Announcements

#1. I have written a proper post, but because I uploaded the picture on the weekend, it was published to an earlier date. Therefore you need to scroll down to read it. Its pretty exciting, so you should do that. Now.

#2. This is my 400th post! hooray!

#3. If you have trouble acheiving satisfactory high-fives, as I have all my life, you will be interested to know that if you focus on the recipient's elbow, your high-five will be successful every time. Isn't that EXCITING?? Its made my life sooo much easier.

My Little Hockey-Playing Brother

Randoms

Campbell River- I went for a walk on one of my days off, got caught in pouring rain, and then went to Tim's hockey game.
A big spider living directly over my head when I lay in my bed. He didn't live very long after I discovered him.
This is what happens to my hands when I cut up a whole case of squash. Its hard to get off, and I'm not sure whether its squash or skin that peels.
A pretty tulip growing in a flowerbed in front of the office. I've never seen this kind before. I like.

Mouse Tail

Some of you may have heard about the infestation of mice in my room.
One of the first nights at Strathcona (when the rain stopped pounding on the roof, and I could actually hear things at night) I was falling asleep to the blissful evening silence, when all of a sudden there was a scritch, and there was a scratch, and then more and more.
I knew the sound well, since as a 16 and 17-year-old CIT I had lived in the old retired Lodge at camp, known as the Homestead. It was filled to the beams with mice, and I would wake up to their noise every morning, in the wall behind my head.
As I lay there listening to Timothy Tittlemouse prance around my ceiling I told myself I had lived with this before, and I could do it again. Just ignore it. Just pretend its not there. Go to sleep....
it didn't work. I was awake for hours.
And the next night. And the next.
As it grew warmer and drier every day, the number grew. I could hear hoards of them partying overhead.
It had to stop.
I think Mice are Rather Nice, as long as they are in the outdoors where they belong, and as long as they don't interuppt my sleep!
If you know me at all, you know nothing...nothing....comes between me and my sleep.
I asked the maintenance guy for some mousetraps, and assembled them eagerly. Then realized I had not brought up any bait. But was too tired to go all the way back down the hill to get some.
I decided to sit on my bed and read instead.
Then I heard the scurrying. I pricked my ears. The light was on. The mice had never revealed themselves in the light. I was safe. I thought.
Suddenly the small, furry menace darted across the bedroom floor. I could hardly believe my eyes. The nerve! His place is in the darkness, not in broad lightbulb light! How dare he show his impudent whiskered face! I wished I had baited the trap.
Then there was a loud, death-proclaiming SNAP!!!

The following image is highly disturbing and somewhat graphic.

The faint of heart should not go on.

The stupid little creature had gotten himself killed by a baitless trap. I sat frozen in horror and disbelief for a good 5 minutes, not even kidding.
I do like mice if they don't intrude on my living quarters, and I had never outright killed one before. I felt kind of bad.

Nevertheless, his body was tossed into the bushes, and the traps were reset.
The first couple of nights were peaceful and quiet. Then the partying began again.
We have since caught 9 mice in traps with no bait! Once we caught 2 in one night.
This past week there has been a particularly stubborn mouse, who partied louder than any of his predecessors and refused to be caught. I actually heard him last night creep down from the ceiling. He must have tiptoed around the trap because I heard him in my closet, and then scurried back to the ceiling. I was so grossed out, and swore he would meet his demise.

Today after work I tore some crumbs from a chocolate cake, intending to bait the traps. Surely even this mouse could not resist chocolate cake.

I entered my room, eagerly anticipating a night of silence. I baited the first trap, and went to bait the second...

and then I saw.
#9 was caught, deep in the shadows of my closet floor.

I reached in to dispose of the body...

...only to shriek bloody murder and drop it a second later, as a multitude of large black ants fell away from the corpse.

Are you ready for some gory details? Because I felt like vomiting after witnessing this.
His tail and..."nether regions"....were completely eaten away, as was one hind leg. Just gone.
Sick, sick, SIIIIICKKKKK!!!

I had no choice but to pick it up and throw it away outside, and the disgusting little carrions had fled by the time I returned.

I only hope that hardcore partier, casualty #9, taught a valuable lesson to all those other mice out there, and we can live in peace (and quiet) from now on.

I would prefer not to have to deal with anymore half-eaten dead bodies.

EWWWWWWW........!

Cheering

I was sad to leave Kamloops when I did, because my two older brothers had just joined a ball hockey league and I was able to go and cheer for them for a couple games. I love watching sports where I know the people playing...its so much more fun! And its especially fun when its your family, and you get to cheer them on!
Luckily for me, my little brother Tim joined a league in Campbell River around the same time, and so now that I live here, I've had a few chances to get out and watch his games!
He is so intense about his hockey. When I was visiting Homewood (where he works) I could hear him practicing his shot up in the bus barn, and the girls I know there say he spends a lot of his spare time up there, preparing for his games. He sometimes has to leave his duties early to catch the ferry to get to a game on time, but he always works so hard to do the most he can before anyone else even starts, so that it all evens out.
He jogs before games to warm up, and when he gets dropped off to the arena he is fairly shaking with adrenaline. He just loves it so much!
Last week I surprised him by picking him up off the ferry, because it arrived at the same time his game was supposed to start, and usually he has to hitch a ride. He was so relieved...maybe because it was pouring the mother-load of rain!!!
I love watching him play. He is so good at it! He is one of their fastest players, and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. When the other team has the ball, he can just seem to effortlessly knock it out of their control and spring away with it. Maybe I'm just biased as his sister, but I keep thinking that if his whole team were made up of Tim's, they would do a lot better :)
Its so cool that I get to go and cheer for him, (shouting really loud to embarass him), and I think deep down he likes it too, because no one else can be there to see him doing what he loves.
My favorite part is after the game, win or lose, Tim comes off the rink sweaty and stinky, with his quirky half-smile, and then we go for an ice-cap at Tim Hortons and chat until the last ferry pulls in. Its funny that we have lived in the same house for years, but we never took a lot of time to visit, and now that we live a distance from each other we finally can appreciate each other's company!
I'm looking forward to his next games on Monday and Wednesday, already :)

What an Introvert Does on Saturday Night

There is a staff party up at the barn, and I'm tucked away in the computer room, typing on my blog.
I made the excuse that I worked a long shift today, my feet are aching, and I don't have a purple shirt to complete my rubiks cube costume. But I think I'm just an Introvert and I don't like parties. The loud music, dancing, and partying just isn't my thing.
I'm ok with that...but its those darn Extroverts that think everyone should enjoy the things they enjoy. Just kidding. I love Extroverts. Most of my friends are Extroverts.
But at times like these, I enjoy creeping to the corner to meet with the other Introverts, where we laugh nervously and raise our eyebrows at the antics of those silly, wild E's, and talk about how much we would rather read a book or play cards.
In fact, one of the other girls that works in the kitchen and I snuck away from the party (there is a real technique to this, which you E's never have had to learn) and crept into the lodge to drink tea and have a good long conversation, and I feel like I really got to know her better.
I consider that a Saturday night well spent.

"Weekend"

I got my first "weekend" on Monday and Tuesday, and it was so great!

As soon as I finished work (around 7PM) I jumped into Peppy, and we sped down the long winding road to Campbell River.

As much as I love being at Strathcona it is frickin isolated out there, and you don't see anyone but who you are working with, so I was ready for a change of scenery and company! It was a very exciting and freeing feeling to fly out of there just as the sun is going down, a little sprinkle of rain dotting the windshield, and my music turned up loud!

I also love the Campbell River ferry because it has such good memories attached to it, and such a strong feeling of anticipation. I couldn't wait to get across and see Tim and the Homewood crew again!

My coming Sunday night was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, and as it turned out the staff had gone to the Woodsman camp unaware I was arriving! I had a really good visit with Irwin and Rita Harder (camp directors) and then my friend Jenna and I drove out to Woodsman at 11PM and snuck out to where the staff were camping out. It was pouring rain, and extremely dark, and extremely fun! When we got to the girls tent they were already in bed, so we crept up and I started whispering their names and saying creepy things to scare them. It was SO FUNNY! Charlene was freaking out, half-asleep and a little delusional. They finally figured it out, and then we all had a hearty belly laugh and packed all 7 of us in a 4-man tent.

I got to spend some time with little brother Timo, and I even got a chance to go to Campbell River and watch him play ball hockey, which was so awesome! There were only one or two other fans in the stands with me to begin with, and I think I out-cheered them all. Tim was really amazing...he's a quick little guy, and he spent most of his time up by the other team's net, and I think he even got a goal (it was a little confusing with so many people leaping about).

As much as I like watching my brother play, it was a little lonely, so I was super happy when my friend Graeme (who I know from camp) showed up to watch the game with me, and we got a chance to catch up too.

Wednesday morning I was back on the ferry and then driving down to Courtenay to visit my friend Barb. It was quite a delight...we did some gardening (she has a greenhouse!), and we ate some really yummy things, and we did some window shopping in Cumberland...cutest little place. It was such a relaxing and fun day. To top it all off we watched "Once" and it was a great movie, with an amazing soundtrack that I simply must have! It was also cool to watch because its an Irish-produced movie and there were some spots they filmed in Dublin that I had actually been to, so that was neat.

I left Barb's early this morning so that I could be here to work at 11AM, and I just got off work now, so its been a pretty full and busy weekend. But I wouldn't change any of it, because it was just about the greatest thing ever.

However, I didn't get any of my "chores" done, so I've decided I will have to take one of my next days off just to do those annoying necessary things. sigh.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to! This week I'm going to be pretty much on my own as far as dinner is concerned, and I'm cooking for 260 people tomorrow...so that should be interesting!!!
You might not be hearing from me. I might be passing out after my shift is done :)

Some Pictures

Crappy shot, but this is my ruined hand. On my finger is a popped blister on a popped blister, and around my thumb is a fresh burn. above that is an old burn.

This is part of my room. I also have a closet, which you will hear more about in a later post.

the walls are paper thin, and I had no curtain, so my towel is the substitute.

This is the amazing view from the dining room deck...so nice.

this is the kitchen/dining room/some accomadations up top. as you can see its right on the highway, but there is so little traffic it doesn't even matter!

Knife Skills

One thing I was keenly aware of this year in school was my lack of knife skills. Some students are soooo good with their knives, they can make stuff look so professional without even trying. Me...well I try, but usually when I'm the one chopping everything is a different size and shape.
I put down "knife skills" as one of my practicum goals, because I want to get better.
Well, I've been chopping veggies ever since! Ok, not quite, but I am doing a lot more "quantity" than ever before! I had to cut up a case of butternut squash the first day...I don't know if you've ever cut up squash. I did one or two in my Soups station, and they are TOUGH. Tough skin. Well, if I thought cutting up one or two was hard, the whole frickin case was something else altogether.
I got a huuuge whopping blister on my right index finger.
The next day I cut up a case of carrots, a case of zuchinni, kale, and onion.
Today it was a case of potatoes.
I actually...no joke...have blisters ON my popped blisters.
Obviously my knife is not a prep knife.
You learn something new every day.

I have Monday and Tuesday off, so I am hoping to upload some pictures and post them. My ruined hands might be among the documentation.

First Day

So...my first (and second) day in the kitchen has come and gone.
Its been really good so far.
The Chef is so relaxed. He used to run the Lovin' Oven pizza place on Quadra Island. That should tell you a lot about him right there! Great guy. He also has a funny French accent which is not like a snooty stuck-up French accent, but a kind of...I don't even know. Its just great. And hilarious. Sometimes he and the other chef that comes in sometimes, Renee, will just start going off in French throwing English words in at random. It makes me giggle.

The other girls in the kitchen are really nice. Apparently this Saturday I will be cooking with one of them for the staff...just us. Kinda scared, but it will be fun because we both want to do something cool. I just hope we can pull it off!

Its still raining and cold. I'm so glad I bought a new rain jacket just before I came. Its perfect.

Anyway I'm going to head up to one of the girls' houses. I feel like I should be social and get to know some people, and a bunch of them are hanging out there tonight. I hope I can find it. The property seems so huge and confusing to me. Now I know how newbies at Homewood must feel!

I am missing you and the warmth of the Kamloops sun!

I Have Arrived

I don't have any pictures yet...mostly because it has been downpouring since I got here and all you would see is RAIN!
Its a beautiful spot...way closer to the road than I expected, and I haven't seen all the property yet either. I've been stowed away in the staff housing up the hill called "the Annex". Its a pretty bare bones little building, and I'm sharing my room with a girl from NZ named Catherine.
The people here are cool, and pretty hardcore outdoorsy type! I keep thinking that this would be the perfect place for Mike.
The Chef's name is Jessie. He is probably late twenties, early thirties, with a beard and ponytail. He seems pretty laid-back, and excited that I am a "real" cook....now I'm scared! Haha...he seems really nice though. I start in about an hour.
I am really regretting not bringing more warm clothes! I guess because it felt so much like summer in Kamloops, I thought it would be the same here. They said it might snow this week!!!
I slept in my sleepingbag under my duvet last night to stay warm :)
Other than the cold, and just the general "newbie" feeling, I'm doing well and looking forward to being here for the next couple months.
As you may have gathered, I DO have an internet connection up here. However it is notoriously unreliable, especially in bad weather, and there are dozens of staff who want to use the same computer, so I don't know how often I will be able to get on.
Anyway, I love to have lots of little messages from people when I do get on, so drop me a line here or facebook and you will make my day!
I will put up pictures as soon as weather, time, and computer-access permits!

Where Am I?

I wont be updating my blog very regularly for the next 4 months.
Don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm doing my practicum at Strathcona Park Lodge, an outdoor education/adventure resort-ish thing about 45 minutes away from Campbell River, on Vancouver Island.
Apparently there is no internet connection or cell phone reception out there, so I will be cut off from the outside world!
I drove all the way to Horseshoe Bay this morning, caught the 12:30 ferry, and I am now enjoying the company of the wonderful Epp family in Comox. Tomorrow I head out to the Lodge to get settled in, and I will have my first day of work on Tuesday.
I am hoping to get lots of pictures and update my blog when I head into town on my day(s) off, but I can guarantee nothing.
So if you are wondering where I have got to...I will be working my butt off in a sweet kitchen, and enjoying the beautiful Vancouver Island.

What Happened Within Those Walls

Since I sort of promised a couple people that I would blog a little more about my exam, here goes...watch out, its kind of a novel.

First of all, I hardly slept at all the night before, but I did actually sleep which was a pleasant surprise! However, I think I was subconsciously stressing because I woke up all rigid and sweaty....ewww....

That was about 5AM, and I lay there until 5:30AM and I had a shower and got ready. I was out the door just after 6.

After I had parked at the school, tried the door to the locker rooms and found it locked, I checked the time. 6:30AM. I was an hour early. So I sat and waited in the chilly morning air until 7, when one of the examiners came and unlocked the door for me.

Then I hung around the locker rooms. One by one the other girls came in...each with a half-scream and crazy nervous half-smiles. It was a frightening time.

It was torturous waiting until 7:30. We did breathing exercises (only half serious...) and trued our knives (that was kind of scary), and asked each other about different dishes. There was only one guy in our group. I'm pretty sure he thought we were crazy.

FINALLY we were called in, and we each drew numbers. On the opposite table were trays with 2 containers, 2 cloths, and recipes with ingredients, but no method. I was the last to draw, and I got #4. Then we drew again, this time for desserts.

Let me go off on a rabbit trail for a sec. Desserts.
I have been practicing and reviewing desserts because I know they are my weakness (I'm not talking about eating them...). They are so finicky. So I did all the big things: pastry cream, choux paste (for things like profiteroles, and eclairs), and bavarians. AND I read about the others.
I thought I was prepared, ok!?! I TRIED!!!
*breaaaathe Jill....breeeeathe*

Anyway. As soon as I picked out my scrap of paper, I knew I was done.
Crepes.
Another rabbit trail. Please...just bear with me.

I cannot make a crepe to save my life.
Back in Entrees I was making seafood crepes, and it nearly brought me to tears. I just can't get them right. And then I had to make them again, to show another girl how to do it. What a joke.
They burn, they aren't round, they stick, they're too thick, they look and taste horrible....there's just nothing good about them.
Out of a liter of thin batter, I probably could make one or two (if I'm lucky) decent crepes.
I knew this before. I remember looking at the sheet of possible practical items and seeing "Crepes- with your choice of filling" and thinking, gee, wouldn't it suck if I got that? What are the chances? And then skimming over it. FOOLISH, FOOLISH, CHILD.

Back to the exam.
After receiving our menus, we all got to work on our recipe conversions and work plans.
Really, I don't see how I could have done anything differently there. It was pretty good...for me.

My menu & service times were like this:

Mayonnaise 10 AM
Manhattan Clam Chowder 11:45 AM
Chicken in Phyllo with Leek Buerre Blanc 12:00 PM
Crepes 12:15 PM

I did my mayo right away. The emulsification broke the first time, but I just added another egg yolk, and then it was fine.

There was no phyllo pastry in the coolers, which was bad news. The only other phyllo is in the freezer...which means it needs to be thawed. That is what threw me off my work plan.
It took about an hour for it to thaw, so I had to do other things when I was supposed to be prepping my chicken. I started my soup too early. Bad idea. I prepped crepe batter. I blanched carrots and roasted beets.
Its all kind of a stressed, panicky blur now. For the most part I was pretty organized. I made some really dumb mistakes though, which I'm sure knocked my mark waaay down.
As soon as 11:45 hit, I knew it was giong downhill.
My soup was dark and not very appealing...pretty sure I cooked it too long.
Then I had trouble getting my beets peeled in time for plating my main course. My hands were shaking soooo bad. The plates went out late, but they looked decent, and tasted good...I think.

By this time my station was stacked with dirty pans, beet peelings, leftover buerre blanc, spatulas, and miscellaneous crepe garnishes. That took my mark down too, I'm pretty sure. But I didn't have time to get rid of it. I had to make crepes.
Oh, the crepes.

The first one stuck and burnt. I tossed it.
Oh yeah, they monitor our waste, did I mention that?
I tried again. It looked crappy, but I was getting desperate so I made the sauce and plated it.

Then I started to cry.
It looked terrible.
A great, gross, messy plop of yellow, black, and crimson (from the blood orange sauce).
By now I was shaking soo bad, and they were calling that it was time to serve the desserts.

I can't serve that. I can't do it. I'd rather not put out anything, than serve that.

I was really crying at that point. I was ready to give up. Everyone else had put out their dessert already, and I had no hope.

My favorite instructor, Sully, wandered over at that point, whistling.

"Have you put out your dessert yet?" He asked. My back to him, I just shook my head.
I think he saw my hideous creation then, and the way I was just staring at my batter and ladle.

"Hey," He said, "Its ok. All you need to do is send out 2 plates. That's all. Its ok."

I couldn't talk so I just squeaked something out, and shook my head again.

"What's wrong with that one?" He asked. And he was serious.

"IT LOOKS LIKE VOMIT!!" I said, finding my voice.

The best thing about Sully is when he cracks up. Sometimes he can look so scary, but as soon as he smiles and laughs you can't help but laugh with him. And he cracked up now.

I know he wants me to succeed. And if he could laugh about my terrible crepes, he must not have been too worried that I would fail. That gave me a bit of hope, so I cracked a smile and turned up the heat on my pan.

A few minutes later I put out two awful crepes, though not as awful as the vomit crepe, and cleaned up my station. I had been 15 minutes late. Sort of serious. Actually, serious enough that combined with all my other mistakes, I was 99.9% sure I had failed. I was already thinking about what I should do in the Fall, since I wouldn't be going to school.

I vaguely remember scrubbing some pots, and a tearful girly group hug in the mop room, as well as one of the girls disapearing downstairs and returning with a huge smile, waving a piece of paper.

A few minutes later someone told me it was my turn.

It was creepy walking the short flight of stairs into Accolades Restraunt.
It was dead silent, and the lighting seemed dim.

I saw Sully first, sitting casually to one side... I looked for some kind of hint in his face, but his expression was unreadable. Then I saw everyone else. The Level III instructors, the Chairperson, and all my regular Instructors, including the grumpy grandfather who hates me. They were sitting behind a big table that had all our food on it.

I couldn't stop looking at my crepes. They were like a horrible, bloody, car accident that you can't look away from.

"You can have a seat." Said someone. I sat. Like...right on the edge of the chair. Fidgeting. Holding my breath.

"Well, you passed." Said Mr. Clean.

Exhale.

"But only just." He said. "Only just."

I nodded. I know.

"How do you think your day went?"

I hate these questions. Obviously according to them, it wasn't so great. But they also want you to show confidence in your cooking. Its lose, lose.

"It was hard." I squeaked. "I stuck to my work plan, but there were a couple things that threw me off...but I did get back on track, mostly!" Breeeeathe. Keep it short. To the point. "At service things kind of fell apart. My crepes...are awful."

The instrucors chuckled, but with little humor.

"Yes, they are. They're just..." He shook his head, "Not good."

I nodded again. I know! I know!

"Your soup is bland, and needs more seasoning, your crepes...well you, know...your main course was good. I think it probably saved you."

I was handed a piece of paper with the date and time of the first day in Level III.

"You can take your plates up now." I was told. I gathered them in my arms, crushing the paper. They all laughed at me, and Ramsey said,

"You can take a deep breath now, Jill." and laughed again.

Some of the girls were crying when I came up the stairs.

"Oh Jill I'm so glad you made it!!" sobbed one.

I wasn't feeling very celebratory. I felt sick. I didn't want to squeak in. I wanted to triumph mightily. I wanted to earn my place in the class, not slither in just as the door was closing.
But that's just the way I am.

Now I had to wait anxiously to see who else would be in my class.

Lin went down, and remained there for a long time. I knew deep down that this meant she hadn't passed, but I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't help it-- the waterworks started again.
And then she came up the stairs and shook her head with her usual smile, and I blubbered, "Lin this suuuuucckkkssss," and she laughed.
School is so fun with Lin. I can harldy imagine what it will be like without her.

That was huge mood dampener. We were all crying agian, except Lin who was wondering what is wrong with all these emotional Canadians.

Of the seven in my group, four of us passed, and we were all greeted and encouraged by our other classmates outside.

I emptied out my locker, and bade my farewells to everyone.
It was actually kind of a depressing day, even though I passed. I hate that not everyone made it through, especially when I think that they deserve to! I guess that's life.

I do appreciate all the encouragement and support you guys have given me here on PJ, through Facebook, and email, and all that jazz. Its great to know I have such an awesome team rooting for me, cheering me all the way :)