MJ and Martha

So, I have this friend, MJ.

We met about.....10-12 years ago when we were both working for this guy:

Yeah, I know. He looks so sweet and happy. Really, he was kind of a creep to work for. He swears a lot and then kind of laughs about it.

Anyway, so we're working for him. MJ comes from Iowa. All we knew about her was that she grew up on a farm and she has a degree from Iowa State (Which, if you know anything about the food biz, you'll know about Iowa State. Big food school.). I think she has a food science degree? I can never remember.

Anyway, she had just moved from Iowa with her 2 lovely children and was about to get married to Michael. She was nice enough. Friendly. Knew what she was doing, but not obnoxious or showy about it. And you know how maybe there's someone new at work and you're maybe trying to assess their skill level? And you decide they're good and smart, so they're okay, but then they give of themselves little by little and you find out they're so amazing and you realize while you actually thought they were just fine, you now realize you're looking at total GREATNESS???

That's MJ, my friends. And she downplays every amazing thing that she knows and does. Like the time at work when it was someone's birthday and we all gathered around the birthday person to sing? Mary Jane's voice is carrying the whole thing and people within ear shot are running from all over the office to find out, who is that singing??? I mean, she has the voice of an angel! Then she shakes her head, dismisses all the compliments on her voice with a wave of her hand, and says she was an opera singer as a child.

Oh, and she sang the Roto-Rooter jingle in the commercial. So, I guess you could say she's a professional singer, too.

Anyway. That's SUCH a tiny bit of background about her. There is so much more. SO MUCH MORE. The craziest things happen to her. Like a couple of weeks ago when she was in the car, listening to the Martha Stewart radio channel on Sirius Radio.

We don't have Sirius Radio, so I've never heard the show, but I guess there's a spot on the Martha Stewart Channel where the announcer gives the listeners a few ingredients and the listeners need to call in with a recipe idea. So the announcer gives these ingredients: pears, vanilla and bourbon.

Now. If you're gonna give MJ an ingredient, give her the bourbon. She loves the bourbon. She grows mint in her garden specifically for Mint Juleps during the Kentucky Derby.

So, of course, MJ calls in with a recipe idea. Now, if I would've called in with a recipe idea, I would've gotten a busy signal.

But MJ doesn't, no SIR.

They answer her call and are blown away with her recipe.

Because after, oooohhhhh..........three seconds of thought, she comes up with: "Pears poached in a burnt sugar-vanilla-infused syrup, chilled and served with a hot bittersweet ganache spiked with a healthy shot of bourbon".
They ask her if she's a chef (she's not), so she wins two tickets to the Fancy Food Show in New York City.
She and my dear friend, Kirst went last weekend!!! How cool is that? They had a ball. They stayed in a nice hotel and laughed for 3 days straight.

I wasn't going to show this, but....what the heck, right? I get an email from MJ with the title "Dinner In Little Italy".

I'm thinking, "Ooooo! They ran into someone famous in Little Italy!" I open the mail and there is a photo attachment.

The photo attachement is titled, "Kirsten and Dave"

Oooo! I click on it on wait for the download, thinking, "who is a famous person named Dave.............who is a famous David?"

Ooooooohhhhh. That Dave!

Look at her sweet smile, huh?

This picture isn't going to stay up for long. I will remove it, I swear. I just thought you'd like to meet Kirsten......and, er, little Dave.