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Cooking, Gardening, Angst and More. Including Job Search Tales and lifestyle tips about island living.

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User: ChefNeal
Outspoken Podcasting Chef, Sustainability Advocate and Farmer.

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Home » July 2005
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Blarg

I've just been cleaning out the fridge. That would be our primary one--for the house.  We have a secondary fridge which gets a regular hose out every two or three weeks. It is overflow and used to keep the dogs food, milk, eggs and yoghurt in.  The house fridge, while normally pretty clean can get a bit disorganized.  However, in the events of last week (ie wedding panic, where did the time go mode), several things got spilled in the fridge including yoghurt and egg yolks.  There was also some pretty strange containers in there from some time gone by. Nothing moldy or gross, just strange. Duck fat--when was the last time I cooked duck?  The cheese assortment is still looking a bit scary.  We have to eat our way through some leftovers before we will have anything that will go well with cheese.
The third fridge we use is jointly shared with my in-laws. It is mostly clean, and used for over-flow, pop, and beer. I have some herbs there I need to bring down here.  I looked up there a few days ago only to find tomatoes and some sort of gross seafood spread in there. Some people will never learn. . . .

What gets me about the Domestic Refridgerator is that it is not made to be easily cleaned. At least our Sears Side-By-Side isn't.  There are so many nooks and crevices where filth, spilled egg yolk, cheese fungi, etc can hide. I bleached out the entire inside twice and it still doesn't seem clean to me. I am sure our next home fridge is going to be a commercial model. Remove all the shelves--which can be done in one minute, and scrub the thing out floor to ceiling. No hidden disgustoids, just shiny clean stainless steel. At not too much more in cost. . . .And I'll never by a side-by-side again. What a waste of space.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 31, 2005 17:17 | link | comments |
life

Fair Play

The County Fair begins in a few weeks. I think submissions are due soon though.  I am entering the maximum four photos in the digital category. I wish I had been thinking and I would have shot some film too, but that seems such a waste these days. I don't think the categories for adults should be broken into Color Film, Black & White Film, Black & White--coloured, Photo Essay (any media), Digital Images. I think it should be based on subject or something else, and that you should be able to enter say, two or three photos in each subject--portrait, landscape, still life, abstract, essay, etc. . . .

Narrowing down to just 4 photos I think are both good and winning has been hard. Not that I have tons of great shots. Just that, what do you want to see at a fair? I'm going with two food shots, a nature shot and a portrait of my youngest daughter. Once the judging is done, I will post them here. I'm going to wait until then just in case someone from the fair happens to stumble on this. . . .it could happen, I guess.

As I get away from cooking as a hobby and more into photography again I am wishing for all the studio equipment I have let slide by since I was a kid. Now all the stuff is cool, and just as expensive. I just spent some of my wedding tip money on Adobe Creative Suite so I can have Photoshop and Acrobate for publishing web books. During the wedding I was watching, as much as I could, the photographer and all her tricks and tools. There were two other people working with her. I can see owning a few pieces of practical equipment they had--mainly a light disc for absorbing or reflecting light. I's also looking for something to help me get a fish-eye look.

I'm also hoping to update the Kitchen Garden Company website with some new photos to help make it pop, and generally re-design the whole space. I'm not a web designer, but since I don't work much, I do everything I can.  Now if I can just get my hobbies to pay more or at least attract more business. . . .

blueberry season

posted by: ChefNeal at July 31, 2005 07:09 | link | comments |
photos, county fair

Friday, July 29, 2005
Town, again

So, I'm on the ferry this morning. I'm listening to "Yellow"--the acoustic version, by Coldplay. I'm more than into this song at this moment. I can listen to it non-stop and not get sick of it.  Don't really know how I've come to be on the ferry this morning--no I'm not talking about a lapse in consciousness, although that could explain it. . . .

The car needs fuel is the main reason I am spending the next 6 hours at least, displaced from home.  It's not like we need groceries--there's probably food rotting in one of three fridges because I haven't gotten to deal with it.  The garden needs watered badly too. That's okay--the wife is home and I suspect she will be doing that today.

I really should be working on business stuff today, or this weekend.  Last week this time I was up and in the shit prepping for the rehearsal dinner. I need to keep that momentum up and push forward to a new level. Forget looking for crap jobs on the internet. I've got to pull the power from within and forge ahead.

I know I did not charge enough for my services for the wedding. I am waking up to the fact that I am crap at the business end of things. I need to expand my circle of associates.  This happened in a way by bringing Deb in to help with the wedding. Hadn't seen her for more than two years. Surround yourself with people better than you--that's what I did: Deb, the Wife: both far better at their end of things than me. But now I realize this and I have to use this as a strength, a knowledge point and carry this feeling forward to something else.

Number one is to correct my pricing and adjust the recipes I used so I don't have so much waste. I know how long it takes to do these recipes now, so I can adjust for that too.
Another thing I need to do is to rip my contract down to bare bones and start over. And make sure it comes up earlier in the conversation the next time. I'm good at what I do, and I need to show that with a bit more force.

Ack, I got side tracked looking up an old email, just then. . . .The ferry is pulling in to the Mainland terminal. There are large white behemoths shuttling to and fro in the waters just outside. It will be our turn in a minute. Then a short drive to the coffee shop and I'll post all of this and more. . . .

posted by: ChefNeal at July 29, 2005 07:08 | link | comments |
work, life

Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Idyll

I have idylled the day away. I actually caught up on most of the cleaning and stowing of catering gear. I've dried the left-over mint so the girls will have peppermint tea in the winter. I even edited 6 hour of audio for a 3 part WeddingCast: A, B, and C.  All this to avoid paying my 2nd Quarter taxes and the blur of paperwork that entails. It's so pointless to have to file 5 sets of papers to each different governmental department. . . .they should only make you do this crap if your business makes more than 50,000 a quarter. Arrgh. Tomorrow and Tomorrow. . . .Except I want to try to get Gastrocast in tomorrow. We will see.

I am going to be a bit more lazy today--I said I would post photos of the wedding here. Well, instead of posting--they are just a click away. I am as sick of redundancy in my own life, just as sick of redundancy in my own life as I am in the Government, Government.

I also began to select the photographs I want to enter in this year's County Fair. It's a pretty talented bunch out here, but I think some of my food photos have a shot. I have to whittle the prelims down to 4. I  thought I had it sussed until I took a swack of picies of a case of blueberries which arrived today. Out of the 50 shots there are at least 3 worth considering. . . .

posted by: ChefNeal at July 27, 2005 20:39 | link | comments |
photos, work, life, weddings

Monday, July 25, 2005
Emptiness

I'm on the mainland for a short time today. I came to drop Deb off to catch her shuttle to the airport. Originally I didn't know I would have the time, etc  or I would have taken her to the airport myself. Lucky Girl, she'll be back in Frisco in time to have a curry for dinner.

It has been such an intense week. I'm shattered, fried, burnt out just a bit. It seems like Wednesday was yesterday and I was here picking Deb up. I'm greatful that she was here to help me. Having parted company two years ago and only been in loose contact it was great to get a chance to work with her and pal around. It's not often you can work under extreme pressure with your friends and have fun too.

We don't often have visitors, but the girls and the Wife warmed up to Deb and we all have a great time at the beach yesterday as a way to wind down after a massive cleanup effort. Now that the event is over, Deb has left and my next small job is two weeks away it is all emptiness. I feel drained. Like this magically pressure filled, tense, exhausting effort was a flash in the pan--a quick hot fire after a long slow smolder.

Now comes catching up on my life. Paying bills, reading mail, podcasting for the week and learning from my mistakes. I'm having a meeting with the clients tomorrow to hopefully get paid without any hassles. I'll post some of the photo's i took tomorrow sometime when I have a chance. For now I have to wait two hours to catch my ferry home, after dropping off my rental van, and finish cleaning the house and putting all the catering equipment way.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 25, 2005 11:52 | link | comments (2) |
work, weddings

Sunday, July 24, 2005
Up for a breath of air

Wow--like a whole week has flown by in a blink.

Sunday morning, here. I am barely awake mid morning and I feel like I've been hit by a mac truck.

The Wedding is over, but the aftermath is still in effect. I am preparing the billing now.

SInce I picked my friend Deb up on Wednesday the two of us have clocked over 100 hrs of work. Last night after the food was all served it was all we could do not to collapse. Our team cleaned up as much  of the site in 3 hours while the two of us scrubed pots and pans and dealt with leftovers and supplies until 11pm. We got lucky as the party  was getting over by 10:30. We were up early this morning cleaning up the last of our equipment and counting rental supplies. Hopefully we can all head to the beach soon.  I just want to veg this afternoon.

It feels like I've been in a time warp. A black hole. New bombings in London, Egypt--I barely had time to register these events and others. Ah, the price of success--or at least owning your own small company when you can't afford a proper amount of staff. . . .

Thank God for Deb. She knew what needed to be done, didn't have to be told twice and was great company. Workers and Friends like that are one in a million. I don't know how I've done things in the past without someone like her, and couldn't have managed this time, again, on my own.

Time to veg. Watch this space for more cohearant banter.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 24, 2005 09:51 | link | comments |
work, life, weddings

Monday, July 18, 2005
Why?

The phone is ringing off the hook. I'm trying to record this week's Gastrocast. I have managed to knock my long list of phone calls to make on the head earlier in the morning, but I have the nagging feeling I'm forgetting something. I am still waiting for a return phone call about fish.

It's almost 2 in the afternoon and I'm about to fall asleep. I don't know what it is about this particular wedding, for this client--well, I do but don't want to say--that is driving us crazy. Too many misunderstandings. Were not sleeping well, fearing the worst. I actually recounted the invoice twice and double-checked the original quote--even with a 35% discount for being our neighbors, and offering legal advice in the past, they are going to FREAK at the cost. Not that we didn't warn them, and provide them with advanced figures. . . .but still, people who have money to spend never seem to want to spend it. Especially on something so temporal and frivolous as a wedding.

The number of guests went down after I confirmed the figures and ordered the food. They quibble over 15 guests. Too late--only 8 days notice not the ten I require. I was looking at some other venues and they require 30 days. . . .I have offered a solution so I don't loose the money but they seem less than happy. I only hope my usual charm carries the day. I have a bad habit of under-selling myself so I can usually blow people away on the day. But these clients have already seen my best at a larger wedding two years ago. Hopefully my best has gotten better.

Tomorrow, if I can get through tomorrow without any problems then there is only Wednesday. After that. . .too bad. . .I will be on the mainland for one last dash to pickup fresh ingredients and a friend who's flying in from the Bay to help me. Thursday and Friday are a complete thrash, with Friday night being the rehearsal dinner for 60 I have to cook for. Saturday can't come soon enough on this one. When I get paid, what will the hourly breakdown be after I pay all my bills and staff--what will I have earned? $6 an hour? $7.50, $12, $35 and is it worth it? None of the guests are local, none will hire me. I've travelled down yet another career cul de sac with Street of Dreams homes and over mortgaged homeowners struggling to live the good life.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 18, 2005 12:55 | link | comments (1) |
work, weddings

Friday, July 15, 2005
Lost week

Wow, a week without saying anything here--I can't believe it. Things were a bit crazy, busy though. After going weeks between trips to the mainland I have been twice this week and I am going again this coming Wednesday. Meanwhile the pressures of my upcoming Wedding Catering Job increase exponentially. Phone calls to suppliers, lists upon lists of everything to check off. This past Wednesday I helped to focus by catering a swish beachside picnic. But even that, for 4 people took almost two days of planning, executing and clean-up. Photos here.
Now, its more ordering today. Testing equipment to make sure it all works. Because I rent Kitchen Space for large events like this, I have to store everything at home in between times. Our front room looks like a catering van wrecked inside. And while I will say that spending vast quantities of money if fun, it is also nerve wracking. Have we spent enough, is it too much--what will the client think. . . . About two-thirds of what we are charging is expense--ugh.  And I have to bring everything to the island myself--hence numerous over-loaded trips to the mainland and back. Fortunately we are having the flowers delivered.
Next week at this time my dear, long-suffering wife and I will be in the thick of it. Hopefully this weekend there will be some time to kick-back and relax before the whirlwind begins.  The funny thing is, if we were doing more of this, I think it would be easier. It's these once-in-a-while jobs that take it out of you.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 15, 2005 06:57 | link | comments |
work, life, weddings

Friday, July 08, 2005
Roll Call

All but one of my UK friends has checked in. Only two of them caught in the fracas--one working in the Edgeware road just up from the Station; the other--a school inspector--hampered by traffic. She said, all things considered the several hours to travel 12 miles was nothing to complain about, given the scale of things.  It is great to hear from Lloyd Davis, our London Correspondant, that today it's business as usual as Londoners try to get back on thier feet and make it as normal as possible a day.

I thought this letter from the London News Review was a classic (the website is overloaded so I took a screenshot):
Letter to Terrorists

posted by: ChefNeal at July 08, 2005 06:59 | link | comments (2) |
london, friends, uk, lloyd davis

Thursday, July 07, 2005
The Beeb

I applaud BBC America's choice to sequester the channel and keep a live BBC World News feed up without commercial interuption all day. It would have galled me to have to watch the crappy pablum of CNN while some Yank chose to keep running reruns of Changing Rooms, Cash in the Attic, Benny Hill, and Are You Being Served for the umpteenth time. They made the correct choice and there has been some good reporting, heart-renching images and real news coming into American homes for those who chose to watch. Rather than CNN's incessant analyzing and commenting to no end or good purpose.  Now if Beeb USA would only consider giving us the real BBC the rest of the time rather than the watered down, too pale for daylight, made for middle America version they serve up day to day.

posted by: ChefNeal at July 07, 2005 14:59 | link | comments (1) |
london, news, uk, terrorism, bbc, cnn