AM Cafeteria

The last two weeks I've been getting up at 2 AM and in class by 3:30 AM. This class was held at the Vermont College cafeteria where we prepared breakfast and lunch for college students, NECI students and faculty, and guests. This has been the highest volume production class that I've had so far. After 4 weeks in baking classes, it was good to get out the knives again. :-)

I learned how to make decent food in high volumes with very little waste. We even had a partial power outage after a snow on our second day in class. I say partial outage, meaning a brown out. The kitchen was for the most part out of power, the dining room and service had partial power, the small bake shop was lit. We weren't sent home for the day as would have been the most likely response in any other culinary school. Instead, our chef instructor taught us how to prepare meals, practicing safety and cleanliness, with limited resources. Today we all received recognition from NECI's board of directors for our response to this event. We each received a nice plaque and a NECI hoodie.

Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves
Originally uploaded by mzones.

The fall leaf season has not been as spectacular this year as it usually is. The weather just hasn't cooperated in the production. I capture this image of the leaves in a neighbor's yard on my walk to class one morning. Enjoy!