Chocolate-Plum Thumbprint Cookies.  Mom made the dough and I made the filling; three batches, one at a time.  Good grief, have you ever chopped dried plums (the fruit formerly known as prunes)?  What a sticky, gooey mess.  I should have brought my chopper thingy, though it probably would have been hell to clean.  I got a little stuck to my job, so even when Mom remarked about how dry the first batch of dough was, it took me a while to check the recipe -- not until after she had a pan in each oven (woo hoo, double ovens!).

"Did you use one cup of margarine, or one stick?"

"Umm, oh..."

Heh, we finally figured it out and had 'em all baked and packed up by noon.  The cookies were good -- not real sweet, but that's okay.  Whew!

After a little lunch, I ran some errands and did a little shopping -- some Christmas, some not -- among the stops were the chocolate shop and the LYS (within two blocks of each other, how could I not?).  As I was looking over the checkbook yesterday, I discovered that I've written a check to the LYS once a week for the past three weeks; yesterday's visit was cash (much less of a trail).  Not big purchases, but still, once a week?  I bought the DPNs that I needed -- plus another set and, oh yeah, how about some yarn?  I think I can fit in another quick Christmas project, don't you?

Teeny little rant (you may click away here) -- I'll try to keep it teeny -- nothing new to anyone, but this is the first time I've actually been witness.  The LYS was busy, but mostly it was buzz from a knitting group.  As the customer before me was being waited on, the phone rang; it was another customer asking if the shop would wind some yarn -- I assume it was yarn already purchased or to-be-purchased at that shop.  The reply was, "If I have time.  We're very busy."  I don't know the situation at this LYS; it was not the owner manning the store yesterday and it's been my experience that the owner would rather stick a note on the door and close than hire anyone to fill in, so perhaps she's taken on a partner.  After hanging up, the clerk grumbled -- a lot -- to the in-store customer about customers expecting to have yarn wound for them.  When it was my turn, she continued grumbling, and even said, "I have a real problem with winding yarn" and that she didn't think it was something they should be expected to do.  Wow.  After recovering, I replied that winding hanks of yarn can be a tedious and overwhelming job, and that I felt fortunate to have a swift and winder of my own (man, so I don't have to ask YOU to do it).

It's all about customer service, people.  I've worked retail, I know how pissy and demanding customers can be and how I'd have rather clocked them than anything else, but you put on your best you're-like-suckin'-on-a-whole-lemon-but-I'm-gonna-smile-anyway face and keep them happy because they just spent $5, $25, $50, or $100 and you'd like them to come and do it again -- and you'd also like them to tell all their friends!  And, you know, it's never a good idea to complain about customers to other customers...

Too bad.  That LYS has a good selection of yarn and they'll special order anything, and my frequent buyer card was filled yesterday ($20 off next time), but I might be carrying it around for a while.

The customer ahead of me told a cute story about the winding of a hank of yarn gone wrong over Thanksgiving.  Her husband and his hunting buddies came in for lunch and untangled and wound the whole thing before they went back out.  She didn't even ask them to do it. /rant

There was a help wanted sign at the candy store.  I brought an application home for Ai.  Do you think I'd get fat if my daughter worked at an award-winning chocolate shop?