Kitty trauma this morning changed the day. I cancelled PT thinking I would be taking Crazy Mary back to the Humane society this morning. You can't talk to a human, you only seem to get voicemail so I left a message. When they finally called back, they told me I needed to schedule an appointment to return Crazy Mary. Of course they did not have an opening until tomorrow, when I will be at a flu shot clinic all day! Jordan got elected to take Ms Kitty back. She's not talking to me anyway, lol. I do feel bad/sad it did not work out.
I had a flu shot clinic from 1pm to 6:30pm at the Pepsi Co. I gave 25 shots! Nice people though. Did you know they can buy Pepsi in bottles, as well as water and a few other drinks for $0.25 each? Gotta have some perks, I guess. Otherwise, they have a drink dispenser where they can refill Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, water, Sierra Mist and Iced Tea for free (just like at the fast food restaurants!).
This was a quiet evening. Jordan had a dinner meeting to attend, I stayed home and had leftover lasagna for dinner with garlic bread. No drama this evening, at least not yet!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I had a wellness clinic that started at 7am this morning. It was at Carlisle's Food Service (I had no idea They even existed!) off of Lemmon valley Drive. Everyone seemed very nice, although I was surprised by the number of Spanish speaking only people they had working there.
We finished early, so I was able to stop by SCOR and pick up at least part of my service ware. Turns out rather than the 20 they were expecting, they had only 12 show up, out of about 20-30 partners. Too bad. I did learn that the SCOR staff got to finish the lunch, so Anne got two meals for the price of one. Apparently the meal was a huge success. That is always nice to hear!
Once I finished my clinic and stopped by SCOR to pick up my utensils et al, it was on to a doctor's appointment. The afternoon was quiet, so I did some cooking. Not much else to report.
We finished early, so I was able to stop by SCOR and pick up at least part of my service ware. Turns out rather than the 20 they were expecting, they had only 12 show up, out of about 20-30 partners. Too bad. I did learn that the SCOR staff got to finish the lunch, so Anne got two meals for the price of one. Apparently the meal was a huge success. That is always nice to hear!
Once I finished my clinic and stopped by SCOR to pick up my utensils et al, it was on to a doctor's appointment. The afternoon was quiet, so I did some cooking. Not much else to report.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Wow! Where does the time go? It's November already!
Today I got early so I could make lunch for the Standards of Excellence employees. I must confess, I bought a pie crust. Just did not want to take the time to make my own. I also bought two disposable tins to bake the quiches in. I sautéed shallots along with asparagus and spinach, then put all that into the blind baked pie crust (to blind bake means to bake the crust while it is empty. It assures that the crust is crisp and flaky and not undercooked and doughy.), then added shredded Gruyere cheese. I topped all of that with a Royale made with eggs, half and half, Creme Fraiche and salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Smelled really good-hope the SOE people liked it! Before I left to drop it off, I mixed up dough for Parker House rolls for the doctor's meeting. After I dropped off lunch it was on to my personal chef job.
That was easy today! Just three meals to make: Maple Chipotle Salmon with Wilted lettuce, Stuffed Turkey Breast with Mashed Potatoes and Orange Ginger Glazed Carrots and last but not least, Mediterranean Pork Chop with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon and Roasted Tomatoes on the vine. I stayed for lunch. We had the salmon. I served it with a mixed green salad with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and sliced Seckel pears. I found the seckel pears at Whole Foods. Cute little things that went well with the salad and raspberry red wine vinaigrette. I was done by 12:30pm! Almost didn't know what to do with myself, lol!
But then it was off to finish tonight's dinner for the doctor's. I rolled the dough into a ball shape, lined them up on a parchment lined baking sheet, let them rise a second time, then baked them off. I added more salt to the recipe this time because the last time I made them, a few weeks ago, I thought they lacked salt. Parker House rolls is a sweeter dough anyway but the extra salt adds to the flavor. Because I prepped yesterday ( did my mise en place-made sure I had everything ready for today), today was less stressful. I baked the stuffed turkey breasts, made gravy, whipped the cream for dessert, reheated the potatoes and carrots and I was done!
Then it was time to pack up everything, load up the car, and deliver dinner. Once there, I saw Rob Welti, one of my old bosses from Regent. He was very surprised to see me, lol. Wanted to know what I was doing at SCOR? I told him delivering your dinner! He had a lot of questions. I got dinner all set up, then it was back to the house. I'll pick up my chaffing dish and all the rest tomorrow. I had to tell Anne I was charging more for this dinner because of increased food costs (for a holiday dinner) and because this was a labor intensive meal. We'll see what she says when she sees the bill!
As for Jordan and I, we had lasagna for dinner, broccoli and salad. And now I am ready for bed! Got to get up early for a wellness clinic in the morning!
Today I got early so I could make lunch for the Standards of Excellence employees. I must confess, I bought a pie crust. Just did not want to take the time to make my own. I also bought two disposable tins to bake the quiches in. I sautéed shallots along with asparagus and spinach, then put all that into the blind baked pie crust (to blind bake means to bake the crust while it is empty. It assures that the crust is crisp and flaky and not undercooked and doughy.), then added shredded Gruyere cheese. I topped all of that with a Royale made with eggs, half and half, Creme Fraiche and salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Smelled really good-hope the SOE people liked it! Before I left to drop it off, I mixed up dough for Parker House rolls for the doctor's meeting. After I dropped off lunch it was on to my personal chef job.
That was easy today! Just three meals to make: Maple Chipotle Salmon with Wilted lettuce, Stuffed Turkey Breast with Mashed Potatoes and Orange Ginger Glazed Carrots and last but not least, Mediterranean Pork Chop with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon and Roasted Tomatoes on the vine. I stayed for lunch. We had the salmon. I served it with a mixed green salad with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and sliced Seckel pears. I found the seckel pears at Whole Foods. Cute little things that went well with the salad and raspberry red wine vinaigrette. I was done by 12:30pm! Almost didn't know what to do with myself, lol!
But then it was off to finish tonight's dinner for the doctor's. I rolled the dough into a ball shape, lined them up on a parchment lined baking sheet, let them rise a second time, then baked them off. I added more salt to the recipe this time because the last time I made them, a few weeks ago, I thought they lacked salt. Parker House rolls is a sweeter dough anyway but the extra salt adds to the flavor. Because I prepped yesterday ( did my mise en place-made sure I had everything ready for today), today was less stressful. I baked the stuffed turkey breasts, made gravy, whipped the cream for dessert, reheated the potatoes and carrots and I was done!
Then it was time to pack up everything, load up the car, and deliver dinner. Once there, I saw Rob Welti, one of my old bosses from Regent. He was very surprised to see me, lol. Wanted to know what I was doing at SCOR? I told him delivering your dinner! He had a lot of questions. I got dinner all set up, then it was back to the house. I'll pick up my chaffing dish and all the rest tomorrow. I had to tell Anne I was charging more for this dinner because of increased food costs (for a holiday dinner) and because this was a labor intensive meal. We'll see what she says when she sees the bill!
As for Jordan and I, we had lasagna for dinner, broccoli and salad. And now I am ready for bed! Got to get up early for a wellness clinic in the morning!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween! I was not expecting any trick or treaters but we got three! Jordan said if you don't want anyone stopping, then turn off the light! So I did. Good thing I had a some candy!
I was up by 7am, had breakfast then went shopping for my two (actually three) jobs tomorrow. The rest of the afternoon was spent prepping all the food, slicing, dicing and making some of the food a day ahead (like the cranberry chutney and the Pecan Pumpkin Crunch). I am making lunch for the SOE crew with some of the leftover asparagus, a good will gesture, if you will. I am making asparagus and spinach quiche, a mixed green salad and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Then off to my private chef job, my last counting for this client until Christmas (he's going to Maui). Ah, well...
Once I am done there, it's off to cook for the general partnership meeting (read: more people coming than usually come). They are having Sweet Sausage, Sage and Hazelnut Stuffed Turkey Breasts, Herbed Mashed Potatoes, Orange and Ginger Glazed Carrots, Cranberry Chutney, Parker House Rolls and Pecan Pumpkin Crunch with Bourbon Whipped Cream. Should be a good meal. I think I will be tired by the end of the day!
I still have not had a chance to make Key Lime Coolers (cookies). Too many other things to do! Hopefully I will get to them on Wednesday. Don't want to waste those Key limes!
I was up by 7am, had breakfast then went shopping for my two (actually three) jobs tomorrow. The rest of the afternoon was spent prepping all the food, slicing, dicing and making some of the food a day ahead (like the cranberry chutney and the Pecan Pumpkin Crunch). I am making lunch for the SOE crew with some of the leftover asparagus, a good will gesture, if you will. I am making asparagus and spinach quiche, a mixed green salad and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Then off to my private chef job, my last counting for this client until Christmas (he's going to Maui). Ah, well...
Once I am done there, it's off to cook for the general partnership meeting (read: more people coming than usually come). They are having Sweet Sausage, Sage and Hazelnut Stuffed Turkey Breasts, Herbed Mashed Potatoes, Orange and Ginger Glazed Carrots, Cranberry Chutney, Parker House Rolls and Pecan Pumpkin Crunch with Bourbon Whipped Cream. Should be a good meal. I think I will be tired by the end of the day!
I still have not had a chance to make Key Lime Coolers (cookies). Too many other things to do! Hopefully I will get to them on Wednesday. Don't want to waste those Key limes!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
I have got some catching up to do!
Friday, I worked at the Hyatt in Incline village (still trying to make that extra money!) doing a wellness clinic. We had to be there by 7am and work until 12:30pm. We ended up going over because a few of the employees showed up after 12 noon (closing time). Our boss for the day told us to keep going, so we did. I ended up meeting three wonderful women, which made the clinic very enjoyable. The Hyatt employees were also great! I was nice to be in a work environment where people were very happy to have a job, loved working at the Hyatt (many of them are long term employees) and were very thankful to all four of us for just showing up to do a wellness clinic for them. And when it was all over, they even fed us! In the next room was a wellness fair to go along with our clinic. The Hyatt was serving lunch to their employees and included us in the bargain. The had spinach salad with a variety of toppings, green beans with red onions, whipped parsnips (most people would not have been able to tell they were not mashed potatoes), chicken in a light sauce and mahi, also in a light sauce. For dessert, there was a trifle and plum kuchen with local honey (to drizzle over the cake). I was impressed, they did a very nice job!
I got home around 2:30-3pm and found Jordan at home working. I did my billing for Tuesday's Food for Thought at SOE, did some reading and by 9:30pm, was ready for bed (had to get up at 5am two days in a row!). Jordan made dinner. He is always telling me he does wonders with leftovers and it is easy to cook good leftovers when he uses dishes I have made. Good man!
Saturday Jordan went on a bike ride in Susanville with a friend of his, Bob Moen. Guess it was really cold, so it made the ride not so pleasant. Me, I worked at Walmart on 7th at a flu shot clinic from 9am to 5:15pm. Walmart was crazy busy all day. People were in there buying Halloween costumes and Halloween candy. I even saw Chef Mark Estee (from Moody's in Truckee and Campo soon to open here in Reno) shopping in there with his wife. Guess you never know who you are going to run into! Gail, one of the nurses from the Hyatt clinic, who lives in Reno part of the year and South Dakota the rest of the year, showed up at my table and chatted for a while. Her daughter lives here and Gail comes to help with babysitting, etc. After the clinic, I drove to my friend, Swad's house, for a candle party (she makes all her own candles). It was nice catching up with a few friends (from my old job at SCOR).
When I got home (about 7pm), Jordan took me out to dinner at Fuego's, a tapas bar and restaurant over by the Pioneer theater. They have patterned themselves after the Spanish Tapas bars and serve mostly small plates of food but do have a handful of dinner entrees to choose from as well as dessert. Some of what we ordered was a little too spicy for me, but the flavors were outstanding. I was glad we went, and even Jordan enjoyed himself, lol. He always says I am the one with the sophisticated palate and that he often cannot tell the subtle differences in foods that I can. I counter that by telling him you can always educate your palate, be it wine or food. I'm not sure he believes me, lol!
Today, is a nice quiet day, for which I am truly ready! I have a busy week coming up with some cooking and some clinics to do so am working Monday through Friday this week. (I am not complaining!) Ah Choo also seems to be happy I am staying home. He is curled up next to me on the couch and has been for some time. Crazy Mary is upstairs, under the bed, still not really willing to be a "part of the family". Jordan and I have extended the amount of time we are giving her to acclimate but I am unsure of the outcome for little CM (as Jordan calls her). She is still afraid of Ah Choo, even though he wants to be friends. It is a beautiful day out, so both Jordan and I need to get out for a walk or something. No cookies due Tuesday for Hillbilly Hot Dogs, so no baking today. I still have work that needs to be done for Jordan on his LA Hospital project. I will be working on that during my down time.
Friday, I worked at the Hyatt in Incline village (still trying to make that extra money!) doing a wellness clinic. We had to be there by 7am and work until 12:30pm. We ended up going over because a few of the employees showed up after 12 noon (closing time). Our boss for the day told us to keep going, so we did. I ended up meeting three wonderful women, which made the clinic very enjoyable. The Hyatt employees were also great! I was nice to be in a work environment where people were very happy to have a job, loved working at the Hyatt (many of them are long term employees) and were very thankful to all four of us for just showing up to do a wellness clinic for them. And when it was all over, they even fed us! In the next room was a wellness fair to go along with our clinic. The Hyatt was serving lunch to their employees and included us in the bargain. The had spinach salad with a variety of toppings, green beans with red onions, whipped parsnips (most people would not have been able to tell they were not mashed potatoes), chicken in a light sauce and mahi, also in a light sauce. For dessert, there was a trifle and plum kuchen with local honey (to drizzle over the cake). I was impressed, they did a very nice job!
I got home around 2:30-3pm and found Jordan at home working. I did my billing for Tuesday's Food for Thought at SOE, did some reading and by 9:30pm, was ready for bed (had to get up at 5am two days in a row!). Jordan made dinner. He is always telling me he does wonders with leftovers and it is easy to cook good leftovers when he uses dishes I have made. Good man!
Saturday Jordan went on a bike ride in Susanville with a friend of his, Bob Moen. Guess it was really cold, so it made the ride not so pleasant. Me, I worked at Walmart on 7th at a flu shot clinic from 9am to 5:15pm. Walmart was crazy busy all day. People were in there buying Halloween costumes and Halloween candy. I even saw Chef Mark Estee (from Moody's in Truckee and Campo soon to open here in Reno) shopping in there with his wife. Guess you never know who you are going to run into! Gail, one of the nurses from the Hyatt clinic, who lives in Reno part of the year and South Dakota the rest of the year, showed up at my table and chatted for a while. Her daughter lives here and Gail comes to help with babysitting, etc. After the clinic, I drove to my friend, Swad's house, for a candle party (she makes all her own candles). It was nice catching up with a few friends (from my old job at SCOR).
When I got home (about 7pm), Jordan took me out to dinner at Fuego's, a tapas bar and restaurant over by the Pioneer theater. They have patterned themselves after the Spanish Tapas bars and serve mostly small plates of food but do have a handful of dinner entrees to choose from as well as dessert. Some of what we ordered was a little too spicy for me, but the flavors were outstanding. I was glad we went, and even Jordan enjoyed himself, lol. He always says I am the one with the sophisticated palate and that he often cannot tell the subtle differences in foods that I can. I counter that by telling him you can always educate your palate, be it wine or food. I'm not sure he believes me, lol!
Today, is a nice quiet day, for which I am truly ready! I have a busy week coming up with some cooking and some clinics to do so am working Monday through Friday this week. (I am not complaining!) Ah Choo also seems to be happy I am staying home. He is curled up next to me on the couch and has been for some time. Crazy Mary is upstairs, under the bed, still not really willing to be a "part of the family". Jordan and I have extended the amount of time we are giving her to acclimate but I am unsure of the outcome for little CM (as Jordan calls her). She is still afraid of Ah Choo, even though he wants to be friends. It is a beautiful day out, so both Jordan and I need to get out for a walk or something. No cookies due Tuesday for Hillbilly Hot Dogs, so no baking today. I still have work that needs to be done for Jordan on his LA Hospital project. I will be working on that during my down time.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Jordan is home, yeah! It was a long drive home and now he's not so sure he wants to drive it again, lol. It IS easier to fly.
I was in Fernley today to do a flu shot clinic at the Lowe's on the east side of Fernley. Long drive (not as far as San Diego!). Everyone was very nice. Home Depot has it's training room at the back of the store. Lowe's training room is at the front of the store. Different but the same, I guess. I was scheduled to give 40 flu shots (there are a minimum number of people they need to get signed up in order to have this service) but only gave 22. Lots of sitting around. They were also training new hires today so I got to sit thru that spiel. Interesting to sit in on that. I also learned that Lowe's (although that name is a fairly recent introduction, it was started by a man named Buchman) was started in 1946 and catered only to professional people. It apparently was not open to the general public. The first five stores were opened in North Carolina. It wasn't until after Buchman's death that the company went public, is traded on the NASDAQ and is world wide. Interesting (especially when there is nothing else to read, lol).
I made a Swiss Chard quiche for dinner and served it with a salad. Good stuff. I also made a small Pumpkin Tart. Love pumpkin! I will go back and add pictures of some of the dishes I've made. Since I mostly write on my iPad, it's not easy to upload photos. I need to be on a regular computer for that. So eventually I will catch up!
I have a Wellness Clinic tomorrow at the Hyatt in Incline Village. Should be interesting. And I will get to meet more Summit employees. So far everyone has been very nice. I have to be there at 7am so it will be another early morning!
I was in Fernley today to do a flu shot clinic at the Lowe's on the east side of Fernley. Long drive (not as far as San Diego!). Everyone was very nice. Home Depot has it's training room at the back of the store. Lowe's training room is at the front of the store. Different but the same, I guess. I was scheduled to give 40 flu shots (there are a minimum number of people they need to get signed up in order to have this service) but only gave 22. Lots of sitting around. They were also training new hires today so I got to sit thru that spiel. Interesting to sit in on that. I also learned that Lowe's (although that name is a fairly recent introduction, it was started by a man named Buchman) was started in 1946 and catered only to professional people. It apparently was not open to the general public. The first five stores were opened in North Carolina. It wasn't until after Buchman's death that the company went public, is traded on the NASDAQ and is world wide. Interesting (especially when there is nothing else to read, lol).
I made a Swiss Chard quiche for dinner and served it with a salad. Good stuff. I also made a small Pumpkin Tart. Love pumpkin! I will go back and add pictures of some of the dishes I've made. Since I mostly write on my iPad, it's not easy to upload photos. I need to be on a regular computer for that. So eventually I will catch up!
I have a Wellness Clinic tomorrow at the Hyatt in Incline Village. Should be interesting. And I will get to meet more Summit employees. So far everyone has been very nice. I have to be there at 7am so it will be another early morning!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I was up early today to finish off the dinner gift a friend was giving to one of the doctor's he works with. I also needed to make meringues for Pavlova for a luncheon I was making. It was a very busy day today!
I went over to Michael's house (I didn't quite make the 10am I said I was going to do, lol). I set the table with the good china and silver, talked for a bit, then made the salad. Mixed spring greens topped with strawberries and orange segments (it was also suppose to have pecans but I forgot those and we decided to leave them off. I still manage to forget things even with a list, although Jay Bushman tells me that happens all the time.) The salad was dressed with Chai Vinaigrette-a very nice combo. I did find some sunflower seeds while rooting around so added those for some crunch. Next I made the sauce for the salmon. A honey-lime-cilantro mixture. Since I made the rice yesterday, all I had to do was sauté some shallots, then removed the pan from the heat, added the rice, topped the rice with two salmon fillets, tucked sprigs of broccolini around the edges and drizzled the honey-lime mixture over everything. Put it in the oven for 8-10 minutes and you have a very elegant meal. When you plate the meal, drizzle the rest of the honey-lime mixture over everything. It was a hit! For dessert, I made Strawberry Pavlovas, meringues topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and strawberries. What's not to like??
After I cleaned up and washed dishes it was off to prepare for the next gig. I went home, repacked my rolling cart, then mixed up a batch of pumpkin cookies dough. Standards of Excellence (SOE) does this demonstration in one of their ovens where they cook a head of garlic with a sheet of cookies to show that the garlic does not affect the taste of the cookies. Then it was off to shop. Raleys ended up not having Boursin cheese or prosciutto so after I bought all I could at Raleys, I headed for Trader Joe's and picked up those two items. It did, however, put me behind in my time line. I arrived at SOE, unloaded the car, and started working. Almost the entire meal was done in their steam oven. Unfortunately, it is rather small and they have only a limited number of pans that work in that oven so things had to be done in stages. That did not help my timeline! I steamed broccoli, but in the middle had to refill the water reservoir inside the steam oven, so that took longer than expected. My rice didn't cook all the way through in the steam oven so I had to finish it in the steam microwave-convection oven (who'd have thought there even was such a thing!!). There was only one non-perforated pan so I had to cook the chicken in stages. And quite a few people cancelled so I had a lot of extra food stuff. Dispute several setbacks, people loved the meal and they all had a good time.
I did learn several things tonight: even though I regularly cook on different appliances, I need to give myself extra time for SOE as things can go wrong very easily. I need to arrive hours earlier than I did today. I learned not to plan two events in one day (although I suppose there would/could be some exceptions). And I need to shop the day before, or at least the morning of, not right before an event like this. Bottom line: people seemed happy with everything, as did Laurie the manager, so that was a good thing.
Now it's time for bed though, I am exhausticated!! Jordan called to say he would be later than he thought, so I probably won't be able to stay awake to greet him. I'll let Ah Choo do that, lol.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)