The First Day!

Well my first day is done. It all began with a restless night sleep (fears of sleeping through the alarm clock). When I arrived at the parking lot for work, which is a little distance away from the Resort, I parked my car in an almost empty lot. As climbed out I dropped my wallet on the ground to watch all its contents fly in every direction. As I picked it all up I managed to stick my hand right into what must have been squrrell poop.

So as I walked into work with a hand that smelled like sh**. I wondered if this was a sign about the Apprenticeship haha. As soon as I got to work I quickly found myself thrown right in for what I think will be the ride of my life.

I started to work right away on a couple different projects, making corn fritter batter, searing off chicken breasts with a parmesean, egg, and flour crust, and so on.... I was a little upset with myself at how long each project was taking me. I even thought to myself, "the Chefs have to notice how slow I'm moving." As the day wore on I started to find myself a little hungry but no one mentioned lunch (they all just went without me haha). However, remembering what one of my mentors told me, "a chef never lets anyone know when they are tired, thirsty, hot, or hungry." I sucked it up.

Eventually the Executive Chef noticed me still working, (as he was there contantly working as well). He told me about some awesome sandwiches in the pantry room and so I dug into one. At that point both Chefs started to share with me some of their test plates for a "Chef's Tasting Dinner" they were cooking. It was amazing! (It is rare to be offered such things on your first day in the kitchen so I definitly did not take it for granted.)

At the end of the day Chef told me I did very well! I am definitly looking forward to reporting back for my second day tomorrow. Tonight I won't have to worry though about a restless night! I am exausted and won't have to worry about being late because of sleeping in past the start of my 1:00 P.M. to 9 P.M. shift.

(My toys above came in handly today! I need some more for other jobs though soon. You have to label yours so that everyone can tell the difference...my colors are green and gold/yellow).

Getting ready to start work...

Well today we had our first apprentice meeting. We were given the in's and out's of the program and told "what the senior apprentices' wish they had been told going in". The key thing stressed was that the one and only answer for our next three years will be "Yes Chef!"

After that I went and helped out another Chef in her kitchen for a few hours and had a great time with her enthusiastic staff.

Sadly, I am currently working on my first essay for getting an apprenticeship question wrong. Sarah and I made it through, "What kind of fish is a flounder?", "What kind of fish is a Salmon?", and "What is a squid?". But we failed on "What is the difference between brine and marinade?" So we are both writing about the difference now...(or blogging...)

Tomorrow is my first day! I will be working at the Williamsburg Lodge in the large production kitchen. I'm a mix of excited and nervous!

I am currently working on my eight recipes to submit for an "Apprentice Cookbook". I'll let you all know when it's time to buy.

(Oh and the apron is from a thrift shop. It came inside a pan I got for $2.00. Sadly, I've already relocated it to the trash...)

Well I have arrived and almost finished moving into my appartment in Williamsburg. I am just one short mile away from work, a nice change from my hour and half commute to the Capital!