and didn’t even glance up at that comment. “You could make dirty rubber boots taste gourmet. I have faith in you.”
“That makes one of us,” Erin muttered, then stiffened when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She didn’t check it, just in case it was Luca. She didn’t even want to consider if it was her prank caller, so she focused on the vampire. If she didn’t know it was him, she wasn’t really ignoring him, was she? No.
Yeah, that justification sounded weak even in her head. She sighed and turned toward the kitchen to prep her staff before the dinner rush started. She already felt like shit and the day was only going to roll downhill from here. Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out what she was going to do about
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