Re-cap of past weeks I've neglected this blog & then some.

The knife competency happened & it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The problem was everyone (esp ME) was so nervous it felt like doing well was impossible. I'm not saying if I was in complete control of my nerves, I would have gotten 100%. I do know that when the person who was student chef that day attempted to push me around, & I let it rattle me. I can only speak from my own experience of being student chef of first quarter students in a culinary program of a community college, but somehow I didn't let this dizzying glory go to far to my head.

(I will admit I really wanted to slap a bitch when it was my turn to oversee our kitchen. She's the type that's all talk & no effort. She rolled her eyes at me when I told her to pick up the pace as she took thirty minutes to peel a couple pounds of carrots. Could you imagine someone rolling their eyes at moi? Needless to say, I repeatedly ignore her Facebook requests for friendship, & she has recently dropped out of the program. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!)

Now it's the second quarter, & I feel a lot less intimidated by the running around & mental organization & giant mixers. In fact, using the equipment is the easy part because there's only one right way to do it. With food, there are so many variables & details that rely on the cook's skills & judgment, doing it one way every time will get you into trouble.

In case I was under the impression that I may have some taste & ability, I have the second quarter chef instructor to put me in my place. He's the kind of person that can tell when you have a question, & you can tell he's put out by having to be the one to answer it. He's an old Japanese man with a great sense of humor & humanity...which is what makes his criticisms so much more harsh. He shares them with an immense amount of displeasure, & you're left feeling horrified that the guy who is nearly a cartoon character he's so buoyant is bent out of shape by your dumb question about how much bread to order. Obviously he just wants to inoculate us against the sort of treatment we should expect to receive, rise above it & all that, but that's easily forgotten when he gives you that look of intense irritation.

Tomorrow is actually my first time back in the kitchen. The first week was just going over a zillion syllabuses, & for me, getting used to being upright in the morning. Last week, I had to wait tables in one of the school's cafés. Having done this for a living, I think it's stupid there's no way to opt out of this. I don't have to have to take the measurements class because of my math credits. Can't I bring in a list of references & not pay tuition for it? It's just silly to have to dress like I work at The Keg & "learn" to remember to bring peoples' food to them. If you can't already do that, you might just be lacking common sense.

This week, my group & I are on garde manger, responsible for ready-to-eat items. I've read the recipes, listed the equipment I need to pull, what my first quarter gopher can take care of. I've also written in my tiny steno pad a bunch of salad dressing ideas I can do in my sleep so that I'm not stumped about it when I'm balls-to-the-wall busy. Or to hand off to whatever poor first quarter is stuck with me. Successful quantity cookery = mental (preparedness + agility) + speed.

Picture yourself as a weed whacker...

You guys ever hear the phrase "in the weeds"? It's an oft-used phrase in kitchens to describe the lonely, anxious state one finds his/herself in as they struggle to complete tasks they are not doing fast &/or good enough.

It was also how Chef Instructor G described my group today.

I will preface this with an admission of guilt: I did not have my mise en place list prepared for tomorrow, when I'm group leader. Pulling the products from the walk-in was easy, but quickly & accurately forecasting every piece of equipment nearly was ridiculous. I had to make an extra trip to the stockroom (not very economical with the movements, are we?). When I went to the second quarter chef instructor for my protein, I was thrown a curve ball. The menu's protein was changed, so I had to exchange equipment & products, not to mention dig like mole to find enough pork tenderloin. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY PREPARATION IS KEY. Had I come prepared, the protein switcharoo wouldn't have been as much of a set back.

This evening, as I prepared my plan of action for the group tomorrow, I realized I hadn't forgotten to pull anything. That means I won't start my day with what Kathy Griffin refers to as "pre-diarrhea", which for someone like me, could turn to actual diarrhea that I won't have time to deal with!

Tomorrow will be an easier going day, or so I hope.