| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SUMMER MENTORSHIP HOURS | |||
2 | Date | Hours | What I Did | Total Hours |
3 | 6/8/2014 | 5 Hours | Made sure dining area was set up and fully stocked. Waitressed for first hour, then took over omelete preperation. Prepared variety of omeletes. Claened and put away dining area | 5 Hours |
4 | 6/22/2014 | 4 Hours 40 Minutes | Made sure dining area was set up and fully stocked. Ran kitchen as expiditor; called out orders, organized priority of dishes, put together plates. I also aided in toast and omelete stations. Cleaned dining area. | 9 Hours 40 Minutes |
5 | 7/27/2014 | 4 Hours | Worked as waitress, taking and giving out orders, restocking tables, cleaning, and running cash register. Cleaned and put away dining area. | 13 Hours 40 Minutes |
6 | 8/3/2014 | 4 Hours 20 Minutes | Worked as waitress, taking and giving out orders, restocking tables, cleaning, and running cash register. Aided in pancake station. Cleaned and put away dining area. | 18 Hours |
7 | MENTORSHIP HOURS | |||
8 | Date | Hours | What I Did | Total Hours |
9 | 10/9/2014 | 2 Hour 32 Minutes | First day of mentorship at the Avocado House. I was introduced to a lot of workers, most of whom I don't remember the name of. I mostly worked with my mentor, Chris, and another cook named Andrew. I sliced decorative oranges, prepared a mustard sauce and soy sauce/seasame seed sauce for a pork loin roast, and then made salsa. After close, I cleaned the countertops and stove. | 2 Hour 32 Minutes |
10 | 10/14/2014 | 2 Hours 34 Minutes | I sliced mushrooms, cut broccolli, peeled and sliced roasted bell peppers, and then cracked eggs. All of this was to prepare for omelettes; they precut all the toppings a day or two in advance, and always have gallons of cracked eggs ready to be scrambled, cooked and served. | 5 Hours 6 Minutes |
11 | 10/16/2014 | 2 Hours 50 Minutes | Today, I learned how to make their tuna and chicken salad. In the process, I learned how to cut an apple and a more effective way of chopping celery. I also cut more brocolli, sliced more mushrooms, chopped ham, minced jalepenos, and cracked more eggs. I learned how to use a food processor while preparing the chicken salad | 7 Hours 56 Minutes |
12 | 10/18/2014 | 6 Hours 55 Minutes | This was my first Saturday, which is the busiest day by far for the restaraunt. It was "slow" and there was still a line well outside the door. I spent the day going between making waffels and restocking the omelette station, which needed to be done quite often since there was a large number of omelettes constantly being ordered. I finally saw why I spent alm ost all my time Tuesday and Thursday afternoon cutting, chopping, and cracking eggs: because we would use it ALL and then some. Around noon, they had me make pancake batter, but gave me the wrong recipe in which I ended up using twice the amount of buttermilk I should have. One of the owners came in and had to fix it while I went back to restocking. Thankfully, the cook that gave me the recipe took full blame, but it was really scary. | 14 Hours 51 Minutes |
13 | 10/21/2014 | 2 Hours 41 Minutes | I made chicken salad, baked bacon, and cracked about 7 gallons of eggs, which was around 3 and a half crates worth. I probably spent just under two hours cracking eggs. | 17 Hours 32 Minutes |
14 | 10/23/2014 | 2 Hours 49 Minutes | Today I cracked about 12 gallons of eggs. That was my main job. I also baked more bacon, and chopped broccoli. | 20 Hours 21 Minutes |
15 | 10/25/2014 | 6 Hours 21 Minutes | Today felt faster than last Saturday. I worked as fast as I could to keep up with restocking the omelet bar and making waffles. I also successfully made 6 gallons of pancake batter, correctly this time. I also sliced tomatoes. By 11 everything slowed down, and I got out half an hour early because by the time I finished my lunch break, we were very slow. | 26 Hours 42 Minutes |
16 | 10/28/2014 | 2 Hours 52 Minutes | Today, I cracked more eggs, made bacon, and learned how to make our amazing carmel syrup. Then I chopped sausages. | 29 Hours 34 Minutes |
17 | 10/30/2014 | 2 Hours 48 Minutes | I cracked about 10 gallons of eggs, made bacon, chopped jalepenos, and even made some waffles. It was an unusually busy afternoon, so I also cleaned when I got in. | 32 Hours 22 Minutes |
18 | 11/1/2014 | 6 Hours 26 Minutes | It rained! On Saturdays, we usually have almost half of our guests sitting outside, but because of the rain we lost all the tables that weren't under the porch. This meant that the day was "unusually slow" (although I was surprised by the number of people that still sat outside). I spent the day making pancake batter, waffles, and restocking the omelet station. Because we were so slow, the cooks started teaching me how to make the sandwiches; I was able to make more than a few. Then I chopped fruit. Also, my mentor let me stay an hour and fifteen minutes late, so I got to see how the restaurant closes for the weekend. We aren't open Sunday or Monday, so closing Saturday means putting EVERYTHING away and cleaning more deeply than normal. | 38 Hours 48 Minutes |
19 | 11/4/2014 | 2 Hours 52 Minutes | Today I cracked around 3 gallons of eggs, but then we ran out. I then made bacon and three batches of caramel syrup. I got out half an hour early because even though other stuff needed to be prepped, we hadn't gotten our deliveries yet and I couldn't really do anything else. | 41 Hours 40 Minutes |
20 | 11/6/2014 | 2 Hours 12 Minutes | Today I was late because I forgot my uniform at home. When I finally got there, I cracked around 5 crates of eggs. I also cut 2.5 gallons of sausage and 1 gallon of broccoli. | 43 Hours 52 Minutes |
21 | 11/8/2014 | 6 Hours 23 Minutes | Today was slow. I was able to keep up with restocking the omelet station and waffles. I made batter, diced tomatoes, and also sliced cherry tomatoes for some catering. It was an enjoyable day, if a little boring towards the end. | 50 Hours 15 Minutes |
22 | 11/13/2014 | 3 Hours 44 Minutes | Today I cracked 5 crates of eggs, sliced oranges, and did detail cleaning in the kitchen. | 53 Hours 59 Minutes |
23 | 11/15/2015 | 6 Hours 21 Minutes | Today started off boring and slow. I stayed on top of restocking and manning the waffle station; I was able to make some sadnwiches, chop tomatoes, and make 6 gallons of pancake batter as well. After my lunch, the restaraunt packed up a lot, and we became packed. I had to continue to srestock, but we started running out of pre-chopped stuff so I chopped mor tomato, ham, and mushrooms. I also had to make another 2 gallons of pancake batter. It became quit hectic and I tried to clean between tasks. What I found most interesting was how crazy the kitchen still was when the line cleared; despite the fact that no more orders were coming in, we still needed to rush to get everything out on time. | 60 Hours 20 Minutes |
24 | 11/18/2014 | 3 Hours 47 minutes | Today I made bacon and cracked eggs. I sort of had to dance around everyone else, because today the owners had their first holiday cater: a full turkey dinner. I had to bounce around a lot, clean up after others, and try to balance a couple different things. | 64 Hours 7 Minutes |
25 | 11/20/2014 | 3 Hours 43 Minutes | It was a storm! One cook didn't come in, so they were behind the whole day and didn't get as much prep done because of that. Once I walked through the door, my mentor had me clock in so I could start on 8 tins of bacon strips (I normally do 0-3), 3 gallons of bacon bits (those are usually done when I get in) and 20 gallons of eggs (I usually do 8-12). On top of that, we had another cater, this one three times the size of Tuesday's, so I had to continue to dance around the other, as well as clean up more messes. Baking bacon and cracking eggs are both messy proccesses that require a lot of time and room, so I had to try my hardest to condense the space I used as well as how long it took. In the end, I stayed an hour late and still only did 4 tins of bacon strips, 2 gallons of bacon bits, and 8 gallons of bacon bits, but I worked harder and faster than I had expected; after timing myself, I found I could crack a full gallon of eggs in 2.5 minutes (my first gallon ever probably took around 8 minutes). What makes that process difficult, however, is restocking the walk in fridge with eggs from the garage fridge, then getting out a new crate every 2 gallons, cleaning the gallons once they have been filled, and replacing them. The bacon process takes a long time because I can only use 5 trays at a time, each of which can only hold around 15 pieces of bacon each, and needs 13 minutes to cook, then drain, and replace with more bacon. Overall, though I did some of the most basic things today, I felt I showed how far I've come. | 67 Hours 50 Minutes |
26 | 11/22/2014 | 6 Hours 16 Minutes | Today, like last Saturday, started pretty slow. I didn't work at my fastest pace. I made pancake batter and cleaned and restocked the omelet bar, like normal; I also made waffles, as usual. The cooks seem to be giving me more freedom, as in not as much direction in what to do, but I'm still casutious, so usually ask when I want to do something (example: I know we need pancake batter, so I ask "can I make a couple gallons of pancake batter?), and then they usually let me do it. I also got to make a lot more sandwiches, but I find it difficult because the cooks expect me to maintan my normal responsibilites (waffle, restock, etc.) while I'm making the sandwiches. I'm getting better at it, but because I don't normally make sandwiches on Tuesday or THursday, I find it difficult. | 71 Hours 6 Minutes |
27 | 11/25/2014 | 3 Hours 47 Minutes | Today I cracked eggs and made bacon, as usual, but then I got to make salsa and creamy tomato soup. It was fun to get to cook instead of prep today. | 74 Hours 53 Minutes |
28 | 11/29/2014 | 6 Hours 22 Minutes | Today felt crazy! Normally I do a lot of prep work on Thursdays so we're all set for Friday and Saturday, but because of Thanksgiving, the restarauunt was closed and everyone had the day off, so today we were behind! I sliced and diced tomatoes, made waffles, stocked the omelete station, made batter, and made bacon. All that stuff is normal, but usually I don't have to do those things in such volume on Saturdays. I was running around like a chicken with their head cut off because I was being told to do so many things at once! However, I think that has helped me with my prioritization and organizational skills. Though I knew many different things had to be done soon, I was able to decide which should be done first and which could wait a moment. Also, my mentor Chris brought to my attention that many things people in our restaraunt do are bad form and has promised to teach me the "proper" (as in, the way most chefs believe things should be done) way. In other words, he said that now that I'm really catching onto things, he's going to begin a more professional training for me. One example is that everyone at our restaurant makes pancake batter by putting all the wet ingrediants in a bowl, mixing, adding dry ingrediants, and mixing again. He said I should have two bowls, one for wet and one for dry, and then after I mix both I can add the dry ingrediants to the wet ones. | 81 Hours 15 Minutes |
29 | 12/2/2014 | 1 Hour 25 Minutes | I didn't do much today, because I had to leave early. All I did was bake and chop a lot of bacon. | 82 Hours 40 Minutes |
30 | 12/4/2014 | 1 Hour 22 Minutes | Today, all I did was crack eggs. | 84 Hours 2 Minutes |
31 | 12/6/2014 | 6 Hours 18 Minutes | Today wasn't much. I did the normal things: made batter and restocked omelette bar. Almost boring, really. | 90 Hours 20 Minutes |
32 | 12/13/2014 | 6 hours 23 Minutes | A normal Saturday. Made batter, chopped tomatoes, made waffles, restocked omelette bar, made more batter, and restocked more. I go to do a little more sand which making. Somehow, though, they kept me so busy and I went on lunch so late, by the time I got back I only worked for another 25 minutes!! | 96 Hours 43 Minutes |
33 | 12/16/2014 | 2 Hours 50 Minutes | Baked bacon and cracked eggs! My record is still at 2.5 minutes per gallon. | 99 Hours 33 Minutes |
34 | 12/18/2014 | 2 Hours 25 Minutes | Challenge: 20 gallons of eggs. Status: complete. I cracked 20 gallons in just 2 hours! I didn't think I'd make it... But I did. I also got a gallon of chopped bacon done. | 101 Hours 58 Minutes |
35 | 12/20/2014 | 6 Hours 42 Minutes | My last day of the year! It was a little slow, but I got to do the normal things, plus make a lot more sandwiches!! I think I'm getting pretty good at them. | 108 Hours 40 Minutes |
36 | 1/10/2015 | 6 Hours 43 Minutes | Today was pretty crazy; we were behind on the prep for things like bacon and tomato, which we are almost never behind on, so Is tayed busy. They also let me make a lot more sandwhiches today. It got pretty stressful, though, because they expected me to make batter, make sandwiches, and make waffles all ai once! They also said, however, that I'll get used to it eventually. | 115 Hours 23 Minutes |
37 | 1/17/2015 | 7 Hours 48 Minutes | Woo! It was BUSY today, and we were missing a cook. Apparently, Tyler no longer works here, which I wish someone had told me because I would've liked to say goodbye. Because we haven't replaced him yet, though, we were really behind on prep. I had to make bacon, chop gallons of vegetables, and even crack eggs! I was also basically in charge of sandwiches, since everyone else was focused on the griddle and omelette stations; I was on the sandwhiches for almost two hours straight. I felt like I was truly helping today. | 123 Hours 11 Minutes |
38 | 1/24/2015 | 6 Hours 18 Minutes | We got a new guy and he is efficient! I had to train him a bit, because he didn't know how to restock and everything, but he caught on quick and even though we were a bit behind at stocking in the beginning, we caught up so well that I was able to leave early! | 129 Hours 29 Minutes |
39 | 1/31/2014 | 6 Hours 14 Minutes. | The new guy is so efficient, I had little to do today; batter, waffles, some sandwiches, but he did a lot too. I chooped some mushrooms and continued to restock, but it was a pretty simple day. | 135 Hours 43 Minutes |
40 | 2/7/2015 | 6 Hours 22 Minutes. | Again, as the day started there wasn't much for me to do besides make batter, so my mentor gev me a task; he said I could make three gallons of any soup I wanted to! I had to use a hot plate, though, so it took a really long time. I ended up making cauliflower soup, but the chunks were too small, as well as creamy carrot soup, but that was too thick and made less then I had anticipated; I'm not sure if I'll get to make soup again. | 142 Hours 5 Minutes |
41 | 2/14/2015 | 6 Hours 46 Minutes | It was Valentine's Daya nd new guy was sick and my mentor wasn't coming in until noon because he was doing the special dinner service, so oh no, it was crazy! The powners were cooking, and they are not as neat as Chris is; in fact, they are a mess, so I had to clean constantly to make up for them; I still had to make batter, waffles, sandwhiches, and also try to prep for the Valentine's dinner; I was also lead on restocking since new guy wasn't here. It was pretty intense. However, I did get to make soup again! I made a couple of gallons of broccolli soup before the first major rush, and I actually did it right! I was pretty proud of myself. I actually had to ask to leave today though; it was pretty insane. Once Chris showed up a 12, though, things got a little easier. I wish new guy could have come. | 148 Hours 51 Minutes |
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48 | INDEPENDENT COMPONENT 1 HOURS | |||
49 | Date | Hours | What I Did | Total Hours |
50 | 11/7/2014 | 1 Hour | Reviewed recipes and techniques from Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking for cooking for guests. Entry 27F in research notebook. | 1 Hour |
51 | 11/10/2014 | 3 Hours | I researched fall menus and looked up variations of recipes I liked. I was able to create a basic menu for my first dinner party, along with the basic idea for a dessert for my thrid dinne rparty.. I have also created a document called "Independent Component 1: Dinner Party Planner" which will include details for the three meals I plan to create. I have put a link to these documents on the right side of my blog under "Links". My preliminary shopping list for my first party is just about down as well. | 4 Hours |
52 | 11/13/2014 | 2 Hours 30 Minutes | I created a basic timeline for me to follow from 11/14-22/2014. I edited the menu, and researched vinegrettes, entry 28G in research notebook. I finished creating LIST 1. | 6 Hours 30 minutes |
53 | 11/14/2014 | 1 Hours 30 Minutes | I went to two markets (Hank's Market and Stater Brothers) and bought almost everything on LIST 1. I also lost my reciepts, but spent around $40. | 8 Hours |
54 | 11/15/2014 | 1 Hour | Finished buying everything (except walnuts) from LIST 1. I went to Costco and have the reciepts. | 9 Hours |
55 | 11/16/2014 | 3 Hours | I practiced making my appetizer, salad, stuffing for the main course, and dessert. I tried to do everything about in the order I imagine doing it for the actual dinner party, starting with deep prep like chopping apples and storing them in lemonade and ending with pulling the muishrooms out of the oven and tossing the salad. I Think my apple cider vinegrette needs more honey and pronbably a little sugar, because it's a bit too acidic. I'll probably add mor eoil, as well, and use a better whisk next time to get a better emulsification. Overall, I think the preperations were a success; I enjoyed the food I cooked. I also brought the salad to work and my coworkers all tried and enjoyed my salad, so I think I'm on the right track. | 12 Hours |
56 | 11/18/2014 | 1 Hour | I practiced making the pork tenderloin today. It was really easy since I already had the stuffing prepared. I'm glad I practiced because I pulled it out too early, so now I have a better idea of how much time it needs. It also needed to be salted and seasoned on the outside better, and probably would benefit from a smaller pan so the juices will stay more concentrated. I'm very happy I tested this out because it was good, but now I can make it better. | 13 Hours |
57 | 11/21/2014 | 2 Hours | I went to the market to get apples, spinach, and a few other fresh ingrediants, made the dessert, and prepped more by dicing and chopping things for tomorrow. I also made the vinegrette, which I think tastes a lot better than my last batch. | 15 Hours |
58 | 11/22/2014 | 9 Hours | I went to the market to get a few things I forgot (dinner rolls and a vegetable, green beans), then to my mom's house to get all the stuff I bought last week and forgo, along with some nice plates. WhenI got back, I went s straight into finishing prep, pre-staging, and trying to make it so everything stage of the meal was staggered, as Gordon Ramsay said in his cookbook. I had to send my dad to the market for thyme and bacon, because I left the thyme at my mom's and I didn't put the bacon in the fridge the night before. I also had to call my guests because I realized I didn't have enough forks or placematts. One girl said she could bring some. One guest arrived an hour ealry and helped by rinsing the dishes for me, and two more arrived half an hour early. They helped set the table, and then they all started making napkin cranes while I finished cooking. At almost exactly 7, the girl with the place matts and utensils arrived and they finished setting the table. Upon our fifth guests arrival, everyone was folding napkin cranes and the appetizers were ready to be served, but three guests were unaccounted for. Two were unable to come, and one would be there around 8; I served the appetizers, put the roast in the oven, and socialized while eating stuffed mushrooms with everyone. The salad was served around 8, but the main course wasn't served until almost 9. My goal was to serve the roast around 8:30, but my guests didn't seem to mind. Dessert was eaten around 9:40, and evryone left around 10. Then I had to clean. That part isn't all the way done, but It's close enough for now. | 25 Hours |
59 | 12/10/2014 | 1 Hour | I wrote up a blog post on the recipe and story behind my stuffed mushrooms. | 26 Hours |
60 | 12/23/2014 | 1 Hour 30 Minutes | I wrote a blog post on the recipe and story of creating and serving the Spinach-Cranberry Salad and Apple Cider Vinegraitte from my dinner party. | 27 Hours 30 Minutes |
61 | 1/9/2015 | 45 Minutes | Read and took notes on the artle "Really Crisp Roasted Potatoes," entry 40 in my WB. | 28 Hours 15 Minutes |
62 | 1/14/2015 | 45 Minutes | I planned revisions for my Independent Component during advisory house today. I had to make some changes due to financial and time restrictions. I explain it more in a blog post called "Some Revisions" on my blog. | 29 Hours |
63 | 1/23/2015 | 2 Hours | I created the blog posts for the recipes I used when making an Apple-Stuffed Pork Loin Roast, the dessert, and one for my two side dishes. | 31 Hours |
64 | 2/2/2015 | 1 Hour 15 Minutes | I went to the market and bought the things to re-make the Apple-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Potatoes. Also, when putting away my reciept, I went to put it with all my other Independent Component reciepts and discovered all I had were a bunch of clothing reciepts; I thought I threw the clothing reciepts away a couple weeks ago, but I actually threw away all my other Independent Component reciepts, so all the previous ones are gone. | 32 Hours 15 Minutes |
65 | 2/3/2015 | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | I came home and retried the Apple-Stuffed Pork Loin and Roasted Potatoes. Though the potatoes came out much creamier in the center, their color was similar to before; I just wanted them browner and crisper! I think the problem was I didn't preheat the pan before placing to potatoes on it. As for the roast, it was much juicier and a bit more flavorful, but overall I had the same problem with it: it was just a bit too sweet! Salting the meat before baking it definitely helped, but what made the meal balanced was that I made the potatoes really salty; this way the sweetness from the meat was then balanced by the saltiness of the potatoes. Some of the fat on the top of the pork loin was burnt, however. I think I could prevent this by adding foil covering for the first half hour; because the meat was seared, it needed more cool time and less exposure. Overall, this meal has given support to my answer 1 (the fact that one taste balanced another, sweet and salty) and gave support to two potential answers: salt enhances flavor (which was salting the meat and letting it rest, then cooking it) and that cooking (using heat) allows flavors to be melded and married, producing better, more developed flavors than before. All in all, I feel this last part of my Independent Component was a success. | 35 Hours |
66 | INDEPENDENT COMPONENT 2 HOURS-Mentorship | |||
67 | Date | Hours | What I Did | Total Hours |
68 | 2/21/2015 | 6 Hours 29 Minutes | Batter, waffles, sandwichs, restock. It got pretty boring, especially compared to last week. I don't feel like I did much. | 6 Hours 29 Minutes |
69 | 2/28/2015 | 6 Hours 32 Minutes | Pretty much the same as last week; I did get to restock a bit more, but I stood around for much too much time; I kept tryign to fill my time with cleaning, but there just wasn't much to do. I kept everything perfectly stocked all day. | 13 Hours 1 Minute |
70 | 3/7/2015 | 6 Hours 32 Minutes | Today was pretty fun! I made a lot of sanwiches, and we were pretty busy. I've realised just how fun it is having new guy there; he always helps me with everything. When I'm making pancake batter and getting the dry ingrediants together, I come back to my we ingredients and they are qalready measured and in the bowl. This makes work easier. It's also a lot of fun making sandwiches with him; we'll whip out like four sandwiches in no time because we help each other out. It's weirdly like doing drive through with another person; when you are able to really work with another person, you know what they're going to do and fill in on what you know they won't and vice versa. It's a lopt of fun! | 19 Hours 33 Minutes |
71 | 3/14/2015 | 6 Hours 41 Minutes | Today I made a lot of batter and also had to cook bacon. We were behind on stock for some reason, so I also had to chop extra onion and bell peppers; I also sliced tomato and mushrooms. I made waffles and didn't get to do as many sandwhiches as normal. | 26 Hours 14 Minutes |
72 | 3/28/2015 | 6 Hours 33 Minutes | Today was kind of slow and a pretty basic day. Batter, restock, prep broccolli and mushrooms, and make sandwiches. I had to find something to do a couple of times, but I just kept cleaning and prepping. | 32 Hours 47 Minutes |
73 | 4/4/2015 | 4 Hours 50 Minutes | Today was hard because I wasn't feeling very well. I made pancake batter and chopped vegetables like normal, but I didn't do as much as I usually do because I was moving very slowly. I ended up skipping my break and going home two hours early. | 37 Hours 37 Minutes |