New week

Finally the weeks seems to be coming to an end,  very long stressful week, hopefully there will be some good days ahead though. Trisha moves tomorrow, and Canada Day parade downtown. Have to clean out the car, iron and wash my uniform... and find it :S  lol.  Work today was long, it's the bbq banquet thing this evening, so a lot of prep this morning. Steady lunch though, so it went by pretty fast. I'm pretty exhausted though, working every day since last wednesday has definitely taken a toll on me lol, time to relax though. Might pick up a shift on Saturday to help pay for school and insurance. If only there was so much money involved in living and having a car and getting an education lol. But there is, so if I'm meant to be there I'll find the money somehow, and things will work out. Prayers would be helpful though :)  Sleep time soon, just have to pick up Trisha, then I'll be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow. No new cooking adventures cause it's been a crazy week, probably going to cook some of the hot sausages we picked up from the market, tomorrow though. They should be pretty good.

Happy Canada Day to anyone that actually reads this :)

today

So, yesterday... I forgot to blog, but anyhow, it was like the worst day ever... had a really long day at work, the 10:30 guy didn't come in, so we were behind, and prep was so far behind I didn't get out til 4:30. So anyhow... watched avatar when i got home with my brother Stephen, then went to bed, and forgot to blog lol. This morning had a decent day at work, and got my review. Everything was good in it, apparently I'm a good worker and seem to want to be there in a kitchen cooking food lol, (I'd hope he sees that) just need to tell him when I'll be gone so he can hire someone to replace me when I got to Stratford. Oh, and I need to get a bit faster in the morning on setting up the front line, but otherwise, nothing bad in it at all. After work, went over to see Trisha. We went to the wednesday market, and got a really good deal on chicken breasts, got a bit of food for the week, then dropped her off at work. I packed all the stuff I'm taking over to her new place to help get her started, and to get some clutter out of the house here lol. Just my pots and pans, one of my 2 sets of knives, and utensils and such.  Pretty much just kitchen stuff lol,  oh, and a coffee maker :)  Possibly having a bonfire tonight,... not sure though, guess we'll see. Work in the morning again, and need to get a new kilt tomorrow cause mine is way too big.  Think I'll clean out my car after I get something to eat for dinner.

nameless haha

This morning, definitely had a frustrating morning, nothing stocked at work... AGAIN and I had to be up at 5 lol, but got better after I made a $20 tip for a delivery :) Had a relatively good afternoon, drove Trisha to work, then hung out with my brother for the evening. Jumped on the trampoline for a while, played guitar, then went to Windsor for the freedom festival fireworks,  it was pretty awesome. Have to work again tomorrow morning at 9, so I'll be heading to bed as soon as I pick up Trisha from work. No awesome cooking to share about today, hopefully soon though.

Sunday

I think... that I'm going to really appreciate working with people that actually want to be in the field they're working in during and after school.  This morning, all the sauce bottles had just enough sauce in them... to be useless, and just more dishes, and stocking stuff that should've been done last night. Laziness is most definitely one of my pet peves in the work place, and if I ever have to opportunity to run a kitchen... it'll be interesting, but very very clean and awesome. I'm looking forward to it, and to be working with people that want to be cooks lol. Freezer is still broken at work, so in the confusion of running back and forth to the walk in freezer and putting up plates in the expo window, I dropped 2 bags of extra chicken fingers, so I had them for lunch lol, after paying for them of course, but I didn't have to wait to cook them :)

Life teen is now over in Wallaceburg, played drums this evening there, got a little pocket knife for helping out at the church, pretty good night, but now it's blazing hot, and humid... and I'm supposed to sleep... I don't sleep well in heat. Got a fan though, so it'll be ok. Work at 6 AM to clean the ovens, hoods, fryers, and grill, so I should be getting sleep soon. Going to try the tart I made the other day finally haha, I'll tell everyone how it turned out tomorrow.

Long Day

Not sure where to begin, just a frustrating day, freezer was broken at work again,... re-writing this a second time cause it just screwed up right as I went to publish it... so yeah... pretty frustrated. Anyhow, at least I got some hours today at work. Went to Wallaceburg to Trisha's Mom's birthday party thing. Had a pretty awesome supper of Garlic Shrimp, Steaks, Red Potatoes, and green beans all cooked over a bbq. Cake afterwards, and now here I am.  Life's just getting hectic, and it seems like everyone thinks I'm not around enough, I'm just trying to get everything in order. Always one thing after another. If I did every bit of running around I need done all in one week, with free gas, and a car that never needed an oil change or any money put into it, I still wouldn't have it all done. Applying for OSAP, sending them paperwork, Canada post is on strike... so... they can all,... wait... what can I and can't I post on here :S... well...  fill with colourful language, the economy is bad enough, don't need your complaining and screwing around, I'd trade them a job for mine any time, at least they get 40 hours a week. Anyhow...   Not sure what else to say, I could go on and on, it's not that I'm trying to avoid people, I just need time in between my insane days, and I can barely even get that without hanging out with anyone, so... my life is crazy right now, and I need people to understand that I'm just trying to get through this. I need people's prayers... please... and just for everyone to understand that I'm just trying to get my life started,... but it's like I'm tied down by.. well... everything right now.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better...

the 24th of June

Today, I woke up at 10:30 ish, went to pick up Trisha, and went to church at noon. It's our 2 year anniversary so we decided to spend the day together :) We got home after mass and decided to cook something together as something to do without spending too much money as we are both saving for school this fall. Went through the cookbook I got from her parents, and after looking in the fridge to see that we had more strawberries than we could ever imagine using before they went bad, decided to make some sort of a strawberry desert. Strawberry souffle sounded good, but too many ingredients we didn't have. We found a few strawberry deserts, but settled on the 'Strawberry, Rhubarb, and Lemon Tart' by chef Jason Parsons. Trisha made the crust, which had shredded lemon peel in it, and I made the filling. Just had to remove all the green tops from every single strawberry, take the rhubarb with flour and sugar and starch, take a lemon peel, and mix it all together over hi heat. If anyone wants the recipe, just leave a message and I'll post it with all credit towards Jason Parsons. Anyhow, it turned out pretty awesome, smelled amazing and can't wait to taste it tomorrow :) Went to work, then had dinner with Trisha, had a really awesome shift, was ahead of all the orders for once on the salad station. Added below are pictures of the finished desert we created, I'll try to add more pictures of before, during and after on future cooking projects or whatever they're called,... creations, disasters lol, whatever.

Watching 'The Bourne Identity' with Trisha now, work tomorrow morning...  and every morning until next Friday...  yay....  I hate mornings...  but at least I get the afternoons off,     nothing else to write... that was my awesome day :) 

Good day :)

Woke up this morning, went to work, pretty good day. I was a bit behind at first, but after a good timmies coffee and muffin, I was good to go! 6 hours at work, then went over to Trisha's place. Watched a bit of 'Leap Year' with her,  a decent chick flick I guess you could call it, anyhow there's a chef in it lol. dropped her off at work, and then came home to cook one of the steaks I bought yesterday. They need to be marinated I think, I'll try it tomorrow or the day after... probably Saturday as I work tomorrow evening. Went to pipes and drums, oh right, for those of you who don't know, I am part of a pipes and drum band. I play a drum set as well, and guitar a little bit. hmm, guess I haven't really described myself much to those, if anyone, that actually don't know me that well, so guess I'll take the opportunity now, cause it's been a pretty boring day lol. I am turning 21 next month, obviously heading off to Stratford in the fall to become a chef. I am in the apprenticeship program, and I've been working in a few restaurants over the past 2 years on and off. I used to be in the Canadian Forces as an infantry soldier at first, and then as a musician for the past 2 years. I had to quit in order to complete my apprenticeship but I'm enjoying the freedom a bit. I like having longer hair lol. I listen to a lot of heavy metal, so that's kind of where that comes from. Not trying to prove a point or stand out, just a personal thing I like. I am very strong about my beliefs and about who I am. I don't try to fit in, or change to be more liked, but try to be myself always. I'm pretty shy at first but open up once I get to know people. I am also catholic, and my faith is a huge part of my life, and luckily a huge part of my fiance, Trisha,'s life as well. We're waiting until we're finished school in 2 years before our wedding but we're really happy with each other, and she's a huge part of my life as well,  though she doesn't like long hair or lizards lol... and I want a bearded dragon...   haha, we'll see, anyhow, that's me in a nutshell of sorts, hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting anyhow.

Fresh Pizza Time

So, last night turned out well, had some awesome thunderstorms for a while! (I enjoy thunderstorms a lot) while I was baking my strawberry pie. It turned out pretty well, pictures will be included below. Today, woke up, same snooze button pushing routine as always before work, started out dead at Boston Pizza, then got relatively busy. After work, I picked up Trisha and headed to the Wednesday market for the first time. It's pretty awesome, got a good deal on steaks, and all my food, plus all the ingredients are the most fresh I've ever used! It was an awesome exciting grocery getting experience, which will definitely become a weekly or at least bi-weekly routine for Trisha and myself.   I got home after dropping Trisha off at work, and went to go relax, but found Sarah (my brother's girlfriend) over, so we decided to get sushi. Not my favourite, but not bad. after eating, dropped her off at home, and went out to get a few more pizza supplies I was missing... well one supply lol, got some active yeast. Got home, realized it was the wrong kind, (there are different kinds of yeast??) Apparently so...  however, found a simple conversion for the yeast I had, and made it work. I created dough myself for the first time, a simple recipe that turned out excellent. I will post pictures of my pizza before cooking below, and possibly add more of after cooking tomorrow if I remember to get pictures, as I still have one more pizza to make... the first one went fast.  Awesome pizza making experience however, using fresh mozarella for the first time, which tastes AMAZING! and its cheaper than store bought! A storm just missed us today, poured for about 5 minutes, then that was it. Now it's dark out, and I'm getting a little tired, waiting for my brother to come home, cooking the second pizza, then relaxing until I have to pick up Trisha from work at 12:30. It's been a good day :) many more to come hopefully, many more new ideas to create and make food wise over the summer, hopefully including pasta sometime, and a homemade BBQ sauce, for which I just found the recipe for. Tomorrow however, will be some awesome steaks, time permitting, with potatoes. 

Amazing day

Great day, woke up early without an alarm clock and not tired at all!! so Trisha and I decided to make the most of our day. We had a quick sandwich for lunch then headed out to pick some fresh strawberries. There were some massive mosquitos! and I got bit a couple times, but not too bad. 8 Baskets of strawberries later lol we headed back to Chatham. On the way, I found the 'Smith and Wilson' windery, which pretty much made my day cause I've been trying to find their wine for like 9 months now! it's not in any LCBO stores anywhere, and they couldn't even order it. Anyhow, walked in, and found a good bottle of wine, good price, local, and the only place you can get it is right here in Chatham Kent! we drove back to Chatham, cleaned half the strawberries, dropped Trisha off at work, and here I am now, going to clean up the kitchen a bit. Trisha got my a pizza peel so I'm pretty exited to use it! hopefully we can head to the market tomorrow and get some fresh produce and make pizza for supper tomorrow evening. Oh, that steak rub from last night is rediculous! way too hot, guess I'll only use it as a spice from now on. Off to play drums for the grade 8 graduation at the church tonight after I clean up the kitchen. I feel like making a strawberry pie now, so I think that'll be my next little creation, I'll try to remember to take picture this time. If anyone wants a pie or anything just tell me, and get me the fruit or filling cause I can't afford much lol, I'll make the dough from scratch though. Just a thought, if you live near me I guess :S Off to the kitchen now then to pack my drums.

Today!

Woke up at 4:45 to be at work for 6...  too early, cleaned the ovens, super cleaned the fryers, and cleaned the grill. Pretty dead day customer wise, but there was a lot of prep from Sunday night. did a freezer pull portioned pasta, and then went to go see Trisha :) She got accepted for the apartment! well, gave the down payment on it, so it's hers! She'll be moving soon, hopefully she gets to be as excited as me, it's an awesome place!   Watched part of  "How to train your dragon" with her before taking her to work,..   I definitely want a bearded dragon now...  too bad the girl I'm engaged to hates reptiles.  I'll get it eventually just a little more convincing is needed lol, and a bit of money, so no time soon. Drove her to work, then came home to play drums for about an hour! AWESOME!  just about to cook some pork chops on the BBQ, maybe I'll try my new Texas BBQ signature rub on it.  After dinner, off to the church to practice with the band for a drumming thing for a graduation thing tomorrow lol,... (I'm obviously ready.. don't even know exactly what it is lol)  all good though, that's why there are practices I guess :) well, out to go jump on the trampoline with my brother John and cook some pork chops!

June 19th, 2010

woke up to make breakfast... but went back to sleep again... and again... and again... so I had a burger bun with peanut butter for breakfast, went to work for almost 7 hours :) good day at work, then off to Wallaceburg for church after dropping Trisha off at Mickee dees for work. Got back, took pictures of my garden to add to this post... more so to figure out how to do it, jumped on the trampoline with Sarah and John, then went to relax.  Checked my e-mail, and got news from Stratford :)  The school is accepted for OSAP so hopefully I can get that on the way soon, well, completed, I'm mostly done, and then next step is to look for an apartment I guess... October's coming rediculously fast!  Anyhow, Trisha's getting a gorgeous apartment downtown in a couple days :) and umm... guess that was my day.  Oh, and I got my student number and ID!!! so excited, cause now I'm officially a student! well... I was already officially a student, but somehow the number makes it more real... I like being a number I guess,  however, no login username was attached... so have to wait a day or two before I can login to the website.  I'll keep it posted up here to whoever actually reads this... if anyone...  however, my garden pictures will be posted up too with this.

Garden pictures,

One picture is of my carrot/onion part, the carrots are doing great! which is awesome, cause all I did was drop seeds in the ground, and drop water on it every once in a while,  the onions seems sparse and slow, so I guess we'll see.  My cilantro died... again, the second plant, so I give up on it for now. The parsley and Chives are doing great though :) and I'm unsure about my little grapevine. Unsure if it wants to live... just needs some motivation I guess. The entire little garden is the bottom picture, I'll add pictures every once in a while as it progresses.

First Blog

So, blogging seemed like a cool idea, for me to remember how my life went when I look back on this in like 10 years, and if anyone cares to follow my life beyond what you may think you know about me, then, guess this will be about what goes on in my somewhat odd mind, and how my everyday life goes by, day by day. I'll try to post every day, guess we'll see if I can keep up. Oh, and as random as this is, I have a vegetable garden, so I'll be writing stuff here about it, taking pictures, and seeing how it progresses, as I certainly didn't do the greatest job with it :P as you'll see in pictures later on, but it seems to be coming along. Once I get to Stratford, those people who want to still know what's going on my life can read this and I'll try to take pictures to tell you about how my school life, and the beginning to my Chef Career is going. Anyhow, it's bed time, cause I work tomorrow morning at 9:00 at Boston Pizza.