Can I blame it on the weather?

There are some days when you look at your long list of things to do and you just have to say, "Screw it!"

Today was one of those kinds of days for me.

I'm having some friends over next weekend and am behind in prepping the house. I was supposed to get up early to bypass the crowds at Home Depot to pick up a Christmas Tree. But it was cold and raining out and my down comforter was warm and toasty.

This afternoon was supposed to be dedicated to cleaning, decorating, list making, menu planning...with a short break for lunch with my auntie at noon to catch up a little with her.

Well, the only thing that really got checked off so far today has been lunch with the auntie. She picked me up and in honor of my grandfather, whose 101st birthday would have been yesterday, we headed to his favorite diner in Clairemont, Spice House Cafe. A leisurely hour and a half meal later, we head to the car and my auntie asks if we can stop at "her" cake place: Do It With Icing just down the street. Every Christmas, she bakes - BIG TIME! And she needed supplies. I've never been and I spent time wandering up and down the aisles wishing I had time to bake as every little goodie was calling out to me.

As I was lovingly admiring a 4" springform cake pan, explaining to my auntie that a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I was considering for my party next week called for this very pan, she mentioned that Chef City was just down the road.

"Chef City?" I repeated.

"A restaurant supply store open to the public."

There went the rest of the afternoon!

You know how little kids are when you take them to Toys R Us? How they MUST go up and down every aisle and touch every shiny thing that they come across?

That was me. Inside Chef City.


It was raining a bit when I took this. Burrrrrr. This is the parking entrance off of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Parking and entrance is behind the building.


This was the first thing I saw. A rack of lovely dishes 35-50% off! Oh, I wanted it all.


These cute little bowls were from 2" to 3 1/2" big and I most especially hearted the ones closest to the edge of the frame with the wave shape. Cute!


Then there was this "little" lovely. I could see my auntie watching me with a bit of a grin as I spied it and made my way across the showroom towards it completely helpless to it's shiny golden magnetic pull. "If ANYTHING screams 'Ani' in this store, it's that mhija," she said. "I knew you'd find your way to it."
If only it could find it's way to my home! Lordy! Two brew heads, a covered cup warming area, an two, yes two, industrial powered frothing jets. Oh, yes. A lottery ticket will need to be bought. You must click on the photo to see the full resolution file to truly appreciate all it's shiny beauty!

Then there were all the ginormous things that just made us laugh:


These pot lids are big enough to be used as cymbals in a marching band.


There was an entire wall of spiders some so big they dwarfed a normal sized strainer. An entire wall, I tell ya!


And then there were pots. Seriously. Lots of pots. This one, and the ladle we found in the aisle before, were so huge that my auntie joked it was big enough for cannibals to use.

Alas! I left empty handed. But a fun afternoon laughing and sharing with my auntie and avoiding the things I really should have been doing was just the kind of afternoon I needed on this cold rainy San Diego Friday.

YOUR TURN: What's your favorite kitchen gadget?

Comments

  1. I know exactly how you felt! I have been in the restaurant and bar business for more than five years. Most of the places I worked at supplied whatever I need, but there were some places that didn't.

    In my hometown of San Antonio, we have a store called Mission Restaurant Supply where I get all of my bar supplies now. It is hard though when you go in looking for a few things and you end up wanting EVERYTHING. I ended up getting stuff for my apartment as well, like a new blender, dinnerware, and some professional grade pots and pans.

    I doubt that I'll ever go back to regular stores, at least when it comes to kitchen supplies and bar supplies.

    If you can't find what you need at your need fave store, try Mission. I've never been disappointed.

    http://www.missionrs.com/

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  2. Lauren,

    Glad I'm not the only one! Thank you for the link to MIssion. I just took a quick gander and OMG! I'm gonna be spending time browsing after my party prep is all finished.

    Have a great holiday season and thank you for reading.

    (~_^)

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