Fun Day In The Bar

Today I was scheduled back in the bar again. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and I was a little out of practice having been over at the more laid-back weddings for two weeks. I arrived early, as usual, and immediately got the four family break welcome baskets of goodies ready. There were no chefs in today, as it was a fairly quiet, not too busy day. There were no head servers in either, and not a whole lot of prep to do. It was just the two usual cooks, me, and someone who normally works in the restaurant upstairs helping us out. I asked what I would be doing, and the cook in charge told me I would be on starters again, doing prep in my free time. And on my next days at work, he would show me more about how to cook proteins on the main course section.
So I went to work setting up the starter section, then the pastry section. I got some things ready such as the mashed potatoes, then did prep work between orders. In the middle of the afternoon, I was placing all the sauces that had been made in squeeze bottles. I don’t mind this job, the trouble is, I am not very skilled at it. There is a running joke in the kitchen that I make a mess every time I try to fill a bottle with garlic mayo. Actually, it’s not a joke, it’s true. I don’t know what it is about that stuff, but it’s messy. And delicious. I swear, I don’t do it just to eat more garlic mayo. It’s just such a tricky job. Usually if I make the sauces, I just put them into bottles straight away. But these sauces were vacpaced in bags. There are three techniques to do this – squeeze it from the bag, pour it into a piping bag and pipe it into the bottle, or pour it into a pitcher and pour it into the bottle. I have tried each of these techniques, and found none of them to be foolproof. So I was doing this, and being messy, and looked up to see the cook laughing and taking a picture of me. Haha. Then I asked him if there was an easier way, and he said, to use a piping bag. He showed me, and made a bigger mess than I did, cutting the hole too large, spilling it on the counter, and getting me to hold the bottle – so it was a two person job? Pouring mayonnaise from a pitcher also doesn’t work because there are no funnels. I thought I could handle the balsamic dressing, as it is more liquidy, but then they purposely distracted me to try to get me too spill that too. Anyways, I officially got banned from that job. I wasn’t trying to, but it’s for the best. As the cook said, “You lost seven liters on the counter, and put seven cups in your mouth.”
So, needless to say, it was a more laid-back, and fun kind of day, with plenty of friendly joking around in the kitchen. It wasn’t very busy, and I was handling both the starter and dessert section. We had two desserts of the day – a Bailey’s cheesecake and a warm chocolate brownie. 

Bailey's Cheesecake dessert of the day. 

I was praised several times today. They were glad I was back helping them out – because I get stuff done (standard procedures, but still, some people need to be told to do them) in advance and efficiently and take pride in my work. I am also willing to learn and can handle some pressure. It is important to have workers like this in the bar, more crucial than at more casual castle weddings.