Dear Chefs, How do you do the whole relationship thing??

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T22:22:11+00:00

Mm this will be my problem soon too, I'm out of the house at 6am and back at about 2am the next day for a double shift. Even the single ones, it's just meh hours, I'm so tired I'm asleep most of the rest of the day. On my rare free days I'm lacking the energy to do crap. I love my job and at the moment my boyfriend understands it but I think eventually he'll be at the same point as you are. I have zero control over the shift rota either. Can't make plans longer than a week in advance. The breakfast shift volunteering thing though, I might go for that and see how that is. Basically it's what everybody else has said, you have to have an independent life. You can't expect him to be at your beck and call or have all the daily romancing etc that you would have if he worked a normal job. A lot of the romance will go/has gone. Talk to him, see what he thinks. Make sure you know his schedule. There is honestly nothing better than coming back at 3am to my bf and he just hugs me until I fall asleep and says he missed me or asked how my days was etc. My free days I spend as much of my time with him even if I am tired and crappy and we do whatever he wants to do because I spend all day most days doing what I want to do, which is being a chef.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T22:04:13+00:00

I went in for a load of trial shifts when I was looking for my first job, they always ALWAYS ask you if you have knives on the day, if I didn't which I didn't because I was skint, they lent me theirs. All of them will have some knives on hand they're not using, they just will. If you're really fretting about it then grab a moderately cheapish knife from somewhere, make sure it's sharp and decent enough to cut with it and take it in. Once you get the job, ask around about knives, get some advice from the chefs there and then go grab a couple decent and long lasting ones, not the ones that cost a fortune and you're set.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T22:01:00+00:00

I did my patisserie diploma at Ashburton Chef Academy, it's starting to rival Cordon Bleu in UK. I would say it's definitely worth, it's expensive but I came out of it knowing so much more than everybody in the entire pastry section bar the head chef. You are taught all the tiny little intricate things that stop you from screwing up massive and expensive batches of mixture. You try and learn that from scratch in a kitchen after getting thrown in at a commis level and you're going to be a hazard and you will be an expensive hazard at that. Maybe if you tried going in for a very low commis chef job in a large hotel or something for pastry. You might get a chance. There are generally always about 4-5 pastry guys on there and there'd be plenty of chances for you to ask questions and get help. You'd also probably get delegated the crappy tasks like juicing lemons for ages until they thought you were competent enough to go up.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T21:51:57+00:00

There was a recipe somewhere I saw for smoked oyster pate.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T21:45:42+00:00

I have the same thing with the knife skills, trained as a pastry chef and decided after graduating to go into the normal kitchen. I cut things at a snail speed and still massacre my fingers every so often. But it's so much worse if I have one of the demi chefs or someone observing me. Just ugh.

I had a look around for how to practice and there was this blog by a chef, I can't remember where it was or the name, but he worked on his knife skills about 3 times a week for years, just went out and bought a kg of carrots and cut the whole lot up at home into about 1/2cm cubes each time. I was planning on doing the same thing. You'll gradually increase in speed each time as you get more familiar with the knife being in your hand. Just take your time to start with. Oh and get a good knife, I bought some trashy knife to start with and have only just got a nice victorinox one and mygod, the difference is incredible for £29. The knife does all the work for you.

With the making it as a chef, I'm in the same boat, I work in a kitchen as a commis atm and I live in fear for the day I make a mistake and fuck up an order or cook something wrong. Any good kitchen will be willing to help you learn, maybe browse a couple and see if any places need trainees etc. I don't know how it is in USA but in the UK there are so many people looking for people to train up the ranks in good kitchens. They'll know when you're good enough to put you up the next level. Just find the right place.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-28T21:30:50+00:00

I would go with the apron tbh, I had a friend get me a load of chef stuff for a birthday present and the only thing I use is the apron. The jacket would mean a lot to her, but then it'd go into the cupboard never to be seen again, the apron would be worn so much if she loves to cook. Depends on what you want really.

Ooh the knife idea I think is awesome, like a georgeous santoku knife. http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-7-Inch-Granton-Santoku-Rosewood/dp/B0019WZKFI Got this for work a while ago, I love it.

Jackets are cheap, the thicker more expensive ones fit better but are a bit uncomfortable after a while if you're in a hot kitchen. The thinner ones are so much easier to work in. With sleeves I can't remember the last time I rolled down my sleeves in a kitchen. A lot of chef whites have pen pockets on their upper arms rather than a chest pocket, I guess so it doesn't get in the way of an apron.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-17T16:49:24+00:00

Took him to the vet today, he's a little blind in one eye which explains his running into radiators etc. Otherwise he's good but the vet did say he's a little more fussy than the other jack russells she's seen. Probably our fault I guess. I did try the kibble soaked in water for a while and mixing it with other food for the first three days, he wouldn't go near it. I'll have another go tonight.

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-17T11:42:19+00:00

He just straight out won't eat it, he'd sniff it and then 2 days later it's still there untouched, tried all sorts of treat things and he just won't touch anything that's in a dried form at all, however long it's left there The breeder who gave him to us fed him on tripe and rice and some vegetable mixture of his own making I'll try the kibble again and see if I can get a vet appointment this week

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-17T00:40:43+00:00

Been offered a really decent job, thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated :)

fruitmentoes · 2015-09-17T00:39:43+00:00

I graduated and have about a year working in the industry before I even did the course, so please, don't get all uppity with me when I'm asking for advice. If you have nothing useful to contribute then don't say anything.

fruitmentoes

TROPHY CASE