like doing half-and-half entrees, or asking for more vegetables (with no price increase). i made it to the cafe by 10:20am, my mother was complaining what took me so long (i was still in the bathroom when she called). later before casey came to pick up the orders, she asked me to write the names of the people on each order, yet another addition she wants with the orders. if it was up to me i would never allow substitute or customized orders. if you want to change up what we offer on the menu, then i recommend you eat elsewhere.
we turned on the heat at the cafe today. that involves rewiring the nest thermostat and then turning on the basement furnace pilot light. i thought it had an automatic starter before i read instructions on the back panel with instructions for manual lighting. we ended up taping a match to the end of a chopstick, so i wouldn't have to stick my hand into the furnace and scrape the back of my hand from flinching whenever the gas ignites. after that everything worked.
i made a new batch of tea eggs (saturday was the last batch). my new process is simmering them for 2 hours (instead of just 1) so they can soak up maximum flavors and can be served to customers immediately. compared that to the old way where i let the eggs steep in tea egg brine for a few days for the flavor to fully develop. we don't have time to do that anymore, i'm making new batches of tea eggs every other day it seems, sometimes on consecutive days if there's a big bento order.
i also made a new batch of taiwanese paocai. i made the last batch just 2 weeks ago, 6 containers, enough to last a month. we're already down to 2 containers, which we'll probably use up within the next few days. this time around i had nearly 12 lbs. of taiwanese cabbage. so much cabbage that i had to make the paocai in two batches, otherwise it'd be impossible to mix correctly. i ended up making 8 containers, which hopefully will last a month, but given the rate we've been selling bento boxes, maybe only a few weeks.
in the afternoon i went to see esmei at my sister's place because my sister hadn't been home in a while. i haven't seen esmei since saturday, as it was raining all weekend and my sister never brought her over to belmont. esmei was crying when i opened the door to her dog pen, maybe too excited to be seeing someone. i let her out but kept an eye on her for signs she might want to pee. instead she was very busy playing with all her toys. i noticed she was "burying" a bone near the mirror, not sure why she did that. i finally let her outside to pee before calling her back inside the house. she wouldn't come in at first, but i was able to entice her with a dried leave that i was making scraping sounds against the ground.
later my sister's godmother came to the cafe to pick up some stuff my parents had bought for her from costco for her to take back to taiwan when she goes back in 2 weeks. my sister brought esmei over so they took take her for a walk.
i wasn't able to leave until i finished making my paocai, which wasn't until 5:15pm. i dropped off my bicycle at home before walking down to the community garden to harvest any last remaining vegetables.
we're expected to get some hard frost tonight, so any plants left outside will be killed off by tomorrow morning. i still had some hyacinth beans on the vine. there was nobody else in the garden except for helen. she said she's long admired my hyacinth bean flowers. she was trimming all her asters and collecting the seeds. she told me she might give up her plot next season, as she doesn't have time to tend to it anymore. plus this year there was so much drama in the community garden, which was another reason to leave. i ended collecting half a bag of leftover hyacinth beans. i also got some dried long beans (for seeds). as i was leaving, i saw anne marie.
for dinner i reheated some leftover pork and hyacinth bean stew on rice my mother packed for me before i left the cafe. i ate while watching the pacers-celtics game. indiana had a 2-1 record compared to boston's 3-0, so this was a team with some substance, not to be underestimated. the game was basically over in the first quarter, when celtics scored 44-27. by halftime they were up 75-54. none of the starters played in the 4th quarter, while the bench players were impressive, building on the large lead. final score was 155-104. to pacers' credit, this was a team with no quit. even though there was a large point deficit, indiana gave it their all. the bucks lost to the raptors, 111-130. bucks now have a 2-2 record while the celtics remain the only unbeaten team in the east (4-0). out in the west, the nuggets fell to the timberwolves, 89-110. mavericks beat the bulls in highly contested game (multiple lead changes), so dallas is the only unbeaten team in the west.