Jamaican Food!

Devin and I went to Jamaica for Thanksgiving week. We had several local drivers tell us all about the food (Devin kept telling everyone I'm a chef!), so I wanted to try everything.

Of course we had jerk chicken. Jerk pork is also very common. What surprised us is something that they call Festival. It's basically a fried dough that is served and meant to be eaten with the jerk chicken or pork. The spice of the jerk and the sweet fried dough make for an excellent combination.

We visited Bob Marley's tomb, and on the way back, we stopped at the side of the road for some "apple bananas" that were delicious. They were bananas that were maybe three inches long and so flavorful. Our driver bought the stand out of them, telling us that he likes to make fruit bowls for his kids in the mornings.

Jerkie's was a local spot just outside our resort. We stayed six nights and went there four times! We tried the curried goat and the escoviche fish there. Escoviche is a fried whole fish served over rice and peas (beans), and even Devin liked it. He doesn't even eat fish!

The buffet at the resort was pretty great. They had all sorts of breads that were obviously made fresh daily, as well as a lot of Jamaican specialties, like the jerk, ackee and saltfish (not a fan), and curry chicken. We had lots of Red Stripe. All-inclusive is the way to go, but definitely don't be afraid to venture off the resort!

On the way to the airport on our last day, we stopped at Ultimate Jerky Hut. It was the best jerk and Festival that we'd had the entire trip! One place we didn't get to check out was Scotchie's, but we'll be back in Jamaica in a year! We loved it that much, so we're going to do it again for our honeymoon!

Ugh

Sorry I've been so lame about my blog. I really haven't had much news. Work is work after a while, you know?

We have some Dia de los Muertos specials that are so delicious. There's this pork dish that's cooked sous vide (under pressure; basically it's vacuum sealed and then held in water at a constant temperature), and we have this awesome butternut squash soup.

I'm pretty sure these specials just ended today, however.

I carved a cool Hello Kitty pumpkin for Halloween, but she didn't last. Stupid mold. We'll be giving out candy tomorrow anyway, and then going out after that for a bit. I love Halloween. I am Hello Kitty this year!

It's been since February?!

I apologize for being lazy with my blog.

Work has been decent but hectic for the past week or so. We lost several people, so the schedule has been messed up. I had to work yesterday, a Sunday. It was actually a really fun shift, but I just cannot work on Sundays. I've also put in for Saturdays off; I figure someone has to have Saturday and Sunday off, why not me?

My Chef told me that I'm running the station now, and as long as I keep up my high standards, she will give me the hours I want. I feel good knowing that they're happy with my performance. I've definitely become really good at what I do.

In other news, I am trying to decide whether I am tired of the name of this blog. I know I'm tired of the web address, so as soon as I figure out a better one, I'll be changing that. How does Pantry Princess sound? Queen of the Pantry? Sultana?

The other half and I have a few trips coming up. We've got San Francisco, which is always good eats, and probably a fishing trip in San Diego sometime this summer. Mmm, fish tacos! We are also going to Jamaica in a few months, and we are both very excited about eating the food!

AM Shift

Today I worked the morning shift, which was really different. I did a ton of prep work, and got out at 4PM. I really can't say that I minded it, even though I was at work until 10:30 last night.

Having the night off was nice. We went to B-dubs. It's been way too long!

A Little Slow

My restaurant has been a bit slow the past few weeks. On weekends we're busy, but weekdays and nights are slow. I'm guessing it's about to pick up after the cold season is over, which is hopefully soon! It's not only because I want to be busier but also because I hate cold weather.

I wish I could talk about more but I can't talk specifics about work on here anymore.

My next quest is to make a bunch of freezer meals that either the other half can heat up for dinner when I'm at work, or I can heat up at 11PM when I get home totally hungry. I know my mom's pork tenderloin would work, since that reheated well, and I might do some casserole type things, except nicer. Maybe some soup, too. I love making chicken noodle. Maybe I'll dedicate this Sunday to that; the Sunday between the Superbowl and my personal Superbowl, the Daytona 500.

Sick!

I have been sicker than I've been in a very long time since Saturday. I still don't feel great, but I'm going to go into work tomorrow, even if they have to send me home. It seems to be just a bad cold but for someone who never gets sick it's pretty rough. The other half has it too (as do several of our friends), so they can vouch for me that it hasn't been fun.

I've never known the actual guilt of calling in sick to work. It sucks. I'm still wondering what they did for staff on my station from 3-4 today.

So there it is. I'm looking forward to a nice long sleep tonight, fueled by NyQuil, and hopefully some speedy non-coughing/sneezing/nose-running work tomorrow, fueled by Advil Cold & Sinus.

Lunch Rush

Today I had a lunch rush while working alone on my station. One of the pastry cooks came to help but really didn't know what to do (not like I know what to do on her station, so I don't blame her at all!), so I had to deal with it myself. It was pretty wild for about an hour, until my backups showed up.

We were supposed to have another kid (that kid who was gone for three weeks) show up at 3PM today. He didn't. My chefs had no idea that I was working the station alone and was left with little to no prep and an AM staff who couldn't communicate to me what needed to be done.

There's a big event we're hosting on Monday. Luckily that's my day off, but tomorrow will involve a lot of prep for the event. I'm betting on being slammed between 3-4, my "alone" hours on my station, again.

Also, who orders a Caesar salad at a restaurant that serves Mexican and Chinese food? Apparently a lot of people, but isn't that strange?