Put your right hand directly over your heart. With focused intention feel the sensations of your one and only heart's automatic and rythymic pulse as it gently imposes its force through layers of internal and external protections.
Take a deep breathe in. Now with a measure of control release the consumption of your lungs. As you do this be totally aware of every part of you that has to perform in perfect unison to activate this normally involuntary reflex.
This is the natural synchronicity that is meant to support your days and years of accumulated life. Generally these utility systems of energy exchange within us, continuing in their functions with little or any purposeful prompting by any of our own original thought. Circulatory beauty, our body is designed to take care of itself. Our bodies also have abilities to give us subtle, and even acute messages in times of certain needs. Be it hunger, thirst, a particular nutrient, or sleep, if we are healthy and in tune to these messages we can meet our own needs and progress. Once we have met these basic needs we have the freedom to devote more energy to the moments of passionate experience that we crave.
I believe it is important to slow down and connect with the heartbeat and breathe often. Its the most immediate and easiest way to be present. Being present is important to be able to understand the truth of what is going on around you. To become a better listener and create a stronger awareness of the atmosphere you are being surrounded with.Breathe in...
Is this where you want to be right now? Its up to you to tell your feet where to travel.
Is this what you wanted to do? It takes honest decision-making to match up your current attendance to where you truly hoped to be today.
Are you happy today? That is a choice.
Are you thankful for anything? Gratitude, appreciation, comprehension of what is good about your life and taking nothing for granted is essential to recognizing your happiness potential.
Breathe out...
Practice being present for your life.
Today is always an opportunity. Today I spent most of my time at school...
For me I wanted to be enrolled in and graduate from culinary school. I made a choice to be here. I want to make the most of this educational journey. I am happy to be apart of a team with established goals. I am thankful for the ability to practice and hone my culinary and professional skills, and also for the guidance of my instructors. I will be successful here because I am intentional about achieving my purpose. I want to share my passion and excitement for food to help people feel healthy and happy and thankful.
I can apply this kind of presence to every part of my life...
3pres·ent
adj\ˈpre-zənt\
Definition of PRESENT
1
: now existing or in progress
2
a: being in view or at handb: existing in something mentioned or under consideration
3: constituting the one actually involved, at hand, or being considered
: the quality or state of being precise : Exactness
2
a: the degree of refinement with which an operation is performed or a measurement stated —
I have learned practice is the only thing that will yield precision.
Every single teacher I have had has made the point that a very telling characteristic of a chef's abilities starts with his/her knife skills. It shows attention to detail and experience or practice with the craft. As the knife becomes an extension of our hands it is important to know how to use it
safely and with accuracy. Once this is mastered, the kitchen cutting board becomes a stage for the ingredients of every type of cuisine to be manipulated, modified and transformed into something special.
You have to know how to take care of your knife too. This applies to keeping the blade SHARP. A dull knife is even more dangerous than the blade that can shave hairs from your wrist. A dull knife will require you to use a much more force to push a blade through the items you are slicing and dicing. If your knife is sharp, then the knife does almost all the work, allowing you to be its guide.
Precision.
Its what allows us to be at the cutting edge of whatever we are doing.
Exactness.
Proves an attention to detail and that it mattered.
Refinement.
Smoothing out the rookie approach to your tasks by applying practice.
: the dimensions, capacity, or amount of something ascertained by measuring: an estimate of what is to be expected (as of a person or situation): a measured quantity
: the act or process of measuring
: a basis or standard of comparison measure of happiness>
: a step planned or taken as a means to an end
In whatever you pursue... constant and careful measurement can become an extremely important component to understanding and recognizing your success. Today we decided on our mission statement as a class:
"As passionate students, we are proud to put forth our best efforts while striving for
simple perfection."
~Spring 2011 Restaurant Class
Everyone seemed to be pretty happy with what we came up with together. This will be one of our measuring standards to abide by for the entire time we are apart of this learning experience. A standard that we should carry with us beyond graduation I am sure. If we are successful in running this teaching restaurant, which I have confident we will be, then we will have met the expectations we estimated with high hopes and strived for. There is so much more I can say about this. Measure is a lot bigger word than I realized but for now I am going to conclude with this quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
All day I was staying open and aware to what word I might choose to explore. Today we spent quite a bit of time together as a class discussing ideas and beliefs that would eventually be the backbone to our "Mission Statement." At first I wasn't sure if I was just making the word choice easy or in fact I had chosen something that would require a much deeper mindfulness this time. Developing a mission statement is a very important part for all twenty of us students to participate in. We need to make sure we are in agreement with the statement that will define everything we strive to accomplish this entire semester. Its possibly the most important thing we can do to bring us together for one common goal.
I kept thinking about my own experience with mission statement formation. I am fortunate to have been involved in the formulation process of this definitive declaration with a few different groups and businesses. I have learned how important each word choice is in the overall final proclamation, since Mission Statements will normally become assessable to the public, who will read it with their own voice and immediately attach an expectation to it. These expectations stem from the fact that the statement becomes like a promise. Since it directly comes from the people, group or business that plans to achieve some form of a goal- their measure of successfully fulfilling their promises will come from the people they serve or interact with.
For every session of CUL 295- Contemporary Dining and Cuisine the class is required to decide on a mission statement together, and then agree that it states everything they plan to complete in the final semester before graduation. This mission statement will become apart of the printed menu so it is visible to all restaurant patrons who dine at our restaurant. It will be required that we know and understand this assertion in the case of a test question in reference to it intricacies too. It ultimately should become something like a mantra for all of us, as we practice teamwork at its best and emerge into our roles as future chefs.
**I started to think that this might be a great opportunity to create my own Mission Statement. Except First... What does the word mission mean and what does it mean to me??
1mis·sion
noun\ˈmi-shən\
Definition of MISSION
1
: a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity: as: a specific task with which a person or a group is charged
: a preestablished and often self-imposed objective or purpose mission>
What could I come up with that would fit into not just my goal oriented journey in culinary school but also my everyday life. What are my objectives?? Thankfully this didn't take me too long. I guess when it is up to only one person to decide the best fit- For me, myself and I, all who have regular conversations very very often, the final decision was simple:
Mission statement- January 18, 2011 for Stephanie:
With a Heart full of Ambition and a constant smile- I will practice Honesty, Humbleness, Happiness, Healthy Choices, be a Willing Helper, Always Hopeful, and stay full of Humility.
In our very first class of CUL 295- better known as "The Restaurant Class" by the majority, we focused a large portion of the class on how we define this word not just in school but in all aspects of our lives. We split up into small groups first and then came to ether as a class to share the answers that we had decided best described what this word meant to us and how it would be applied to our expectations in this class, and our instructors expectations too. We decided in part how we would participate in the course we are currently enrolled in now and beyond graduation in our own "real world scenarios".
Instantly obvious was the fact that each and every one of us had our own unique interpretation and perception of what professionalism meant to us. Common opinions were pin pointed too and became the foundation that would hold the framework of accountability and respect for one another and our forthcoming experience.
It made sense to all of us to point out how important it is to be aware at all times that we are being watched and evaluated. Not just by our instructors but outside the classroom too. Our community, friends and family, new students, and restaurant professionals who could be our future employers would all hold us to a higher standard based on our status as a culinary student. Being mindful of all we say and do, our appearance, respectfulness, language, openness to sharing information and everything about our experience, especially upholding the basic knowledge and skill standards that are automatically expected to be known and practiced at the level we had now attained... these are just a few of the ideas we circulated as a class when defining this word, professionalism.
What does professionalism mean to you? How do you define it not just in your job... but your life and situations?
For me professionalism begins with how I decide to start my day. My attitude and outlook, and especially my constant striving for optimism in whatever I am faced with. It involves a commitment to setting the best example possible in front of an Eight and Seven year old. My sweet kiddos who are relying on me to teach them how to live in this world. Every single thing I say and do is absorbed by these two, especially right now, and mainly because so much of the world is still brand new to them. How I react to everything, especially challenges and conflict is giving them an example of what to do, or not do if they choose, when faced with similar situations in their own experience.
I see that we are now in an age where hardly anything is private anymore. We have the option to be checked in to our specific location so everyone knows where we are. We can report to a status that says exactly what we are up in case anyone cares. Pictures get posted, people say whatever they want and people say things like "I'll facebook you later" to specify a newly accepted form of communication that is available worldwide. These facebook profiles tell a story about who we are whether we like it or not. Almost anybody can go on and find out whatever they want about us now. Doesn't that make it even more important if you choose to be on these sites to protect your persona and perceived level of professionalism? I think it most Absolutely does!!
To me Professionalism isn't just a way to conduct yourself, but maybe its more importantly
adaily measure
for how we carefully and thoughtfully choose to interact with our own individual world, people and circumstances.
Paying attention to this level of communication
that includes our attitudes, outward appearance, and purposeful contributions to all situations
For a few minutes I had been able to block out all of the sounds going on around me and focus my attention to this keyboard and the task at hand. I had an idea about what I wanted to write about. A concept that seemed clever and witty. Something that would make my readers think, maybe even challenge them to look at their own experience and find out something new about themselves. I started the first paragraph out by asking a question. Then the second sentence ended with the same mark. After five sentences into my bright idea I began to realize that I had no clue about the subject matter I was meaning to describe. The series of questions I had just typed left me feeling a little clueless and lost.
Hmmmmmm......
I had been so excited to write today. I had great anticipation of this opportunity to chill out at the bookstore in town and concoct a story that would fit in to all of my other published narratives. Quickly my focus began to dwindle, and my five senses reopened to receive all of the temporary information floating all around me. Here is what those senses captured in the brief moment they were allowed:
-I could smell a sweet mix of my cherry blossom body spray along with the pungent acidity of the coffee brewing at the barista station downstairs.
-I could hear cashier drawers ringing, salvation army bells ringing, jingle bells ringing on the shoes of a kid who just trounced on by a minute ago.
-I could see now that the lighting in this place is a quite intense. It makes me want to shut my eyes now that I am paying attention to it. These fluoresent contraptions that hang above... while providing an adequate source for my sight I much prefer the softer glow of a lamp or the fireplace. I will have to keep that in mind for later writing journey's.
-At this moment I am not really tasting anything. Strange as it sounds, not even the lingering traces of the 2 hour old coffee I just sipped seemed to have any staying power. This is probably a good thing since nobody likes stale coffee breathe anyways.
-I still feel the aches of the yoga class I took four days ago, stretching out my legs from time to time seems to help. My forehead has a slight prickly feeling from the 100% acrylic woven hat I am wearing- wait not wool? What in the heck is acrylic?
It is very interesting to pay such close attention to the senses like that for a few moments. It is amazing to me how much is going on all the time around us and how our minds are able to process so many different sensory inputs and messages all at once. How wonderful if our minds are healthy enough, that we can go about all the details of our days and be able to sort out and hold onto whatever is most important to us. We make short term and long term memories with each and every thing we do all day long, every day, whether we realize it or not. That is really cool!
So I kind of went off on a tangent this time- not quite sure how that happened but hopefully I will be able to get back to the original writing I started and answer those questions. Most likely I will decide to completely start over with subject matter that isn't puzzling. Either way I am glad for anytime I ever get to mix and match these words within me.
To me, writing is a lot like my cooking. So many times I sit down and have no idea what I will write about- I open up my mind like the fridge and try to get a handle on an idea, a starting ingredient. Then I look for some other supporting statements, flavor enhancing components to come up with my main composition/entree. This is the way I work best actually. I like the challenge of reaching inside for elements that make sense when put together with complimentary items or ideas. Its how I can discover and push the boundaries of my creativity. Maybe every story, or every cooking creation doesn't always turn out perfect but each one is the practice towards making future ones even better. Practice makes perfect- or at least produces refined products of our adoring attention to details. When I am working on my writing or my cooking, I am working on my art. The ability to have time to do these things is something I am most thankful for. Thank you to those of you who I am able to share it with!
I am quite comfortable relating food to life and the situations that most of us have been familiar with at some point in our existance. My whole life I have always been intrigued with food and its importance to our survival. Food's purpose is to sustain us. It give us the energy or fuel needed on a cellular,even emotional level to miraculously come together as a living being. Without food, starvation is the result, we wilt, dry up and eventually would stop functioning. That is the simple truth of the matter as grave as it may sound. In the spirit of my optimism though I tend not to think about it that way EVER.... instead I just know that I need food to live- good food- and I've learned to choose quality over quantity- and in the quest for nothing but the best I have learned that I am ultimately in control of whatever I decide to eat. There are many layers to my reasonings for what I choose to create in the kitchen, for what i choose to eat and prepare for others. Just like the layers to other parts of my life, how I have gotten to where i am at this moment, my work to be recognized as a chef, it all began with a passion for the simple need for sustenance.
In the beginning of my life I was always concerned about getting "enough food." That statement in no way should reflect the fact that there was not enough food for me. It has more to do with being a kid who is not in control very often of what's for dinner. The whole point of eating a meal for me at that age was to get full. My Mom and everyone else that created meals for me at that age- minus the school kitchen (1980's processed school food was nothing like the local, fresh options my kids have nowadays) made food that I loved to eat. I was known as the bottomless pit, the kid with a hollow leg, always having seconds or thirds was not uncommon. Thankfully my metabolism kept up with this type of consumption. I was a kid with a healthy appetite and always thankful for my Mom's attention to home cooked meals. Trips to Burger King were few and far between, always perceived as a treat if anything. As a child of the 80's I loved Jello Pudding pops, and my mouth watered at the Franken Berry and Fruit Loops Cereal commercials but I also had an early affection for my Mom's garden full of green beans, carrots and peppers. Food Marketers may have had an ability to tempt me with their processed and industrialized creations but my love affair for fresh food started early in life thankfully- the core to my love of all food and my culinary curiosities- this which would guide me as I grew up and gained more control of my food choices and decisions to learn as much as possible about food.
The next distinctive layer developed from my my very first job at a locally owned ice cream shop called Wares Brothers Frosty Treat. This was the location for my first opportunities to explore creating without rules with ice cream as my medium. Typically there were recipes to follow and guidelines for sizing and flavor combinations for customers- continuity being the key. The best part of my job happened at the end of the day. This is why: It was the beginning of my practice in thinking outside the box. Coming up with new flavor combinations for flurry's and ice cream sundae's. Questioning what would happened if I did this or that, taste testing everything, sharing my favorites with friends and family was happiness for me. At the same time I was trying some cooking adventures at home too. Some of these explorations were not as fruitful since my palate was fledgling at best, and my ability to identify the basic elements of cooking ingredients was based on nothing yet. This meant I didn't even know what vegetable shortening was when at one time I decided to make chocolate chip cookies for my airforce enlisted boyfriend to send in the mail. Since my younger sister had some experience in making buttermilk waffles in the kitchen I called her for some advice... the conversation went like this: "Hey Jen, I am making some cookies and the recipe calls for vegetable shortening- where would I find that in this kitchen- what is it?" The two of us both threw out our guesses and then by process of elimination, still with no basis for our reasoning we made our decision between the two we had narrowed it down to. Jen's logic coming from: "I use it to make waffles and they always turn out really good. They are baked just like the cookies, just in a waffle iron. It has to be that!" I didn't disagree... One hour later my dough- while looking a little shinier than usual to me was ushered into the tempered oven upon its baking sheet... 10 minutes later I heard an odd sizzling sound coming from the oven and was that smoke too? I guess the choice to use Wesson "Vegetable Oil" is not the same as "Vegetable Shortening" and now my well intended treat was frying in the oven. They came out initially tasting like potato chip cookies but after a day they were as hard as rocks! This lesson was followed by no-bake cookies that never hardened, and finally just buying the betty crocker package of brownie mix, which never got baked because I ate all the batter raw- gross I know- I am sorry.
Since my origins in cooking and creating on my own started with an innocent disregard for elementary rules and an inability to follow the recipe I obviously had a long way to go. Unfortunately during this time I also never took the time to watch my mom in the kitchen- a woman who clearly knew what she was doing and she was even willing to guide me. My teenage pride and "know it all" brattiness kept me from an initial fast track to learning about food preparation beyond ice cream sundaes, ham and cheese sandwiches and kraft macaroni and cheese out of the box. Yet my food loving all along the way continued to grow. In my journey I would soon move beyond all this, but not without some early grocery store adventures in buying countless boxes of hamburger helper, bags of Rice-a-Roni and cans upon cans of Campbells condensed soup. Thankful for my early foundations from home, just on the horizon was the planting of my own bountiful veggie gardens, and a leap into learning about the vital importance of nutrition and then ultimately discovering how to maintain a balanced diet for myself and my future family.
The Following List... A Timeline Sampling of my next decade of LAYERS:
Thanks to Internet- a multitude of websites to teach me about cooking and nutrition
Thanks to Libraries- a place to discover any and all cooking resources
Thanks to Mom- she always bought me a yearly subscription to Cooking Light magazine and invited me to help with dinner
Thanks to Tod- for telling me that he was tired of eating Tuna Noodle casserole- even though I did a nice job with it.
Thanks to Lauren and Riley- my amazing babies who I realized early on were my sole responsibility when it came to creating their foodie foundations. They ultimately are the reason I became so passionate about food origins, getting involved in local agriculture and avoiding manufactured food products as much as possible.
Thanks to Secondary Education- my initial completion of prerequisites to obtaining a degree as a dietitian and the earned knowledge beyond just the food. Physchology and Chemistry classes really give me a whole new perspective!
Thanks to NMC- Extended Education classes for my first culinary class experience and later the ability to Sous Chef along side the most talented chefs in my hometown.
Thanks to a fearless step in a different direction than originally planned- I finally heard the calling of my heart and the chose the true path I was meant to take... for every single time someone told me they were going to culinary school, every time I passed Great Lakes Culinary Institute, every time I spent 12 hours in my kitchen creating and cooking and wishing I could just got to culinary school... Finally... I DID!
Fully Immersed in a Culinary Education now- my experiences up until this point have helped me be as successful as I can be in my journey to becoming recognized as a chef. I am so close to graduation now. Having learned so much, in such a short amount of time- understanding that practice is what will eventually land me at the top of my profession hopefully and keep me there too. I have only just begun to scratch the surface but looking back on the stories of my experience- the layers of my own topography I can say with confidence that I am realizing my purpose here on earth now and how I can use my culinary craft to impact and help others the way I have always dreamed. I do feel overwhelmed at times with all that I am learning between school, work, and home but I never let that discourage me. Instead I see the challenges as the only way for me to grow and mature. Throughout my layers is a support system too- of family and friends who along the way have encouraged me, even by using their taste buds and giving me the thumbs up or down that helps me make sure I am on the right track.
I still don't follow the rules- or recipes for that matter- I can get away with that a little easier now since I have Chemistry 1 and 2 under my belt, countless hours of practice practice practice, and an untamed curiosity that has led me to have spent enough time concocting and learning what flavors work well together- and what ones don't.
I can't say for sure what layer will come next... All I know is that when it involves my passion for food it will have my full attention and my hope to continue building my foundations even stronger within my culinary abilities. All I want is to be able to continue to share the bounty of sustenance with family, friends and others- All that comes from a practiced and attentive aptitude for wanting to create delicious food.
