Breadboard – Check
Sep 18th, 2008 by Marilyn
Some days it takes nothing to break a smile, some days maybe more – but I’m sure we can all agree that occasionally, what you need is a little doorbell surprise. I heart you, UPS guy. Wait, have a brownie!
The package thing, however, works a lot better if you’re actually home. Last week I was in Chicago visiting my parents – by myself – and on the phone from home, Greg mentioned that a box had arrived. For me.
Really? A package, hmm, nothing I had ordered, a box out of the blue, a box with my name on it! So sad – forty years old and I’m aflutter for mail.
“So where’s it from?” I was talking in my parents’ living room, my mother in a big stuffed chair, perusing the fourth Restoration Hardware that week. Now her ears perked up.
“It’s from Teller’s,” he said.
“Tellers.” The restaurant?
I should say that Teller’s is two blocks from our house. What were they sending me, my favorite antipasto, to go? Greg went on.
“Should we open it?”
“Oh, well…okay…oh fine, open it…”
Grrr. Is there anything worse than someone else opening a package intended for you?
Well, of course there is. But it’s up there – like Santa came and you weren’t home. Not that Santa visits our home, not unless he is hankering for latkes on Christmas Eve – but you know, if I did fry latkes for Santa and then someone else ate them, that too would be bad. In the same way. Whatever.
Josie chimed in – I could hear her ripping tape. “It’s a board!”
“A board.”
“Yeah!” she got excited, “it’s a breadboard, you know the breadboard, and the card says from Mom and Dad.”
the original breadboard of my dreams, at Teller’s
The breadboard, I repeated. Across the room my mom was laughing. Oh, that breadboard!
After I’d blogged about my crush on a simple piece of wood, they found it – hello, she just called the restaurant – and had it sent to me, which is lovely, but…now I was standing there. In Chicago. And my surprise package opened by not-me back in Lawrence. What do mothers, airplanes, the web and the US mail have in common? They all work in mysterious ways.
look…right in my kitchen!
In review, the board is great. My mom apparently had a nice little chat with the manager and learned the boards are made from reclaimed walnut, made by a buddy of his, right here in Lawrence. Could they get me one? Well, they don’t normally sell them, but sure, no problem.
Sheesh. Perhaps I should post my wish list on the blog more often?
———————-
Dipping Oil from Baguette Heaven
1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt
fresh-ground black pepper
oregano and dried red pepper flakes, crushed together
grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
Whisk oil with salt and spices, seasoning to your taste. Top with a sprinkling of parmesan or romano, add sliced baguette or Italian bread, and dip away!
Lovely story, lovelier bread board!
now that is the most thoughtful gift…and what a beautiful piece of wood it is!
What a great gift! Crusty bread, good olive oil – mmmmmm, I’m in heaven
I’m adding one of those bread boards to my Christmas wish list!
That is just the nicest thing I’ve heard all week! Really!
Enjoy your breadboard!
What great parents and a what a lovely board, those salt and pepper holders are genius.
Hurrah for Momma Simmer!!!
You have wonderful, thoughtful parents. Resourceful too. How ironic you were at their house when it arrived at yours.
that is a sexy, sexy bread board.
Luckyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
3 cheers for Simmer Mom!!!!
Hip hip Hurrah!!!
What an awesome breadboard. Think your mom would get one for me, too?
Stop, stop, you’re giving them swelled heads!
No, keep going. They love it.
Your mom must have been thrilled to see your reaction in person!
Cute story and such a beautiful breadboard. Love the little containers for seasonings.
aww, what a fabulous and thoughtful gift! i’ve never seen a breadboard quite like that, but i’m already in love with its rusticness and usefulness. bravo, parents!
That is a thing of beauty. Hooray for mom and dad!
Awesome, Fran and Murray! What a terrific surprise gift. And while it was disappointing not to be able to open it, how cool for them to see your reaction in person!