As I write the date, it's hard to believe that it's December already! I spent this morning sitting in the sun by the pool. It was cloudy again this morning, then cleared by noon or so. Ryan asked if any of us thought it was getting colder lately? I said what, like 78 instead of 80? He laughed, but he's right, there is a difference.
At work, it was just Ryan, Drew, old Willie and me. Willie took care of salads and desserts. His cooling station broke down again. He gets so angry when that happens, I feel bad for him. I started off making Island Rice-they actually have a recipe for that, lol. (1 carrot, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 onion, 3 quarts of rice, 6 quarts of water, 3 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1/4 of a jar of lobster base, 1 Tbsp cumin, 3 Tbsp granulated garlic, and 1 Tbsp of paprika.). After that, I was put in charge of making the employee dinner. After some debate, as I still am not entirely sure what they have or don't have, I ended up making Tarragon Chicken with rice pilaf. Ryan took a plate and tried it then rolled is eyes at me. I asked what was wrong and he told me he couldn't believe more people didn't want to eat what comes out of our kitchen. I took that as a compliment, lol. After that, we tried to get ready for the evening. You never know how many people you will end up serving at any given time. The only thing Ryan knew for certain was that there were reservations for a party of 16 (!!). Orders rolled in slowly, until the 6 people got here. They all wanted salads and appetizers and main dishes and we were scrambling. I felt after a while that I was more a hindrance than a help, especially for Drew, as he is still being oriented to the kitchen. So I stepped back and played "go-fer". Ryan can certainly crank out a lot of food and seems to be able to keep 4-5 pans going at one time! I should ever be that good. I told him at the end of the shift that I was sorry I couldn't be more of a help. He asked me if I had ever worked as a line cook-I had to say no. He told me I did just fine, which helped me feel a little better, lol. I can't even bake to relieve some of my stress, lol! They have no chocolate chips, no chips of any kind, no dried fruit, not much of anything for baking. I have to remind myself that this was just my first week. I'll get used to it and I'll get better.
Willie went home and the three of us left to have a drink together. Drew and Ryan really are nice guys. Did you know that rum is cheaper than water here? Part of it is that Cuzan rum is made in St Crouix-no shipping! Tomorrow I have off-so will try for more R&R- there's a lot of that going on down here.
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