NO Blood oranges

Okay, this will make more sense to those who really know Cheffie and I . He got an idea for a recipe using blood oranges - which I love as they are much less acidic than other oranges. He was going to try it out on the family before any customers . Problem is , it called for blood oranges,grapefruit, tangelos , shrimp on a bed of baby spinach. ( I think that I have said it before , being married to a chef is" love, respect, passionate hard work and honey,  taste this" in the vows.) Not for cowards. I learned some new words of the nonrepeatable variety this week.

First we could not get them locally, always a bad sign. Then he thought as they were for the Yule week, this one time , he would special order from Diamond Organics (Moss Valley , CA) . They are very reasonable for overnight delivery. But...They stopped taking orders in June. No explanation. Blood oranges are usually only available from Nov/Dec to March/April.

So he looked online. Eureka! He found them. It was a short lived Eureka however- he only needed 2-3 . They only offered them in 10 lb bins for $125.00. That's when I learned the new words. That is 12.50 per lb. It wasn't cost effective to even think of putting it on the menu. Not ever,even if wrapped in chocolate  covered edible gold foil.( I could help with the overage of chocolate.)

Our notebooked customers took great interest in his unhappiness with the lack of blood oranges.  I caught a glimpse of a page before its owner closed the notebook. Henri is the planner in our house. He executes menus and nights out with greater expertise than one would expect from his age and training.
I usually am the contact person , arranging meetings, watching the bottom line. But unless they are writing a book about chefs, why the interest in the blood oranges?

I hate to say it but its all so Wild Kingdom.

Bon Soir et bon apetit,

Arina Copain
Office  Manager