Slippery Little Suckers

I started my day just as I'd ended it yesterday- upclose and personal with smoked salmon. I was so frustrated that it was taking me so long! But on the other hand, I had no idea what I was doing and no one really showed me what to do. Joelle mentioned that I would be teamed up with James for the day and we would be tackling the potato pancakes.

James has really taken me under his wing and I couldn't be more appreciative of his patience with me. He just lets me know little things that help along the way that I wouldn't know unless I've been there for 15 years (like he has). Anyway, one of the executive chefs request that we make our potato pancakes from a combination of frozen hash browns and pancake batter. The result seemed more appropriate for a brunch dish doused in syrup and butter. But its intended use was for later that night as a passed canope for a wedding. We topped the pancakes with creme fraiche, then the stubborn roses, a little more creme fraiche an then some chives.

Personally, I thought it looked a little sloppy (mainly because I couldn't cut the damn salmon thin enough). It did comfort me a bit when James said,

"It really takes about 6 months to learn how to slice that shit thin."

But then I didn't understand why I was asked to do so on my first day.

Anyway, by 1 pm, we finished!! Hooray! No more slimy salmon! No more rabbit ears with snippets of chives! I escaped for lunch down at DeGrassi High. Ahhh...my only access to a window. It was a rainy and cold icky day in Chicago this Saturday. I forgot what day it was until I looked down on Michigan Avenue and noticed the hoards of people.

After lunch, my next task was to make 185 rectangular cubes wrapped in prosciutto. More slimy work. Guess how long this took me? Three hours! And someone towards the end came to help me. To be honest, I think both slimy projects are just time consuming, and not personally out to make me feel bad about myself. From cutting and trimming the melon to all be uniform to fighting with the prosciutto to not tear or basically melt away once it hit the melon was a challenge.

But, alas, we finished and got them out the door (to wherever they were going). Last but not least, I help plate 50 or so slivered poached pears on salad plates for a wedding that evening.

I left the Ritz-Carlton at about 6:30 and dragged myself on the train. I took a brief nap which caused me to miss my stop. Argh. Once I got home, my husband and I went out for dinner and when I got home, I immediately filled up my foot massager that he got me as a gift. That will be coming in tres handy.

Tomorrow is Sunday brunch...I'm going in at 7 am. Its almost 10 now, so I have to sign off. My body is aching; feet and back and legs. But at the end of the day, when I walk out of the hotel, I feel really good about myself. I'm picking up some great ideas on presentation, I'm working with people who can really teach me an endless amount. Although I am a bit delirious, at the end of the day, Amy happy!