School's in!

Yesterday was the official start of school. I don't have to be on campus until Wed, but my online classes opened yesterday. I have a real love/hate relationship with the first few days of the semester. I love getting the new school supplies and getting organized but I hate the cluster fuck that comes with setting priorities, and getting a feel for what can be last minute and what can't wait. Some classes are very casual and require only common sense, while others demand attention ASAP. I actually have already turned in 4 assignments, primarily start up stuff. I am as ready as possible for tomorrow on campus, having packed my knives, and cleaned my uniforms after 6 months of non use. I had to drop all in person classes last Jan after a car accident.I will be taking Quantity this semester which basically translates to working in the school's restaurant until December. I am excited about the pace, and the menu, according to the syllabus, looks great. We will be briefed this week on Fall's menu selections, and I will share it with you as soon as I can. I will also be keeping everyone up to date on what we learn in my classes and post recipes with technique notes and observations as they are discussed at school. Now I feel like I am getting closer to the mission of my blog...an outlet for school and life from an older student's perspective. Beware! Until I catch my groove and less serious students are weeded out due to natural selection, there will likely be lots of ranting. However as a crumb, I offer this... Public speaking online. Yeah, I found it humorous and sort of an oxymoron, too. That is until I signed up for my in person presentation. Now it makes a little more sense.
Okay, y'all..... it's go time!

First solo gig

I am very excited today. Tomorrow I have my first solo gig. I have always been focused on being a caterer, for that is why I chose to go to school. I am only halfway through my formal culinary education so I made the choice a long time ago to NOT tell people I am going into catering so I could learn the business through experience and classroom time. Of course those close to me, my cheerleaders, have all known my ultimate goal and subsequently requested a favorite dish from me from time to time. That has been a great practice ground, and I have honed techniques and strategies during these "dry runs." Now I have entered a new dimension. I got a call last week from my stepmother asking if I would like to try my hand at the "real thing" that is, cooking for people I don't know, and attaching my name to said efforts. Assured that this would be easy and really nothing I haven't done before, she made a simple request and I said yes. So now, I am really looking forward to making a favorite southern treat. The ubiquitous ham biscuit. Actually I am looking forward to making a hundred of those bad boys. Easy? Yes. Probably a little boring and redundant? Yes. But I cannot wait! They are due tomorrow for consumption on Wed. morning. I will be making them tomorrow so they will be ultra fresh when I deliver them. I am excited for the opportunity to make a little money for myself doing something I love. It's like my own Olympics. I have been training and dreaming about the day I finally started making money for myself not someone else. Cocky? No. Nervous? Yes. But I am sure the staff will enjoy my offerings, and hopefully call me for more. I still am not looking to go full fledged yet, as catering management is actually a class I start next week. I do hope though that I will field a random call here and there for an order. I feel like I can do this if it is only word of mouth, as the big caterers will always be a first option for most of these folks. Plan B is exactly what I want to be right now. I accept that really this should be my current station in life. I am not yet ready to run with the "big dogs" I know this. A hundred ham biscuits is not exactly a foray into the wide world of catering but a good start. I will finally get feedback from strangers, not afraid of hurting my feelings. I am thrilled! I have made my shopping list, and found cute boxes at the paper store, and am ready for the challenge. I have printed an invoice as required by stepmother's employers. (yeah, I felt like I was "playing office" when I designed and printed it, just like a little girl!) and competitively priced my product. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow. If the oven craps out, we'll have a rant, otherwise this happy chef in training will be back tomorrow.

Entry level

I started my new job last week. I am cooking at a catering company.I worked on 5 projects in as many days. Lots of repetive drivel.I scooped out red potatoes, played with phyllo, and resisted all urges to make any of the dishes "my own" I worked Sat night outside in the hot, humid Carolina air. I smelled like goat and was sweaty and filthy with crab - garbage juice . I had no energy for anything after the function ended. I f'ing loved it!!! It was the first time in a while I felt like I actually was doing something productive. I think alot of new grads would have hated it. I made close to 4 digits an hour (both sides of decimal point) I was required to contribute to a team led by someone with less education and about the same amt of experience as me. I had to perform boring, repetitive tasks any monkey could do. I had to keep up with what I put in the oven. I had to focus and was going to be very nicely held accountable for my actions. I already told you this is not a get rich quick sheme, right? I expected worse.
My rant is ready to be served.
It seems that recently I am hearing more and more about new grads who are extremely disillusioned about where a chef's career really begins. For some reason entry level is not where they are supposed to enter. Why? I am not sure. When I returned to school, I was there to get an education, not a damn thing made me believe I was ever going to start in any better a role most great chef start in...that of dish dawg. (insert affection here...love you guys!) A diploma does not ensure a track record...got it? Are you loyal to your employer? Do you show up on time ready to roll in any weather? Cool start, now can you peel vegetables? Great and no complaint so now let's move on. Here is another responsibility for you and another test and on and on. See how easy that was. Yeah, another aspect of your new career, it actually takes work. At the end of the night no rank is excused from helping clean up. Every place I have orked, chef and dish washer had whatever equipment was at hand actually using it for a common goal...going home. Yeah..that thing about teamwork. You will be working with folks who did not have the benefit of an education like yours. Guess what, after 8 years, Mr/Miss Less-educated is the sous chef. She is reliable, humble, eager to learn, has an endless supply of elbow grease, volunteers to stay late, and can kick your ass in a skills contest anyday. Sous C. is who you should emulate. This person has worked their way up and can show you how they did it. Calm down...Of course one day you want to be Exec, correct. But for God's sake, you don't honestly believe your diploma gives you the right to even circle one of help wanted ads looking for an executive chef? Oh, I see! You are here cooking until your agent gets the final offer from Food tv.You don't need to invest any part of yourself in your job because its just a job until soething better comes along. Yeah, I didn't go to culinary school to be famous, I actually went there to learn how to cook. I guess Julia Child and Jacques Pepin just trotted in and got to show our moms how to cook in their own homes. Yeah, neither really had experience, or much practical knowledge just degrees.
Fools! Please quit your endless whine fest. I am disappointed that you are disappointed. What other 2 or 4 year course of study guarantees a top post? None that I have heard of. Think of your time doing the work you think is beneath you as a sort of grad school. You are honing your skills. You are finding out the best way to work with all sorts of people kind of like a masters in human resources. You suggest a way to cut costs to your chef. Sounds a little like accounting. Your constant repetition of cuts has you that much closer to surgical precision. You get the idea. Everyone has to start somewhere. You just don't start at the top!!! Please quit crying about doing what people have always done. Work your way up! Earned successes are the reality. This is not an industry where you can fake it. Take time to listen and learn. I love my job. When I leave I will know that place inside and out. Why? Because that's what I am there to do. Work. It is a job. Go out there and prove yourself. Earn accolades, don't demand them. No role in the kitchen is below the greats that inspire us. They all did it too. What makes you so damn special?

Just my rant on the starry eyed work-phobic babies that went to school for all the wrong reasons and then bawl that the brochure lied.The only lying going on here is between you and yourself. Do your homework before you sign the check. Entry level is where you end up with your fancy diploma. If you can't stomach that, I don't trust your fish.