I'm heading off to my summer vacation today. After lunch Kirk and I will be meeting up to hop into his diesel Jetta and driving up to his cottage on Henderson Bay. Weather permitting, it'll be a weekend packed with cruising around on the Sea Ray and tacking around the bay on their 16-foot Hobie catamaran. I haven't been sailing in years, and I've been itching to do it since last summer.
Saturday night we're planning a little fête for some of his family up there... parents, grandfather and cousins. He asked me to duplicate a pasta dish on the menu at the Sackets Harbor Brewpub. It's called Little John's Penne and Grilled Chicken. It's described as thus:
"The staff's favorite forever! With peas and prosiutto in a pink vodka cream sauce, topped with asiago cheese and pine nuts." Yum. Sweet corn from one of the local farmers will accompany this, and the appetizer will be Kirk's beer and Old Bay boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce. This will likely all be washed down with generous portions of Sackets Brewing beers, which we'll likely get several growlers refilled with.
Sunday night Kirk informs me that his folks will likely treat us to dinner at one of Sackets' fine restaurants. Perhaps the brewpub, perhaps the BBQ joint. Who knows? Wherever we go, it's sure to be excellent food. We'll be doing breakfast at Tin Pan Galley one of the mornings. Their food is phenomenal, and so creative. I think they've got the best breakfast I've ever had. (although James Brown's Place is definitely second)
On the way up to the cottage, we're planning to drop into Montezuma NWR for some quick birding. Kirk says it's the very beginning of shorebird migration, and we may see some sandpipers and the like. The lovely Heidi is offering me the use of her awesome binoculars too!
Now, for school. I can't wait until it's over! Most of my classmates annoy the crap out of me with their shitty attitudes and laziness. I can't see how some of them will make it in the biz unless they change their tune. The classroom component is over (except for a business class on Thursdays), so we're up in the kitchen the whole time now, which isn't usually terribly exciting. This week and next I'm working the lunch line, which is for the Red Cross employees. We dish up soup, and make sandwiches and salads. After a couple of those dinner shifts at the Grill, it's a joke. My classmate, who's "training" me on the line this week, has no experience in the industry, so it's a bigger deal to him, I think. What he seems to think is busy is pretty pathetic.
We're doing stocks currently, too. Yesterday was chicken stock, and today they're doing beef stock (without my help it seems, as I've elected to stay home and get ready for the trip!). Next week Greg said we'll be taking some of the beef stock and making demi-glace, which will take all week, according to him. Awesome! Yesterday I just stood over the steam kettle and watched the developing stock bubble along; bits of mirepoix, roasted chicken bones, fat particles and the sachets swirling and bobbing around. The aroma was incredible. I could've leaned over that kettle and watched it for hours. I'm not sure if that's good or just really sad.
Anyway, I'm outta here! I'll be buying fresh batteries for the digicam, and some of the pics will be up on this very blog next week, so stay tuned! And while you're all working or hanging around home, I'll be thinking of you while zipping along Henderson Bay on the Hobie cat or quaffing microbrew and eating gourmet foods. Enjoy, I know I will!
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Hey, Ryan. This is totally random but I just ran across your blog two days ago (some search about Monty's Krown and Custom Brewcrafters brought it up). I may have met you at a UNYHA meeting at some point. Was just wondering if you were still homebrewing.
Best of luck with your studies, by the way. My husband and I are both cooks of the amateur variety but have both dreamt of culinary school at one point or another.
Kira Barnes
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