Evie and Kim exited the elevator on the 12th floor, promptly running into Mitch.

“Evie, I need to talk to you about revising the sales teams’ PowerPoints. Come with me to the sales department,” Mitch commanded with a very managerial tone.

Kim played oblivious while Evie followed Mitch back to the elevator. No sooner than the door closed, Mitch turned to invade her space, backing her up against the wall by the keypad.

“You didn’t stay for the full sales launch meeting,” he said, using the most demanding tone he had with her, “where the hell were you!”

Evie looked at his overly stern look, eyebrows stitched, and stammered, “uh…I…I had to drop off some documents at Kinkos.” Her lie was spreading all over her face and the guilt of ditching such an important meeting was beading up on her brow.

“Well, that would be excusable if it were true but I just got a tour of our swanky copy center on the 12th floor today. You don’t use Kinko’s do you?”

She was in the middle of coming up with her back-up excuse so he wouldn’t suspect that Kim knew everything when Mitch moved close enough that he could feel her bra size.

“I think you owe the sales manager an apology dinner for lying while on the job.”

Oh, now she got it. This was how the game would be played. That’s ok, she liked elevators. And floors, and corner offices especially.

“Yes, I do owe you an apology Mr. O’Donnell. I’ll make my special succotash for dinner tonight. It’s perfect for…sucking up to the boss,” she sheepishly managed to say before Mitch borrowed her tongue.

Succotash: a very flexible dish, perfect for many occasions.

Autumn Succotash

  • 2 diced, roasted yams, seasoned with sage & olive oil
  • 1 bag frozen shelled edemame
  • 1 bag frozen corn, (roasted fresh corn is better if you can swing it)
  • 3 cups chopped kale
  • 1 batch dijon maple dressing (below)
  1. Roast the diced yams then cool while preparing the remaining ingredients.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop in a bouillon cube if you’re feeling seasonal.
  3. When water boils, add frozen edemame, boil for 7 minutes or so.
  4. Add the corn and bring back to a boil.
  5. Then add the kale, stir it all together and simmer until the kale is wilty but not army-surplus green.
  6. Drain the beans, corn, and kale then transfer to a large bowl. Fold in the dressing coating the kale mixture well.
  7. Lastly, gently fold in the yams.

Serve warm or cool. Works both ways. Garnish with green onions, or not.

Creamy Maple Dijon Dressing

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (if you don’t like sweet dressing, back off on the maple syrup)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup raw cashews

Blend all ingredients until smooth.