Cashier in Training

I was in line at the cashier a while back. There was a young man that was clearly new at the job and looked terrified. Behind him was an older woman (compared to his young age) peering over his shoulder. There was another veteran cashier within 2 feet from him and the bagger who was a just bit older than he. Then, there was me and a line of people waiting. This was going to be a long uncomfortable shift for this young man. 

 I felt bad for him. I've been there before being new at a job and unsure of myself. So, while glancing at his supervisor looking over his shoulder,  I said, "Do you ever feel like someone is looking over your shoulder?" He smiled and said yes. The woman behind him smiled and laughed. 

The young man continued checking me out (I mean, checking out my groceries, not checking "me" out). He clearly didn't know what most of the produce was. He learned what the hairy green fruit was and the difference between a green pepper and a jalepeno pepper.  I continued to make light of the situation. I told him it was a good place to learn what all this stuff is. I also told him I'd be back to test him. His supervisor said I could tell him how to cook it, too. 

So we all chatted and made light of his uncomfortable situation. He was smiling by the time I left and was happy to let me relieve some of his discomfort. The customers behind me heard everything and they were smiling and appeared willing to play along. I was sure they would help him out too. I stepped onto the flip side to help him feel more comfortable and made it comfortable for the others around me to join us on the flip side as well. 

That young man was going to have a very uncomfortable day and I hope the five minutes I spent with him helped him to feel more confident as he was learning how to do his job. I had empathy and compassion for him. Share some empathy and compassion for someone today and/or help someone feel appreciated.

See you on the Flip Side!

Pinterecipe Adventurest- New Recipe

Capellini D’Angelo Roma by Chef Dennis

This is my first installment of my Pinterecipes.

This recipe looked yummy and I had the ingredients in my kitchen. 

I followed the recipe by Chef Dennis which can be found at this link: 

http://www.askchefdennis.com/2012/02/in-my-restaurant-kitchen-capellini-dangelo-roma/

Let me start by saying I am an everyday-mom-meal "sheph". 

My husband is more of a "chef". I like to try recipes that are easy and have a nice picture. 

Pinterest has been a great resource so I've decided to become a 

 Pinterecipe Adventurest. 

In following this recipe, here are some things that I found or did. I used portabella mushrooms because they are heartier and, well, I had them already. I had a party this weekend and we had the Costco 

tri-meat Italian pack with the salamis and proscutto. I used the rest of the proscutto from that. 

Chef Dennis says that if the sauce is too thick, add chicken stock. I, Sheph Adventurest, found it too watery, so I added corn starch (two Tbs in 4 Tbs of cold water and add to sauce). Campanelle noodles aren't that easy to find. I found them at Home Goods believe it or not. I had them in my cupboard because I searched high and low for them for another recipe and never made it. hmph. 

I have checked many grocery stores. I couldn't even find them at Whole Foods. 

   Adding crushed tomatoes to the mushrooms and chicken stock to that.

 The wine is important in the fourth picture.

 The food is likely to taste better after a nice glass of Chardonnay if the recipe isn't good 

or the "Sheph" isn't that good. 

Be sure to give your guests some too, just in case.

This is my final presentation. I topped it with extra proscutto and parsley.

Our family's new name for this recipe is 

Campanelle de Marne
because Marne pinned it on Pinterest.

 

I had extra sauce that I will freeze. 

 This is what it looked like after dinner. My husband and kids loved it. My husband hates peas but ate them.

I thought it was delicious, too. My husband and I actually added a little cayenne pepper to spice it up a bit. 

 

I say, give it a try. You'll love it. it's creamy and delicious. You can make the sauce as light as you'd like. My husband especially like the Campanelle noodles. Let me know if you try it. Here is the link again:

http://www.askchefdennis.com/2012/02/in-my-restaurant-kitchen-capellini-dangelo-roma/

Follow me on Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/ahousey/  

Adversity to Adventure

I often go out to schools to talk to children about walking in someone else's shoes, about my journey as an author, seeing another point of view and about looking at the Flip Side. I really love my job. As a former Elementary School Teacher, I am enjoying teaching children again and sharing my passion for writing and looking at the Flip Side.


After my presentations, the children are very excited about me as an author and how they relate to my stories. Many schools send me packets of letters from the children that touch me and make me laugh. I often receive an email or two from kids who really connected and feel the need to further communicate with me. Many will say that they want to be writers someday and share some personal experiences. I LOVE to receive letters from the children.

Last week I visited a school of near 400 kids. I had a great visit. When I shared that I was a twin, a young lady raised her hand to share that she is a twin as well and her brother was in the front row. I acknowledged what we had in common and moved on. Later that day, after I got home, I received an email from this young lady, "S. the Twin".

hi I have been looking at you're websites and on one there were no comments so I felt the need to write something so that's me S. the twin with the green headband my email is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

p.s. I LOVE WRITEING TOO BUT AS YOU CAN SEE I'M BAD AT SPELLING.

S.

I was delighted to hear from her. I wrote her back (and told her that her spelling wasn't as bad as she thinks) and I told her that I was so happy that she had written to me.

About a week later, I got another email from "S. the twin" (cute). It touched me right down to my smallest heart string. I shared it with my husband and later my family at our Easter dinner. It touched everyone. It was the epitome of what Flip Side Stories is all about and further what "Just Because" is all about. Let me share:

"thanks so much for emailing me it really means allot I actually love writing I have written tons of story's that i think you might like but I still love you're story's because of the message its suppose to send I think I might be good at writeing story's like that because when I was two my parents got divorced and my mom was the custodeal parent we went to salivation army for most of our clothes and we went to the good fellows this is because there were two two year-olds one four year-old and another 6 year-old and my poor mom was a stay at home mom who had just recently at the time gotten a job as a waitress but we never knew anything was ever wrong because she always said it's going to be an adventure just like when we lost our house and had to move thats what she said its going to be an adventure but we got through every thing we may not had everything we wanted but we sure did have lots of love and thats what it's all about. 
 love,S.                                                  
p.s. we did finally find out about the it's going to be an adventure my sister C."

She and her family are an example to be followed. She saw herself in the second family in "Just Because". She could relate and see the FLip Side of a difficult situation with the help of her brave mother. I can't thank her enough for sharing her story.

Because of her story, I have decided to create a place for kids to share their stories and their connections with Flip Side Stories. I will share their stories and how they saw the Flip Side of Adversity.

I will share this blog post with her.  If you would like to leave her a comment, she will see this. I am sure she would love to hear from you. Thank you.