Reflecting on my time at Le Cordon Bleu as an instructor one year shy of fourteen years, I have come to the conclusion that I have perfected the balance of work and play at work.  I Imagine that some of my colleges would say I played more than I worked. 

My work was play for me and I like to horse around.  The drudgery of costing, inventory, and scheduling constantly as an Executive Chef was lightened up with the change of position to a Chef Instructor. 

I was able to get my hands dirty in order to show students how to do and understand techniques.  Demo time was relaxing for me.  I have always been at ease when cooking.  Ok, ok, it’s actually the holding of knives and playing with fire that really sends me into a meditative state. 

In time I was able to hold a dry erase pen,  write almost legibly on the whiteboard, and feel confident that I could navigate the next lecture trusting my experience and knowledge.  Some days I would wonder where the questions would lead us as a class and at times if I was going to be able to steer us back to the curriculum.

The challenge was never the food, it was the students.  Students from all walks of life.  Collectively they spanned all possible skill levels.  Some so green they didn’t know that beef was cow.  People grow up differently and are exposed to different things at different times. 

I’m from Idaho, I know potatoes, cow and a few other things.  If the student grew up in a big city and their family didn’t really cook from scratch the student might not have made the connection between live animals and packaged cuts of meat.  Where does a breast of chicken come from?  It’s not a mammal, chickens don’t breast feed their young. 

I had to explain that once. Actually, I was asking what kinds of animals we could make cheese from.  The answer I got was “Duck”. 

Remember when I said “I would wonder where the questions would lead us”?  Well, sometimes the answers would send us into a lesson on how mammals are different from birds and you can’t milk a duck.

In putting down the paper toque and sharing some of the dishes I prepared along the way, I’m hoping this might be a way to show my appreciation.  I am appreciative of the time I was given and the people I have a connection with through this food.   

 

  

 

       

    

     

     

“Australian Up and Coming”

That’s what the on-screen button on the back of the seat in front of me says. 

 I’m on Jetstar from Hawaii to Sydney.  Lights are low, magical windows dim to a soft, almost polarizing, blue hue.  No more sliding the white panel to keep the sun out.  

We just lost Friday to the international date line and crossed the equator at the same time. It’s like the pilots were seeing if they could hit that point in the map exactly.  

335 on board, 9 across, and the only social interaction is with the other person ‘holding it’ at the bathroom door.  We all have a screen filled with distraction embedded in the seat back in front of us.  Movies, games, music, even seat to seat chat.  There is a good amount of movies to watch but be careful of the spoilers that are all around you.  The person in 40a is watching what you are and is further along.  Ten hours of tv.  It’s facinnating to watch a large group of high thinking beings be controlled and subdued by technology.  

Polish is band, apparently an Up and Coming band out of Australia.  They are pretty close to my recently sold or given away CD collection from the 90’s.  A bit classic rockish with a slight punk feel.  I like it in this moment.  The name of the album is ‘Alright Already’.    

40k feet in the air, -67 degrees, 653 miles per hour.  This B787 is quite the marvel.  I was able to write this post, watch Gardians of the Galaxy Two, and work on more writing with a canned Jim Beam and Cola.  

Our time in Hawaii has come to an end and Just when you think you knew something.  Like how to spell Hawaii for example.  There is a movement in the state to change it to Hawai’i.  I’ve been seeing signs spelled both ways.  You really start to second guess all you know or at least what you learned on the mainland.

We stayed in a small one bedroom house that pushed us together sometimes more than we could stand.  The heat and humidity was seasonally high according to the locals and it controled what we could bear.  Before noon swimming was the key to keeping us from being too tired and cranky for sand removal late in the day.

I am filling this post with the view from my eyes.  The photo at the top is by far one of my favorites.  I see two young jedi looking longingly into the distance and the future.

 

 

 Oahu, Hawaii.  An eye popping, jaw dropping experience for the boys.  Actually this first stop on the RTW trip surprised all of us with roosters crowing before sunrise.  Sea turtles becoming just as curious about us as we were of them.  We we given mangoes from the tree in the yard.

The west side of Oahu is not as well off financially.  That or they decide to spend their money on raising families, very loud yet crystal clear car stereos to blast any time.  All sorts of fixed up two stoke engines with two or four wheels to zip around on, also at all hours.  Fences, the amount of fences and pad locks is amazing.  Each house has gated entry to the car port, the walkway, the front door.  Our place was part of a duplex and we had four gates each with a pad lock.  Locksmithing looks like the best career path on this side.   

 The boys did a lot of rolling in the surf. 

 

 Cheese burgers for $2.50 for the boys and a recommended double cheese burger with barbecue sauce for $3.50.  Light only shows the “BAR” section of the BARBECUE KAI sign.  The menu prices are written with Sharpie on masking tape and stuck to a back lit Pepsi menu board.  I don’t think they are in it for the money.  There isn’t greed here.  Counter service and a couple of picnic tables.  The atmosphere reminded me of a drive-in-movie conssession stand.  Everything from burgers to a side of somen noodles that was a quart container full.  My Wife said it was a recommendation and that it was just a side.  It was a meal for two.  I would recommend this local favorite over the golden arches across the street.  

I’ve been thinking about this post for almost two weeks now.  I can’t seem to find the words to explain how I feel about this visit.

Maybe silence is best for now.

We toured the USS Arizona Memorial. It was just a fraction of the devastation and horror that happened that morning in 1941.

 

If you can, make it a priority to visit the memorial.   Take a moment to honor the fallen.

“Chaotic action is preferable to orderly inaction.”- Will Rogers

I’ve been holding out on you.  I’m told I’m one of the most patient people on the planet.  Family, students, peers, employers, and more have stood by saying “Well? Do you have an answer yet?”, “Did you hear me?”, “just tell me the answer, Chef.”.  In my defense; yes, I am listening, always.  I am a fabulous listener and observer. Yeah, it’s a bit creepy.  I am also an introvert.  For my former students this might be hard to realize but it took all I had to present, lecture and interact with you.  I would go home and shut down to the point of not communicating with my family and honestly, it wasn’t fair for them.  I had spent all my extrovert powers at work and left nothing for the people closest to me.

I have been wanting to write for years.  Putting it off until the time was right, when I had the time, when my computer was running well, ect…  I am a thinker and sometimes I will not do something until I know the outcome completely.  It sucks.  I put in all the scenarios and then won’t start until I am sure of the outcome.   Luckily for you I have changed a bit.  Not completely but some.

Years ago I started to build, no wait, I started to plan to build, a chuck box for hunting and camping.  Research included looking at what was in the market already, materials, tools required, space to do the job, and, of course, time to do the building.  A little more than two years later and I had made my own chuck box.  Mission complete!

Bulllllsssshit…. I had spent two complete hunting seasons (spring turkey, archery and rifle deer and elk) improvising with what I had and done just fine.  I had found that being flexible and having less was the key.  I used the chuck box for one season of camping/hunting before using as a storage shelf in the garage.  Two years for one fucking season what a waste!  The most valuable lesson I had learned was to start something.  Yeah, just start it and keep hammering nails into it.  You can change it or fix it later.  Be flexible, don’t try to figure it all out before starting.  Most solutions present themselves in the moment.

The excuses have all gone by the wayside and you are all in for what I hope is a treat.  My perspective.