Oh, the joys of working retail. It’s all worth it when you have a moment like this. Set up – Slow, snowy Thursday morning at Colorado Liquor Mart taking care of paperwork and eating cinnamon rolls. Then she walks in. Full length fur coat, Dolce & Gabbana snow boots, a pair of Jacqui Os and phone stuck to her face. She was able to get the phone dislodged just long enough to say she was having a party and needed someone to help her pick out wine. What was great about that was she wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular. She just raised her newly tightened face and announced this to the clerks standing 10 feet away. What’s even better is she’s pushing her purse around the store in an empty shopping cart. As gracious and customer-service oriented as we are, she was checking out only 30 minutes later. Mind you she never got off her phone. Over $1,000 worth of wine and liquor and she’s ready to head out with the assistance of two of our trusty clerks. Two full hand trucks and one empty cart to go. As the first clerk heads out, he informs the woman she doesn’t need to take the cart out of the store solely for her purse. Even with customers directly in front of me I turned to exclaim, “Stop that, she’s rich!” I don’t think she heard any of us laughing.

Roasted Chicken Divan

Ingredients
2 pounds chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large leek, diced
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons flour
1 can chicken broth, 14 ounces
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Marsala
5 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 pound fresh broccoli, chopped
1 cup Parmesan, shredded
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season and roast chicken until no longer pink. Let cool and shred by hand into bite sized chunks. Next heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and salt and cook until softened, but not browned. This should take less than 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the leeks. Add the next 5 ingredients and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add broccoli and return to a simmer for a few minutes. Remove from the heat. Add half the Parmesan, mayonnaise and mustard.

Spread half the broccoli mixture into a prepared 2 quart baking dish. Top with the roasted chicken. Spoon remaining broccoli mix on top and finish it all off with the remaining cheese. Bake about 25 minutes and let it cool for 10 before serving. I think it’s great with egg noodles. This should serve 6 to 8 people.