Kitchen Life

It’s been an up and down few weeks. We are still waiting for our shipping container to arrive from DC and getting very impatient now. We are both needing our things now as winter is approaching and there are lots of our personal effects that we’ve missed long enough now. We were expecting it this week but customs has decided that some items need fumigating so we have to pay to get that done. I hope we get our stuff soon. 

I finally got to take my first flying lesson here which left me feeling somewhat disheartened. I will be flying a different aircraft type which I was not expecting. This means that I have to learn the little differences for that aircraft. While not a huge thing, it was an extra set of challenges on top of what was already going to be a challenging first flight. I was also challenged with the change in some units of measurement such as litres instead of gallons and meters instead of feet. After 3 years of imperial measurements, it’s hard to think back to metric. My first flight was all about getting my hands back on the stick, learning the new airspace and generally getting familiar with the new plane – a Piper Warrior. This is a low wing aircraft; the Cessna Skyhawk is a high wing which is where the wings attach to the roof. The low wings attach to the bottom of the plane. It gave a different view at certain times. My instructor was lovely and was aware of my nerves getting back flying after 6 months. I was very rusty with my manouveres and landing at a new and busy airport was daunting. The process to get my license is a little different and I will have to take a few steps backwards which has left me disheartened. I can’t fly again until June and it seems quite busy at this school. I’m trying to understand what the testing requirements are and feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I want to continue but it feels a lot to change to at the moment. I’ll do some more research and hopefully my feelings will change by the next flight. 

Easter and Anzac Day have been yet again and I worked all of these days as is common in the hospitality industry. It was incredibly busy as it was also school holidays. It was sad to not go to the Anzac dawn service but I think I’ll be fine next year when I’ve adjusted to the new work regime. School holidays have now finished and work has settled down although I found out today we have a busy weekend ahead. We celebrated Deb’s birthday and I cooked her a 3 course dinner. I experimented with the dessert making her an Eton Mess which is a messed up pavlova with fruit and cream. 

I am feeling a little more comfortable at work. It’s been two months now and I have to admit it’s been a big adjustment. It’s also tough being new but it’s also tough for me to not have the knowledge that I have previously enjoyed throughout my career. I’m learning all over again and it’s a hard position to adjust to. Some days are better than others but I’m taking one step at a time and enjoying learning lots about food, cooking and kitchens. Masterchef has started on TV and it’s been a few years since I’ve watched this – I feel like I’m watching with a new interest.

So working in a busy commercial kitchen is not for the faint hearted. I remember my first week and hiding in the corner as I chopped away listening to the action going on around me. Now, it’s not as daunting but I’ve learnt some good lessons and thought I’d share some of the inside info with you.

Be busy. No matter what, be busy. There is always something to do and there’s no time to stop, chat and go for a coffee break. Everyone is on the go and I can only say it’s like walking through the streets of New York city. You have to listen out for ‘backs’ or ‘hot behind’ as people push past your back or with something hot like a pan or a tray. It's a frenzy at times especially during service. 

Work clean. The golden rule in the kitchen is to keep a clean workspace, bench and tools. After every job, clean up before the next job. We all have our own knives and keep them clean and sharpened. 

All Day. I used to hear them yell ‘3 all day’ or ‘2 all day’ when someone asked how many pizzas, burgers or whatever. I thought it was odd wondering why they would counting things served all day. But no, this is the code for people checking how many of one item is actually on the board at that time. So you might have 4 dockets up with a total of 6 burgers. So to help the chef, someone yells that’s 6 all day so they know they should be making 6 in total. 

Service Please. I haven’t had to use my lungs like this since I was on parade back in the air force. Whenever food is ready for pickup, we have to yell out ‘service please’ so the front of house staff hear and come back to collect. I was confused when I first started work as I wasn’t sure who was yelling out and why. 

Dread the Docket Machine. I have developed a fear of the dreaded docket machine. I have one behind me which is for the café section but my docket machine is across the bench in front where the head chef works. When it chatters out a docket, it’ll have my entrees on it and the head chef yells out what’s needed. So when it gets busy, I hear brrrtttt, brtttttt, brttttttt and shit myself, look up and hope it’s not my docket machine and sometimes a miracle occurs when people don’t order entrees. So that brrtttt, brrrttt noise is feared more than a dripping tap or the smoke alarm at home.

Salt and Pepper. Everything has salt and pepper in it. No wonder food tastes good when you eat out – it’s got lots of salt, pepper and butter and of course all those things that give you cancer, clog your arteries, make you fat or anything else that’s bad in life. But geez it makes food taste good.

Playlist. A great thing about the kitchen is being able to listen to music most of the day. Usually the young guys put their playlists on but I’ve had my chance to play my music and you feel 'like a boss' when you get to do this. There is all kinds of music being played and it makes the long hours a little easier when you get to share memories when certain songs get played.

Well that’s enough kitchen bitchin’ for now. I’ve noticed my perspective has changed when eating out and cooking at home is a bit more organised than usual.

The light rail (tram, train thing) has finally started operation in Canberra. It runs from my local shopping center to the city and has caused chaos for commuters. The bus schedule has totally changed and I think it will be a long time before it’s seen as a positive initiative. 

Deb also went to Melbourne for a girls weekend and took some fabulous photos as always. Here is a classic Melbourne tram and some of the great street artwork.

 

Until next time, here's a pic of the two munchkins snoozing as the nights get colder and a funny thing I saw on Facebook. 

Paper and Fire

Well holy bloody char grill mixing bowls Batman !! What a busy long bloody few weeks. I feel like I work, sleep, work a bit longer, sleep, work more, sleep a bit more and then suddenly I get a day off. I’m enjoying myself though so that’s the good thing !! And I got paid !!! Man, that was a nice feeling $$$$$

By the way, the photo is of a chocolate pudding with raspberry coulis - one of the last dishes I made a school a few weeks back.

I have finished school until mid May when I’ll join up with the 1st year apprentices. I have now signed my apprentice contract which brought back memories to the day I signed my life away for 9 years when I joined the air force as a 16 year old!! Apparently they now call apprentices over 45 ‘mature’ age apprentices as opposed to adult and junior apprentices. The guy asked me if I had done an apprenticeship before…..I said yes, in the Air Force a long time ago. He was somewhat surprised, tapped on his computer and said nope, not coming up. He said how long ago…I laughed and said oooh about 30 years. Hmm, that would be why. I thought I was going to get a gold star but no, it’s just statistical data and made it to a comment at the bottom of the contract.

The work is very physical and constant and I’ve already been to physio to get an old injury sorted and some stretching advice as I need to look after myself in my ‘mature’ years. I think I’ve lost about 2kg from all the physical effort. I think I’ve done about 256 different things – chopped every vegetable and herb, cracked loads of eggs, made pies and sossy rolls, made chilli jams, whipped up some funky flavours of mayo, tasted fresh figs for the first time, sliced heaps of meats, played on the char grill a few times, shucked oysters for the first time, plated up for functions (weddings) so my Saturday dinner is now either chicken salmon or beef. Probably the most interesting thing I’ve learnt is debearding a mussel. I don’t eat mussels but most people still don’t know a mussel comes with a little tuft of hair coming from inside. It is pulled off/out before serving. It literally looks like a little goatie. I’ll add a photo if I can find one.

Probably the dumbest thing I’ve done so far is put baking paper on a tray that I had some orange segments (pieces of orange), and then proceeded to torch the oranges to put a colour on them. But, fire and paper equals fire doesn’t it. So yes, my baking paper was quickly alight. Won’t make that mistake again – next time don’t use paper !! It seems to be a recurring problem as I managed to set fire to my recipe sheets at school a few weeks ago – I had them too close to the gas stove while I was cooking.

Deb is back to work next week and feeling very sad for herself. Time has raced by but she has enjoyed the free time. We leave notes for each other a lot now as my hours are a bit late so it will be fun and games when she starts work again. I think the dogs will get the biggest shock because they have had me home for 3 years and now they’ll be spending a lot more time on their own while we are at work.

My Dad has been busy with his leather work again and custom made me a knife roll for my knives. I have a bigger black bag for all my things but this is a smaller roll that I can take to work with my main few knives. It’s made of kangaroo leather and is perfect. He’s put a little metal tag on it with my name engraved on it. Pretty clever my Dad.

 

I also received a lovely birthday gift from my friends in Tennessee. It was a beautiful wooden box that holds recipe cards. I will fill it with many superhero secrets. Thanks to D&LW - you are so very kind as always.


On the props front, I finally submitted my paperwork for my pilot license number which arrived today. So, I’ll be booking a flying lesson in the next two weeks and start chipping away at the remaining flying hours. I’m a bit nervous having not flown since November and flying with a new school and instructor.





Well this blog is a bit overdue and I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of stuff. But one last photo for my US readers is a photo of the traditional Australian prawns on the barbie!! I went to a friends place for a bbq and yes, there were prawns, not shrimps as Paul Hogan would like you to think. They’re prawns !!  And of course, here's a pie and sausage roll with a famous Bundaberg ginger beer. I'm enjoying being home amongst these Aussie favourites.

 

Cricket on the ridgeline

The Apprentice

Well I have the best news. Early this week, I was offered, and gladly accepted, an apprenticeship at Ginger Catering at the National Arboretum Canberra. I interviewed during the week and had my first day today. At interview, I was made to feel so valued and it was really lovely to be recognised for my work history. I came home and cried because I was happy, but also because I had not felt so valued by an employer in a long long time. Thus a big reason why I've changed careers. I can't say enough how much I appreciated their confidence in me and I can only hope and pray I have what it takes to succeed in my chef dream.

I am absolutely overwhelmed to say the least and so happy to be given this opportunity. I never thought an apprenticeship would be a feasible option for me - for a bunch of reasons. Ginger Catering is one of the leading restaurants and venues in Canberra with a high profile chef with a fantastic career. For my international readers, an apprenticeship is a dedicated training program over 3-4 years which involves going to school but also undertaking focused training under a qualified chef. Apprenticeships are designed for the trades like electrician, plumbing, hairdressing etc. I will drop back to one day a week at school (from my current 3 days) but will be working the rest of the time. At the end, I will (all going well) finish with my trade certificate and the best training possible from Ginger. 

I did my first day today and it was fabulous. It was hard work but I did so many different things. The team are wonderful, friendly,  helpful and I have a good feeling already. I am going to work over the weekend as they have some functions and it will be good for me to see how things run. I will definitely be cancelling out Friday and Saturday's in my diary for the next 4 years but it's going to be an incredible journey. Many of you don't know that I joined the Air Force some 30 years ago as an apprentice technician. I never thought I'd ever be an apprentice again but here we are, back at start of new career that I hope will be as successful and rewarding as the last one (mostly was). 

Here's a blast from the past......from back then.......to now.

For the non-Canberra folks, the National Arboretum is a huge area of land that is home to thousands of trees. This is a beautiful place set upon the hills and is the prime venue for major functions, weddings and events in Canberra. So, my office view is pretty spectacular. A few years ago I spent my time doing training rides up and around the arboretum but now, I'm enjoying life in the beautiful village working with great food and great people.

Well just a quick update to share the news. You can easily google Ginger Catering and read about it and the Exec Chef and Owner. But please come out and visit the Arboretum one day on the weekend as I'm likely to be out back somewhere slicing and dicing away.

I was early to work this morning so took a quick drive around the arboretum and stopped to check out the view. For me, I took in the fresh air and view over Canberra and thought to myself that life is good, and just how lucky I am. It is also International Women's Day and that made today also a bit special. I also thought of my mum and my sister, and wished they were here to share this with me. So that's it for now, hopefully with me working and earning a little money, I'll be able to get back in the plane and continue my flying lessons. The props and tongs journey is on a roll.

Lemon zest

Not much to update you avid readers with but I’ll add some photos of my cooking progress. I'll also share an embarrassing secret later which will definitely make you laugh and wonder how I even made it to this stage of my cooking pursuit. I’ve been at school for 3 weeks now and starting to get into the routine of getting up early (getting out of bed really !!), getting the bus and to class on time. I’m getting to know the kids better in class – I’m enjoying working in the kitchen with them and we have quickly got the teamwork going which is nice. We’ve started learning about the various kitchen equipment and the basic precision cuts of food. So there’s been a lot of chopping, slicing, dicing and peeling and of course, cut fingers.!! We’ve made croutons which I burnt in 3 different shades of brown. One good thing about cutting up food is that sometimes we get to eat it for lunch. I have a long long long way to go to master the ‘craw’ by tucking my fingers back while cutting. It takes a lot of practice so I just have to persist.  

 

still got a lot of work to do with precision cuts

Today's menu was coleslaw and bruschetta. It's amazing how many little things I learnt in just doing that. I don't normally order bruschetta when I go out, it's just tomato on toast really but, it's pretty popular if it's done nice and right. Mine turned out quite tasty and I needed some help with my garnish presentation. It's good to look at what everyone else does but again, I learnt a lot and ended up with a decent looking plate.

 

One of my friends badly cut her finger last week and ended up needing surgery as she cut nerves. Poor bugger, she’s got her lower arm and hand covered in plaster and bandages and I think she’ll be off for a few weeks. I was proud of myself for not fainting that day but I was cafeful to not look to closely and just focus on ensuring my friend was feeling ok – which she was. The woman has had 3 children so she ain’t worried about a cut finger….fair enough I reckon.

I’ve put my resume out to quite a few places hoping to get some work. The hospitality industry is unlike my previous career. I’ve had to walk into restaurants and personally hand in my resume and chat with the chef, hoping to make a good impression. Something will come soon but I just have to keep trying. 

The unpacking is progressing slowly. We are offloading some furniture and throwing out documents from about 20 years ago. I finally put my ol’ faithful favourite mountain bike together and need to get it serviced and go for a spin soon. I’d love to ride to school as the bus takes too bloody long and I need to start riding again. We have put a car on hold for Deb and hoping to see it in the next few days – it’s in Wollongong (about 2 hours away). Deb’s been having lunches with friends and getting back into her running group. I’ve started running also and Cricket has been coming with both us most of the time. I’m sure both dogs miss Rock Creek Park – I know I do. No progress on the flying as I’m waiting to get a job first so I can have some money to pay for the lessons. 

Now onto that cooking secret….well it’s quite embarrassing and I have never lived it down. Quite a few years ago I asked a friend for a lemon tart recipe. This friend was a former chef. I took the ingredient list to the supermarket and got everything but one….lemon zest. Well I walked up and down the cooking aisle 5 times, looking up, down, everywhere. I then walked a few more aisles guessing where ‘lemon zest’ might be. Now, I came very close to asking an assistant where the lemon zest was but by some stroke of luck, I didn’t and thank god now that I didn’t. I went home and emailed my friend….what is lemon zest, where do I buy it? Well, she reacted as you probably are right now. Laughing out very loudly. Well, I felt pretty bloody dumb when she told me. Why didn’t they just say grated lemon rind?? I’d never heard of zest. Anyway, that story of cooking shame has stayed with me for years and every time I see it in a recipe, I cringe inside. So there you have it, can a chef have anything more embarrassing than that……looking for lemon zest in the shopping aisles !!

And here’s another funny for you…a friend put this on facebook and it took me a few minutes but I finally got it and laughed my head off. Until next time, stay warm or cool depending on where you are in the world.

 

First Day of School

Guess who’s started chef school? Yep, I’ve hit the ground running. We haven’t finished unpacking and I’ve already headed off to school to fulfill the ‘tongs’ part of this blog’s name. This has been my first week, 2 days of theory which made for very long days, no naps and no daytime entertainment TV. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to sit still in a classroom for 8 hours. The class is about 37 students and we’re a mix of us doing cooking and others who will branch away and do patisserie – good friends to know and I have volunteered myself to test any samples they make. As always, my life is full of laughs and my first day at school was memorable. I was up around 6am to get the bus so it was a bit of an early shock start. I stuffed up the bus routine despite studying the timetables for hours on Sunday. You can picture me running about the bus terminal checking times and bus numbers. Things are a wee bit different since I left. And then, I went to buy something from the café and only realised after scrounging in my backpack, that I had left my wallet at home. Great, bit embarrassing. A nice guy offered me some money but I was ok, bit of old pride there I think but I did I have my lunch, just wanted something else naughty. And then the NEXT day, I came home and was looking for my paw paw ointment for my lips (paw paw ointment is like Vaseline for my non Aussie readers). It was on the bathroom sink. Hmmm, only then did I realise that this was the hair gel I put through my hair yesterday morning!!! Far out, I wondered why my hair was not the best yesterday, Vaseline is not meant to be hair gel. It’s a similar tub to one of my hair products and clearly at 6am yesterday I had no idea what I was doing. Yeah, so it was an interesting day.

After 2 days of theory and some food hygiene/safety quizzes, we had our first day in the kitchen as Day 3. The day was exciting for everyone, putting on their check pants and white jackets for the first time. The white skull caps are a bit unattractive, a bit like those hats that come in xmas bon bons. The kitchen was where we sorted out the rookies from the wanna-be Masterchefs. You could feel the buzz around the kitchen as everyone compared clothes, knives, tools and shoes. The day was another long one, lots of introduction to the kitchen layout and equipment and a thorough lesson in hand washing. Our food outcome for the first day was a lemon herb dressing roast chicken and salad. It was easy to see those who had kitchen experience and those who have never even been in the kitchen at home. About half way through the lesson, there was a queue at the first aid cabinet for knife cuts and a couple of hands under cold water following some light burns from picking up frypans with hot handles – they missed the memo on using your teatowel to pick up hot items. I survived these tests but managed to knock over my little tub of dressing. Thus my salad had about 1 teaspoon of dressing in it making it a little bland of flavor. I worked next to a young guy who clearly has industry experience – he made me feel like I was on an episode of Masterchef and I was going to be leaving next when I looked at his plate and mine. His presentation was fabulous. Will keep my eye on him. I came home exhausted with a headache and had a nap for an hour. Definitely need to pick up my work-fitness game for Week 2. 

Well the dogs came home safely and it was a wonderful happy tails reunion. It was a very different welcome than what they gave me in DC so we were pleased. They knew they were home and enjoyed sniffing and exploring their old place. Cricket had only lived here for 7 months before going to DC so it’s not as homely to him as Macey, who’s been here forever. Cricket still looks for squirrels and I feel sad that they are not running free in the massive Rock Creek Park where we lived. But it’s all about the smells and they seem to be overdosing on the new smells here. Funny thing with Cricket….whenever one of us comes home in the car, he runs to the left hand side of the car to see the driver. He’s used the US cars that are left hand drive. It’s very cute to see and he’s such a smart boy.

We are slowing unpacking our boxes and settling in. It feels like a such a chore. We’ve unpacked enough to function but we’re taking our time with the rest of the stuff. It’s a good time to cull some things and we are a bit worried about the stuff still to come home from DC. Where did all the stuff fit 3 years ago? I hope to unpack my bike this weekend – the others are yet to come over from DC. 

 

The dishwasher doesn’t work and the washing machine decided to die by leaking grease into the drum. Sadly, it did this when I was washing my new white chef jacket !!  So Deb has had a few dates with tradies this week to get things fixed and delivered. I’ve eaten a truck load of sausages – I love sausages. The coffee is great and I haven’t had a sossy roll yet so that will be task 1 for the weekend. It’s hard to not to ignore that we are both feeling a bit of culture shock. I was not sure this would happen but it has in a few ways. The traffic is certainly very very quiet compared to DC. It literally feels like a public holiday on the roads. I feel very weird getting around, things feel different, the people are different and I feel like bit of a stranger. Driving is ok, only a few adjustments to the proper side of the road. I’m sure things will feel like normal soon enough.

Well that’s a quick wrap on the first week of school. And I have an assignment to do :o

 

 

Welcome Home

My final post on the 50 Shades of DC blog saw us leaving Washington DC right before that polar freeze event happened. Our flight left around 2.30pm and the snow was getting ready to start. We both just wanted to get on the plane and leave, worried the snow storm would delay our travel. But we got away on time, flew through Dallas and back to Sydney. As an Australian knows only too well, it was a long trip home. The general flight time LAX-SYD is around 14 hours but from Dallas it’s about 17 hours. Unfortuately it was a rough flight from Dallas to Sydney. It was constant turbulence and quite rough at times. I don’t like turbulence and at around the 8 hour mark it was taking a toll on people. The guy next to us ran down the aisle with a sick bag and I had my bag next to me as the nausea was hitting me too. It was constant rocking and rolling and I’ve never had such a long rough flight. I was so glad to get on the ground. We missed our connection in Sydney which I anticipated. But we only had a half hour wait to get the next flight.

 

Arriving home, I was surprised to find 2 of my dear friends (also known as chooks) waiting at the airport to welcome us home. It was hilarious – they were hiding to surprise me but didn’t realize I went behind them to get a trolley while Deb went to the carousel. When I walked past them, I realized who they were and gave them the nice suprise. It was a great laugh. As I went to the baggage carousel I saw a Batman sign. Yes, I’m a big batman fan and this was their special welcome. Thanks S&A, you were brave to come and hug us after 30+ hours of travel and give us a Aussie survival pack with Weetbix, lamingtons, chips and chocolate. These girls know the way to our heart. 

We arrived home mid-morning and couldn’t get into our accommodation until the afternoon. We headed to the popular café strip for a nice breakfast including real bacon and of course, good COFFEE !! We got a new phone for Deb, had a look at the house and were thrilled with the paintwork which had just been done. We also did some bank work where we were both starting to yawn and fade after the long journey and finally, we picked up our car. My friend Aussie Bob had secured this car for me a few weeks ago and this was a real bonus. This will be my car, a little run-about. Deb will get the 'family' car later. It saved us hunting for a car now and paying money for a rental car. It’s an old car, 2004 but it’s a Subaru Forester and quite low in mileage for car her age. I’ve decided to call her Ruth, after the icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG is a US supreme court justice who is still going strong at 85. She broke the gender discrimination laws in the US back in the 60s and there is currently a movie about her called On The Basis of Sex. RBG is sensible, strong, decent and is an icon in the US. So I felt it fitting to call my new car Ruth because it’s old, strong and gets the job done.

Our second day was very busy. I went to TAFE to finalise my enrollment and get some information. I now have a student card so it’s cheaper buses and movie tickets for me. I have to start looking for a restaurant job somewhere and have also applied for a part time job – I’ll wait to see if I get it before telling you all about it. Right now, any money is good money so I’m happy to do anything. 

The dogs are currently in Melbourne in quarantine. They are half way through the 10 day period and doing well from all reports. They come home next Friday so it’s still a long wait ahead. The jet lag is hitting us. It’s worse going to the US but it’s still an adjustment coming this direction. Our first night’s sleep lasted until 3am, the second night until 5am and today we made it to about 7am so we’re improving. We both still get sleepy in the later afternoon because this is bedtime back in DC and our body clock is very confused. We’ve come home to bad bushfires in Tasmania and major flooding in Townsville which is my hometown. My family live there and are fortunately not under water (yet).  A lot of homes are already under water and the dam capacity is at 200% and climbing. There is a slow moving monsoonal trough and the constant heavy rain for days has created havoc across the region. I’m in contact with my family daily and am very anxious for them. 

We’ve been swamped with offers of help and dinners from friends and it’s been fantastic to see familiar faces again. We are also feeling a bit of culture shock, particularly with the traffic. It feels like a public holiday as the traffic is so quiet. 3 years ago it felt like chaos but after 3 years in DC, this is nothing !! We are stumbling at checkouts because we use swipe paywave and pins for our credit cards which is very fast, unlike signing the paper slip in the US which is time consuming. And of course, no tipping. Sorry to my US friends but Aussies struggle with the whole tip routine and it’s a breeze to come home and not worry about having a maths test to pay a bill. And of course we are driving cautiously to ensure we stay on the correct side of the ride. We come unstuck at intersections or entrances as we tend to veer right and quickly have to adjust. I keep looking for the gear stick with my right hand so that will take time to stop.

Anyway, enough for now. We have a big week ahead. Our house gets new carpet tomorrow and our stuff comes out of storage so that’s when the fun begins. I hope it's survived 3 years of being packed away.  The stuff form DC will take up to 3 months by sea so hopefully I’ve left a good settling in kit here for us to live ok. 

It’s great to be home but we are also feeling the sadness of not seeing familiar faces in DC. We miss you all and hope you are staying safe and warm in the freezing weather.

Oh and we are now off to Bunnings (big Aust hardware store chain) to get a sausage sandwich !!!  And here it is.