Hail to the Chief...

Thats right...I'm now officially Junior President of the Inland Empires chapter of the ACF.

You all better start saluting me now!!! LOL

So...here is our menu and and the dishes for this week...

Pretty good stuff as always...the Seniors are doing a great job with the food and presentation.

Today, we had a special party for 26 firefighters...relax ladies! Me and three other students were in charge of helping and serving them. It was fun. They were a great and understanding group and seemed to really enjoy themselves. We were just flattered that they chose to come to the academy to have their get together. But, on top of this large party...WE WERE BUSY!

Overall the day was good...Thanks to my Scholls, my feet have been doing fine with all the standing and walking around. Dear Mr. Scholls...please send my check my home for this product endorsement!

The rest of the week is going to be real, real busy. I have two meetings after school to have a walk through at an event thats happening in Temecula...Field to the fork. http://www.temeculavalleyslowfood.org/

And I will have my first official meeting as Junior President with ACF tomorrow after that meeting. As my first act of president, Twinkies for all new members!!!! LOL

I'm actually really looking forward to working with the members of this organization. and hopefully I can make a difference.

Ok...enough for today...next update probably won't be till Sunday...if I survive the Saturday event.

coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, COFFFEEEEEEE!!!!

um...wonder if you can gather the focus of this blog!?!?!

Todays events...took a test on reviewing the first 4 chapters of the servsafe book...you know...the one that teaches us how not to kill people while handling food. And you know what...don't read this book...all its going to do is make you never want to eat at a picnic or another family/friend event!!! OMG! LOL

Its all good...I think I did pretty well. Hepatitis A = jaundice = BAD!! Wash hand often, wear gloves, keep food out of certain temperature danger zones...etc.

Best part of the day was going on a field trip to a very nice coffee roaster facility. And not just any coffee roaster. check out the link:

http://www.klatchroasting.com/

Pretty impressive huh? Starbucks??? Upchucks!!! Cup of Joe...Cup of poo compared to this place. I had the distinct pleasure of drinking some amazing coffee, poured by real baristas!! They do their own roasting, and taught us how to do some actual coffee tasting...slurping and all...and it was amazing!

During the first part of this visit, we got to smell, pour, smell, taste, rather ssslllluuuurrrrppppp some amazing blends of coffee.

The second part we had some shots of espresso and cappuccino...both good pours and bad pours so we could taste the difference. I'm now going to have to save for a nice espresso machine so I can truly appreciate this the proper way.

The people were great...the class had a great time...and at the end of the field trip, we were all bouncing off the walls wondering...HOW THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO GET TO SLEEP TONIGHT!!!!!!!

Even now...I'm sitting up wide awake!!! Oh well...I guess I will read some more of my book for next week.

Oh, and order some coffee from this place...you won't be disappointed.

New menu tomorrow, and I'm an alternate, which means I will be bouncing around doing a little of everything. It definitely keeps me from getting bored.

Its whats for dinner...uh...I mean lunch!

Every week, we have a new chefs menu. This menu is comprised of an Entrée salad, a hot and cold sandwich, a pizza, two Entrée meals and two desserts.

This week:

As you can see...not only is it about great good...but its also about great presentation. We take lots of pride in everything we do here...service, cleanliness, quality...the whole nine yards.

Still, at this point, us freshman are only running the front of house and the cleaning duties around the academy. This is totally fine with me. I'm having more and more of an appreciation for servers in this industry...but...it also makes me more critical of what they do and don't do as well...you want my tip...you really better deserve it now...its more than just slapping a plate down in front of me and taking my check. You had better know whats on the menu, how the dishes are prepared and the ingredients in them...and I don't care if you are having a bad day or tired...smile damnit!!! LOL

I'm also going to join an organization called ACF ( American Culinary Federation). Before the tv shows and the popularity of food everywhere, this organization was putting on competitions and bringing chefs together to collaborate and learn and network. this is going to be a great resource for me later down the road. In fact, I've thrown my hat in the ring to be this years Junior President for the Inland empires chapter of this organization...wish me luck! check it out if you are curious.

http://www.acfchefs.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home6

I'm also getting very involved with some events and a culinary club at the academy. I'm going to totally immerse myself into this experience. While we are on the topic...check this out:

http://www.rcc.edu/events/newsInfo.cfm?n=150

Please come!!! It is very reasonable considering what you get and you can come and make fun of me serving you in a very elegant fashion...I know lots of you would love to do that.

oh...and also...I need donations...we have a silent auction and this event will raise funds for chile and haiti and will also raise funds for the academy to purchase equipment and such for us students. So...anything you can spare that we can use in our raffle or auction would be greatly appreciated.

ok...gotta get some homework done...we are learning all about sanitation and being safe in the kitchen...you know...so we don't poison anyone at the restaurant...that would be bad!

I survived the first week!

Yup...that me...can you believe it?

so...first week...wow.

I took a pedometer with me to track what one day activity is...I average about 3000 steps a day...I have a whole new appreciation for the waiters and waitress of the industry...wow...do they have to hustle.

I found it funny...many in our class that were putting out "I don't want to serve", or "I don't want to be in the public were randomly assign those exact position...while i just said to myself, "I'm open to whatever" and I was assign to be an alternate...which meant i did everything. and I had a blast.

so far so good. our class is a good class. this freshman class has a pretty large contingency of older individuals which makes it nice vs a whole class of young kids. We seem to have a good grasp of everything and we are there to not only learn, but to enjoy the learning process.

the instructors are great, and the upper classmen are helpful, so its all good...for now anyway. I'm sure after a few weeks of being with each other, that will change. but I'm there to learn...to absorb...to get the most from this process...and i an't wait for what is coming up next.

I eagerly await the next challenge...thanks to all of you who are following me...and your comments are very much appreciated. I can't wait for the opportunity to show off my skills to you sometime soon.

more to come

Day 1

Sooooooo...day 1!!!

for many of you who know me...you all know how I have had a mustache and goatee since...well...FOREVER...but I had to shave it all off for culinary school...soooooo...I'm baby face Zeke again.

I may post a picture..once I get use to this look...Chef babyface? hmmmm...has a catch. LOL

So...I got dressed in my chef outfit, got my books, and headed to school.

Now, granted, today was just orientation...but I was still nervous...you know how long its been since I went to school??? I mean...come on...I'm in a room full of kids that are right out of high school. Well, not all of them, but I'm definitely in the minority demographic wise.

The chef instructors introduce themselves, do the normal policies and procedures stuff and off to our classrooms.

Now...as a Freshman, we need to learn the basics...food safety, food familiarity and front of house stuff. The academy is also a fully functioning restaurant...breakfast and lunch service. This helps us put what we learn to practical use. The freshman will be waiters, bussers, cashiers, etc for the first 15 weeks to become familiar with front of house stuff...makes sense...OMG...I will actually be asking, "would you like fries with that?"...aaarrrrggghhhhhh...LOL

its all good actually...you need to know how all aspects of a restaurant works...front and back.

We have also been broken up into groups for our end of quarter project. We have to do a presentation at the end on something related to culinary. We chose to research "Organic" cooking. We need to visit some local farms, stores and a restaurant to learn more about how it works, the benefits, etc. I can't wait...we are already planning where to go and we will present and prepare a meal to be tasted that are exactly the same...one, with organic fresh food, the other with store bought, canned, and dried equivalents to demonstrate the taste benefit of organic food.

The next few days we are prepping for service as the restaurant will be opening up on May 6th...if anyone is in the area...come on down and make fun of me!!! Tuesday through Friday, 8:30 till 1:30. 1155 Spruce Street Riverside, CA 92507-2461

Tomorrow...the special will be??? how would you like that??? surrrreee...we can substitute onion rings for the fries. I would recommend the fish...I filleted it myself!!! LOL

Finally here!!

So...here it is...the day before I start school.

Its been an interesting month since I posted. Full of excitement and anxiety.

I've actually had the opportunity to participate in some events with the academy and I haven't even officially started yet. I got to prepare and present at an event at a local brewery and we made sliders and ice cream. Everything was done from scratch...IT WAS AWESOME!!!

There was another event that one of the chefs contacted me the night before that one of their chefs couldn't make it to an event and asked if I could fill in...and I said YES. It was for a grilled cheese competition in the area. www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com. and...well...what can I say...it also...was AWESOME!!!!

And...here I am...now the day before I actually officially start my culinary experience. I have already purchase one of my books...and have read 9 chapters in...and we don't even start reading this book for another two weeks...and the only reason I don't have the other required textbook is because it hasn't come into the bookstore yet.

Yes...I'm excited about this new venture into my life!!

My uniform is hanging up, my bag is ready to go, and I'm ready to get this life going!!!

My updates will come more frequently...some longer and shorter...but i will try to keep this updated with what happens and goes on...not that anyone is really listening...but hey...I'm having a blast...and thats all that counts.

More to come!!!!

oh...and if you are reading...spread the word...and give some comments...I could use them