It's Monday!!! I get to go back to work!

I haven't posted the past few days because, well, frankly, I've been exhausted.



I slept in on Saturday until 10. It was awesome.



I keep thinking how fortunate I am to be with a place from the very beginning... before it's even opened. I know the ins and the outs of what is ordered when you first start a business, and I think that will be helpful later.



Things seem to be going well. We got most everything washed and I've polished more stainless steel than I ever had before. All so shiny and new :)



This week we will be getting our first shipment of food on Friday, so we'll start prep and work of that nature.



Although the week did go very well and I'm still oh-so-excited... I was glad for the weekend. Not just to get energized once again, but to have a break from people that I've been around for 40 hours this past week.



So... the past week I have also tried a couple of new recipes. I wanted to explore a bit and try new things. Did you know you could poach chicken in butter? I didn't. But I did it. Thank you Julia Child. I have been using her book "The Way to Cook" for a LOT of advice and how-to of my cooking endeavors. So I poached that chicken in butter and then put it in some fat-free and dairy-free cream with bacon, mushrooms, and onions for a chicken stroganoff. It was pretty good... I probably wouldn't use turkey bacon the next time.

I also made my very first marinara sauce from scratch this past week. Not too shabby... I'm beginning to learn my own palete and identify particular ingredients... and from there, figure out what is missing and what is over done. Put the sauce over some gnocchi, mushrooms, and some spinach. Very very very good. Too bad it was my last package of gnocchi.

Anyway...
Today at the hotel, I went dumpster diving. Yep. It was as awesome as it sounds. We threw away a bunch of boxes we weren't supposed to, so we had to get them back out. Oops. Not my fault, but I was willing to help rectify the situation.

I know that this won't be a big deal to anyone else but me, but WE GOT TOWELS TODAY! Up until now we have been bargaining with housekeeping... trading trash bags and towels for promised daily coffee and such. But no more! We now have our own and I couldn't be more thrilled.

I also read some of the requirements for the Embassy Suites brand information pertaining primarily to breakfast. All pretty basic... but I did have one complaint. No soy milk. Disappointing. :( I wish soy milk would become more of a staple in public restaurants for those of us with dairy allergies.

Also, I found out today that those of you that would like to come and see me for breakfast, you can! They will charge non-guests for the all you can eat breakfast, but you are definitely able to come and eat!! How exciting is that!!! (Jen R and Canadian sister)

We'll be up and running by the end of the week, so pictures should be posted by the beginning of next week :)

I'm starting to get more nervous. Sometimes when we are all sitting in our little meetings about this or that I start to actually think about what I'm doing. I've got to be honest... it scares the shit out of me. I'm going to be slicing, dicing, sauteing, whipping, and flipping within the next week. Terrifying!!!!

But I can do it. I know I can. I'm proud of me and my determination to do this. Yay me.

Well, now it's time for me to pop over to all recipes and put in their recipe search my planned ingredients for dinner. What would you make with turkey sausage, mushrooms, onions, and garlic?