This spring i decided I wanted to learn how to forage for some of my own food. However I fear that I will pick the wrong plant and get myself and or someone else sick. Even with this always in the back of my mind I want the chance some day to walk in the woods and come out with a foraged blunder of goodies.
On this new adventure this year I am going to do my research on foraging and read all the books I possibly can. I went to the public library were I live and was surprised to find a good variety. I have checked a few out of the library. I have also taken advantage of the internet and its resources. I made sure that the websites I was looking at were reputable and not just some one like me filling your head with lies. There are also some great apps that you can download to your phone to help you with identification of some of the common edible wild plants. Last but not least you can purchase some books on this as well, I suggest second hand books for this as paying full price for books these days is not needed.
All of this new information that I am getting needed to go somewhere other than my head. I created a binder to store all my notes and print offs from the internet.
I have learned so far that memorizing the plants and the way they look throughout there life cycle is critical to picking the correct plant and not the one that will swell your eyes shut!!!!
This is were having a great guide book and or the apps they have online come in handy. The best way is to start out small, what I mean is pick a few wild edibles that you think you would enjoy and go with it. Learn how it looks, and were it grows by going into the woods and look around. There are a lot of forest preserves were I live and they are a great place to go, take a walk and look for these plants off from the beaten trail. Do not pick any edibles!!!!!Please read up online if you are able to do this in forest preserves, as most wont, however it does not mean you cant observe, take notes and or pictures to create your own guide.
I have found so far that this hobby of mine takes a lot of work, dedications and commitment. You need to know what you are doing. Always remember to take care of nature, do not over pick areas and always leave the woods the way mother nature intended it to be.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Work Inspiration
These past few months have been rough at work, and would make any ones head spin. The changes of management multiple times in a few months has its toll on everyone. The culinary team lost a few members, cooks that made some great ceviche, or brought in ingredients to make Menudo, and Tongue Tacos, cooks that would make you lunch when you did not ask, they knew you had been on your feet all day, the last thing us Chefs worry about is eating. We lost a great Executive Chef, friend, mentor that really got my career off the ground, helped me work on my weaknesses and helped build my strengths even further.
We had a few months at the end of last year and a month of this year that we did not have an Executive Chef, this is were all that training and mentoring came into play. The other Sous Chef and myself grabbed the bull by the horns and lead this team the best we could and with holding to the same standards we had always done. Long hours making sure everything is going out when it should, the outlets are running, and the cash cow banquets, making sure you functions are going on time, has the count gone up, any special requests, you name it we need to take care of it and or follow up to make sure the delighted tasks you assigned are getting done and the entire team is successful. The hotel vision, and concept was shifting with the new management company and the team was growing and adapting to make it all happen
In all this craziness we were able to hire a new Executive Chef. The Executive Chef was to re concept the outlets, work on menus, etc to make it there own brand. This in itself was daunting. I myself have never gone through a transition like this, don't get me wrong I was on board with all of this, but with some hesitation. New menus were developed, farm to table items were featured, this is my bread and butter as these things excite me in the kitchen.
When all of this was happening, our hotel was sold and a new management company was going to come in, mind you this is only months after the other management company came in. There vision was different than the last as I figured as all hotels tend to brand themselves especially these smaller management company out there. This in a nut shell was a shock and more added stress that was alot to deal with. Was I to still have a job?
We finally started to get help in, fill those spots that we had lost to try and make our team whole again. It was going to take time, as the team we had before was together so long. Our road was to get more bumpy as our Executive Chef was let go after only having her for a few months. The team and myself were facing adversity again. This time we were more prepared, we had done this before, but its getting busier, more weddings, more corporate functions, late night wedding snacks, modified menus, I could go on.
We as a team are rocking this thing, we have come so far, believe me there have been bumps in the road, that ends up making a stronger team.
We at the hotel are finally in the last stages of getting a new Executive Chef on board, and I could not be more excited. We as a team got to interview them in a round table, intimidating, but efficient as the entire F&B team could ask questions. Both candidates had good things to say. There was one that stood out the most to me, they were getting be excited to be something bigger, that could really be that missing piece to this team. Someone who leads by example, someone that mentor others including me to get us to our next level of our careers. I have so much inspiration now, a breath of fresh air. Those long hours, late nights are all worth it and will make me even better than I am now. A wise Chef once told me in time comes money and the title......
We had a few months at the end of last year and a month of this year that we did not have an Executive Chef, this is were all that training and mentoring came into play. The other Sous Chef and myself grabbed the bull by the horns and lead this team the best we could and with holding to the same standards we had always done. Long hours making sure everything is going out when it should, the outlets are running, and the cash cow banquets, making sure you functions are going on time, has the count gone up, any special requests, you name it we need to take care of it and or follow up to make sure the delighted tasks you assigned are getting done and the entire team is successful. The hotel vision, and concept was shifting with the new management company and the team was growing and adapting to make it all happen
In all this craziness we were able to hire a new Executive Chef. The Executive Chef was to re concept the outlets, work on menus, etc to make it there own brand. This in itself was daunting. I myself have never gone through a transition like this, don't get me wrong I was on board with all of this, but with some hesitation. New menus were developed, farm to table items were featured, this is my bread and butter as these things excite me in the kitchen.
When all of this was happening, our hotel was sold and a new management company was going to come in, mind you this is only months after the other management company came in. There vision was different than the last as I figured as all hotels tend to brand themselves especially these smaller management company out there. This in a nut shell was a shock and more added stress that was alot to deal with. Was I to still have a job?
We finally started to get help in, fill those spots that we had lost to try and make our team whole again. It was going to take time, as the team we had before was together so long. Our road was to get more bumpy as our Executive Chef was let go after only having her for a few months. The team and myself were facing adversity again. This time we were more prepared, we had done this before, but its getting busier, more weddings, more corporate functions, late night wedding snacks, modified menus, I could go on.
We as a team are rocking this thing, we have come so far, believe me there have been bumps in the road, that ends up making a stronger team.
We at the hotel are finally in the last stages of getting a new Executive Chef on board, and I could not be more excited. We as a team got to interview them in a round table, intimidating, but efficient as the entire F&B team could ask questions. Both candidates had good things to say. There was one that stood out the most to me, they were getting be excited to be something bigger, that could really be that missing piece to this team. Someone who leads by example, someone that mentor others including me to get us to our next level of our careers. I have so much inspiration now, a breath of fresh air. Those long hours, late nights are all worth it and will make me even better than I am now. A wise Chef once told me in time comes money and the title......
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