What's happened since my last post? There's a baby in the belly, I'm unemployed, Brian finally got his bonus, my GI Bill finally came in, and I've started Christmas shopping!
We found out I'm pregnant in the middle of last month. I think I'm about 9-10 weeks. My first ultrasound is Friday, and we'll know more then. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will make this feel "real" to see something on a screen. I had morning sickness pretty bad for about three weeks. I'm almost afraid to say it, but I think it's going away. Or, I've learned what to eat to keep it from rearing it's ugly head. Food cravings hit me like a ton of bricks, and need to be fulfilled immediately. Current obsessions include salad, peanut butter sandwiches, grapefruit, and bean burritos from Taco Bell. I think I'm over the pizza kick. Things I refuse to put in my mouth that I loved in a former life: GARLIC, coffee, and poultry. Speaking of poultry....
Thanksgiving is at our place this year. Mom is coming up. I've invited Daddy, as well as Rhonda. I put this plan together pre-pregnancy, when the thought of roasting and basting a bird for hours sounded like fun. It's quite possible that mom will have to handle the turkey. I get really excited when I think about all the other yummies that go along with Thanksgiving dinner. Fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn! Is my baby a vegetarian???
On the job front, Brian and I have talked. I'm not going to look for a job until after the new year. We're much better financially now that he got his bonus and my GI Bill is coming in. Here's my logic...I have two HUGE projects I need to do for school (one involving 32 recipes, cost analysis for each one, and development of 4 restaurants). More than that, the reality that our lives are getting ready to change in a big way has hit me pretty hard. We've only been married for a couple of months. I want to take this time to get closer to my husband (not that there's a problem there in any way). I'm also looking forward to having a significant amount of time off around the holidays, something I haven't had since I joined the military. Basically, I want some "me" time before it becomes a bit harder to do so. I'd been kicking the idea around in my head. I'm just lucky enough to have a husband who agrees with me!
I started my Christmas shopping today. Bought some cute decorations for the apartment that I'm dying to put up. I actually contemplated it, the decided I didn't want to hear my husband poke fun at me for decorating before Thanksgiving. Soooo....I will decorate on Black Friday. I'm totally looking forward to it.
I think that's all the news from Richmond today. I have class all day tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me...I'm hoping we don't have to use garlic in any recipes. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
It is said that the present is pregnant with the future. ~Voltaire
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Oysters
This week has been interesting to say the least. Let's start with Monday evening. Chelsea wanted to work, so I gladly gave up my p.m. shift to her. It would have been my fourth double in a row. Yuck. Brian and I decided to have a cheap date night and headed to The Hard Shell (nice to work in a restaurant...cheap food and wine). All was going well. Brian enjoyed his crab legs. I did a tasting of some of our wines so that I could explain them to customers. And then came the plate from the kitchen.
A pristine white, square appetizer plate beautifully garnished with micro greens and a lemon wedge. And a raw Chesapeake oyster.
Brian looks at me in disgust. I look at the guys in the kitchen, who are smiling with anticipation at me. I think Brian says something like, "You aren't really going to eat that, are you?" Yes. Yes, I am.
All the guys in the kitchen know I'm in culinary school. We talk about it all the time. Sunday, I asked Andre to show me how to shuck an oyster. It's difficult, by the way. We got it open, and he asked me if I had ever eaten a raw oyster. I walked away. Monday morning, I told him that I really did want to try oysters. I'm going to be a chef. I need to stop being afraid of food. That's how the single oyster ended up in front of me.
I take it over to the kitchen so they can give me a pep talk. One. Two. Three. Slimy. Funky. Yuck. The guys are laughing. And then I told them that I wanted to try a Blue Point oyster. I mean, let's just get this oyster tasting business out of the way all at once. That was my theory. The guys couldn't believe I actually wanted to eat another one. I go into the kitchen and help Cory shuck it. I didn't put lemon on it, or cocktail sauce, or anything else.
One. Two. Three.
Delicious!
It tasted like sea water. Like summers in Ocean City. Like vacationing at Chincoteague. Like warm, lazy days. I'm hooked. And proud of myself for trying something so repulsive looking. The key is to not chew. Just drink it.
A pristine white, square appetizer plate beautifully garnished with micro greens and a lemon wedge. And a raw Chesapeake oyster.
Brian looks at me in disgust. I look at the guys in the kitchen, who are smiling with anticipation at me. I think Brian says something like, "You aren't really going to eat that, are you?" Yes. Yes, I am.
All the guys in the kitchen know I'm in culinary school. We talk about it all the time. Sunday, I asked Andre to show me how to shuck an oyster. It's difficult, by the way. We got it open, and he asked me if I had ever eaten a raw oyster. I walked away. Monday morning, I told him that I really did want to try oysters. I'm going to be a chef. I need to stop being afraid of food. That's how the single oyster ended up in front of me.
I take it over to the kitchen so they can give me a pep talk. One. Two. Three. Slimy. Funky. Yuck. The guys are laughing. And then I told them that I wanted to try a Blue Point oyster. I mean, let's just get this oyster tasting business out of the way all at once. That was my theory. The guys couldn't believe I actually wanted to eat another one. I go into the kitchen and help Cory shuck it. I didn't put lemon on it, or cocktail sauce, or anything else.
One. Two. Three.
Delicious!
It tasted like sea water. Like summers in Ocean City. Like vacationing at Chincoteague. Like warm, lazy days. I'm hooked. And proud of myself for trying something so repulsive looking. The key is to not chew. Just drink it.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The sharper your knife, the less you cry
That's the name of the book I finished two minutes ago. It's by Kathleen Flinn, who got fired from her job at 36 and decided to go to Le Cordon Bleu. I cried. I can't remember the last book that reduced me to tears.
I've been reading it between work and studying for the past week. It has me dreaming of Paris, eating at little cafes, and shopping for baguettes every day. Sigh. Is that something I will ever get to do? I thought I'd gotten all my wanderlust out of the way. It appears I have not.
I loved the book for more than the Paris brain candy. She went through a (much tougher) version of what I'm doing. It's nice to know I'm not the only culinary student to get lost in knife cuts. I can do it all day. Peel, square, trim, slice, julienne, brunoise, repeat. Very cheap therapy. It's also nice to know that not everyone starts culinary school with a clear goal in mind.
Because honestly, I don't know what I want to do with all this learning. Ask the majority of my class what they want to do, and you will get one answer. "I want to own my own restaurant." I've managed one, and I've got to tell you...It's a TON of work. Kiss the family life good bye. Be prepared to work 60-80 hours a week. And by the way, it will take you at least six months to start making money. If you're any good.
I've become increasingly interested in the farm-to-table movement. I grew up blissfully unaware of fois gras and duck confit, and I really don't feel I've missed anything. Isn't the beauty of cooking making something fantastic out of something simple? And does fantastic have to be elaborate? Why not let the green beans speak for themselves? My husband requests my meat loaf more than anything else I make. I think I want to make the food that people really eat.
But, all that is two years down the road. I mentioned moving after graduation to Brian last night. He was tentative, but not opposed. He said he'll need to know where I want to go so he can find a job. He instantly said, "The valley!" No. I'm not taking my cooking skills to Harrisonburg to cook for students and townies who don't know sea salt from kosher. (That's awfully snarky of me. I apologize.)
Off to read about eggs for school.
I've been reading it between work and studying for the past week. It has me dreaming of Paris, eating at little cafes, and shopping for baguettes every day. Sigh. Is that something I will ever get to do? I thought I'd gotten all my wanderlust out of the way. It appears I have not.
I loved the book for more than the Paris brain candy. She went through a (much tougher) version of what I'm doing. It's nice to know I'm not the only culinary student to get lost in knife cuts. I can do it all day. Peel, square, trim, slice, julienne, brunoise, repeat. Very cheap therapy. It's also nice to know that not everyone starts culinary school with a clear goal in mind.
Because honestly, I don't know what I want to do with all this learning. Ask the majority of my class what they want to do, and you will get one answer. "I want to own my own restaurant." I've managed one, and I've got to tell you...It's a TON of work. Kiss the family life good bye. Be prepared to work 60-80 hours a week. And by the way, it will take you at least six months to start making money. If you're any good.
I've become increasingly interested in the farm-to-table movement. I grew up blissfully unaware of fois gras and duck confit, and I really don't feel I've missed anything. Isn't the beauty of cooking making something fantastic out of something simple? And does fantastic have to be elaborate? Why not let the green beans speak for themselves? My husband requests my meat loaf more than anything else I make. I think I want to make the food that people really eat.
But, all that is two years down the road. I mentioned moving after graduation to Brian last night. He was tentative, but not opposed. He said he'll need to know where I want to go so he can find a job. He instantly said, "The valley!" No. I'm not taking my cooking skills to Harrisonburg to cook for students and townies who don't know sea salt from kosher. (That's awfully snarky of me. I apologize.)
Off to read about eggs for school.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Chiffonade, Brunoise, and Tourner this!
Life as a student is progressing nicely. I'm over the uniform. It doesn't feel so bad when I'm in class with 30 other people dressed like me, and it's pretty cool to have students from "smart people" majors ask me how cooking is going.
Yesterday was an interesting day. We've learned the basic knife cuts (julienne, brunoise, chiffonade, etc.). Time to learn to tourner. Why do I hate tourner? First and foremost, it's a veggie cut into the shape of a football. Please explain to me how football has taken over not only my husband, but also my schoolwork. The irony is too much to handle. Beyond that, it's a pain in the arse. Take a potato, give it seven even sides, and make it look like a football. It sucks. And I suck at it. Everyone sucks at it. I went to the grocery store this morning and bought 2 pounds of potatoes for practice, in addition to the Red Bliss potatoes I already had. The later I used for practice/dinner tonight. I did 13 of them. One was maybe close to being correct. I will get this right if it takes me 20 years.
We also made clarified butter. (Which I hate because I work in a seafood restaurant with an all-you-can-eat crab leg night.) I burnt mine. Yay me. It was quite disheartening to have Chef Maxwell take my pan off the burner and show other groups as "what not to do." Awesome. Give me some potatoes to tourner and butter to burn and I'm good to go!
And I still love it. I love that class gets me thinking about food in a completely different way. Instead of asking if something tastes good or bad, we speak in terms of spice, seasoning, specific flavors, texture. It's really, really cool. Chef has relaxed a little. He's still difficult, but in a good way. I can't believe I'm actually doing this. It feels......right.
Wine of the moment....Kluge Estates Cru. Unfortunately for most of you, this is a Virginia wine. It's a Chardonnay, fortified with VA brandy, and aged in Jack Daniels barrels. It's beyond sweet. It's fantastic. Who needs dessert when you can have wine? Very fruity, vanilla, almond, creme brule. My sister would love it. And so do I.
Yesterday was an interesting day. We've learned the basic knife cuts (julienne, brunoise, chiffonade, etc.). Time to learn to tourner. Why do I hate tourner? First and foremost, it's a veggie cut into the shape of a football. Please explain to me how football has taken over not only my husband, but also my schoolwork. The irony is too much to handle. Beyond that, it's a pain in the arse. Take a potato, give it seven even sides, and make it look like a football. It sucks. And I suck at it. Everyone sucks at it. I went to the grocery store this morning and bought 2 pounds of potatoes for practice, in addition to the Red Bliss potatoes I already had. The later I used for practice/dinner tonight. I did 13 of them. One was maybe close to being correct. I will get this right if it takes me 20 years.
We also made clarified butter. (Which I hate because I work in a seafood restaurant with an all-you-can-eat crab leg night.) I burnt mine. Yay me. It was quite disheartening to have Chef Maxwell take my pan off the burner and show other groups as "what not to do." Awesome. Give me some potatoes to tourner and butter to burn and I'm good to go!
And I still love it. I love that class gets me thinking about food in a completely different way. Instead of asking if something tastes good or bad, we speak in terms of spice, seasoning, specific flavors, texture. It's really, really cool. Chef has relaxed a little. He's still difficult, but in a good way. I can't believe I'm actually doing this. It feels......right.
Wine of the moment....Kluge Estates Cru. Unfortunately for most of you, this is a Virginia wine. It's a Chardonnay, fortified with VA brandy, and aged in Jack Daniels barrels. It's beyond sweet. It's fantastic. Who needs dessert when you can have wine? Very fruity, vanilla, almond, creme brule. My sister would love it. And so do I.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Why are chef's pants so ugly?
My school uniform finally arrived on Tuesday. It's definitely something. My chef's jacket is way too big. It covers the majority of my hands when the sleeves are rolled down. They sent me the wrong apron. And the pants....I understand that I'm working in a kitchen. Does that mean that my pants have to be high-waisted, tapered-leg monstrosities? I mean really. Food is art. Fashion is art. Can't one be fashionable while making food? I'd be happy with a boot cut pant. That's all I'm asking for.
Kelly Sue's first day at school went well. I was really nervous at first. It's a big class. About 30 of us. I'm not the oldest. I'm not the youngest. I wasn't the only one in those awful, dreadful pants. And it was awesome! Everyone in there loves food the way I do! We talked about knife skills, different kinds of knives, different ways to cut veggies, the difference in various types of salt, seasoning vs. spice, and the need to have a cookbook and food magazine obsession. It was awesome! My only gripe is that we were only in the kitchen for about 2 hours. Considering the class runs from 9 am to 9 pm, that's not much.
There's not much else that's new to report. I worked a ton last week. I'm starting to feel like I fit in a little better there.
Oh!
I bought myself some wine this evening. Geyser Peak Reserve Cabernet. I normally wouldn't spend as much as I did on wine. I won't tell you how much. But it's super, duper yum. It's certainly a big, California cab. Every time I take a sip, it tastes different. I've not had a wine of this caliber before. Good stuff.
That's all the news for now.
Kelly Sue's first day at school went well. I was really nervous at first. It's a big class. About 30 of us. I'm not the oldest. I'm not the youngest. I wasn't the only one in those awful, dreadful pants. And it was awesome! Everyone in there loves food the way I do! We talked about knife skills, different kinds of knives, different ways to cut veggies, the difference in various types of salt, seasoning vs. spice, and the need to have a cookbook and food magazine obsession. It was awesome! My only gripe is that we were only in the kitchen for about 2 hours. Considering the class runs from 9 am to 9 pm, that's not much.
There's not much else that's new to report. I worked a ton last week. I'm starting to feel like I fit in a little better there.
Oh!
I bought myself some wine this evening. Geyser Peak Reserve Cabernet. I normally wouldn't spend as much as I did on wine. I won't tell you how much. But it's super, duper yum. It's certainly a big, California cab. Every time I take a sip, it tastes different. I've not had a wine of this caliber before. Good stuff.
That's all the news for now.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Dinner this evening
Dinner tonight...Roasted Chicken with Spicy Herbed Olivada, Green Bean and Tomato Salad, and Orzo with pine nuts and feta. Yum. Wish I could say I made it all up, but epicurious.com had a lot to do with it. The husband loved it, though. "This chicken is so perfectly cooked!" I think he's a little biased. But, I'll take it. :-)
I'm loving the new job. Not only is the atmosphere nicer, but the hours as well. I don't have to work again until Saturday (a double). I have all this time off to clean house and cook fancy-schmancy dinners. It's lovely.
I got an e-mail from Sissy yesterday. She's in Paris, and loving every minute. Apparently, she's loving it in spite of her luggage being lost, getting stuck on the metro, being attacked on the metro (to this, I demanded more details and the use of taxi's for the rest of the trip), her credit card isn't working there, and the hotel didn't have her reservation. And all she could follow up with was that she loves Paris. I'm glad she's having a good time. I'm also jealous that I'm stuck in Richmond. I did a quick restaurant search for her and found a place called Il Vino. The menu lists only wine. The chef plans your menu based on what wine you order. How cool is that?!?!? I told her that she better take notes if she goes. I want details!
Oh! How could I forget? I have a beautiful new cookbook. It's actually a textbook from the CIA. But that just means it's a big, beautiful, helpful cookbook. It was WAY more that I would ever spend on a book. Or a pair of shoes. Or jeans. But I love it. I figure it will come in handy during school. I can't stop looking at it. Over 400 pages of recipes and instructions. I'm such a geek.
Wine of the day...Twin Fin Sunset Rose (I paid $6 for it, so we're not talking serious stuff). I've been reading about rose's lately. They're supposed to be great summer wines. It is not what I expected, which was sweet and light. This thing is full of flavor. Think strawberries and raspberries. A very light, chilled Merlot. I say Merlot because you can taste some tannins. Nice. Different. Good on a hot summer night.
That's all the excitement from downtown Richmond. Two more days of playing house until work on Saturday morning. Off to chat with the husband. Love you all!
I'm loving the new job. Not only is the atmosphere nicer, but the hours as well. I don't have to work again until Saturday (a double). I have all this time off to clean house and cook fancy-schmancy dinners. It's lovely.
I got an e-mail from Sissy yesterday. She's in Paris, and loving every minute. Apparently, she's loving it in spite of her luggage being lost, getting stuck on the metro, being attacked on the metro (to this, I demanded more details and the use of taxi's for the rest of the trip), her credit card isn't working there, and the hotel didn't have her reservation. And all she could follow up with was that she loves Paris. I'm glad she's having a good time. I'm also jealous that I'm stuck in Richmond. I did a quick restaurant search for her and found a place called Il Vino. The menu lists only wine. The chef plans your menu based on what wine you order. How cool is that?!?!? I told her that she better take notes if she goes. I want details!
Oh! How could I forget? I have a beautiful new cookbook. It's actually a textbook from the CIA. But that just means it's a big, beautiful, helpful cookbook. It was WAY more that I would ever spend on a book. Or a pair of shoes. Or jeans. But I love it. I figure it will come in handy during school. I can't stop looking at it. Over 400 pages of recipes and instructions. I'm such a geek.
Wine of the day...Twin Fin Sunset Rose (I paid $6 for it, so we're not talking serious stuff). I've been reading about rose's lately. They're supposed to be great summer wines. It is not what I expected, which was sweet and light. This thing is full of flavor. Think strawberries and raspberries. A very light, chilled Merlot. I say Merlot because you can taste some tannins. Nice. Different. Good on a hot summer night.
That's all the excitement from downtown Richmond. Two more days of playing house until work on Saturday morning. Off to chat with the husband. Love you all!
"Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered."
RAY BRADBURY, Dandelion Wine
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Gratitude
For those of who who don't know, money has been extremely tight for Brian and me this summer. There was the wedding, my hours being cut at Stool Pigeons, new job, car problems, and high gas prices. All made me think about a return to ramen noodles. Thankfully, it hasn't reached that point, but you get the idea. We have been broke.
We decided to withdrawal some money from Brian's retirement to help pay for my classes and get caught up on some bills. We filled out all the paperwork. Apparently, Brian's bosses have to approve any withdrawals. Don't know why. We're grown-ups, and it's our money. But whatever. Yesterday, Lin and Oren came to Brian to talk about this. They disapproved the request, saying it was not wise to take money out based on taxes and the like.
Instead, they are giving him a bonus on this Friday's paycheck equivalent to the cost of my tuition. This bonus is above, beyond, and in addition to the performance-based bonus the whole company might receive in October. I cried. This is a huge weight off of our shoulders. My husband must really be valuable to Brown Greer for them to offer us help like this. And I've never met either of them. Their generosity is overwhelming. And it only makes me believe even more that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing in culinary school.
What's even more ironic is that this news came ten minutes before my last training shift at The Hard Shell. It was my kitchen shift. Our chef, Matt, has worked all over Richmond. Most notably at Lemaire in the Jefferson Hotel. The executive chef there is Walter Bundy, who has worked with Thomas Keller. Those of who who don't know who he is, Google him. Long story short, my chef has run with the big boys. The really big boys. And some how, Matt knew as soon as I walked into the kitchen yesterday that I will be going to culinary school in August. How? I don't know. We'll get to why this is important in a minute.
Chef walked me through every inch of that kitchen. What is in the leek creme fraiche, the difference between the Chesapeake and Blue Point Oysters, the fried plantains, all the sauces and dressings, how he comes up with the nightly specials, and on and on and on. All the while, he's turning out course after course of yummy looking food. Every time he makes a dish, he throws on an extra piece for me to taste.
I think most of you know how I feel about seafood. I want to like it. Honest. I just haven't really liked anything that I've ever tried. Since I started working there, I've made an effort to be open minded about seafood. My theory is, if anyone can turn me on to it, this will be the place. Nothing is frozen. Everything is from scratch. I will develop a taste for it here, or never. Let's go back to the chef knowing I want to be a chef. This means I must eat without fear. I must eat like a chef. What's the first thing he makes me taste?
Calamari.
Are you kidding me? Can we start out easy? Maybe a scallop or some fresh tuna? You really want me to put squid in my mouth? All the guys are watching me. I have to eat it. I HAVE to eat it! "Here, try it with the sauce," he says. I count to three. I dip it in the sauce. I put it in my mouth. I put the chewy, chewy squid in my mouth. And chew. And chew. They laugh. "What do you think?" I'm still chewing. Swallow. The taste isn't bad, but that texture is not OK. Chef reassures me that it's not for everyone. Up next?
Fried oysters.
Come on! Are you trying to break me? Mind you, I haven't told him that I don't like seafood. I've only said that I haven't eaten a lot of it. I stare at it. He gives me some sauce. I dip. I get ready to take a bite, and he says, "Don't bite it in half. You have to eat it all at once." Ew. You know what? Not bad. Not great, but not bad. The night continued on like this. I had scallops, tuna, salmon (yum), ribs, potato croquettes, lobster bisque, she crab soup, and Alaskan king crab. It was amazing. Not only (some of) the food, but just watching him.
One of the specials for the evening was a scallop pasta. Six scallops, seared to a beautiful brown on top of linguine tossed with artichokes, roasted tomatoes, and garlic with a leek cream/white wine sauce. I watched him make it, watched him sear the scallops, deglaze the pan with wine (which makes big, fun flames) and toss all that stuff together. He finished it and I said, "I need that in my life."
He kept asking me if I had any questions. I really couldn't think of any. I was just in awe. And full of gratitude. Thankful to be standing there. Thankful to be working in a place where food is what's important. Thankful that I'm allowed to be in the kitchen for two short hours. Thankful that my husband's hard work has been noticed by his bosses. Thankful that I have a husband who is fully supportive of my dreams. Thankful for my time managing at Stool Pigeons, which allowed me to discover that THIS is what I want to do. Thankful that I had the guts to apply for a new job and go back to school. Just all around grateful to be heading, finally, towards something that feels good and right and honest and true. I have no more words. This feeling is bigger than language.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Melodie Beattie
We decided to withdrawal some money from Brian's retirement to help pay for my classes and get caught up on some bills. We filled out all the paperwork. Apparently, Brian's bosses have to approve any withdrawals. Don't know why. We're grown-ups, and it's our money. But whatever. Yesterday, Lin and Oren came to Brian to talk about this. They disapproved the request, saying it was not wise to take money out based on taxes and the like.
Instead, they are giving him a bonus on this Friday's paycheck equivalent to the cost of my tuition. This bonus is above, beyond, and in addition to the performance-based bonus the whole company might receive in October. I cried. This is a huge weight off of our shoulders. My husband must really be valuable to Brown Greer for them to offer us help like this. And I've never met either of them. Their generosity is overwhelming. And it only makes me believe even more that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing in culinary school.
What's even more ironic is that this news came ten minutes before my last training shift at The Hard Shell. It was my kitchen shift. Our chef, Matt, has worked all over Richmond. Most notably at Lemaire in the Jefferson Hotel. The executive chef there is Walter Bundy, who has worked with Thomas Keller. Those of who who don't know who he is, Google him. Long story short, my chef has run with the big boys. The really big boys. And some how, Matt knew as soon as I walked into the kitchen yesterday that I will be going to culinary school in August. How? I don't know. We'll get to why this is important in a minute.
Chef walked me through every inch of that kitchen. What is in the leek creme fraiche, the difference between the Chesapeake and Blue Point Oysters, the fried plantains, all the sauces and dressings, how he comes up with the nightly specials, and on and on and on. All the while, he's turning out course after course of yummy looking food. Every time he makes a dish, he throws on an extra piece for me to taste.
I think most of you know how I feel about seafood. I want to like it. Honest. I just haven't really liked anything that I've ever tried. Since I started working there, I've made an effort to be open minded about seafood. My theory is, if anyone can turn me on to it, this will be the place. Nothing is frozen. Everything is from scratch. I will develop a taste for it here, or never. Let's go back to the chef knowing I want to be a chef. This means I must eat without fear. I must eat like a chef. What's the first thing he makes me taste?
Calamari.
Are you kidding me? Can we start out easy? Maybe a scallop or some fresh tuna? You really want me to put squid in my mouth? All the guys are watching me. I have to eat it. I HAVE to eat it! "Here, try it with the sauce," he says. I count to three. I dip it in the sauce. I put it in my mouth. I put the chewy, chewy squid in my mouth. And chew. And chew. They laugh. "What do you think?" I'm still chewing. Swallow. The taste isn't bad, but that texture is not OK. Chef reassures me that it's not for everyone. Up next?
Fried oysters.
Come on! Are you trying to break me? Mind you, I haven't told him that I don't like seafood. I've only said that I haven't eaten a lot of it. I stare at it. He gives me some sauce. I dip. I get ready to take a bite, and he says, "Don't bite it in half. You have to eat it all at once." Ew. You know what? Not bad. Not great, but not bad. The night continued on like this. I had scallops, tuna, salmon (yum), ribs, potato croquettes, lobster bisque, she crab soup, and Alaskan king crab. It was amazing. Not only (some of) the food, but just watching him.
One of the specials for the evening was a scallop pasta. Six scallops, seared to a beautiful brown on top of linguine tossed with artichokes, roasted tomatoes, and garlic with a leek cream/white wine sauce. I watched him make it, watched him sear the scallops, deglaze the pan with wine (which makes big, fun flames) and toss all that stuff together. He finished it and I said, "I need that in my life."
He kept asking me if I had any questions. I really couldn't think of any. I was just in awe. And full of gratitude. Thankful to be standing there. Thankful to be working in a place where food is what's important. Thankful that I'm allowed to be in the kitchen for two short hours. Thankful that my husband's hard work has been noticed by his bosses. Thankful that I have a husband who is fully supportive of my dreams. Thankful for my time managing at Stool Pigeons, which allowed me to discover that THIS is what I want to do. Thankful that I had the guts to apply for a new job and go back to school. Just all around grateful to be heading, finally, towards something that feels good and right and honest and true. I have no more words. This feeling is bigger than language.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Melodie Beattie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)