"Staging"

One of the things most important in a cook's career, is to "stage". A Stage (pronounced: Stahsh) is when you work in another Chef''s kitchen for a day, to a week, or even longer for free, so that you can be exposed to new techniques. Most of the times it is the only way to get a job in this industry. Because not only are you learning from the chef, but he is also learning about you. The way you move, work, how focused you are, how fast you adapt, and how much you know. It is also a great way for you to get a feel of the kitchen. How often is the Chef around, Is the style of food, the type of food you want to be working with, Do the cooks want to be there, Is there a strong learning environment.

There is a lot more to a stage than meets the eye, and it could easily be your foot in the door if you play it right. Not to mention, Staging is a great way to be exposed to what the rest of the industry is doing, Great way to network, and as i mentioned before, a great way to learn.

In Over my head?

This past year was my first actual attempt at having a Garden, and overall i want to say it was successful. I went (and am still going) through a lot of trial and error, for Example: my Jalapeno's and Serrano's both fell short this year...the peppers were spicier than ever, but the fruit was not larger than an inch on each. I went on to realize (with the help of some veteran gardeners) that I had been over watering my plants. My Onions, started from seed didn't do well at all, and that primarily was just because I started them too late. I also received word that onion starts were the way to go, because the season is just to short, from a local farmer.

This among a few other things have actually kept me interested and have pulled me back to gardening In the future. Now that the growing season is primarily over (completely over for me) I am excited for the year to come. Thoughts of improvement, the troubles to come, what to grow, and where to plant it all, constantly have been running through my head lately. Improvement, will happen naturally, I hope. The troubles to come will be dealt with when they come my way. What to Grow is just now a matter of me narrowing down the list to more practical number.

As far as where to plant it all, Carolina's cousin Sue and her husband Ramone (who live next door ) were nice enough to allow me to use part of there yard to garden as well. In there eyes i'm doing them a favor, in my eyes they're doing me the favor. So it works out perfectly, and thanks to these past very odd 60+ degree days I've been able to get a head start on weeding and removing the rocks hidden beneath the soil. Believe me there is plenty of both on this soil. I'm hoping to buy some compost in the next few days as well as manure to help add life and nutrients into the soil, because, from what i can tell, it definitely needs it.

I hope that I am not in over my head.