Typical Wednesday

In the bar. On pastry. Not busy. But not totally dead either. Enough prep to do. But not scrambling to get it done. Cleaning. But not a ridiculous amount of cleaning. Staffed. But not over-staffed. Long day. But not super long.

Good Day For Indoor Chores

It sucks when it rains on your days off, but today I caught up on a bunch of chores and other things I could do inside since it was a rainy, dreary day. I actually managed to get quite a bit done.

Taking Care Of Business

What business would that be? Your typical, it's-my-day-off business among other things. Resting, relaxing, laundry, walks on the beach, etc.

A Not Too Busy Sunday

Today was another busy Sunday, but not as busy, probably because it is the middle of January slow season. I was on bar pastry orders again, although I did have some help today. Everything went smoothly, but I was still the last to leave and a good half hour after all the others. That's the life of the pastry chef.

new rhubarb dessert

To The Grocery Store

The exciting voyage of the day was a trip into town to the grocery store as the entire house had the day off work today. Which did allow us to make a very nice dinner!

Pasta carbonara, glazed carrots, homemade garlic toast, and vanilla pudding for dessert.

Back To See The Pets

Today I was back to watching the pets, but only for two days. Here are some pictures from today!

Peeling Chestnuts

Today at work was also not very busy, however, I did have more tasks to keep me busy. I was also paying more attention to the other sections in the kitchen since we were in closer quarters in the restaurant here, so I learned how to make and plate most of the starter dishes and how to help out on the main course section, which is very beneficial to the other chefs when it gets busy. To end the evening, between waiting for orders, we peeled a big container of fresh chestnuts - a time-consuming and tedious job.

Slow, Slow, Very Slow

Today was an incredibly slow day. With less customers, it means less prep work to do, so even though you have extra time to get things done, you have no need to do them. So today we just all took our time and did our jobs slowly and precisely, and put more time and effort into staff meal.

Cloudy Day Walk

Today I had another day off so I went for a walk even though it was a cloudy day. Then I got some errands done at home.

Moving To The Restaurant

Today was kind of a big day because renovations in the bar began. That means that we had to begin the day by moving all our food, plates, equipment, and more from the bar kitchen to the restaurant kitchen, where we would be working for the next two weeks. The bar had to be emptied out for renovations. So now we will be serving the same bar menu, but from the restaurant kitchen; while the restaurant will be closed for the two weeks.

A Sunday Off

When you get a Sunday off work from a busy bar shift, you are lucky!

Beach Days and Sleep Days

Today was another relaxing day off where I slept in, went for a walk on the beach and caught up on some chores.

Finally Days Off!

My apologies for neglecting my blog for the past week, but working 95 hours in the past eight days with no days off, I barely had enough time to sleep than to blog! On top of that I was also still doing my petsitting job and had to move out of that house too. Luckily I have three days off now, and the busiest weekend days at that! I don't know if the trade off is worth it in the end, I'd be perfectly happy just have a Monday-Wednesday off, but bears can't be choosers. So what did I do today? Nothing that required much unnecessary physical exertion. 

one of the more minor battle scars from the week past

Six Orders All Day

Today was even quieter if you can believe that. I got some more able-to-do-ahead tasks done so the pastry section would be in good shape for the (optimistically busier) weekend; especially since I would be off and my usual fill-in would also be off on the busiest day, Sunday. I prepped, I cleaned, and I even had some fun as it was more relaxed and laid back today. The head bar chef was off too. It was easy to be productive today as I only received six dessert orders all day!

January Slump

Today was quiet with just three of us working in the bar. I did some pastry prep,some starter prep, some main curse prep, putting orders away, and cleaning. It' kind of funny but the quieter it seems to being the bar, the more rough service is. First of all, there are less servers around and they all seem to wander off somewhere else, so it takes longer to get their attention and get them to deliver our food! Next, the chef in charge in the bar was all over the place forgetting things just because he wasn't so focused!  I guess we are finally in those two weeks in January where it quiets down - but if the first week of January was any indication, I am very glad I will not be here in July! 

The Chef Is Back In Town

Today our head chef came back after being away for almost a month. We weren't sure exactly when he was planning to return, so when we heard him enter the kitchen, there was a lot of cleaning going on.He didn't stay long, as the restaurant was not in service today, so we just made sure everything was very clean and organized as it was very quiet today and we were mostly just prepping small batches of things. 

Early Start

Just to make an eight day work stretch worse, today I had to begin at 9am to help out with breakfast, but not o home any earlier! I made a bi batch of brown soda bread, peeled, cut and cooked chips, a bi batch of matched potatoes, took care of the petit fours, put away orders, cleaned up, and more. And that was all before the start of my usual sift.You can get a lot more down with only two chefs in the kitchen, Luckily the rest of the day was very quiet and I got home fairly early!

Sunday Desserts Alone

Today was your typical Sunday in the bar - busy. I made sure to set up right away and only try to get prep done between orders that was absolutely necessary, but other than that just stay on my section. It was very busy but I am proud to say I got all my orders done by myself with no complaints from chef and didn't ask for help at all!

Late Saturday Nights

I don't remember so much about today, except is was a lo, busy day where I worked my butt off and didn't get home until after midnight. But that's just typical.

2000 Posts!!!

I have reached 2000 posts on this blog now! There are some days where I debate quitting because I have no time and lately my blog entries have been very short and limited but it's still impressive I managed to have 2000 posts on here over the past 5 1/2 years!!!

An 'Early' Day

Today was very slow in both the bar and the restaurant. I was on pastry in the bar and got every little task I needed done so tomorrow I will really have nothing to do, even to prep for the busier weekend. I also did a lot of cleaning. At the end of my shift, I was told I was supposed to go home early today as three others did,but by then it was no longer early. Instead the chef in the bar skipped off early and stuck me with some of his jobs, which I was then told not to do, just to finish my last pastry orders and go home!

Work, Day Off, Work, Work, Work, Work

Seems to be a recurring pattern. Today was the single day off. Which means I don;t have much to report since days off usually consist of catching up on sleep, cleaning house, doing laundry, doing any necessary errands, and going for a walk if the weather is nice and I am not too tired.

Prepping, Prepping, Prepping

Today was not as busy as the past few days have been, so I was actually able to get quite a bit of prep done between orders and set the pastry section in better shape than it had been since Christmas. I made cheesecake cream, pear compote, vanilla panna cotta, plum tart, pie bases, cut chocolate tart, sliced cheese, prepped cheese garnishes, berry puddings, custard mix, kids' jelly, popcorn ice cream, butter cookies, petit four cakes, and more!

berry pudding

Resting My Feet

I have no idea why my feet and legs were so sore after working this week,but today I honestly just needed to rest them and catch up on some much needed sleep.

trouble makers

Into 2017

And what a busy, crazy way to begin the year. As every Sunday, it was very busy today in the bar, but especially so since it was a holiday. Lunch was busy enough that I was back and forth doing orders and barely getting any prep done, but for dinner we had 70 booked. Not sure on the final numbers, but we definitely did more than 70 covers and the tables just kept coming - even well past 9:00p.m. when the bar closes, we were getting starter orders coming in!