Chocolate Cake.

We have a very nice customer named Tom who we have done plenty of work for over the years.
Most recently Rick fabricated kitchen countertops for him.
He called me on Friday to ask about some things in one of his bathrooms.

We discussed his schedule and ours and tried to find a time that worked.
He is retired now but works with Meals on Wheels. So each time I gave him a time and date he would say, "nope can't do it, delivering meals at that time"
I recalled him telling me how much he enjoys delivering meals to the elderly or those who are unable to leave their homes. He said he has gotten more fulfillment doing this than he ever had in his career.
And he was no slouch in his career.

We made his appointment and I said I hope he gets to continue to do this job.
Knowing full well that the reality tv personality that is in our white house is trying to kill Meals on Wheels, Medicare, Medicaid and feeding hungry poor children.
Oh boy, that had Tom go off on a very smart funny tangent.
It was like a stand-up comedy routine and I just sat back and enjoyed him.
He was delightful. His use of language was the best. He had me laughing because he was so funny, yet the topic was so damn sad and pitiful.

Tom ended his rant with a funny joke that I could not do justice here, but trust me when I say it was at the expense of the game-show host with no government experience, multiple bankruptcies, and a glaring personality disorder.

I don't normally discuss politics at work but we have worked with him since 2012 and I knew me saying that I hope he can continue with Meals on Wheels wouldn't upset him. Who knew he would turn into Rodney Dangerfield?

I told him if he can't deliver Meals on Wheels then by all means he needs to take his stand-up routine on the road.
He told me he was 70 and he was not up for the travel, perhaps he could do it via You Tube. Then he had a hearty laugh. He went on to share with me how his wife would kill him. I told him, perhaps but if you're making a boat load of money with your stand-up routine she may find it enduring.
Well, that made him really have a big hearty laugh.

He said he'd call me next week. I said, but your appointment is the week after.
He said, "oh no, just for the laughs and the ego stroking" from you my dear.
He's so cute. I wish there were more customers like him.

In other news.....
I have been hankering, or Rick would say, whining about chocolate cake now for about a full month.
I have not had a piece of cake for over a year. I miss cake. I don't mean a souffle that I had on my birthday but real cake. Dense, moist, chocolate cake.

I don't know why but several weeks ago I awoke to the need for chocolate cake.
It was like a pre-menstrual chocolate craving kind of thing. And we all know those days are over for me but apparently not the craving.

I don't much care for the gluten free box ones and I am far too lazy these days to whip up a GF chocolate cake myself after work. I mean there was a list of ingredients longer than my arm to make this damn thing from scratch.
So instead I just whined that I wanted cake. To Rick it was nightly, it was not nightly but close. 😀  Wednesday evening I made Rick flan. He LOVES flan and I am not flan's biggest fan. But I watched him have dessert and asked if he felt badly eating in front of me. He laughed and said Nope, more for me. The flan wasn't going to do it for me, I wanted cake. Dense, moist chocolate cake damn it.

Last evening I told Rick I was done cooking for the week.  Dinner on Friday would be pizza for him or something like that. He was fine with that. He asked what I would be eating since I can't have pizza. I told him wine and dreaming of chocolate cake.   I told him I would probably break down and make myself one and then after a piece he must eat the rest. Which is no problem for him to do.

Friday was an easy day for him. After the morning appointment, he was done.
I gave him a light day because he is working on Saturday. Only Gary was working all day. (hey, someone must make us the money) Rick comes home around lunchtime and comes into my office and handed me a chocolate cupcake that was decorated beautifully.
I squealed of course. Yea, my chocolate cake craving taken finally addressed!

He then told me what he went through to get these damn GF cupcakes. I asked, "cupcakes, plural?"  He told me there were 4, he only brought one to my office.
Oooh, I am thinking wine and chocolate cupcake will be my dinner. Don't need anything else.Is it 5pm yet?

He said he called a bakery that came up on his phone when he inserted GF chocolate cake. It was located in Fairfax where he was at that moment in time.
He called them and asked if they had GF chocolate cake. They said yes. He said he would be there in 7 minutes according to his phone directions. They said good, we'll be here. He got there and they had no such thing. It would be a special order. The owner came over and said can we order it for you? Rick said, "no, I wanted to bring this home. I did call and I asked if you had them and said I would be here in 7 minutes and someone said okay so they knew I was coming. Why wouldn't they have said that they are a special order?"  The owner said, "look we have other cakes." Rick said, "but I need a GF cake for my wife who has celiac" The owner then rolled his eyes and turned away and said, "good luck with that"  That is the normal reaction when you ask for GF due to the damn fad.

Rick walked the 3 blocks back to his car fuming and googled something again. This time a bakery even closer to our home came up but it was only cupcakes. He called them. They said they did indeed carry GF cupcakes. He figured cake vs cupcakes would make no difference to me. (he was correct)
He then asked, "do you have them in stock right now?" They said we have only 4 chocolate ones left. He said, "don't sell them please, I'm on my way"  He went into the bakery that only makes cupcakes and bought himself 4 great looking cupcakes. One was red velvet, one was chocolate with raspberry and 2 others that look just as great. They only have chocolate for me. Who cares!! It's what I have been craving all along.

The owner came out from the bakery to the showroom when Rick arrived. He asked about the GF cupcakes. She stopped him and showed him how they are made so no cross contamination etc. I'm sure she did this to put his mind at ease. Which was more for me than him but he would have asked since he has seen me get very sick from this type of thing. The owner went on to explain they hope to expand to other flavors since they are getting more requests. She told Rick her nephew has celiac and that is what made her realize how important they are made with no other flours nearby etc. Rick was so thrilled he told her he would be back and spread the word. So when he came home he left a great review for Actually Cupcakes and a review for the guy who told Rick "good luck with that" that wasn't so glowing.

In the meantime, I got my chocolate cake that I have been craving for the last month. I ate my cupcake slowly with a fresh cup of coffee at my desk. It hit the spot!! Craving taken care of! Whew.  And then I gave my hubby a big fat kiss for going to all that trouble for my chocolate cake craving. It was a great surprise!! I think I will freeze 2 of them. I know I told you there were 4. But I'm gonna be a pig and eat the 2nd one tonight.