Kitchen Journal: First Day

Starting back into the kitchen, I felt a bit slow doing my work. It has been awhile since I worked in the kitchen on a steady basis. Today – I just felt slow and unsure of myself. I didn’t feel as if I accomplished a lot, even though both my boss and co-worker said I did a good job and I was fine. This was exactly how I felt when I first went back to work at the Greenhouse, as if I was working in slow motion. After the first few days of working at the Greenhouse, I was totally exhausted and every bone in my body ached. By the third day of working – everything fell nicely into place and I found my working rhythm.

As for the Kitchen, I looked forward to working at the catering kitchen. It wouldl be a nice change. I am a person who doesn’t need to work but I am a person who needs to be busy, so that is why I work.

My first day back in the kitchen, I just did some mindless work. I’m not a chef and pretty much do some of the prep work, clean up, run the dishwasher and put things away like everyone else. Today, I filled the dishwasher with water, put things away, washed all the newly delivered vegetables and put them into their place in the walk-in refrigerator. I put new trash bags in the two cleaned trash cans and made a pot of coffee. Coffee in the kitchen is essential and it helps us to get through the day, especially in the morning I miss the coffee shop next door that closed. I used to make a daily run and buy coffee or a double shot of espresso that kept me fueled and moving. 

Next, I pulled out a box of pastry sheets and thawed a few of them. I counted out 36 small individual paper baking containers. These were circular ones to make individual quiches. I cut a circle out of the pastry shell, then flatten the pastry into the bottom of the  container.  I cut a strip and put that around the pastry to make the sides higher.  The job sounds easy but very time consuming. When I had the pastry in each baking dish, I filled the centers… 12 would have sautéed red peppers and feta cheese, 12 with four cheeses, and 12 with bacon, ham, and cheddar cheese. In a bowl, I broke a flat of eggs, mixed in half and half and milk with the seasonings and poured the liquid into each quiche, which was on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

The end result is that the pastry rose to a golden brown and the quiches looked tasty. These quiches will be sold in Erin’s Deli, located in the K & L Gates Building, downtown on 6^th Avenue. Since the quiches will be made at Erin’s kitchen in the North Hills where I work, I guess I will have to sneak one off of the cookie sheet after it’s baked to sample it. Yes, it’s so good to be back in the kitchen!