What a week it has been. Been cooking all day and all night since last Thursday. So many ups and downs in this industry..at least for me.
We make daily features at the restaurant everyday and now we get to post pictures on Facebook, which is really exciting to me. So far I've made two hits! One is called a "Frickle Burger" and it has pepperjack cheese, breaded fried onion strings, spicy mustard and a skewer of hand-breaded fried pickles...healthy? No. Delicious? Yes! The other feature I tried tonight, and I called it "Island Chicken" and it was a chicken breast glazed in a spicy orange glaze with provolone cheese and a grilled pineapple and shrimp kabob. It was good, and I really wanted to do something outside the box...I think I nailed it!
On the downside, I promised my cousin that I would make her gin and tonic cupcakes. Found this recipe on the internet that looked great. Yeah, not so much. Slaved about 2 1/2 hours over these cupcakes last night, only to throw them all away. I hate gin, but all personal tastes aside, the texture was just weird. It was kind of like a sponge cake, using mostly egg whites as a leavening agent, but the only ingredients in the cake part were egg whites, cream of tartar, pinch of salt, powdered sugar, flour and tonic water...it turned out okay. The worst part was the mascarpone icing, which was just a nightmare. Mascarpone, gin, corn syrup and a little green food color. Thats it. Unless I used too much gin, I think the alcohol made the mascarpone separate. I was beating myself up over it all night, but you just have to move on, and make something better next time!
The worst part about all of this is that I went to culinary school specializing in baking and pastry, and look where I'm excelling..in savory foods!
Oh well, you can't win 'em all!
Exhausted and hungry,
Alaina
Friday, May 11, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
First Leap
Dear New Friends,
My name is Alaina Shilts, and I manage a kitchen of a restaurant and bar in Oshkosh, WI. I'm 20 years old and I live with my boyfriend in Kimberly, WI. I come from a small town in northern WI where the mosquitoes always bite, the beer's always cold and our idea of a vacation is the nearest campground.
I'm here for multiple reasons: A) To Learn. I know next to nothing about blogging which is my first and foremost reason for writing, but more importantly I'm here to learn about food and about life. B) To Relax. I'm not a very vocal person, so I believe writing some of my thoughts down will help to relieve some stress and take some of the heavy weights of responsibility off of my mind, if only for just a little while. C) To Grow - As both a chef and a person. That's just who I am - someone who wants to be the best she can be. Blogging will improve my skills of listening, then learning, then (hopefully) cooking, and becoming a success in my field. And of course there's always also just plain curiosity!
Don't get me wrong though, I'm not here for just me. Another passion of mine is being able to help people. I want to be able to provide as much knowledge and wisdom that I have gained, as well as soaking in every bit of info that I possibly can. Even if I can't bring anything of intellectual value to the table, I at least want to be able to bring some humor and happiness to people. Happiness is my ultimate goal, as I believe everyone's should be.
With all being said, I am certainly hoping to get some feedback from anyone interested enough to read what I have to say. But, if nothing else, this is just something I feel like I need to do, and I'm going to continue to do so at my own pace and my own will.
As of now, I feel like my first blog is coming to completion and hopefully you all understand the summary of me.
Sincerely,
Alaina
My name is Alaina Shilts, and I manage a kitchen of a restaurant and bar in Oshkosh, WI. I'm 20 years old and I live with my boyfriend in Kimberly, WI. I come from a small town in northern WI where the mosquitoes always bite, the beer's always cold and our idea of a vacation is the nearest campground.
I'm here for multiple reasons: A) To Learn. I know next to nothing about blogging which is my first and foremost reason for writing, but more importantly I'm here to learn about food and about life. B) To Relax. I'm not a very vocal person, so I believe writing some of my thoughts down will help to relieve some stress and take some of the heavy weights of responsibility off of my mind, if only for just a little while. C) To Grow - As both a chef and a person. That's just who I am - someone who wants to be the best she can be. Blogging will improve my skills of listening, then learning, then (hopefully) cooking, and becoming a success in my field. And of course there's always also just plain curiosity!
Don't get me wrong though, I'm not here for just me. Another passion of mine is being able to help people. I want to be able to provide as much knowledge and wisdom that I have gained, as well as soaking in every bit of info that I possibly can. Even if I can't bring anything of intellectual value to the table, I at least want to be able to bring some humor and happiness to people. Happiness is my ultimate goal, as I believe everyone's should be.
With all being said, I am certainly hoping to get some feedback from anyone interested enough to read what I have to say. But, if nothing else, this is just something I feel like I need to do, and I'm going to continue to do so at my own pace and my own will.
As of now, I feel like my first blog is coming to completion and hopefully you all understand the summary of me.
Sincerely,
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