We all experience some sort of grind in our lives. Some of us went into fields that we didn’t choose for any other reason than money, fame or whatever. Those of us who chose to do something that we are passionate about don’t experience the daily grind but instead the daily rind.
The tough exterior, which protects us from the miscues, mistakes, and all around troubles, that tend to bring us down. I myself have seen that this rind has caused me to polish my interior and toughen my exterior. HONESTY! It is a marvelous thing.
So the past few weeks have been quite amazing for me. As I wrote about I had my review that left me feeling quite good about what I am doing. I went to Mexico that gave pause for reflection and time to relax, recharge my batteries and to come back transformed. My spirit soaring I’ve looked at the first five months of my experience at Reservation and come to understand much about myself and the world we live in.
I have become healthier, wealthier (in spirit) and wiser. I have adjusted things about myself that were either unconstructive or downright bad within myself and realized that the key to happiness is not some abstract that most people search for. It is in fact living the life that you want to live. In a lot of ways I think that the term hedonistic could describe me. It is not a perfect term by any stretch of the imagination but it certainly does have a lot of cache with respect to myself.
So what’s new at Reservation. Well we are definitely in our busy season. Since getting back last week I have been at work at around 9:30 every morning and gotten home as late as 1 am. By the time I get home I am drawn and tired but happier than I have ever been.
I started working this week in earnest on my knife skills (and no its not so that I don’t lose another digit tip although…). In fact there was a firing at work last week for whatever reason (I know but I won’t say here) and as a result there was lots of slack to be picked up. On a side note, the person that was fired had done the stock for me when I was away and when I returned to the batch I returned to I WAS DISMAYED and SHOCKED as it was nowhere near the quality that I care for. I could tell from its cloudiness that it had been boiled and that there was not the same care and attention that I put into my stocks (CHEF’s STOCKS). As a result of the firing I was asked to work on some things that I hadn’t been asked to in a while. Of course my brunoise has become quite good as I get daily practice with it and find myself getting better and faster with each attempt.
Head Chef asked how my knife skills were and I told him that they were improving daily. He asked me to do a quarter of an inch Rissole on three different items, carrot, fennel and potato. Head Chef is hard on me, not as hard as he could be to be sure but nonetheless he is hard on me. AND I AM GRATEFUL FOR IT! He wants me to win, wants me to succeed and see my dream come to life. My first attempt was a rush job and it was treated with little or no regard. However, the next day he asked me to do the same while at the same time L and I were trying to set up a party. As I was under the gun and did not have perfect timing to do this I did a quick job and the results showed it. Head Chef went through them with a pair of tweezers and pulled aside the good from the “bad.” He said he was trying to see if he could get the bad to exceed or equal the good. Of course he did and though it sucks to be put under that microscope I appreciate it.
Another thing I noticed this week is that if I am going to do a job I want to do the best job that I can possibly do. I was assigned the task of cleaning the grills as we are coming into the patio season. It would be easy to get discouraged when asked to do such a tedious and dirty job but instead I took it as a challenge. They were truly dirty and needed several hours to get them clean. Most would complain (and some do) at some of the things that I’ve had to do in the past week. But I am discovering that everything I am doing is in the service of my goals and stated ambitions. I treat every job I get as a challenge that helps to get me to where I want to go. I don’t want to complain, I don’t want to be like others who begrudge. I’m kind of like that kid who is searching though all the horse crap in his room because somewhere in there there has to be a horse. AND I AM FINDING THE HORSE in EVERYTHING I am doing. After all every single thing that I do is in service of that which I KNOW I will ATTAIN with purposeful movement and clarity of purpose.
My stocks are now consistent in clarity, colour and flavour. My yield is remarkably similar. The reason that I mention this that there are any countless number of variables that can affect the clarity, colour and consistency.
I have started making soups on a weekly basis. The soups at Reservation get passed in terms of responsibility according to the weight of the work that anyone has on any given day. C had come in for dinner on Thursday and got treated to my very delicious Tomato Pepper Puree. It was great that she got to have it as I feel that it has been my best soup to date.
My speed with L and parties has gotten much better. I find myself managing my time better and realizing what can and can not be done within certain time frames as Head Chef and I have spoken about.
On a side note, I again want to mention how important the culture of the kitchen is. If there is an upset in the balance it will be reflected in the food that comes out of it. Though any of us that are crazy enough to work in a kitchen are probably somewhat out of whack with the rest of the world we all come together and make the behemoth of the environment work. We all spend far more time with each other than we do with our family and friends and while in the past this may have been true, the difference I find is that we actually want to hang out with each other when we are done work. We all have a beer and laugh about the kitchen and then move on to other conversations. I know that as the summer goes on we will be doing that more and more and I truly, as I’ve said before, feel as if I have found a place where I am accepted and that I am part of a wider family.
I didn’t bring my book home as I was leaving right from work the other day to go out to make dinner at a friends place. It is for this reason that I am writing in generalities today. But my next day off I will outline all the salient points that are specific that I may have missed in this post.
That said, I again want to remind you that you are the masters of your own destiny. You have the ability, the strength, the drive and the determination to be anything you want to be. All you have to do is acknowledge that little voice inside of you and then claim your victory, one step, stock, or handful at a time. I believe in you and you should believe in yourself.
I leave you with two quotes today, William Jennings Bryan once said; “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
And
Thomas Carlyle said; “The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong”
Destiny therefore is a matter of stepping toward that which you believe in.
Be Inspired and Dream BIG!
A la prochaine
SDM
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