My First Birthday Away

           It began pretty normally – doing desserts, helping set up the other stations, etc. I did prep work, such as peeling shrimp, cutting vegetables, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I was put to French cut sixty breasts of chicken into chicken suprêmes, and I honestly hate butchering so that was fun on my birthday. Oh well, good practice at least. I spent most of the time making up boxty potatoes to have on hand for the chicken dish we make. I didn't know exactly how to make them - I knew the principles behind them but didn't know how this specific operation did them. And it was fairly busy, so I had to wait for explanations several times, and the entire process took longer than it should have. I spent a long time frying them over a super hot griddle.

I was beginning to feel quite sad near the end of the night, I missed my family and friends, I missed my mother’s homemade cake, cards, presents, etc. Many people at work had remembered my birthday and gave me their wishes, but it just wasn’t the same. At the end of the night, even though it hadn’t been a particularly crazy day service–wise, they treated me to a drink.

Birthday cards and chocolate treats.

After work, my roommates and a bunch of people from work (chefs and servers) went to the bar next door to watch me drink for the first time and celebrate. To my surprise, one of my roommates had ordered me a cake from the bakery in town – a chocolate with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting, my favorite, along with several other chocolate treats. They lit candles and sung to me. They bought me some drinks. We talked, laughed, and drank. I got to see my coworkers in a different place then just work, and discovered that we really are just one big family. They were all very friendly to me, and happy to celebrate with me. Chef also allowed me to come in at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, to take a little more time for any hangover I might get.