Dos and Don'ts in the Kitchen

 

For every accomplishment that I have made at the catering kitchen, I also find that I completely forget to do some things. When this happens – I get frustrated but that’s when I sit down, pull out the notebook that my daughter the chef gave me, and write down the Dos and Don’ts  and steps that are important to remember the next time that I work in the kitchen.

My little black notebook has become my bible for my kitchen work. I only use it for recipes that I have been given to follow exclusively in the kitchen. I also use it to write down step by step instructions of what to do and what not to do.

My notebook is black with the word UNSCRIPTED embossed on the front. Sometimes, I put a note on the cover of things that I have to pick up at the grocery store on the way to work or I write a list of the jobs that I will be working on that day. I might make a note of something that I need to change or make sure that I do in the kitchen.

I have a few papers and papers and recipes and other things pertaining to the kitchen slipped into the pages of the notebook. I know that the food that I make, like sconces, soufflés, mini pepperoni breads, spinach/feta pin wheels, and cookies look good and usually taste good.

Not being a trained baker, there are a lot of things that I need to remember, such as: sanding sugar goes on all the scones when they go into the oven. But the sugar is not sprinkled on scones if they go unbacked into the freezer. I have to remember to weigh both the cookies and scones. Scones are a different weight then the cookies. I need to add a vanilla glaze to the chocolate chip scones, blueberry scones, after I bake them and they cool down for a few minutes. The strawberry scones and the savory scones, each get a different glaze.

If we decide to measure and pre-package (to place on the shelf to use later) the ingredients for scones or for cookies…there are also a few things to remember. For scones, all dry ingredients are measured and placed into a plastic bag or plastic container. But for cookies…all the sugar is kept separate from the flour and salt and baking powder.

There are more things to remember…a lot more!