Fitting it all in

I had big plans to prepare long-roasted pork shoulder and other time-consuming treats for tomorrow night's little pre-graduation party, but wouldn't you know it? Job-hunting has interfered. I have three interviews in three days, so the menu has been revised. Yesterday's interview was fortuitously close to a wonderful cheese shop, so I picked up three varieties with the assistance of a charming French man who wanted to know if I had a budget (a budget for cheese?) and if I wanted "plain" or "fancy." I told him I didn't want "fancy" but I didn't want "regular," either. So I ended up with a small Minuet from Andante Dairy, a triple cream goat's milk cheese; a wedge of a hard sheep's milk cheese from Abbaye de Belloc, and a piece of a wonderous cow's milk blue, Fourme au Sauterne. The cheeseman challenged me to stay away from the blue before tomorrow's party, and he's right. I can hear it calling to me through the refrigerator door.

This morning I'm going to make two sponge cakes, one to be filled with lemon curd and whipped cream and rolled up. The other will become a Sicilian Cassata, much like I made into a Christmas Buche de Noel, but this time I'm going with a recipe from Joyce Goldstein's The Mediterranean Kitchen, where the cake is cut to fit a large loaf pan, layered with filling, then turned out onto a platter and frosted with chocolate icing. I'm really intrigued by the filling of this cake, which is made of ricotta cheese thinned out with cream, spiked with creme de cacao, and enhanced by bits of candied orange peel and chocolate.

In lieu of a whole pork shoulder, I'm going to make pulled pork, from a recipe that appeared in the Chronicle in August 2006. One of the best things about this recipe is the Kalamata Cole Slaw that you put on top of the pork, inside a good bun. I'll also make a chicken salad (poached thighs, shiitake mushrooms, cilantro) that works equally well on a bun with cole slaw. I'll be heading out soon to do the grocery shopping, then there will be cake-baking, followed by today's interview which is conveniently located near the BevMo store where I can pick up whites (chardonnay), reds (syrah), sparklers (prosecco), and some beers. And a bottle of Tanquerey.

Tomorrow, after a morning interview in the City, I can pick up the rolls and then finish up the party prep. Sometime between now and Saturday morning, I have to find one of my neckerchiefs. Can't graduate without it! I think I have to stand on a chair and look behind the basket of snow clothes in the upper cabinet, where I throw the clothes that are bound for Goodwill.