Archive for ◊ November, 2009 ◊

It’s November again, that means it’s time for another tasty, chocolate treat for Sherry’s birthday.  This is a very, VERY chocolaty, very rich and yummy Torte – if you are not a true chocolate lover, this may be a bit much for you.  However, if you are a true chocolate lover, I am sure you’ll soon be making noises normally only heard through cheap motel walls.  The torte must refrigerate for at least 4 hours, so I made it the night before her birthday dinner.

Ingredients:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder (for dusting)
• Confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)
• 15 Ounces of bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces (you’ll be tempted to use 16, don’t do it)
• 18 Tbsp (2 1/4 sticks) of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. (for cooking)
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (for greasing the pan)
• 7 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 9 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp Brandy
• 3Tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1Tbsp of hot water
• 1 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups fresh raspberries (These can sometimes be hard to find – Cherry pie filling makes a nice substitute)
• whipped cream
• 1 jar raspberry preserves (optional for sauce)

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To borrow a phrase from Lisa Barone; I’d rather stick a pen in my eye than read another story about some company doing a good job of customer service on Twitter.  Ever since Comcast went viral with “Frank’s” ability to solve problems the people on the phones couldn’t, it seems every company under the sun has been getting their support teams on Twitter and attempting to solve problems that way.  A Google search for “customer service twitter” returns only about 150 million results.

I’d say that horse is dead, can we stop beating it now?  Customer support reps are SUPPOSED to provide great service…it’s like, their job, right?

Who should we be talking about?  The people who earn their living doing something else, but still step up and try to help when they sense frustration directed at or about the company they work for.  I recently had such an experience (Guess you figured that was coming) more…