Gretel with Ted
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Christmas, etc.
Christmas has come and gone and it's almost time to really start training for the season. I received the first part of my training program this week and I'll be ready to jump in on the 1st. My body will be a little shocked at first, but in a good way. I'm excited to start getting fit after taking it pretty easy for a while. I'll be racing with Ti Cycles in 2007 and I think we'll have a lot of fun.
Ted and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in Pullman before heading to Mom and Dad's to do a belated Christmas there with them and Rusty. We also celebrated the birthdays of Dad, Rusty, and me, as our birthdays all happened within the past month.
No big New Years plans this year, though I'm sure we'll end up doing something around here. Now for some new photos.
Ted and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in Pullman before heading to Mom and Dad's to do a belated Christmas there with them and Rusty. We also celebrated the birthdays of Dad, Rusty, and me, as our birthdays all happened within the past month.
No big New Years plans this year, though I'm sure we'll end up doing something around here. Now for some new photos.
Friday, December 22, 2006
I'm no lady!
Work has kept me pretty busy since I got back from Albuquerque. Getting up at 5 am again, along with having a cold, and actually riding my bike, have made me a bit tired lately. Needless to say, I haven't gotten much done with starting a personal chef business, though I have been brainstorming for names. Any ideas? Send them my way.
I'm done with all my Christmas shopping and almost everything is wrapped and under the tree. I'm usually the one who is wrapping on Christmas Eve, but I'm doing much better this year. Rusty will be coming home on the 26th and will stay here for a few days before going back to Memphis.
Ted's parents sent us some Vienna Beef hot dogs in the mail this week. For those of you who don't know, Vienna Beef dogs are THE Chicago hot dog. I love them. We got all of the fixings and did them up right: mustard, sweet relish, dill pickle, onion, tomato, celery salt, hot peppers, and cucumber (optional). Yum. Thanks to Phil and Ellie for sending them - they were very much enjoyed; yes, that means they are all gone! Oink, oink.
Time to do a little Christmas baking this weekend. I won't overdo it this year. The dessert I made last year kept everyone awake all night because it was so sugar-loaded. I made meringue snowmen with marzipan scarves and hats, filled with homemade pistachio gelato. They were cute, but I don't think I'll make them again. I'll tone it down a bit this time around.
I was talking with my friend Ben on our group ride last weekend. He and I are about the same age and were talking about how we feel so much older now, especially compared to the incoming freshmen who join the WSU cycling team each year. Ben said, "You know, you're known as a lady now." I said, "What?" Apparently, at the recent WSU team meeting, one of the young guys asked who the "lady" is who comes on all the group rides. Ben couldn't figure out who he was referring to until he described me in detail. When did I become a "lady?" I'm a girl! I'm no lady.
I'm done with all my Christmas shopping and almost everything is wrapped and under the tree. I'm usually the one who is wrapping on Christmas Eve, but I'm doing much better this year. Rusty will be coming home on the 26th and will stay here for a few days before going back to Memphis.
Ted's parents sent us some Vienna Beef hot dogs in the mail this week. For those of you who don't know, Vienna Beef dogs are THE Chicago hot dog. I love them. We got all of the fixings and did them up right: mustard, sweet relish, dill pickle, onion, tomato, celery salt, hot peppers, and cucumber (optional). Yum. Thanks to Phil and Ellie for sending them - they were very much enjoyed; yes, that means they are all gone! Oink, oink.
Time to do a little Christmas baking this weekend. I won't overdo it this year. The dessert I made last year kept everyone awake all night because it was so sugar-loaded. I made meringue snowmen with marzipan scarves and hats, filled with homemade pistachio gelato. They were cute, but I don't think I'll make them again. I'll tone it down a bit this time around.
I was talking with my friend Ben on our group ride last weekend. He and I are about the same age and were talking about how we feel so much older now, especially compared to the incoming freshmen who join the WSU cycling team each year. Ben said, "You know, you're known as a lady now." I said, "What?" Apparently, at the recent WSU team meeting, one of the young guys asked who the "lady" is who comes on all the group rides. Ben couldn't figure out who he was referring to until he described me in detail. When did I become a "lady?" I'm a girl! I'm no lady.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Day 5
I am officially a graduate of the Culinary Business Academy, which is a nice credential to have. Today was spent talking about marketing, followed by our final exam. I won't be looking at any of the material from this week for a few days; I just need to step back from it all for a little while.
After class, I attempted to go into Old Town Albuquerque, which is the oldest part of Albuquerque and has lots of shops. Lots of traffic, coupled with a couple wrong turns, found me back at the hotel. By the time I would have gotten there, most of the stores would have been closing, so my plan is to give it another go tomorrow morning. Hopefully there will be less traffic and I won't get lost. Here's also hoping that I don't push the snooze button too many times - maybe I should put the alarm across the room, just in case!
Ted will be picking me up in Seattle tomorrow evening. Our original plan was to do the cross race there on Sunday, but neither of us feels fit enough to race right now. We haven't exactly been riding much lately. I am definitely looking forward to having the weather and the time to start riding again. I'll be back in the northwest tomorrow.
After class, I attempted to go into Old Town Albuquerque, which is the oldest part of Albuquerque and has lots of shops. Lots of traffic, coupled with a couple wrong turns, found me back at the hotel. By the time I would have gotten there, most of the stores would have been closing, so my plan is to give it another go tomorrow morning. Hopefully there will be less traffic and I won't get lost. Here's also hoping that I don't push the snooze button too many times - maybe I should put the alarm across the room, just in case!
Ted will be picking me up in Seattle tomorrow evening. Our original plan was to do the cross race there on Sunday, but neither of us feels fit enough to race right now. We haven't exactly been riding much lately. I am definitely looking forward to having the weather and the time to start riding again. I'll be back in the northwest tomorrow.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Day 4
The first part of today was spent in the kitchen, fixing sweet and sour pork and a southwestern vegetarian shepherd's pie. Our lunch break found us all outside, as it was an absolutely beautiful day! It had to be in the 60s here today, and was sunny and calm. I was definitely wishing I could take off for an afternoon bike ride, or at least a run, but I'll have to wait until I'm back in the cold, gray NW for that.
Our afternoon session answered a lot of questions I had... and also created a whole bunch of new ones. We talked about the legality of starting/having a business. Licensing, tax issues, insurance, financial planning, business planning, and accounting were all talked about. There are so many things to look into. Everyone in the class seemed a bit daunted with it all, but many of us also found this portion particularly educational since we know nothing about starting a business. Thankfully I did at least take some accounting, marketing, finance, and business classes in college.
I woke up with a sore throat this morning and it has gotten worse as the day has gone on. Hopefully it doesn't become a full-blown cold. Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of class. While I've enjoyed the course and it has been very worthwhile, it will also be really good to get home. Rumor has it that Pazza has been a tad destructive while I've been gone. Pieces of a Santa Claus ornament have been found all over the apartment in recent days; a pedal from Santa's tricycle was found upstairs. A three inch hole has also been chewed in a box of Christmas presents I ordered. As long as the Christmas tree is still standing when I get home, it's all okay with me.
Our afternoon session answered a lot of questions I had... and also created a whole bunch of new ones. We talked about the legality of starting/having a business. Licensing, tax issues, insurance, financial planning, business planning, and accounting were all talked about. There are so many things to look into. Everyone in the class seemed a bit daunted with it all, but many of us also found this portion particularly educational since we know nothing about starting a business. Thankfully I did at least take some accounting, marketing, finance, and business classes in college.
I woke up with a sore throat this morning and it has gotten worse as the day has gone on. Hopefully it doesn't become a full-blown cold. Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of class. While I've enjoyed the course and it has been very worthwhile, it will also be really good to get home. Rumor has it that Pazza has been a tad destructive while I've been gone. Pieces of a Santa Claus ornament have been found all over the apartment in recent days; a pedal from Santa's tricycle was found upstairs. A three inch hole has also been chewed in a box of Christmas presents I ordered. As long as the Christmas tree is still standing when I get home, it's all okay with me.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Day 3
My head is officially spinning with all of the new information and ideas floating around in it. There is just so much that goes into starting a new business, much of which could not have been learned by looking at websites or reading books; our instructors are current personal chefs themselves, and thankfully are very willing to share all of the things they have done right, and wrong, along the way.
I've realized that many people don't fully understand what a personal chef does. Many people seem to confuse a personal chef with a private chef, the difference being that a private chef cooks exclusively (often daily) for one client. A personal chef, on the other hand, can cook for numerous clients, usually on a monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly basis. The clients often do not have the time to cook, or simply do not enjoy cooking. The personal chef adapts recipes to be freezeable, allowing the client to use them when they choose. Many people cringe at the thought of frozen food, but these are not Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine; these are high-quality, healthy, gourmet meals built around the client's preferences and needs.
So, today included more cooking, more demos, a test, much more business info, and lots of questions. Tomorrow will be our last day in the kitchen, with Friday spent in the classroom. I may join some of my classmates tomorrow evening for a local holiday celebration in Albuquerque that's supposed to be a lot of fun.
That's all for now.
I've realized that many people don't fully understand what a personal chef does. Many people seem to confuse a personal chef with a private chef, the difference being that a private chef cooks exclusively (often daily) for one client. A personal chef, on the other hand, can cook for numerous clients, usually on a monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly basis. The clients often do not have the time to cook, or simply do not enjoy cooking. The personal chef adapts recipes to be freezeable, allowing the client to use them when they choose. Many people cringe at the thought of frozen food, but these are not Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine; these are high-quality, healthy, gourmet meals built around the client's preferences and needs.
So, today included more cooking, more demos, a test, much more business info, and lots of questions. Tomorrow will be our last day in the kitchen, with Friday spent in the classroom. I may join some of my classmates tomorrow evening for a local holiday celebration in Albuquerque that's supposed to be a lot of fun.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Day 2
Another long, informative day in New Mexico. The day began in the kitchen, where we had a few demos and then cooked our lunch to be eaten a few hours later; we will be cooking our lunches for the rest of the week. Today we made pan-fried chicken breasts in a basil, lemon, white wine, cream sauce. A sauteed vegetable medley, green salad with numerous dressing choices (made by us, of course), and polenta cups with roasted red peppers, pesto, and mozzarella were the accompaniments. All in all, everything was pretty good.
We had a meat demo after lunch, which was particularly useful to me since I am not the biggest meat fan. Flank steak, round steak, and sirloin steak were all prepared and tasted, not only to show how they should be cooked, but also how they should not be cooked. Let me tell you, some of the meat was like leather.
Pressure cookers have been talked about a lot here and a large chuck roast was cooked in one today - 35 minutes and it was done. I've just heard the horror stories about old-day pressure cookers exploding, but they are apparently much safer today than the original versions. The thought of being able to make homemade stock in 20 minutes is very appealing!
The business portion of the course has been very helpful, bringing up many things I would not have considered on my own. I will definitely need to make my notes a bit more concise when I get home.
The days have been beautiful here - perfectly clear skies and temps in the 50s, but the mornings sure are cold. We're at about 5000 feet here, so I guess it's not surprising that it's been around 20 when I have headed to class in the morning. The worst thing is how dry my skin is here! Ugh.
Okay... off to unwind some more.
We had a meat demo after lunch, which was particularly useful to me since I am not the biggest meat fan. Flank steak, round steak, and sirloin steak were all prepared and tasted, not only to show how they should be cooked, but also how they should not be cooked. Let me tell you, some of the meat was like leather.
Pressure cookers have been talked about a lot here and a large chuck roast was cooked in one today - 35 minutes and it was done. I've just heard the horror stories about old-day pressure cookers exploding, but they are apparently much safer today than the original versions. The thought of being able to make homemade stock in 20 minutes is very appealing!
The business portion of the course has been very helpful, bringing up many things I would not have considered on my own. I will definitely need to make my notes a bit more concise when I get home.
The days have been beautiful here - perfectly clear skies and temps in the 50s, but the mornings sure are cold. We're at about 5000 feet here, so I guess it's not surprising that it's been around 20 when I have headed to class in the morning. The worst thing is how dry my skin is here! Ugh.
Okay... off to unwind some more.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Day 1
I'm sitting in my hotel room in Rio Rancho, NM with the first day of the personal chef course behind me. It was a long day and I feel a bit "brain dead" right now, as a lot of information is being crammed into this week. I can tell the class is going to be very beneficial.
There are only six of us in this class (a full class is 12), so we get to interact a lot with the instructors and each other. It's definitely an odd mix of people. I am the youngest and the only one from the northwest. The other two women are from California and Maryland, having previous careers in the corporate world and as a preschool teacher. The three men are from Arizona and Illinois. Half the class already have degrees from culinary schools and are seeking the personal chef lifestyle after working on the restaurant scene.
I spent the whole day in the classroom today, but should get some time in the kitchen tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be another long, informative day!
There are only six of us in this class (a full class is 12), so we get to interact a lot with the instructors and each other. It's definitely an odd mix of people. I am the youngest and the only one from the northwest. The other two women are from California and Maryland, having previous careers in the corporate world and as a preschool teacher. The three men are from Arizona and Illinois. Half the class already have degrees from culinary schools and are seeking the personal chef lifestyle after working on the restaurant scene.
I spent the whole day in the classroom today, but should get some time in the kitchen tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be another long, informative day!
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