T Minus One

Today was my second-to-last session at CUESA. Sarah gave me a writing assignment when I arrived (hurray!), a "citrus summary" similar to the "roots" piece I wrote in December. This one is for -- you guessed it! -- the Citrus Celebration on Saturday. I used multiple sources, written and virtual, and put together short descriptions of the varieties of citrus that a shopper is likely to come upon at the Farmers Market, along with some serving suggestions and trivia, of course. Not exactly trivial, this bit of news: did you know that grapefruit juice can adversely interact with some medications? It acts in a way that actually increases the potency of the drugs (among them, HIV medications, as well as viagra). In fact, grapefruit juice has been implicated in some fatal overdoses. I guess the pharmacist mentions this when you are prescribed the affected medications, but it sure came as a surprise to me.

If I had grapefruit spoons, I'd eat it more frequently. When I stayed with my Mayer grandparents, using a grapefruit spoon was a wonderful treat, as was watching television from the kitchen table while eating breakfast (The Today Show with Joe Garagiola). Morning TV was totally out of the question at home. Unless it was Saturday morning cartoons while Mom and Dad were still in bed.

Volatile Vitamins

I actually took a shopping list to the Market today, and came away with a heavy bag: red and yellow onions, fennel, Cara cara and blood oranges, spinach, arugula, watermelon radishes, napa cabbage, and walnuts. None of the vendors offered green beans, cherry tomatoes, or zucchini.

I worked on this week's demonstration recipe, putting it into CUESA's recipe template. Sarah suggested that I add the nutritional analysis, "just for fun," using the nutritiondata.com web site like we did in school. It's an entertaining exercise, requiring some translation and thinking; it's also a lot like balancing your checking account, because in the end, you always take a bigger hit than you'd hoped, in calories or in out-going dollars.

Julie, CUESA's education director, took a look at the results and with her scientist hat on, wondered if our nutritional results were adjusted for cooking. Sure enough, further exploration revealed that "Vitamin C is the most easily destroyed vitamin there is." Our recipe calls for citrus juice, citrus supremes (wedges), and citrus zest, and for baking and boiling some of the juice -- plenty of opportunity for the vitamins to lose their potency. Just for kicks, we looked up the vitamin numbers for raw orange juice, as well as canned juice and reconstituted frozen juice. Sho'nuf. One cup of raw orange juice contains 207% of the recommended daily requirement for Vitamin C. Canned juice contains 143%, "chilled" contains 177%, and diluted juice from frozen concentrate contains 161%. Clearly, the pasteurization process, which involves heating, affects the vitamin content, so the juice in our recipe would be impacted by the baking and boiling steps. What to do, what to do? We just opted to omit the Vitamin section of the nutritional data.

Volunteer Training

Sarah scheduled a kitchen volunteer training for this morning, during the Saturday market, and we had 10 takers. These are people who want to help out in the kitchen during upcoming Saturday Market to Table programs, prepping and cleaning up during the chef demonstrations. My part of the program was a few minutes about safety and sanitation in the kitchen, and I talked about knives and cutting a little bit, as well. At least one of our volunteers was thrilled to learn the "professional" method of cutting an onion.

The market was a little small today, in both vendors and visitors, and that made it feel a little special, like we were all smart enough to come out on what turned out to be a pleasant though overcast day. I had my first tulip sighting, and came home with a half dozen red ones, along with some tight-budded irises that were starting to curl open as I arrived at home. I got some Happy Girl ketchup (Todd, who sold it to me, called it "robust,") as well as some of their pickled mixed vegetables. Those items, along with the bacon and sausage I picked up from Fatted Calf, will be part of my Super Bowl menu. Not on the list, but irresistible, were a couple of duck legs, confit'd; those will be dinner some night this week, with lentils -- that's the current plan, anyway. I also brought home some lovely slender carrots, with their tops, six fuji apples (for baked apples, for book group), and a large mandarin with "gnarly" skin. Couldn't resist.

How Quickly It Becomes 'the Past'

I just opened up my tool bag from school for the first time in months, to gather my knives together for tomorrow's Knife Skills workshop for volunteers at the Ferry Building. Everything is marked with two fingernail polish dots, pink and rose, and the sight of them -- fish tweezers, plastic pastry bags, round cutters, bench scrapers (metal and plastic), bird's beak knife -- brought on a veritable wave of nostalgia. And it's not even that the tools themselves are unfamiliar. With the exception of the knife, I know I've used them all several times since classes ended. But the sight of them all together, properly marked, brought back the feeling of school, how tense and fast and fun it was, and how much camaraderie we'd developed by the time we got to the end. I'm looking forward to being part of a team again. I miss that part. And the tension.

Playing Hooky.

Or, rather, going on a job interview.

No CUESA today. Lunch, instead, at the newly opened Cocina Poblana in Jack London Square, where the service is a work in progress, but the food is fast, fresh, and delicious. Because I was attempting to be my sober best self, in conversation with potential employers, I had no opportunity to sample one of the hundreds of tequilas lined up behind the bar. One of these evenings, though, it'll be just the place to meet a friend for a drink.

Don't want to jinx anything, but I really really really really want this job. I got back in the car and turned on the radio to KFOG where they're playing their library in alphabetical order, and heard "Sugar Magnolia," then "Sugar Mountain," then "Sugaree." If that's not a good omen, I don't know what is.

Cooking in the Cold

Looks like it's about 46 degrees right now at the Ferry Building, and that's where I was, earlier today (was it warmer at noon?), making chicken stock in the outdoor kitchen. You can slide the big barn doors closed, which keeps the wind out, and I came prepared, wearing layers everywhere, and that worked out just fine. 

The giant carrots were wonderful. They would have been great for tempura: big orange slices, about 3" in diameter. I cooked the chickens (two Rosies that we bought at the Golden Gate Meat Company and the carrots along with celery, onions, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns in two big pots on the propane stove, then strained it out to be reduced on Saturday.

Saturday will be my first Saturday market since before the holidays, and the last Saturday market of my internship. Sarah has scheduled an orientation meeting for kitchen volunteers, and she's asked me to talk about kitchen safety issues and make a knife skills presentation. I'm planning to bring my assortment of knives, to review their functions, but I will point out the generally held belief that you can do just about anything with two good knives: a paring knife and a chef's knife. Or, if you ask Chef Rhoda, with a cleaver.

Haven't heard much from my cohorts, as we all come to the end of our internships, but Andrea sent a quick email today: "We MUST play this!"

Carrots of enormous size

Today's purchases included three gargantuan carrots, similar in excess to the late-season zucchini you can't give away. These will become part of CUESA's chicken stock supply, along with celery, onions, and parsley, and a couple of well-treated chickens, of course. Five gallons of chicken stock: that's on tomorrow's agenda. 

For home, I bought some beautiful broccoli and more satsuma mandarins. There's a recipe in the new Gourmet magazine for orange tapioca pudding that looks delicious, and I want to try it with mandarins. David's not a tapioca fan, but I love it, and it seems like an easy make-ahead breakfast, topped with a sprinkling of granola.

I had an interview this afternoon that was postponed, the second time during this job hunt that this has happened to me. Don't you hate it, all dressed up with no place to go? Oh well. I just have to be zen about it, and assume that it's all happening this way for a reason. In the meantime, I have a chance to throw in some laundry and clean out the refrigerator.

Another Deadline; Finish Line in Sight

Sarah had to submit her final evaluation to my externship coordinator today, so we took our coffees down to the seating area outside Peet's Coffee in the Ferry Building. I was gratified to see that, based on her comments, she's been satisfied with my contributions. My internship experience has reinforced my commitment to a food-centered job. Somehow, starting the day by reading food blogs and magazines just seems like the right thing to do! 

My job-hunting efforts are beginning to bear fruit. I have three appointments now noted in the cute little Moleskine daily planner book that I bought last month, knowing that this would be a year with many pages to fill. Last year, it would have been week after week of "School." I am determined to keep an open mind and not fall in love with the first job I find (it may already be too late for this); but my goal is to attend graduation on March 8 as an employed Person In the Industry.

In other news, Gourmet.com has a new website, worth looking at if you like that sort of thing (and you know I do), and they’re currently featuring a Q&A with Michael Pollan, related to his new book In Defense of Food.

He expands a bit on his earlier admonition: “Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants.” with this caveat: "Have all the French fries you want, as long as you make them and clean them up yourself.”

Harold McGee Would Find Plenty to Write

Today, I reduced the vegetable stock by half, in preparation for freezing it.

There's not much to say about reducing stock. It's pretty much like watching water boil.

Coasting through the fog

Friday was one of those days that started out promising, then ended up going a different way altogether (unrelated to my externship). Before things turned unfortunate, I had a delightful lunch with Sarah at the Hog Island Oyster counter. Actually, we ate outside in the chilly sunshine. Sarah had read that their grilled cheese sandwich was extraordinary, so we split one, along with a bowl of clam chowder and a couple of glasses of muscadet.

The sandwich WAS extraordinary, gooey and crispy, made with Vella Mezzo Secco (a semi-dry Jack cheese), gruyere, and fromage blanc on a square of Acme's herb slab bread. It was so delicious that I made one the next day at home, using Jack, gruyere, and muenster. I don't have a panini press, so I used my grill pan and covered the sandwich with a piece of aluminum foil, weighed down with a teakettle full of water.

Today, it was back to the routine, with the farmers market vendors out in front of the building instead of tucked back under the eaves. Today's heavy fog was much more tolerable than rain and wind, but a sunny day is best of all. After some preliminary office work, I went down to the kitchen and made a big pot of vegetable stock, to have on hand in the freezer for the upcoming chef demonstration season. It's amazing how the simple combination of onions, carrots, and celery (with some parsley stems, peppercorns, and thyme) can smell so comforting.

Sorting Through All the Options

More and more, my idle mind wanders to thoughts of employment: the critical and unknowns of"who, what, when, where and how. The Why is obvious: because it's time. Because I need to. Because it's the culmination of this whole big adventure.

I've been reorganizing and revising my resume, a procrastination opportunity if there ever was one. Each of my valued advisors have suggested different changes, some of which are directly opposed. I will eventually have to come to some decision and declare it "done." At least until I revise it on a case-by-case basis once I start sending it out.

I've put together a list of about 30 people and organizations that I want to contact. Even though I've been an avid craigslist reader, odds are that my job will come through some connection rather than through answering an ad. But the ads are useful. It's a great place to read through a variety of job descriptions and requirements and "try them on," as it were.

I've begun to read Michael Ruhlman's book, The Elements of Cooking, and it's provocative and entertaining, as promised. Though the book is primarily a glossary of terms, he begins it with a few essays on subjects about which he feels passionately: stock, eggs, salt, heat. He likes to make big, sweeping statements: "The home cook, limited by time and money and cooking knowledge, ratchets up his or her talent by a factor of ten by making veal stock." (This, despite the almost insurmountable challenge of obtaining 10 pounds of veal bones and joints. I've tried.) A more approachable task: "Perfecting egg technique elevates your abilities as a cook more than perfecting the use of any other single food item."

In other news, I found out that graduation is March 8. No other details, but that's a start.

Organizing Up a Storm

We received another handful of applications for the 2008 chef demonstration program, and I worked on fitting them into the schedule, which is rapidly closing in on "full." It's a great testament to the success of CUESA's mission, and the popularity of the Ferry Building farmers market, that chefs -- even some high profile "celebrity" names -- want a chance to cook a dish or two in the outdoor kitchen.

Once a month or so, the Saturday markets are themed: for example, February 2nd is the Citrus Festival, and the first week of August is the Tomato Festival. I'm going through all the recipes archived on the CUESA website and listing the ones that would complement a Festival theme. They'll be used in handouts or in the week's e-letter. The longer I read recipes, the hungrier I got.

Once again, today's market vendors were tucked under the eaves, and the rain started midmorning as predicted. I came home with some beautiful white carrots, blood oranges, mixed lettuces, satsuma mandarins, and a jar of eucalyptus-almond honey. After we shopped, I helped Sarah begin the kitchen inventory -- listing the equipment and ingredients on-hand in order to fill up any gaps before the demonstration season begins again next month. I cleaned out the "pantry" -- a lengthy task just given the many bottles of herbs and spices on hand. Not to mention the dozen or more types of organic sweeteners that have been donated by one of our regular volunteers.

I worked through lunch, then grabbed a sandwich from the Acme store inside the building, and ate it on the ferry boat while I watched the spray drench the windows, again and again. It's amazing how delicious "simple" can be sometimes: a chunk of baguette, sweet butter, a few slices of salami, and some halved cornichons. Like the wonderful "airline food" you get on a European carrier: a soft roll, a slice of brie, a slice of ham.

The slightly soggy Amazon package on my doorstep contained two of the hottest new "food" books: Michael Ruhlman's The Elements of Cooking and Michael Pollan's newest, In Defense of Food, an Eater's Manifesto. It's just the right kind of afternoon to curl up with a hot cup of honey-spiked tea and a good book. Or two.

Escaping the uniform crackdown, but not Mother Nature

I braved the Storm of 2008 this morning to stand in the howling wind at the ferry terminal with about 5 other hardy souls, including the guy who rides his bike to from Rockridge to SF SOMA every day via the ferry. He was really wet. One woman asked if I felt safe on the boat, and I told her I'd rather be on the ferry than on the freeway. Besides, I said, if the ferry was unsafe, they wouldn't let us get on. Which is exactly what happened. The boat pulled up, right on time, and once they docked, one of the deckhands came up the ramp and shoo'd us away. They'd already made two round trips to the City and back, he said, and weren't ready to make another. By the time I got back to my car, a block away, my jeans were soaked through. I headed back up the hill (slowly, with limited visibility), and since the power held out today, I worked from home.

I worked on some recipes for upcoming e-letters (potato leek soup, spinach with walnut sauce, pork chops with scallions and sour cream) and answered some emails. I checked the CCA website for some clue as to our graduation date, which Andy asked me about last week, but couldn't find information. Posted on the home page, though, I found a new 36-point "CCA Uniform Code: DO's and DON'Ts." Of special note: "DO wear the commis cap squarely on the head about 1 inch above the eyebrows. (I hate that hat.) DO wear pants with one 'break.' (This means that the length of the pant must reach the top of the shoe just below the shoestrings.) DO NOT wear a commis cap while smoking and riding the shuttle. DO NOT wear uniform components outside of Academy facilities and the shuttle. DO NOT wear nylons as it poses a safety issue should hot liquids be spilled." I'm glad I'm out of there -- not so much because I'd be affected by these strict requirements, because I wouldn't. (Except that I often went to the grocery store after class, in uniform.) But I can just imagine the uproar among some of my classmates, and the amount of non-cooking time that would be used up in order to enforce the "new" rules.

And just to elaborate on my NYE "revelation": I don't want you to think that there's any thing WRONG with my internship. Um, I see how you might think that, especially since I said "what's WRONG is..." It was more of a spontaneous realization, in the middle of an afternoon putzing around the kitchen, that I really enjoy putzing around the kitchen for hours every day. I really don't want a cooking job. I just remembered that I like to cook. If you know what I mean.

And what will the new year bring us?

Today, at CUESA, I finished updating the list of 2007 vendor participants, made a list of "next in line" vendors for the 2008 demonstrations, and took a stab at guessing their "seasonality," based on the products they grow. I answered a couple of email questions from chefs and signed up a couple more for 2008 cooking demos. I formatted the rewritten Volunteer Handbook, which is now quite beautiful. (We'll print it on both sides, to save trees.) I'm ready for a new project.

I did a bit of cooking over the long weekend, most notably, a turkey dinner and some ribs. I put together a little appetizer spread for NYE which David found to be insufficiently splendid for the occasion. I have a cold. Sometimes, you should just order Chinese.

My project for the next week or so is to update my resume, including giving it a graphic facelift. The one I created in Chef Stephanie's class just doesn't feel like me. And I'm making plans to meet with a couple of my trustworthy advisors. Cheerleaders, actually. Gotta get pumped.