The Case of the Missing Crab.

"An unwatched pot boils immediately." H.F. Ellis

Dear Readers...

Today was rather uneventful, but I thought I'd just give you all a quick update.

I spent my morning battering and frying shrimp. It was considerably messier that I had first imagined that it would be, especially since we were in tighter quarters that usual.

But, as always, we made it work.

After we had finished and cleaned up, Chef Tony had me run around and do some other odd jobs. Then he informed me that he would be leaving, but he wanted me to make crab puffs.

Oh, boy.

I've made them (once) in the past, so I assured him that it would be fine.

So, I went about gathering all of my ingredients, and the first thing that I was worried about was (Obviously) the crab-meat. Chef Tony had told me to ask Chef Dave where he had put it, so I sent one of my toadies to figure out where it was. When Steve (toady) came back, he said that the crab was on the table, and proceeded to walk away.

Ok, that's fine. Just walk away. Whatever.

I looked on every single table in the entire freaking kitchen and finally spotted some.

SCORE.

I went to grab it, and Chef Dave simply told me not to use that crab, and there was some on my rack in the cooler.

Lies.

I searched high and low, practically combed the entire cooler, and couldn't find the dang stuff.

I pretty much gave it up after about a half an hour, and left to get dressed.

...chefs

Dreams.

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men" --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I love this quote. The kind of love that makes you feel fearless inside. The kind that makes you feel like anything is possible, and that nothing can stop you.

Being the wet blanket that I am, I usually dismiss quotes like this as rubbish. I usually say that they give me an unrealistic view of life as we know it. Sure, there's that occasional underdog that catches his lucky break, but what is that supposed to mean for the rest of us?

Should I continue do this the right way? Finish high school, go on to college, graduate, then what?

Of course I'd like to think that my dreams will move the hearts of men, but often times I view people's hearts as things too far beyond my reach.

...Ok, that's enough of that mess.

Oh, joy of joys! Holiday bake, in addition to baking for the holidays, has taken on a bit of a hot foods flavor. No pun intended.

This week, I've rolled meatballs, battered coconut chicken, whipped mashed potatoes, chopped vegetables, and today, made crab puffs.

To borrow the words from a Christmas song,

"Oh, what fun..."

Speaking of fun, I got to work a party last night.

Invite only.

The event was the Tastefest.

We got the the Hellenic Cultural Center at about 4:30, and set up our tables with a vast array of gorgeous French pastries. The star of which as a French Cocubush(

Every single person who came through the line had something to say about it.

We won the award for best table, and some of our students went up and danced.

I, however didn't.

1. I was in uniform

2. I don't dance.

But it was still fun. :]

Thanks for reading.

Postage... or the lack thereof.

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." --Vincent van Gough

Patient Readers--

As you can probably tell, this blog has left some to be desired as of the last week.

Allow me to explain.

I have been keeping VERY busy with school (core subjects, that is) and other projects that consume pretty much all of my free time as of late.

Plus, with the holidays upon us, (Happy Channakah!:)) there is very little time that I have to update you all on what has been going on at Culinary.

In holiday bake, we haven't been doing much more than boxing countless dozens of Christmas cookies that are to be sold to the masses, and I am sure that this will continue for some time to come.

I haven't forgotten you.

Au revior mes amoures.

God Help Me.

"Action is the foundational key to all success." --Pablo Picasso

Well, I've officially made the decision to participate in Skills USA.

I'll be doing hot foods.

There's only one thing that I'm legitimately nervous about at this point.

My fear of taking action and/or messing up. This particular facet of my personality will not serve me well in the kitchen [or life, for that matter], so I'm going to need to shake it off sooner or later.

I guess that I've chosen sooner.

I'd ask you all to be in prayer with me about this. The actual training only lasts 2 weeks, so I'm a little nervous about that as well.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all had a great holiday!

*kisses*

Change of Face

Hey Everyone.

I'm sure that most of you have realized the changes that I've been making on my blog.

Some of them subtle, some not.

This is one of those not subtle ones, but I have hopes of keeping it this way.

And about the name, it's a joke between my uncle and I, and if I was going to change the title, I figured that the background needed to be a little more dramatic as well.

So just so you all know, it's still me! Don't worry. :]

MORE PUMPKIN.

"Monday's are the potholes of life." --Tom Wilson

Seeing as it's been a week since the "Day of Defeat", I have sufficiently recovered, and throughly embraced this Monday.

My day in itself was fine, but I observed other people who looked like me last week.

I was assigned to make more--yes, more--pumpkin rolls.

Seriously.

I've seen, smelled, and eaten enough pumpkin to last me till next year. Thanks, though.

I gathered all of my ingredients, and then realized that the kitchen was in a mad frenzy over the 20-quart mixer bowls. Apparently every last culinary student was after one, and I found myself at the end of a very long line.

"Well, screw that."

I went to Chef Tony to tell him of my dilemma, and to explain why I couldn't start for a while.

On Friday, he gave me this long lecture about how even though he wasn't always watching me, he was always tracking my "time on task". I wanted to let him know, so I wasn't accused of dawdling.

When I went to tell him, he immediately assigned me to help Kim make pumpkin cheesecake. She then reported that Chef Tony had been yelling at her all day, and she was glad that I had come to help her.

When A-shift left, there was a sudden clearing in the air. I looked at the pot sink, and there, shining, was a whole mess of 20 quart mixing bowls!!!

HALLELUJAH!

I picked back up where I had left off with the pumpkin rolls. I threw it all into my freshly washed bowl (IN THE RIGHT ORDER, might I add.), buzzed it around, and before I knew it, I had a lovely, silky batter.

I went to go and prepare my pans for the batter, and left my batter in the mixer. I didn't really think much of it.

I finished up with my pans, and made my way back to the mixer. But when I got there, I was confused.

Standing in front of the mixer that I had been using, was Kyle.

I will describe Kyle to you as the "class clown, sixteen-year-old, doesn't-really-know-when-to-shut-up" type.

Anyway, he was standing in front of my mixer... with a bowl of cake mix in his hand.

He was pouring HIS cake mix into MY batter.

I looked at him, and he looked at me... a pause, and then, the moment of dreadful realization.

After shock had set in, he asked:

"Oh, my Gosh. Is this your's?"

"Yup."

Now, I have to let you all know that I was NOT mad. At all. Merely surprised. I just really didn't know what to say, until I looked at Chef Tony.

"I'm not gonna tell him." I said.

Seriously, I don't think that I've ever seen a more anxiously distraught expression in my life than what was on his face at that moment. He was frantically muttering to himself, unable to process what he was going to do in the next few moments of his life. For all we knew, they could be his last.

I felt so bad for him, that I almost said "Never mind, I will tell him." but I didn't.

Well, he did tell Chef Tony, and then he (Chef) called me over.

"Are you ready to kick someone's *censored*?" He asked.

"No." I answered.

"You realize that he just ruined your batter, right?"

"Yup."

"OK, go make another."

Kyle made a mistake today.

Just like I did last week.

Anise Biscotti

"When a man's stomach is full, it makes no difference whether he is rich or poor." --Euripides

I know that you all are sitting on the edge of your seats, wondering if I did go through with the lethal injection or not.

Well, fear not.

I have resolved to press on, and have emerged, enlightened.

Good cooks have bad days.

Thank you all for you kind comments, I appreciate them all.

The past couple days have been a little bumpy, but mere nothings in comparison.

And also, I have witnessed others having difficulty as well. Not that I enjoyed their struggles, but they helped me to realise that I'm not the only one.

I'll give you the last week (since Monday, at least) in a nutshell.

I've probably made enough sweets to give a full-grown man a heart attack, or two.

Hey, it's the Holidays, whaddya want?

I made about two doubled recipes of sugar cookie dough, which equals out to an UNGODLY amount of cookies. Also several large pumpkin rolls with a luscious cream cheese icing inside, and dusted with powdered sugar. Sublime

On Wednesday, Chef Tony asked Lydia and I if we would stay with C-shift, and help out with a fundraiser at the school. When we had finished with our own B-shift obligations, Chef Dave asked us to work the Front Line.

Dumb question.

"Actually, Chef Dave, I think that I'd rather sit in dish tank, and wash dishes until 2:00."

I think not.

I did work the front line, and throughly enjoyed it.

It was nice to see all of the "fruits of my labor", if you will. A and B-shifts do all of the food prep, and we were able to serve it.

Kind of awesome.

Thank you, everyone who has taken time to read. It really does make my day to see all of your supportive comments. :]