Last night I managed to use an entire bulb of garlic in preparing an East Indian dinner for just three people.  Maybe the garlic is the reason that I haven’t been sick for the past year.  Or, maybe it keeps people far away; hence the likelihood of catching anything is greatly reduced.

A get a lot of recipes on-line these days, which makes me wonder if cookbooks are going to survive.  Like most people who enjoy cooking, I have a number of them, and yet most of the time if I do use one at all, I seem to grab the Joy of Cooking.

However, for the next three glorious weeks, I’m only concerned with cooking for Nicky and myself.  Denis is off to Victoria for the on-campus portion of his degree in Leadership at Royal Roads.

It’s actually been an excellent bit of leverage for me, as whenever Denis says something idiotic, I now say, “Did you learn that at the leadership course?”

I know what you’re thinking.  But as we’re coming up to 25 years of marriage this summer I feel I should be able to enjoy the odd bit of fun.  And really, it does sometimes make him stop and think, so it’s a win-win in my opinion.

Sadly, I must slog through life without a degree in leadership.  As an entrepreneur I have to reach deep down into my gullet on a regular basis and drag motivation from within.  The present moment is an example of a time when I have to pray to the Muse of Marketing to descend upon me.

As you know, I was a huge fan of Bugs Bunny, and often still quote some of my favourite lines to myself.  Right now I could use a dose of Acme’s Tornado Pills.  Remember those?  The coyote takes one and nothing happens, so he takes the whole box and turns into a whirling dervish.

He turns upside down, still spinning, cutting through cacti and mountains, and finally falls down that same old cliff.  I’d like a small bit of that tornado energy right now as I try to think of clever ways to sell Okanagan Harvest Cake to tourists over the summer.

Yet as we know, the answers always lie within us.  And so it’s with a sense of dread that I’m starting to acknowledge what I must do.  I have to get a list of places together, get a bunch of fruitcakes, flyers and cards, and dress as well as I can.  Then I have to get into my car and drive, and then walk into these stores and introduce myself and my product.

Perhaps the Muse of the Fuller Brush Salesman will descend upon me, and I’ll have the fortitude to do it.  If not, I’ll have to sign up for a course at Royal Roads, I guess.