Tuesday, February 25, 2014

I was going to be SO diligent about writing on my blog after I left Maui. I haven't done a very good job of that, have I, lol? I thought it might be a good way to decompress after working at Gas Lamp but I am usually so tired by the time I get home that I have not kept up.

The morning after I arrived back from Maui, I had to work at GIC. At 7AM! Ugh! I literally hit the ground running that week. That Monday at GIC was very busy and I worked over my 8 hours.

The next day I had a catering event for a group from Bosma, called "Get Connected", a "Biz Talk" group used for networking (especially small businesses). Grab and go appetizers for 20 people-no plates and no napkins, although I insisted on having napkins. No one is that neat! Someone in the group provided wine and water. And did I tell you the woman who hired me wanted me to "WOW" the group. Apparently they had not had any success with past food endeavors so were discouraged about finding someone to give them the finger food they wanted. I made Asian Spiced Chicken with Vanilla Apricot Sauce in Won Ton cups,

Apple and Onion Confit on Crostini
and Tunisian Vegetable Salsa with Pita Chips. The woman how hired me, had a sample of my cooking when I catered a birthday party for one of the nurses I work with at GIC. Small world..... Anyway, I was a success and now they have asked me to provide food for the next "Get Connected" in April (they have this event every other month).

Wednesday, I catered lunch for my sister's earthquakes in Nevada meeting up at the Great Basin Science Library, up near the Desert Research Institute. She usually works in Carson, so I was very happy to hear the meeting was in Reno and I did not have to deliver anything to Carson City! Southwest Chicken Wraps, Big Green Salad (it had lots of "stuff" in it-a variety of lettuces, legumes, cheese, tomatoes, etc) and Rocky Ledge Cookie Bars. The cookie bars are so named because if you cut them into triangles, they look like craggy ledges!

Wednesday evening, I started full time at Gas Lamp, if you can call any job at a restaurant full time. Unless you are the executive chef or manager, the restaurant is only open from 5pm to closing, which in our case is anywhere between 8:30-10PM.

The week of Valentine's Day was CRAZY busy! We were booked for Valentine's Day by the Sunday before. And I guess those people who didn't go out on Valentine's Day, went out on Thursday or Saturday. Even Sunday was unusually busy, I think because it was a three day weekend (President's Day was Monday). Special desserts for Valentine's Day were Chocolate Oblivian Truffle Torte , a thick, fudge, chocolatey slice of heaven, and a "Berrymisu" Parfait. The parfait had mixed berries, mascarpone cheese, whipped cream, Chambord, and ladyfingers, all layered like a coffee tiramisu. Can you say YUM?

We were hopping every night and there were tempers flying everywhere. I think I was unprepared for all the drama that happens in restaurants-maybe I don't watch enough reality TV (no thanks!). So I guess all the drama you see on TV is somewhat real and not made up. People do crazy things, or out of ignorance, make mistakes.

My first week back they fired the dishwasher. My second week back, they fired a waitress. Hmmmmm.... Hope there is not a pattern here. The found a new dishwasher, have not so far hired a waitstaff person but did hire another woman to work the bar with Kerrie. And did I mention one of the staff seems to be taking cash out of the profits? This is truly fodder for a soap opera. At my age, I am not so into drama everyday!

I'll update you more soon. Lots of stories to tell in Reno, "the biggest little city in the world"!