Confessions of a culinary hipster

Recently I've fallen onto the bandwagon and upgraded my phone for an iPhone.  After a quick review of its bells and whistles (useful and otherwise) I happened upon a most delightful "app".  Apparently, whole books are available to any and all, free of charge, so long as they are public domain.  Within the first day of owning my new toy, I'd amassed the virtual equivalent to a grand, formal library as one only sees in old movies.  I admit to feeling rather grand about it myself.  Books are treasures to me, and to have them freely given is a joy.

Further digging rewarded me with several old and digitally dusty cookbooks from the days of yore.  After flipping through several, I found one dating back 1918, which was written to help home cooks deal with the rationing implemented throughout the country.  I'd read about it, heard about it, but nothing really made it seem so real as this book I happened across.  It made me feel quite nostalgic for those times, when it seemed we as a country were more inclined to band together and make small sacrifices to benefit a greater need.  Where is that spirit today?

I have every intention of using this and many other similarly "ancient" cookbooks I've found.  Food is what binds worlds together, it's the first part of a culture that tells us what it is.  It's important to remember these recipes, these people, these forgotten ways of life in order to benefit our own.  Older books than my already-loved wartime cookbook show a snapshot of the times in which they were written.  Describing the care and preparation to packing up a weekend picnic, for example.  People did that at one time!  Now, time feels so short, so rushed, but there is still time, isn't there?  Please tell me there is still time.  These worlds I read about, sometimes as foreign as my sci-fi/fantasy fanfiction I still write, they can't be completely lost.  Fittingly enough, I just recalled a line from "Wrath of Khan":  "He's not really dead, as long as we find a way to remember him."  And we must.  This is my battle cry, not out of disdain for modernity (I just got an iPhone, after all) but to go back and learn to do things "the hard way."  (The secret is that for the most part, it really isn't all that hard!) To see how our forebears might've lived, and those before them.  It seems that we've lost an awful lot in a short space of time, that we've surrendered our abilities, or even potential abilities, to the machines of mass production.  I'm not suggesting we raise our own cows and chickens, I can imagine few landlords would be very keen to allow that, but start small.  Bake bread.  You'll never go back.  Or a pizza from scratch.  So simple yet so good.  Go to the store, pick out some premade/frozen/boxed/canned food you normally buy and learn to make it yourself from first principles.  There is so much power there!  Whoever said that knowledge is power wasn't just dropping a platitude.  It's the truth!  And as it has also been said, the truth will set you free!  My most recent example of this is when I was at the store a few days ago, reading the ad, and saw that pork potstickers were on sale this week.  I beat a quick path to the freezer section only to find that they were all gone.  Then it hit me: why not find out how to make them?  It can't be that hard.  So that's on the board for one of my days off this week.  I'm going to attempt Chinese dumplings.  I reasoned that if I'd bought them premade, it would've cost about $3, and I'd probably only get five little ones in the whole box.  Rather I spend just a teense more and make a dozen good-sized ones!

Go forth!  Be brave!  Dive into Grandma's old cookbooks and recipe boxes, and you'll be amazed what you will learn!

It's the Great Pumpkin!

Here are pictures of my brownie graveyard.  Hopefully it survives the trip to work!  Ethan was sure surprised when he came home for lunch to find newspaper on the kitchen floor, a greased broom handle blocking the way, and me standing there with a pot of molten sugar and a hopeful look on my face.  Luckily, it didn't make too big of a mess.  The cookies are store-bought but I made the marshmallow ghosts from scratch, so I think that makes up for it.  Happy Halloween everybody!

Happy Halloween!

First of all, I'm not dead! I can't even say I've been busy, so I'll blame the one-year hiatus from my blog on ADD. My latest cooking project has been in preparation for Halloween: an edible graveyard made of brownies, marshmallow ghosts, cookie gravestones and spun-sugar spiderwebs. I hope it all turns out, I did the marshmallows already and I'll put the rest of it together before work on Monday. I've been on a candy-making kick lately: so far I've made two kinds of fudge, fleur de sel caramels, nougat, and marshmallows. These have all been fun to do and not terribly difficult with a little patience and an abundance of sugar. I even have some stockpiled for Christmas. I asked my chef how well these sorts of things keep in the freezer, he said they're fine for a good six months. He's right, too. I defrosted a few of my first batch of marshmallows just to see how well they held up. I couldn't tell the difference between those and the new batch. Whenever the whole thing gets done I'll take pictures. It's really been a cool project. Not many people make their own candy anymore. Another project of mine that harks back to the days of yore is canning. This past summer I canned enough blueberries and brandied peaches to see us through the zombie apocalypse!

At the end of September, I moved in with Ethan. We've been cohabitating for a month now and it's going well. It's nice to have someone else to think of. Living solo one tends to put up with a lot more disarray. With another person in the house, I try to keep a higher standard of order. It's so nice to have someone to come home to. I remember a few weeks ago, I'd had a rotten shift at work, culminating in me dropping a whole gallon of blue cheese dressing all over the floor. It had been rough up until then, this just upped the ante. I texted Ethan "Having a rough night. Stick in Triangle when I get home?" he wrote back "Sure, we'll watch it after the game." When I got home that night, after a Packers victory (and discovering he'd washed the dishes, he washed the dishes!) we snuggled up on the couch even though I was still probably filthy from work, and stuck in the most cuddle-worthy episode of the X-Files there is. Needless to say, I felt a whole lot better. One other cool part about moving in is getting to meet Ethan's friends. They seem like a good bunch, I'm glad he's had people like that in his life that he's stayed in touch with. They strike me as the type that I could get along with, too. What would really be fun is to have them all over for dinner sometime, I bet they have some good stories!

On that subject, I've been writing more fanfiction lately, and have done the math and am faced with the fact that I've been doing this for ten years. It doesn't seem like that long, but I still enjoy it, it's a huge stress-reliever and it gives my mind a place to wander to. Anyone brave enough can find it on http://www.fanfiction.net/~doec Yes, I'm a geek, it's on my profile and everything ;-) I remember writing one scene in a restaurant, putting about as much detail into the restaurant itself as the rest of the story for that scene. That was fun, it made me realize how easy it is to blend worlds. I had a dream once a long time ago that told me "Food transcends worlds, that's why you can get into so many of them." It made sense in the dream anyway.

And it's 2am and I should be in bed. Good night, and I hope there are still readers out there!

Welcome Fall!

I've been at Biaggi's for close to two months now and think I'm doing all right. They've cross-trained me on sauces already in addition to being their evening pantry cook. I hope to learn all of the stations before too long, even if it's just well enough to pitch in during a rush. I'm making friends among the cooks and servers (tolerating the rest) and Davenport is starting to feel like home.

About three weeks ago I got a new cookbook especially written for small-scale cakes, which I've had a lot of fun using lately. It was perfect to get so soon after moving because somehow in the moving process nearly all of my cake pans had gone missing, and all I had was my 8" square pan which I hardly ever used. The day it arrived was my mom's birthday so I got to initiate it by making her birthday cake from one of the recipes. It's been a real treat to have because living alone I don't have a lot of help killing off cakes and I like to bake a lot this time of year (I just don't like being up to my elbows in increasingly stale leftover cake!) I hadn't done much cake baking from scratch, so this has really gotten me going on it. I've even made my own icing!

Today I adapted a recipe for genoise to incorporate pumpkin to celebrate the first day of fall. I substituted the pumpkin for the butter in the recipe. I just unmolded it, so once I have it iced and ready to serve we'll see how that turned out! I plan to fill it with apricot jam and cut it into petit fours. I'm a sucker for those, they're so cute! My new book even has a recipe for poured fondant icing, so I'm up to giving it a try.

I used the rest of the pumpkin to make a few loaves of pumpkin bread, I love pumpkin bread, for me it marks the beginning of the season. It fills the apartment with such wonderful smells and it's put me in such a good mood today. I'm seeing Ethan and his family today so I'll bring at least one of the loaves down with me. A good time should be had by all.

New job!

I just had my last night at Champps, and I'm happy to say that I ended on a good note. Tomorrow I'm moving to Davenport to start work at Biaggi's, a rather prominent Italian restaurant. I'm just amazed at how fast everything's changed. I'm glad to be done at Champps, I didn't really feel like I was going anywhere with them, and the chef at Biaggi's made it sound like he wants to cross-train me on multiple stations. I'd love that, to be able to jump in wherever I'm needed.

My parents moved to Dubuque in May, and since then I've been giving my mom a few cooking lessons. I've taught her to make crepes and omelettes, chicken stock, and some basic cuts. Hopefully, we'll be able to continue with these even after I've moved. It's not too far away, so I'm sure we'll still be able to get together and cook.

Back at it

I can hardly believe it's been this long since my last entry. I went through kind of a dry spell, inspiration-wise, and haven't really felt up to writing for a while. Hopefully that's over and I'll be on more regularly.

For several weeks, one of my fellow station workers was out sick, so I'd had to put in a lot of double and night shifts to cover for him. That could be one of the reasons I hadn't written much during those months. Now summer is creeping ever closer, and our weekends are packed and busy again, we've been doing more weddings as well. I survived the major springtime holidays, both the Easter and Mother's Day buffets, both of which saw over 1000 reservations! It was a lot of people to cook for and serve, but with everyone there doing what they were supposed to, we all got through it in one piece. It was great for business but a relief to get it over with.

On a more personal note, in March I was given a free week's trial on a dating site, and through that have begun a relationship with a really nice guy named Ethan. He's my age, we have similar interests, he even gets along with my cat! It's been such a relief and a joy to finally have someone to cook for! The first few dates we had we ate out. Then the first night I had him over to my apartment I prepared a 3 course dinner. I realized then that I'd been dying to show someone what I can do! Appetizers were sweet potato agnolotte with a parmesan cream sauce, brown butter and fried sage leaves. I'd made that a few times in school so I was confident in my pasta making skills, and it's one of my favorites. Main course was marinaded Thai lime beef skewers, served with roasted carrots and onions and black truffled mashed potatoes. He'd told me before that he loves onions, and I thought roasted was definitely the way to go. I even did a little plate presentation, positioning the skewers in a V shape, the potatoes in the middle and topped with the veggies. It was all so moist and flavorful it didn't even need an additional sauce! Dessert was dark chocolate-hazelnut petit fours, served simply with a light snowfall of powdered sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. He seemed to really enjoy each course, remarking "This isn't helping my diet, you know!" It was fun to have someone enjoy my cooking, I've really missed that living by myself. I remember that night there was a pretty severe thunderstorm, and as it got closer to dinner time I was worried that I'd lose power. I finished up all of my dishes a bit earlier than I ordinarily would have, just in case, and put them in the oven on the lowest setting, just to keep everything warm until he got there. Luckily, we didn't have any power outages, but better safe than sorry! That night after dinner we watched the second X-Files movie. We're both fans but I hadn't seen the second one yet, so he bought me the dvd. It was all right, the shippy bits made it worthwhile, and the gag reel was hilarious. Nothing like watching trained professionals sliding around on ice, stumbling through their lines as the set falls apart, and having to stop mid-scene as planes take off in the background.

About a week after that, I invited him over again, this time seeking the advice of a local chef that I'd met at a holiday wine-tasting party. Chef Donna asked me what the plan was, I told her "He's bringing 'Dr Strangelove' and then we're watching 'African Queen'." We'd come to an agreement that we'd trade off in showing each other our favorite movies. She lit up and said "Do something African, something to tie in!" "Like that 'Dinner & A Movie' show!" My older sister's advice had been to scale it back, something a bit less formal than our first dinner date. "Do guy-food, but try to bring it up a bit." I mentioned this suggestion to Chef Donna and she thought that would be good, too. Finger food, something you can eat and watch a movie at the same time. Sliders, maybe." Then I got the idea to whip up some harissa sauce and mix it into the ground beef. I had made harissa a few years ago for a cooking competition (that went hideously wrong, the less said about that the better) so I felt like this would be a good chance to revisit those recipes to redeem myself. I made harissa sliders with deep-fried buttermilk eggplant. It all turned out nicely. Ethan had never had eggplant before, but deep-fried anything is hard to screw up. I'd made 8 sliders, correctly thinking that should be enough for both of us, and it was only then that he told me that he really likes spicy food. Good thing! These sure packed a punch! I'd hand-ground the chilis myself and everything. Dessert was profiteroles, I figured we'd need something cold after all that hot stuff, so cream puffs with ice cream seemed the way to go. It was pretty simple to make, I could do it ahead of time, and it looked like I'd been in the kitchen all day. It was a pleasant surprise that we both liked each other's movies. I think we'd both be willing to watch them together again sometime. "African Queen" in particular is a perfect example of a couch-cuddling movie!

I can't say enough how happy I am to have someone to cook for, and we've seemed to hit it off! We've been seeing each other every week (sometimes more) for about two months now, and he's agreed to be my date at my cousin's wedding next Saturday. Perfect opportunity for him to meet the whole family! I even made it to his place once (he lives about two hours away) and made my "famous" Poulet Francine: braised chicken breasts, stuffed with dried apricots, garlic and herbs, with chocolate cream pie for dessert. One of the first things I found out about him was his list of favorite desserts, and I've put that knowledge to good use! Then he showed off his kitchen prowess by whipping up his mom's recipe for corn and macaroni casserole. Sure, we're not on the same level in our cooking abilities, but he definitely seems eager to learn. It doesn't matter to me that he's not a foodie, I like him the way he is. It's cool to have a willing student though. That night we watched "The Dark Knight" (which I'd mysteriously hadn't seen yet, it was excellent!) and my pick "A Song is Born". Nothing follows up a rather violent movie like a Samuel Goldwyn musical! I knew that Ethan was a fan of big band jazz, and this movie featured a lot of performances by the big names of the day: Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey just to name a few. It's funny how we have such glaringly different movie collections, we so easily find ones that the other will like! He's coming up for my birthday next week, that day there's a free to the public wine-tasting party going on at the foodie shop close to my place. They host them once every month and I've been to a few of them. They're always a good time so I'm looking forward to it!

At work, I just had a rough couple of days, a few silly mistakes ended up with me getting a lecture in the chef's office along the lines of "what are we going to do with you?" Then, just when I was feeling like maybe I wasn't cut out to be a line cook and starting to consider running away to join the circus, I had an excellent shift yesterday, stayed late, and was farewelled with a sincere "thank you" from the chef :-) All is not lost! Tonight I'm the saute guy's backup; on the weekends it gets pretty insane so they need all the help they can get! It'll be my third time doing that and I think it's one of those things that gets better each time you do it. It'll be busy, but it should go fine.

2010, off to a good start!

It's not even two weeks into the new year, but things couldn't be more different. I've been getting better hours lately, cruising at a steady 34 per week, and it feels like things are going a lot more smoothly. A few of my less-desireable, time-consuming tasks (and similar ones of other stations) have been delegated to the prep cooks, leaving me free to get more done in the time I'm given. I've worked for Champps for 6 months now, and looking back I can easily say that each month has been different. In the jobs I do, the employees I work with, in the feel of the place. In the last six months, we've seen people come and go, assignments change, feast and famine side by side. And I've stuck with it through it all. At times I'm surprised that I'm still here, with all that's been going on.

Fortunately, I was able to hang on, and now it seems that better days are ahead. We've been busier, I've even put in some double-shifts, and I think the other people on salad station and I have come to an agreement to leave the station in better shape than we have in the past. Sometimes I've come in to find that the station hadn't been restocked or cleaned up very well, so now we're all trying to be more conscientious of people who share our stations. I can understand if things get busy, we run out of stuff, it happens. But it doesn't take long to fill up what you can and leave it in somewhat decent shape. Or find someone who isn't busy and say "Hey, could you help me portion out chicken" or something. We've gotten a better feeling of teamwork, and I think that really shows and helps everything run smoothly. It seems that each day when I get home from work, I feel like things have gone really well, almost like I hadn't worked at all rather that I had enjoyed a nice leisurely day in the kitchen. Even when things got hectic, I can stay cool, accept help that's offered, and work cleanly and efficiently. Since time management was a failing of mine back at school, learning to do several things at once is important. I'm looking back at how I was when I started, and where I am now, and I definitely see improvement.

For the past few days after work, I've been treating myself to making my favorite Thai peanut chicken pizza, having finally bought my first bottle of sriracha sauce (hot stuff, crucial ingredient in the peanut sauce). I haven't made pizza dough since my internship, so it's nice getting back into it. It's pretty inexpensive to make, takes little more time than it takes for the oven to preheat, and is so much better than storebought or delivery. To celebrate my reintroduction to pizza-making joy, I bought my very first pizza stone today at the mall. I'm sure I'll notice a huge difference in crust quality versus my sheet pans I've been using. If anybody's reading this, what are some of your favorite pizza recipes?

Happy birthday, Molly!

Yesterday was my older sister's 30th birthday, so I wanted to make her something special. After flipping througha few books for inspiration, I found one that didn't require a trip to the store, was pretty user-friendly, and would look pretty spiffy. It has 4 alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla spongecake, with a ribbon of strawberry bavarian cream in the middle of it all, topped with dallops of whipped cream, cherries, and dark chocolate curls. It looked and tasted very good, just the thing to make her birthday special. Money's still a little tight, so I haven't gotten her an actual present yet, but I feel better about it having done something for her at least. My hours have started to get better at work, so things will even out soon. I'm very happy with how the cake turned out, it looked just like the picture in the book :-)

Saturday is my Grandma's birthday, and we're combining it with our extended family Christmas in Wisconsin. I've been recruited to bring a dessert; luckily, I got that cookbook for Christmas that should give me some ideas of something special to make. I haven't seen this week's schedule yet, I'll find out tomorrow, so I'm hoping for an evening shift. If nothing else, I can either ask the chef to switch me or just ask one of the other people on my station to swap shifts with me. It's not like I'd be asking for the whole day off, just part of it, and I'll be available after 4. Or maybe I'll get lucky and that's what I'll be down for anyway! That would simplify things.

Merry Christmas! (a little late)

Last night I drove home to my parents' house for our family Christmas. It had to wait a few days because of the freezing rain. It was definitely worth the wait! I got off work a little after 3, getting me home at 6 just in time for Christmas dinner! I wish I'd gotten home earlier to help, but Mom and I will have today to do some baking together, that should be fun. We always talk about getting together to cook together, so hopefully today's the day.

Anyway, last night was awesome, the big one for me was a stoneware Le Crueset covered roasting pan, it's beautiful cobalt blue, I had them save it behind the counter for me months in advance (yeah, it wasn't a surprise, but that's fine with me). I also got a nice new Cuisinart waffle iron, some coffee from Ka'u, a big book about herbs, Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess", the first season of "The French Chef" on dvd, new dish towels and pot holders, a ladle (my old one was inevitably sucked into one of those pesky black holes that devour things when you move to a new place), some new shirts, and all the episodes of Star Trek with Q in them! This morning I made waffles with my new waffle iron and I was very pleased with it It's been a good Christmas :-) I can't wait to get baking with my mom, we have a few things on our to-do list in that regard. I'll definitely post about the results

Fortune favors those who dare

On Monday night I wasn't in the best of moods. I was getting hungry but nothing that I had on hand sounded like what I wanted, I was lazy and generally grouchy. I knew what I was hungry for, I had a craving for Chinese takeout but I didn't want to make a special shopping trip when I'd settled in for the night. After pondering this for several minutes, I thought...I have a turkey fillet in the freezer that I need to use up...I have a wok, and I've done stovetop deep-frying at school a few times...I could make my own sweet and sour turkey, it should be pretty close to chicken. I just hoped that I wouldn't cause a grease fire and burn the house down. Finally, I got up the courage to give it a try. If teenagers at KFC can do it, why can't I? I put a few scoops of regular shortening in the bottom of my wok, which has a handy clip-on rack to put fried foods on once they're finished, started heating it up, and was happy to see it melting without a smokey mess! I thawed and cut up my turkey fillet, and after a standard breading procedure I dipped the first pieces in the hot fat. They turned golden brown, and cooked all the way through, I was almost beside myself with amazement! I threw the rest in, turning them over and draining the done ones, and made some rice and veggies to go with it. Dousing each piece in sweet and sour sauce, I sat down with my prize, feeling very self-sufficient and clever. As I was finishing up, the possibilities dawned on me. I can deep fry at home! Without burning the house down! What's the next thing any sane person would make after such an important discovery?

The next day I had off, so I awoke with one purpose in mind: I'm going to make doughnuts. I had a pretty simple sounding recipe in my Larousse Gastronomique, I had everything on hand, and I was ready to go! I halved the recipe since it was just for me, I didn't want to subject anyone else to my experimental cooking at this stage, so in a short while I had a bowl of yeast dough rising in my barely-on oven. I remembered when I was a kid I'd read the "Little House" books and I knew that in one they mentioned something about making doughnuts with a twist so they flip themselves. Well, either my dough was too heavy or I didn't have enough hot fat, but they didn't flip themselves. Oh well, I'd tried. I flipped them over with two spoons, careful not to spray grease all over the place, and figured it's not bad for a first try. I ended up making six, some were cinnamon twists, and some were the regular round with a hole in the middle. I made a basic powdered sugar icing with almond extract and drizzled it all over them. While they weren't exactly what you'd get at Krispy Kreme, I figured it was all right for a beginner. Next time I'd make the full batch, that might have thrown something off, I might also try kneading it a little longer. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Another cool thing that happened on Tuesday is that I found an ad in the paper, for experienced baristas. I called them up and set up a time to interview the next day. They're a small business that's looking to expand into another location, so the lady interviewing me was interested to hear that I have a degree in management as well as some experience in the field. They didn't promise anything, but just that they'd call me back on Friday either way. I like my job at Champps, but they're just not giving me enough hours to stay afloat. The chef has encouraged all of us to start looking for other jobs. It's too bad, but business has still been slow, and I'm lucky at this point to get more than 20 hours a week. Plus, I have a few years of barista experience, it would be nice to get back to my roots, as it were. I'll never stop pursuing a real restaurant career, though. Once people can afford to eat what I want to cook, I'll be able to find a job at a more upscale affair. Until then, I'll do what I can.

Tonight, I was trying to figure out what to do with the leftover turkey that I didn't cook on Monday. I only ended up using half of it. Then I was laying in bed thinking, and the idea for turkey sausage came into my head somehow. After reading up on it, I figured I could do it, so I went to the store tonight for some extra fat to cut into it and I was off to a good start. After finely mincing the meat and fat, I tossed it together with salt, pepper, allspice, poultry seasoning, caraway seeds (just a bit, they're a bit strong for me) and tarragon. I oiled my saute pan and threw it in, it turned out to be very good! Then I found I had some cranberries, and decided to make a cranberry chutney, which is pretty much the same as cranberry sauce only it's made with vinegar, brown sugar, and some extra spices. Now that I have those both made, once it gets closer to supper time I'm going to make turkey sausage crepes with cranberry chutney. Now how does that sound?

Keeping warm

Yesterday morning we got our first real snowfall, so I had to get out the door extra early to get to work on time. I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to have breakfast. When I got to work, I got a good start, I was cutting and portioning my chicken for the day, when one of the cooks, Juan, started throwing a bunch of veggies in a pot. I didn't even know what else was in it, he even cracked a few eggs into the pot and whisking them around. I asked him what it was, he said "egg soup". Since we didn't have anything like that on the menu, I was curious what he was up to. Then, just before opening, he told us that it was ready, to start dishing up, he'd made that soup for us! I was so happy, especially since I missed breakfast that morning. It was very spicy but I liked it. It had chipoltle and jalapeno peppers in it, so it had plenty of heat for a cold day! He claimed that it was a good hangover cure, but David and I both figured that it could be a good preventative measure against colds and flu, too. We were surprisingly busy for the lunch hour, considering the inclement weather, but I was able to keep up. After the lunch rush was over, I had a few little things to do before heading home, one of which was to make candied pecans. They smelled so good as I boiled them, it made me think in holiday cliches. Then I coated them in powdered sugar and dunked them in the deep-fryer. I wonder if I could do the same thing at home, only roasting them in the oven. That would be a treat!

I have the day off, thankfully. It's been steadily snowing all day today, they're talking about it reaching blizzard conditions tonight! I did some grocery shopping yesterday after work so I wouldn't need to go outside, watching it come down like this makes me especially glad I did. Not to mention being extremely grateful that my younger sister gave me her entire sweater wardrobe before moving out to California this summer. I can stay warm all winter and not wear the same three sweaters over and over. After work yesterday I picked up a few things at the store in case I decide to make beef stew for supper. It certainly seems like the right sort of day for it. That sounds good right about now. Hmm, tempt me!

So here I am, sitting at the computer with my hot chocolate, watching Everyday Italian, and enjoying a winter day indoors. Hope everyone stays safe and warm this winter! I'm ready for it!

The Beaujolais Nouveau is here!

While everyone else in the country camped out for a midnight screening of the latest "Twilight" movie, I was getting off of work and heading to the wine department of the local grocery store with one thing on my mind...I went up to the man working that department and asked, unable to conceal my excitement, "Excuse me, but has the Beaujolais Nouveau arrived?"

It's really quite nice, I like it a lot better than last year's actually. There's a certain brightness to it, a very pleasant fruitiness that doesn't come off as too sweet as some previous Beaujolais have done. They say that this year's press is the best they've had in 50 years. I'd definitely recommend buying it. I had mentioned it to a few people at work before I was able to get out and buy mine, and told them that I'd toured that region in France this past summer. The connection makes it even more fun, to think that I had been where the grapes were grown, it's pretty cool.

I had the day off today so I had a little fun with my Pepperidge Farm puff pastry. One of my favorite things to make with this dough is finger food. Just wrap up some tasty morsels into a little bundle, and that's what I did today. I had a package of little frozen scallops, which I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with when I bought them. I cut some of the puff pastry into squares and placed a thin slice of butter on each one. Onto that, I spooned on some finely minced celery, onion, and garlic. Four (thawed) scallops went on top of that, salt and pepper, and they were ready to wrap. They turned out to be very good! Simple yet tasty, which is just what I was going for. I still have plenty of dough left over, and with the holidays coming up I'll certainly find a use for it all. I might make napoleons with it, or make individual tartlet shells, that's what I love about puff pastry, it's so versitile!

Adventure always awaits!

This week I had the great opportunity to go to a holiday wine-tasting party hosted by Hy-Vee catering. It was a fun night, just the thing to get me out of the house! I dressed up a bit, even put on some makeup and was ready for a night on the town. Although it took a few extra turns to find the right building, the falling dusk and half-finished road construction were not exactly aiding my quest, I was parked in front just as people were starting to arrive. All of us were given a glass that we would be allowed to keep at the end of the night, and once I got up to the ballroom level, I hung up my coat and was given a map of the ballroom. Each table was listed, showing who was there to show off their wares, as well as a list of the wines they had to sample. A perfect way to remember which wines I'd taste throughout the evening and make future notes of what to buy the next time I go out shopping. I was happy to see that Glazer's Distributors were represented (although not by Joe and Jason, the Glazer's representatives that I'd met on previous occasions). I started off the evening with Hub City Brewery's Olde Brown Porter, which is surprisingly sweet. Same goes for their Oatmeal Stout, which pleasantly reminded me of Guinness. I'm Irish, after all ;-) After cleansing my palate I moved on to sample some lovely reds. Layer Cake Shiraz was the first wine I tried, it definitely lived up to its name. It has many flavors which unfold as it's sipped, as though delving through decending layers. Another that I sampled from the same table was called Inkberry, a mix of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The color was a deep dark shade of red-violet, very warm, just enough bite to the finish. One downfall that shiraz can be guilty of is its bitterness, but it was perfectly balanced by the cabernet. Well, at this point I've had a bit to drink, now it was time to scope out the finger food. At a nearby carving table, servers were making roast porkloin mini-sandwiches, which fortunately complimented my early-evening selections. Remembering a promise I'd made to a friend, my next wine selection was a pinot noir, which I drank in her honor.

I meandered around the room, nibbling whatever looked good, they had single portions of fettuccini alfredo, sushi, even a dessert table. It was all laid out in festive array, looking cheerful but not garishly so. At the next table, I sampled my first ever sauvignon blanc. It was quite citrus-heavy, and while I can see why some people would be drawn to it, it became rather cloying as I kept sipping. I was glad to finish with it and have some Red Muscat, which was something I'd never even heard of until that night. Back to the reds for me, it was sweet yet not overpowering. The next table had a selection of cheeses, bread, and dipping oils. These people sure know how to put together an elegant affair. There was a roasted pepper fontina of which I was particularly fond. What a treat! A mix of salty and sweet, so creamy yet sharp. I'll have to find out where to buy that, I bet it would be a hit at family Christmas in Wisconsin! That's half the fun of going, it gives me ideas for future culinary adventures. I mingled around, talked to a few of the chefs there, even accidentally ran into one of my readers! I was talking to a woman standing next to me, engaging in wine-humor ("This Merlot reminds me of my ex" "What, bitter anf fruity?") when I handed her one of my business cards and she said "I've read you!" so that was pretty cool! Yay for being recognized! At another table, I tried a wine that the representative billed as similar to a Beaujolais, which got me thinking, I wonder how this year's Beaujolais will be? I'll find out shortly!

On to more food, a spicy seafood dip with shrimp and crab and cream cheese, very tasty! Along with the requisite crab-stuffed mushroom caps, I had my heart's content of seafood. I wasn't shy about going back for more, either! Of course, I don't think anyone was. The last table was serving egg nog, it wouldn't be a holiday-themed party without it. Nice and rich!

As I was leaving, I was given a reusable wine tote to use the next time I go shopping, along with a few coupons and a shot glass! So, after sitting in the lobby for a while, sipping water as I waited for my head to clear a bit, I headed home. I'm so glad I got to go, and I'll definitely keep my ear to the ground for similar events in the future.

Today I got a nice piece of mail, a coupon for Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough! I have tomorrow off so I'll definitely pick some up and play around with it. This should be fun! I'll definitely report on my doings :-)

High times, hard times

I've started sending out applications again, hoping for some part-time hours to fill in the gaping holes in my schedule. We've had a few good busy days at work this week, so maybe if it continues then they'll put more hours up on the board. The trouble is, it's not just Champps. Several restaurants and hotels in town have been suffering lately. There just isn't a steady flow of business that we can count on. They say that the recession has nearly run its course, and things will normal out again soon. I'm hopeful of that. I'm used to living cheaply, so I'm still okay. If I have to I can always cut my cable. That won't be a huge loss, there's never anything on anyway. I can't wait for things to turn around, though, that'll be nice.

It makes such a difference in the attiudes of my coworkers. This quiet period has been making us rather despondant. When we get a busy patch it's like we all come back to life, we're excited, moving around, happy to have a stream of tickets come chirping in. We had a nice lunch rush today; when the grill and saute station start getting orders in, I start bouncing on the balls of my feet, my eyes on my printer, waiting for my turn, anxious to dive in. It's always a satisfying feeling to take on a bunch of orders at once.

So we've had a few days of good business, and as a result I've picked up a few hours on Saturday and Sunday, I'm thankful of that, so maybe this will lead into more across the board. I will not lose hope. I started the day off in good spirits, chopping my lettuce while humming the finale of Les Miserables, just playing it in my head still gives me chills :-) There was an air of activity at last, things to do, preparations to make. I had my station ready and waiting in good time, my mise en place laid out, I even snatched some extra towels from the linen closet (they always disappear the second you turn your back!) After the lunch rush I was able to restock and clean up and finish my prep list to be out the door on time. As much as I enjoy staying late to pick up the odd extra hour or two, I don't want to just hang back when everything's done. I've had a good couple of days in a row, and I have tomorrow off. Time to tidy up, do the laundry, and read my cookbooks. On Wednesday before work, I'm taking my grandpa out to lunch, he served in India during World War II and always likes taking part in Veteran's Day festivities.

My day was made even better this afternoon when I checked my mail and found a package from a dear friend of mine, she'd sent me some cds of a mutual favorite singer, Catatonia. Not many people in the US have heard of them, but they take up a good portion of my iPod. Good stuff.

When the well runs dry

Since Halloween, this past week has been really slow. I'm not sure what's causing this sudden downturn in customers, we were doing just fine up until recently, but it's resulted in a lot of our hours getting cut. I've been sent home early just about every day this week, and getting completely cut out from the second half of what was supposed to be a double shift. Everyone's getting this, right up to the management. I hope things start turning around, but in the meantime I'll start looking for more work because I can't live on 25 hours a week. Luckily, my rent is paid, all of my bills are up to date, so I'm good for another month. By then, business will be back on track with the holidays, that's the upside of working in a restaurant with an adjoining hotel. I have to keep telling myself that this is just a temporary setback. Things will get better, we just have to dig our heels in, tighten the belt, and hold on. I also have to remind myself of how fortunate I am, compared to many people in the world. I have a roof over my head, gas in the car, food in the pantry, and my cat in my lap. I'm good at living within my means, I don't need much to be happy.

Last night we were busy for about an hour or so, if we can start getting some healthy rushes like that again then it will make all the difference. What puzzles me is that in the past few days they've hired a few new cooks and a dishwasher. If we're not doing that great at the moment, why would they build up the staff now?

When I was hired at Champps, the chef really talked up how busy they typically are, how much money they pull down per night on the average, so while it's possible that he was exaggerating somewhat to impress me, I'm assuming that this recent slump is not characteristic of the business. Things are bound to improve. We have a few parties booked this week, so that's a good sign. One of them is a wedding, so that's good money. I'm only scheduled to work until 8, but when I'm on the banquet side, 12-8 could easily mean 12-midnight. That would be great if I could get some hours that way. I'll even stay and wash dishes if they'd let me, or get prep done for the next day, whatever they could hand me. Cross your fingers for me!

Success with Honor

Well, after a trying night on Saturday, the Powers that Be arranged a respite for me. On Sunday morning I got in bright and early (yay four hours of sleep!) and had my station prepped, stocked, and ready for action! It's funny, I don't consider myself a morning person, but I much prefer the morning shifts than evening ones. Since I was so far ahead, I could actually take it pretty easy. I even had time for a cup of coffee beforehand. The lunch hour went smoothly, we were a well-oiled machine, and the previous night's meltdown was completely forgotten. At the end of my shift, I had my station cleaned up and restocked and ready for the evening crew well ahead of schedule. I was feeling good about things and no longer questioned my place in the kitchen. As a good end to the day, the chef told me that he'd just booked a party for Tuesday, which I was scheduled to have off, but would I like to pick up a few more hours this week? Hell yeah!

Monday, I was scheduled to work on the cold prep station. That's where all of the dessert prep, dressings, and various salsas are made. Again, the fates smiled on me, and when I got my list for the day I found that I didn't need to make any of my least favorite things. It's not that any of these recipes are hard, but some of them like the corn and black bean salsa (which is really good, by the way), are really messy and they take longer to make. I get along really well with the hot prep guy, Ray. He's a good guy to work with, he has a good attitude and is always happy at his work. We share ingredients freely between stations, so it's a real team effort. We both had a pretty easy going day of it, talking while we work, having a good time. A few days previously, I'd locked my keys in my car and he had tried to help me get it open. He didn't quite make it, but hey, he tried so I give him credit there. I got my pork loin seasoned and potatoes cut up and ready for the next day's party, and was out the door to enjoy the sunshine.

Today, I got to sleep in a bit, because I wasn't needed in until 9. When I got there, I took stock of what needed to get done for the party and got cracking. After conferring and confirming with one of the kitchen managers, I was ready to roll. It was a pretty small party, but it felt cool to be heading this one. The pork loins were already in the oven, I had already cut my potatoes so all I had to do there was steam, season, and roast them, and after that it was just the vegetable. Bang, bang, bang. I had it all done so that when my supervisor got there, all he had to do was walk around and sip his Red Bull. I felt good to have it all in hand, and for him to see that I could handle it. I had the plates and covers counted out and in the warmer, everything was ready for showtime. Plating went well, and I even got a taste. The new schedule came up for the week ahead. It seems I've proven myself to the chef, and he's giving me more hours, plus I got paid today. Life's pretty good, and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be at the moment.

Then, as a topper for the perfect day, I faced down one of my fears. There was a hornet the size of my thumb buzzing around in my living room. After some general cowering, I opened the window, and for 20 minutes I tried unsuccessfully trying to coax it out. Finally, I summoned my courage and vanquished the interloper! Ha!

Do unto others

Sounds simple, right? But it irritates me that so few people bother treating their fellow man like a human being. I would've had a decent night at work, if a few people could've been less deliberately unpleasant. Now, I'm not saying that everyone should be all fake smiles and sunshine, being overly nice to a sickening degree, but the least we can do towards each other is act human! Why is it acceptable to cultivate such a poisonous work environment? I can't ask a question without getting a smart aleck remark, I can't make one little mistake without being branded the villiage idiot. Is this what it's like wherever I'd go? I didn't spend two years in culinary school to mop floors for sarcastic jerks. I became a cook because I love to cook and I love to learn about food. With people like these around me, it makes me wonder if I'm really cut out for this. I can't play their game, by their rules. I don't know how to think and act like that. When I say something, or ask a question, I'm being sincere, am I crazy to expect an honest answer to an honest question? Or to expect that maybe someone might listen to what I have to say? Or am I missing something?

Please tell me that there are people left in this world who aren't hateful towards each other. People who can pull together and work for a common goal. Is that crazy? When I started culinary school, and I told people my dreams and goals in the field, they warned me that I'd get broken for being an idealist. I guess they were right.

Keeping up

When I first discovered my love for cooking and serving people, my desire was to always give people something more than what they expect. But what are we supposed to do as people's expectations keep getting higher? People are becoming more and more 'entitled' than ever before, which makes it difficult to keep up. What used to impress yesterday is now expected today, and will soon barely suffice. Is the future of our industry to cater to the customers' every whim? How soon will it be that giving it our all will no longer be enough? In my time in the food service industry, I've come across so many people who seem intent that they be above being pleased. To me, that attitude is the epitome of ingratitude and put-on snobbery. I can understand when customers have a justifiable complaint or suggestion, but we've all seen them get pretty riduculous! I wish people could just be reasonable, is that so much for me to ask?

Strangely enough, this rant doesn't come after a bad day at work, I've been having good days lately in fact. This is just my little soapbox social commentary. Christmas is coming up, so this will see a huge influx of customers. I remember when I worked in a cafe in a mall around this time of year, people's attitudes would plunge lower than the wind chill. Let's all try to be civil to each other this year, shall we? Like I said, I don't mind giving customers what they want, but it really helps if they appreciate the effort we put in. That's all I want, really.

Tis an ill wind that blows no minds

It was one of those cold, windy days today. Since I didn't have to work, and in the absence of usual visual cues to wake up, I slept until noon. I talked myself out of feeling guilty for sleeping half the day away, and decided to make up for my slothful ways--and warm up the house at the same time! Popping a school uniform jacket over my flannel pjs, I started up a batch of pumpkin bread. This recipe has a special place in my heart as the first one I learned in home ec back in the 8th grade. Perfect for a brisk fall day like this, when I need something warm and homey. Soon, the pans were in the oven and the whole apartment started to smell good. The recipe makes two loaves, more than I could finish by myself, so I wrapped one up and brought it to my grandparents.

They really appreciated the visit and the treat. They're so cute, very easy to please. They aren't up to doing much these days, so getting the odd visitor now and then really brightens their day. When she was younger, my grandma used to bake a lot for my mom and her brothers and sisters, but she hasn't for a very long time. Amid the stereotypical achetype of the doting grandmother at the stove, I've never even seen her cook before. She certainly enjoys the fruits of my labors, though! Maybe, at this point, that's enough for both of us. I love performing for an audience, no matter how small. Knowing that they enjoy it and appreciate the times I bring treats I've whipped up, that's a perfect reward for a cook. If something I enjoy doing anyway makes someone else happy, that's all I ask for.

Attempts, valiant and vain

The other day, I was going through my kitchen drawers, taking stock of what I have versus what I've lost in the move. By some great fortune, I found my candy thermometer! I had just been flipping through my Halloween cookbook and read a recipe for pumpkin fudge. It sounded good so after a quick jaunt to the store, I had everything I needed to get started. I followed the instructions (I thought) to the letter, and soon I had a bubbling pot of orange goo ready to turn into yummy treats. I took it off the heat, stirred in the butter, and waited for it to cool before the final mix and panning. As the hours passed and the pot remained molten-lava hot, and was taking on the consistency of cement, I figured something had gone awry, the word crystallized sprung readily to mind. Growling to myself the whole time, I poured the mess into the pan anyway, figuring it'll be easier to throw away when it's hardened rather than dumping culinary napalm in the garbage or down the sink. I tried, I failed. But I'll try again.

I've been getting better at my various positions at work. When I first started working salads, my initial prep (chopping heads of lettuce for the day) took me two hours. The past few times, it's only taken 45 minutes, and that's to chop, clean, spin, and tray up several pounds of lettuce. My speed has been improving, as well as my multitasking. I can face a sudden slew of tickets that would've had me from a month ago run screaming into the night. And now, I've been made their primary day salad station person! Hard work pays off!

...as does getting along with my coworkers. There was one who at first didn't like me, distinctly. His name is Jos`e and he had very little patience with "la gringa". Then we worked together one night, he was on saute, right next to the salads, and we just started talking. Food, life in general, condensed backstories, that kind of thing. It totally turned it around. I even gave him one of my favorite recipes, written from memory on the back of a ticket, and we've gotten along great ever since.

I'm visiting my parents today, and my mom just told me about an hour ago that she's in the mood to try some new recipes. We've spent a fun evening going through a few cookbooks together, picking out ones that have potential to go over well. We've found several that sound like something she could do. I can't wait to hear if she enjoys it as much as I do! I love spreading the love of food. She already loves food, but I think the actual cooking part leaves her a bit intimidated. I'm glad she's trying to break out of her comfort levels and try something new.