Life in a Blender

Today was the hardest day of my schooling. The CCA hosted local politicians to a luncheon buffet which included Mayor Newsome and probably Jerry Brown showed. I don't know since I was busy trying to avoid my nervous breakdown from all the work we had to do.

Other classes were also involved, since it was a special event for Election Day. We had pastries from the Baking Classes, all the terrines, gallantines, sausages, and cold specialties like huge-mungeous fruit and cheese platters from the Advanced Garde Manger classes, and then there was the hot buffet items that our class, Restaurant Production, made. Mind you, there are only 7 of us in this class. We prepped a ton of food yesterday and had a ton more to cook today.

I had to prep Salmon, Cod, Trout, and Sea Bass. A lot of it. My hands still smell like fish. I also prepped a full huge ham yesterday and made a garlic-ginger sauce for it from the bones in the ham, I wish my hands smelled like ginger. I sliced up two full big cooked turkey breasts, hacked up some baked chicken legs and thighs and refilled chaffing dishes and empty platters to return to the buffet line. There was a leg of lamb cooked and sliced, pork chops, NY steaks, chicken breasts and veal roasts; we had vegetables, mashed potatoes, lasagne, pasta with sausage sauce, and on and on.

In the end, the Chef said we had 450 guests between 11:30 and 1:30!! I cannot believe it but my back and feet really believe it. It was amazing. 7 of us cooked hot foods for 450 people during 2 hours. We should get some kind of award or something for even showing up for this event. It was really madness at its finest. I had no clue I could do such work and I don't want to do it again! Our Chef is absolutely incredible. He had to think of all the things we had to do and every 15 minutes someone was calling for him or asking instructions. I don't know how he does it but he truly deserves his title of Master Chef. I'm in awe of him.

SF Civic Center Goes Country

The downtown San Francisco Civic Center has done something pretty amazing. They are using grow food! All food products harvested from the site will go into the SF Food Bank to help feed those in need.

I think this is very forward thinking. Its received a lot of good attention and was the backdrop for the recent Labor Day Slow Food Nation fair.

I walked through it the other day to see what they were growing. There's squash, broccoli, onions, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, corn, and herbs. Its a real treat for this city dweller to see a bit of "country" nearby. It is also proving nice for the pollenators. I noticed a lot of butterfly's and bees at work.

As a Chef in Training, this is my Eye Candy. I'm proud of the Mayor of San Francisco for allowing this opportunity. More Cities should follow suit. Its all volunteer staffed by people who want to make a difference. I'm all for that. You Rock, San Fran!