Day twenty-six: I’m filthy and furious
The day started and ended with unhappiness. At the start of the day, the unhappiness was Mama’s who told me, after the events of yesterday, she was reevaluating the industry. She says she never wants to work in a restaurant now. And she is not even sure she wants anything to do with anything culinary [...]
I’ve gone and won an award
There I was, innocently minding my own business, when suddenly, out of nowhere, an award was plopped into my in-basket. How nice. How thoughtful and nice. Let me tell you about it.
Day twenty-five: You are not supposed to cry on the line
It is pretty stressful on the line, what with orders coming in bang, bang, bang, and the Chef’s yelling at you to watch your heat, hurry up with the protein, move, move, move and you trying to remember, is that rare or well done and which one did I put on first and do those [...]
For everyone who ever enters a kitchen – cooking tips!
A few months ago, I held a contest and I asked readers for their cooking tips. I got an avalanche! I’ve been sharing them with you in batches of ten (didn’t want to overwhelm anyone). And I got so many it has taken me all this time to get to the end of the list. [...]
So what happens when a culinary student sets out to bake a pie?
And it wasn’t just one pie. It was also tarts and a quiche and … Well, let’s put it this way. In three hours I baked one apple pie; one pancetta, leek, and asparagus quiche; and three tarts: Lemon curd and blueberry, pink grapefruit curd with blackberries, and dark chocolate. And I did it surrounded [...]
Can we ever get enough cooking tips? No!
I asked the readers for cooking tips and the readers complied. Boy, did they ever comply. So much so that I’ve been posting them for months so. And, today, I continue with a brand new, fresh batch of tips, right out of the oven. So to speak!
Day twenty-four: And I haven’t worn my wedding band for a week, now
Today was the last day of my three-day rotation as saute cook. And it is day seven of me not wearing my wedding band. But don’t worry. It’s not what you think.
Cooking tips galore
What? More cooking tips? Well, really, can you ever have enough? No, I don’t think so.
Day twenty-three: Where I get slammed
One hot, sweaty, impossibly bright day, many, many years ago when I was still a university student, I was running across a meltingly hot tarmac in the middle of an Egyptian desert, trying to get a seat on a plane. In one hand, I clutched a bag sticky with moisture. In the other, a book [...]
