Minimal Screw Ups in the KItchen: That Little Notebook

I have been working at my daughter’s kitchen for a while. After doing the same jobs over and over, I seem to be finally hitting my stride.

 

For the longest time, I have written down how to make certain things. I would write and re-write how to prepare and assemble certain food dishes. I keep a little notebook in my purse, only to jot down something new or look at what I need for the job that I am working on. Although, I keep my notebook with me (and I have food spots on each page), I’m finding that I don’t seem to be using it as much. I guess doing the same jobs, over and over, seems to be etched in my brain.

 

There are times that I actually remember all those little tips of how to finish off some of my platters for eye appeal. I even managed not to open the dishwasher during a rinse cycle. Thankfully, the floor and I have remained consistently drier then in my earlier years of helping out.

 

But today – after all my hours of working and not screwing up – I managed to screw up two of my jobs. I burned the cookies that I was baking for an event…despite that I was working at the prep table right across from the ovens.

 

Then the croutons that I had cut from day old bread and tossed with all those herbs and olive oil – burned.  The saddest part was that I had just turned the trays around. In the end, I totally forgot that I had the croutons in the oven.

 

Maybe it is the fact that when I am working alone in the kitchen, I seem to be paying better attention then when I am working with someone and talking to them.

 

Oh well, I guess I am happy to realize that my mistakes and screw ups are only occurring occasionally and not all the time. I guess that really is something to be happy about.

House Hunting

I have been driving around my area, searching for houses that are for sale by owner or an agent. A few houses have come on the market and my youngest daughter and her husband have put a bid down, only to have the owners accept a higher offer from someone else.

 

A few lessons I have learned from this house hunting with my daughter has left me with a mixed bag of feelings…

1.      It’s fun to look at different houses and be inspired by the decorating and what I could do with those places if I owned them.

2.      Different styles and decorations make me want to change the interior of my house, but the feelings are fleeting ones.

3.      I wish sometimes that I was the one moving.

4.      I am glad that I am not the one moving.

5.      I don’t want to clean my house so that it shines in order to show it to someone else.

6.      I don’t want to paint it or make it more appealing in order to sell it.

7.      I don’t want strangers or Real Estate people coming through my house and critiquing things.

8.      Just the thought of putting a For Sale sign up in my yard makes me sick to my stomach.

9.      Just the thought of moving and packing and fining a new place to live makes me hyperventilate, and grab a paper bag.

10.  I’m just as happy and content being the one that isn’t looking for a house.

 

So – I can live vicariously through my daughter’s house hunting adventure and - relax.

Petals Falling on my Head

This past Sunday, I was at 9 am Mass with my two daughters, which in itself was a treat since I always go to Sunday mass alone. It was Pentecost Sunday, which is the birthday for the Catholic Church and also a reminder of the outpouring of gifts from the Holy Spirit in the church. The vestment color that the priest wore was red, representing the Holy Spirit.

 

Fr. Harry Nichols, the pastor of St. Stanislaus mentioned at the beginning of mass that there would be a special surprise later on.  That was all he said. While mass moved on, I completely forgot about the surprise, and started to participate at mass, alternatively thinking about where I would eat breakfast afterwards.

 

Mass concluded, the congregation sang the final song and before anyone knew it…something started falling from the grate in the ceiling of the church. At first I thought the ceiling was falling, since St. Stanislaus has been undergoing a continuous renovation project, and then I thought are those were leaves drifting down. But they weren’t. Red rose petals literally came drifting down from the ceiling. My daughter picked up one and handed it to me. I touched it and smelled it and it was real, and along with the petal was the beautiful fragrance of the rose.

 

Like me, everyone at mass was surprised and everyone was in awe of the sight. The surprise was indeed a beautiful sight. The memory has stayed with me for days and every time that I think about what happened at the end of mass. It has brought a happy smile to my face.

A Small Family Gathering

 

My sons who are twins had a joint birthday party for their 3-year-old daughters, Camryn and Molly. Almost all of our family attended which meant that seven of my children were there with their spouses, and 17 of my grandchildren were there with an assortment of friends, other children and grandparent. It was an explosion of everything imaginable with lots of food, kids, family, present, and did I say kids? Wow!

 

It was fun and I have to say my grandchildren who run in ages from a few months old to 12 years of age are beautiful and very, very active. My oldest granddaughter, who is 16, wasn’t at the party because she was working. That’s what it’s all about…family, fun, food, and love. And we who were at the party, we were not disappointed at all.

Appetizers

Making appetizers in the kitchen can be fun and interesting. Just working with each ingredient and putting together the appetizers actually fills me up. Today was no different.  For our assignments, each of us had our jobs to do. I got to mix and make the crab mixture, my daughter worked on mini potato pancakes, my daughter-in-law secured the bacon on the dates and then filled the won tons with the pork mixture and closed them.

 

 I got to make the crab meat balls, while I watched bacon being wrapped and secured around a date filled with chorizo and cheese. This appetizer is called Devils on Horseback and is one of those incredible appetizers to sample and eat.

 

After my crab mixture was finished, my daughter in law helped me roll the mixture into balls and coat with bread crumbs and place 120 of them on two sheet trays. These were placed on racks in the Walk-In Cooler.

 

Eventually the three of us finished filling the wantons and crimping them. They looked just like they came out of the kitchen of one of those Oriental Restaurants.

 

Sometimes everything falls into place nicely. This was one of those times

To Do List or Not

I had a lot of plans for the past weekend. I was in a cleaning mood. My list grew and grew. I checked off a few chores, like washing windows and curtains, wood trim and doors.

 

Along came Marathon Sunday in Pittsburgh. Two of my kids were running in it. While I waited, I figured that I could get the rest of my chores completed. Everything changed when I had to take

my daughter to the ER for an IV cocktail to help with her dehydration. Who knew that they would admit and keep her for two-and-a-half days? It was two days of constant IV fluids with antibiotics, liquid diets, and a GI test.

 

During this time, my bucket of water with Murphy’s Oil Soap and rag stood idly by, waiting for my return. The pile of mushroom manure was piled high in my driveway smelling and also waiting patiently for my return.  Even my writing for my daughter’s new website took a back seat.

 

Sitting in the ER can be boring and stressful, especially when the up monitor that was hooked up for my daughter’s vital signs would go off every few seconds. It seems that runners besides having a low blood pressure have an even lower heartbeat. I do know that I am glad that we went to the hospital when we did because she would have been in worst shape.

 

I lost one-and-a-half days while sitting in the hospital. On the next day, my daughter sent me into her catering kitchen with over two notebook pages of things to prepare in her kitchen. Thankfully, there was another woman there to help me. And not to boast, we got it all done in the one day much to my daughter’s surprise and relief.

 

The good news is that my daughter is fine and won’t be running any more marathons or half marathons. But she can still run for enjoyment. Oh well, my chores can wait and even my manure will wait under the tarp, smelling up the area in front of my garage. I’ll get around to both…sometime.

The KItchen Was Buzzing

My daughter and I rolled into her catering kitchen around 8 am (yawn). We would be working on a number of foods for a couple of First Communion parties, a wedding and a few funeral receptions.

 

I had spent a few days cutting and mixing fruit salads, cutting up vegetables, putting together a pasta salad, making tossed salads, assembling two large hotel pans filled with quiches, chopping onions and broccoli for a broccoli salad. I baked and arranged cookies on trays and put together rolls and butter pats in baskets. I made and making over 100 tuna salad sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches on croissant rolls.

 

I did this identical work for two solid days. But on Friday, I shared my work space with my daughter on one prep table. On the other prep table, facing us were three other ladies. One was Lucy, pastry chef and owner of Bee Delicious Pastries. She was helping two of her clients to assemble pastries for a baby shower for their niece.

 

The kitchen was buzzing. With five people working in one kitchen, I was amazed at how clean the tables and sinks stayed. Everyone was breezing through their working  - even me. Everyone kept cleaning up their work stations and running their dirty utensils through the dishwasher. More amazing, even the sinks were clean and sparkling. I think my daughter Erin’s mantra to keep it clean, had finally rubbed off on me. Or else, I’m too afraid to disappoint her or get another lecture from her.

 

It was a real treat watching Lucy and the other two women work on the pastries. Lucy made the batters for the macaroon cookies, the cupcakes and biscotti’s, while the other two women cut the biscotti and dipped them in chocolate, using the pastry bag to make the macaroons.

 

I was given a biscotti to sample – yum! But the ultimate high point was the cupcakes with filling and the scrumptious French Vanilla Bean Buttercream frosting. It was so good and heavenly.

 

Yep, the kitchen was definitely hopping. Even I was moving quickly. When I finished all my work and left to go home, I was tired but at least my sweet tooth was satisfied.

 

If you are interested in having some delicious food made for your First Communions, Graduation Parties, Baby or Wedding Showers or Weeding Receptions, contact Erin at (erinsfinefoods.com). If you’re interested in the most amazing pastries, look at Lucy’s website (beedeliciouspastries.com).