This was my last week at Vintage house which I am very sad about. The picture above is my wonderful mentor Chef Shannon and me. I cut bread and diced cucumbers for salads then cut meat. I've gotten use to meat now, I use to hate being around it but now I don't mind it as much.
"Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learn. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches but real tools you need no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path." - Phillip Sweet. This quote relates to the working field because your dreams will always be different from others. Everybody will always have something to say about the way you do things. In order to achieve your goals you have to pursue what you want, not what others feel would be best or easier for you. You have to take the critiques from others as well. In the culinary industry if someone were to say your food tastes like garbage, you cannot ignore that or be offended. You have to take this into consideration and use it to make your skills better. Stay open minded to others comments but don't allow it to control your destiny. I believe that's how all working fields are, you have to stay true to yourself. This week I peeled potatoes and chopped cheese. There was a lot of potatoes to do but thankfully I got them done. The cheese has to be cut in triangle shapes and all the time which I have gotten pretty good at If I do say so myself. There wasn't much to do today, there weren't too many parties going on. I really am going to miss this place the kitchen staff is just so amazing and the tasks are fun. Above is my sticky note/ employers letter of recommendation. I gained confidence from Shannon saying I helped whoever needed it. It feels good to be recognized as someone who is always there to help. I also like that she said I did a good job, I was always scared of disappointing her just because I look up to her so much. Its very comforting that she believes my passion and positivity can get me far. I also liked that she said I am professional, I always tried acting more mature than I am in the kitchen so I wouldn't be seen as another kid in a kitchen and for that be seen as professional is nice. This week I grilled the sliders, sliced bread, served food, made salads, and garnished the dishes. The sliders were probably the hardest thing I've done in the kitchen, I had about 100 of them to do and could only have them on the grill for 30 seconds on each side. Keeping track of how long they were on, opening the packages, and flipping them in time was a fun challenge. When we were serving food I was asked to fill the gravy bowls which I discovered I am not the best at, I ended up making a huge mess and burned my hand. I also almost tipped a whole cart of bread over when moving it to the fridge in the back, that would have been a big mess but luckily I got a hold of the cart. Overall this week was really fun, I got to do a lot of stuff I usually don't. The link to my letter of appreciation is below (:
This week I had my first family style party and since I stayed later than usual I got to experience serving the food. This was very cool, seeing how the kitchen works in that way. Basically after the food is cooked we have different stations where we scoop the food into hot bowls and then give them to the servers. I was skeptical of the "hot bowls" at first, I didn't think they were gonna be too hot to touch without gloves but I was wrong. My attendance and work ethic were both rated a 5 which I am very happy about. I need to improve on my initiative in the kitchen, I'm very timid and I always need guidance. I am also not the most organized which I need to work on. Besides that I am very content with my evaluation sheet mostly everything was marked 4 and 5's which means I'm not too terrible but I have room to improve.
This week I used the meat cutter to slice up giant chunks of meat, I also cut up vegetables. I had to cut threw the meat in quarters before putting it threw the meat cutter. This was very hard, cutting threw the beef was aggravating, I couldn't get the knife threw. If I won the power ball I'd most likely drop out of school and travel the world, Id also buy my restaurant and pay for all of my family's tuition. I would give back to the world by giving a great cut of the money to single moms and charity organizations like peace corps. I would still work because of my restaurant id buy, it would be pointless to not work there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9SWJRwvHb4 The biggest problem teenagers face is procrastination. We get easily distracted when we have things that need to be done. Homework, cleaning your room, washing the dishes, all lead to sitting on your phone for an hour watching videos about how to make bread from scratch. Been there done that, if you need banana bread I have plenty. The best way to fight this problem is to get ride of all the distractions. When I know I have to do something I usually turn off my phone and focus. I didn't really know what to write on my rock, I was stuck between caring too much and holding grudges. I realized both of these flaws come from my lack of confidence. I care too much about what other people do and say because I don't feel confident in the things I do. I hold grudges because I'm not confident enough to brush it off and be sure of myself without the people who have done me wrong.
This week I made meat balls, bagels, cookies, and salads. I think my knife skills have improved considering I didn't have to use the vegetable cutter. For the meat balls I had to open huge bags of meat which wasn't the best experience because I don't eat red meat. I was a bit grossed out but it wasn't too bad thanks to the gloves I had on. I learned a trick to make sure every meat ball is the same shape, by using a ice creams scoop and dipping it in hot water every couple meat balls you can get the same size without the meat sticking.
I do agree with the James, the link is on the button below, people shouldn't be awarded for participating. That takes away the special feeling of actually winning and all the hard work you put in, its not as special if everyone gets rewarded. The second article i read was about how losing is good for you because it helps you realize your doing something wrong and need to work. If everyone gets a trophy whats the point in improving ? My experience was very nice this week but it was also very hard. I cut vegetables and made tomato cheese finger food. I basically made 400 of these and had to make sure all of them were identical. I put 12 by 8 on each tray, spacing them out was annoying making sure each tray had the same amount and keeping track of how many I had already put down. This was very tedious and hard making sure every slice of tomato looked the same and chopping basil leaves to place on top of the mozzarella. I shredded my gloves a couple times from using the vegetable cutter and that was probably the worst part of my days at work.
http://www.marcandangel.com/2014/02/16/15-things-you-must-give-up-to-be-happy-again/ In Marc's life I related to his breaking ties with a close friend and doubting my fate the most. After breaking ties with anyone you don't feel like doing anything with your life but you have to keep going. I always try to reconnect with old friends after cutting them off just because the change can be so hard. Eventually I realize that life isn't all about friends and family goes before them anyways so losing a couple in high school is just a part of growing up. |
Deidre Supanich I have an internship at Polish Kitchen, 31339 Harper Ave, St Clair Shores, MI 48082. Link to Vintage House^
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