Gearin' Up

So the season is in full swing and i'm gearin' up for the facility's annual holiday party. Among the many items on the menu are cookies, 25 dozen cookies! Now that's a lot of cookies you're sayin', me too. Fortunately for me, Otis Spunkmeyer is the bashful baker behind the madness. Hours later.... A couple of hundred almond bark pretzels are ready for the delight of all. For a Saturday i've accomplished quite a bit.

Mashed Potatoes

So i've just finished prepping several dozen very large Russet potatoes for tonights dinner service. A few of them were showing a bright green just beneath the skin which got me to thinking, as of course I wasn't thinking while performing the mindless task of potato peeling. Anyways, I had heard that this "green" in the potato was poisonous so with a quick net search this is what I found. It is poisonous, even in small quantities. With the "at risk" population I cook for the potatoes have been discarded and everyone will sleep soundly tonight!

Toys

As a chef many of the items in my kitchen are referred to as toys such as my ovens. Today I get to play with a 60" Vulcan Endurance Series Range, 10 burners & 2 standard ovens! Someone once said that a craftsman is only as good as his equipment. Well I have the best but it must be said that it definitely out performs me. I love toys! FYI, if you click the title"Toys" you can learn a bit more.

Humility

Humility-

recognition of the limits of one's talents, ability, or authority; and, not reaching for that which is beyond one's grasp.



As it is in the food business and for chefs in particular, humility is not a virtue. I too suffer at times as my ego soars to new heights. Fortunately ego is not my predominant characteristic and as a result humbleness is experienced rather than humiliation.



Case in point; baked french toast. This mornings menu had me preparing baked french toast for the guys. Sounds easy enough, and it was. As with most things i'm cooking today I have experience with the basic concept however where the experience takes the learning curve is in volume. So, as I was prepping breakfast I arrived at the point of seasonings, hmm, there is no recipe, hmm, well suffice it to say that ground clove used in abundance takes on an astringent attitude which I found is not condusive to waking up and enjoying your breakfast. Hence an opportunity to practice humility!

It's A New Day!

So it's been a couple of days since I began this project. My mind has been full of ideas with no time to record them. However this morning with a light work load i'm assured of progress.

Celestial Casserole was on the breakfast menu today. The "Casserole", as it is called, is essentially a quiche without the pastry. It lends itself to using what's on hand, aside from the main ingredient of shredded potatoes.

The facility is ladened with roaming happy bellies. The guys here seem to appreciate the love that goes into everything I cook. In fact, I have a little jar of love in which I pull a pinch from and add to all of my dishes!

With this being said I do have a goal, besides happy bellies, and that is to add some links to the site.

13 Hours

So at the end of a 13 hour day I begin blogging at the advice of a friend. We spoke yesterday on the phone and brainstormed a bit over some business ideas I have, hence this blog.

I currently work as a chef in a progressive assisted living community. Our clients range from the teens to retirees. As you can imagine pleasing every palate is challenging however my partner and I pull it off.

So today began at 5:30 a.m. cooking breakfast for 100 or so. The regular spread eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, homefries and so on. Lunch at noon. We had an abundance of ripe bananas so I did the obvious, made banana bread. Banana bread with a twist, chunks of cheese cake layered in, delicious! The challenge however was creating the recipe with a volume suitable to accomodate 75. Bingo!