Happy Birthday Joe!

I wish the quality of this picture was better, but this is the image I have of you Joe when we first met.  Long time readers will remember that this picture was taken a mere three weeks after Tony and I met and it was at my law firms company picnic.  We basically moved in together a week after that photo was taken, got married five months after that and never looked back.  Joe, I know you know this, but your Dad was your number 1 fan.  We both know he would never earn father of the year.  Turns out going to parent teacher conferences and all the “parenty” stuff wasn’t in his DNA, but he loved all the time he could spend with you – even if that meant sitting and watching t.v. when I am sure when you were younger you’d rather play outside.   I loved all the football Sunday’s you guys spent together, and me trying to figure out what football snacks to make.  And know if he were here, he would have called you and told you how much he loves you.  I love you!  Hope your 27th is fun – I know it will because you guys are going to the Kayne West concert tonight.

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It wasn’t surprising after eating so much at Cooking Club the night before, I was not remotely hungry when I woke up.  It wasn’t until I was running errands that I realized okay – now I am hungry!  I stopped by the local beef stand on my way home.  I knew I was going to get a grilled chicken sandwich, Hannah was getting a hot dog and we going to split a small fry.  As I was standing in line to order, I quickly pulled out my WW app, just to see what the points would be for a gyros, because it smelled so fricken good!  Um, that would be 25 points, so with my half a small fry my lunch could have been 29 points, or basically my whole day allotment of points.  I stuck with my sandwich and 1.5 ounces of fries for a 14 point lunch.  Much better!

I was working a private party yesterday with two chef’s, and a chef instructor.  One of the chef’s was leading a party for the first time, and the chef instructor was there to make sure everything went smoothly and to continue to train him and myself as well.  It was a very different perspective being trained by a chef instructor vs. another class assistant.  I learned so much.  We have a pre-meeting that divvies up the work.  I was assigned the three appetizers.  Nice!

Except there were no instructions for the appetizers.

The pre-shift sheet said:  appetizers:  bacon wrapped dates/bay scallops with spicy Thai sauce/hummus with toasted pita chips.  There was no instruction at all – such as how long to cook the bacon wrapped dates, how to plate it, no mention of tossing the pitas in olive oil and seasonings prior to baking, and no mention of toasting coconut or chopping scallions as garnishes.  And what if I had never cooked a scallop before?  I ended up learning hot to make the signature popcorn from the owner and the chef instructor took over on the scallop dish, which I am glad she did.  I never knew you are only supposed to cook a scallop on one side until it’s got a nice sear on it – once you take it off the heat it will continue to cook.  I plan on bringing that up to my GM.  I think there should be an visual appetizer book that gives a class assistant clear instructions on how to prepare the dishes – something like this:

The highlight of my night though, was that my cousin Sue was in town and working at an event at the Merchandise Mart and she stopped by to say hello!  She is a loyal blog reader, and one of the first things she said to me was “you look so happy!”  I truly have found the job of my dreams and am so excited to learn and see where this takes me.  Love you Sue!

I had a few bites of coconut gelato and a couple handfuls of popcorn, so when I got home last night I was hungry.  Did you know it was National Pepperoni Pizza Day?  I made it just under the wire and ate this 10 point pizza bagel at 11:55 p.m.

I have the day off today.  It was stormy this morning which is why this post is going up so late.  Tony always made me shut off the desktop computer when there was thunder and lightening.  I never knew exactly why, but he was smarter than me when it came to that stuff, so I continue to do it.  Now it is just drizzling and 66 degrees right now, but looks like we’ll still get up to 84 degrees today.   I have to finish my Bassett training (to serve alcohol officially) and watch some videos on making apple pie because Apple Fest is coming soon!  It’s a big event and I am excited about it.   We make and sell about 350 apple pies at this event, and next Thursday I get to spend all day in the kitchen getting paid to make apple pie – how fun is that?!

Make it a great day!