#literally walked around my kitchen opening random cabinets cause i kept forgetting what i was doing this morning

[bratthewurst]

Hnng adhd is powerful today

[ayyoitsalex]

Chapter 9 - Yes Chef!

Ooh! It's finally my turn to talk! We've never formally met, you've only read about me. Well anyway, my names Elizabeth Brooke Ryan. I go by a few names that my friends and family have come up with, so just pick one of those. Those names are; Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzy, Beth, Eliza, E.B., E.R, E., E. Ry, Ryan, and I think that's it. As you already know I'm youngest of my Ryan family siblings, I'm five foot five, blonde hair, green eyes, and I wear glasses. I didn't do sports like my siblings when I was in high school, I found a different kind of skill that I was good at. Instead I would learn cooking and baking at different rec centers and take classes wherever I could. I just found the whole thing so interesting, and it just came so natural. Despite my reputation as a picky eater. Hey I'm working on it! At this point I'd like to consider myself the best cook in my family. My siblings love being my taste testers and always have been ever since I made my first batch of cookies with mom when I was like..eight. Even though theres a pretty significant age gap between us, we're all close. I'm not any closer to one sibling more than another, I love them all equally. They all took time to take care of me growing up and in different ways. I study at a culinary school in San Diego, and my parents were gracious enough to pay for my entire tuition, but I do work at a restaurant for experience and y'know ya girl needs some spending money. I work at kind of a fancy-ish french restaurant, but I only do prep work. So I'm cutting lots of onions, carrots, potatoes, and crushing a whole mess of garlic. My dream is really to be a chef at a restaurant I love. Simple I know, but I'm a simple person. A lot of people think cooking is a chore or a hassle, but it's something I do that makes me happy and makes me feel creative and special. I live in a small-ish apartment near the school so on occasion I'll walk to school and work, but sometimes I'll feel weird walking around toting around a briefcase looking bag of knives. When I made the decision to go to culinary school it wasn't until I'd already done a year at a traditional college. I wasn't passionate about anything I was taking, and nothing seemed to make me want to dedicate my life to it. It was a real internal struggle since I didn't wanna feel like I was disappointing my parents in going an unconventional route. Though when I did finally tell them they were supportive. I don't know why I expected anything else from them, they're the best! Word got to my siblings on my decision and they all chipped in together to buy me my knives to show their support as well. They were Henckel knives that I'd walk by in Sur la Table all the time and just pine for. Can you say #Blessed ? -ALARM- I struggled underneath the covers trying to find my way out. When I finally emerged I turned the blaring alarm off, and made my way to the bathroom. I did my business and splashed some cold water on my face to wake me up a little bit more. "Alexa, play THE LIST!" I smiled turning to my reflection in the mirror. C'est La Vie began playing and I danced around my apartment probably looking like an idiot. Though what did I care I lived alone. "Say you will say you won't, say you'll do what I don't!" I continued singing probably off-key, dancing my way into the kitchen to make breakfast. Opening the fridge I examined the miriad of leftovers populating the shelves. First things first, i popped open a monster energy. I shook the caffiene through as I took the first sip. "C'est la vie!" I smiled hitting it right on time. -Knock knock- I skipped over to the door and looked through the peep hole. I unlocked the door welcoming inside my two best friends James and Rebecca. James walked in also holding the hand of his son. We usually walk to school together, but today they were early. "Healthy breakfast you got there." James laughed pointing to my energy drink. "It's just a warm up. I was going to have a real breakfast." "That and maybe put on some pants there." Rebecca said. "I'm wearing shorts! I wouldn't have answered the door pants-less I'm not a heathen Rebecca." Though I could see how I did look pantless with my big t-shirt covering my shorts. "Anyway, what're you guys doin here so early. We don't leave for another like..half hour." "I was actually going to ask if I could use your shower cause they were doin some stuff over at my building and the waters out.." Rebecca said pushing her index fingers together. "Well let me go first. And since I'm doing you this favor you make us breakfast then!" "Okay deal. See James look at how nice our friend Elizabeth is. That's why she's my best friend not you" "I can't help that my roommates had the bathrooms occupied when you came over. Get cookin there." I heard Rebecca rummaging through my cabinets for pans while I walked over to the bathroom to take a shower. The good thing about having friends in culinary school is that you can always rely on someone to cook. When I came out the cloud of steam flowed into the apartment. "Jeez you must take some hot showers." Rebecca said plating an omlette. I shrugged my shoulders, still drying my hair. "Okay I did my part. SHOWER!" She picked up her bag and practically ran to the shower. I sat down with James and his son, eating the omlette with what looked to be cut up portions of leftovers. I washed up the dishes and made final checks before we all made our way out of my place. I slinged my bag over my shoulder and picked up my knife kit on our way out the door. We talked about random things on our way to school, but not before making a quick stop for James. He dropped his son off at day-care which also was conveniently close to the school. "I really don't know how you do the whole single dad thing." Rebecca said. "What do you mean?" He said while replying to texts. "I mean I can barely take care of myself let alone another person, and ALONE." "Well he's not alone Becks. He's got us." I smiled. "Aha thanks Liz. But yeah I've got help but I just wanna do as much on my own as I can without burdening anyone else." "You're one of the strongest people I know James." Rebecca said before taking the last sip of her coffee. We made our way onto campus before parting ways to head to our classes. "Meet for lunch!" Rebecca shouted. Both James and I gave her the thumbs up. i walked into my first class of the day which was baking. I learned a lot of my baking knowledge from not only my mom but also my aunt Camryn. Along with her wedding planning business she has her own baking business on the side. She wasn't always my nicest teacher to me, but I did learn a lot. I buttoned up my chef's jacket and sat down in the lecture hall to watch a demonstration. I paid attention as best I could taking whatever notes I felt would help me the most later. This isn't like a typical lecture with slides,  it's literally a projection of someone making a dish. When it was finished the class went into the test kitchen to see if we could recreate it. I did fairly well on my recreation but just a few plating issues kept me from a perfect score. Still an A none the less with room for improvement. I checked the clock. I walked over to the cafeteria where Rebecca was already there waiting with her second coffee of the day. Though what can I expect from someone that considers themself a sommelier of coffee. "How was baking class?" Rebecca asked a little shakily. I'm assuming it's from all the caffiene she's had in such a short amount of time. "I made the pastry fine, but I just had plating issues. My coulis wasn't as thick as I wanted and it started streaking on the plate. So I got docked points, but still an A." I shrugged trying not to think about it too much. "Well that's good." "What's good?" James asked walking over to us carrying a tray. "Liz got an A in baking today, but she's mad about her coulis." "Oh bummer. Cookie?" He offered. I smirked taking it. "Ha nothing a cookie couldn't solve." "Okay rude you didn't offer me one." "Excuse me where are my manners, Rebecca would you also like a cookie?" "Hold the sarcasm with that one." Rebecca said reaching over. "But yes I would." I took a bite laughing at their exchange. "*SPITS JAMES!" I rubbed a napkin on my tongue. Both of them looking at me crazy. "THESE ARE RAISIN!" "...and?" James said slowly taking a bite for himself. "WHO LIKES OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES!?" I fumed passing it back to him. Rebecca's eyes grew wide. "You would like raisins!" Rebecca huffed. "C'mon Elizabeth, let's get real food." We stuck our tongues out while James laughed to himself. Moving through the lunch line, Rebecca and I grabbed food onto our trays to forget the trauma of the raisin trying to be a chocolate chip. What sick bastard decided cookies needed raisins?! I settled on a chicken sandwich with polenta fries, while Rebecca got a skirt steak salad with chipotle dressing. Perks of going to a culinary school is you get food normally not thought of in regular college. "I can't believe you did that to me. I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!" I took a hard bite into my sandwich. He just shrugged his shoulders before taking another bite of that monstrosity of a dessert. When we finished lunch it was time for me to head to my cooking basics class. The class I'm probably best at. Like my baking class we start off watching a demo of a dish being made and then are asked to recreate. I like this one in particular cause we get to eat whatever we make. I'm not so much a sweet tooth person so that's why this one takes rank over desserts. Also this way I usually don't have to make dinner. We were making pan roasted chicken, braised swiss chard, roasted parsnips, and carmelized cipollini onions. It's a dish I could make in my sleep. When I got into the kitchen it was time for business. I didn't hear anyone, I wasn't talking, the only thing I was doing was cooking. I finished somewhere in the middle of the class, and brought my dish up to be judged. My professor cut into my chicken and I hoped to fuck it wasn't raw. He picked the piece up on the fork and I saw BOOM right on the money. He took bits from around the plate onto a single bite. "Very good Elizabeth. Another good days work. You can enjoy your dish if you want or leave it to another student." FUCK THAT. I brought my plate back to my station and started eating. I did the dishes at my station when I got done, and packed up my knives. James and Rebecca were waiting outside my class as we were all going to work right afterwards. James is a waiter at the restaurant, and Rebecca works the bar. They're both a little older than I am, and I'm only twenty. I met them both pretty randomly when sitting alone in the cafeteria. Rebecca sat down at my table and just introduced herself to me. Complete opposite of my own personality, and then right after James did the same. I guess they could tell I was new or something and needed friends. Since then we've all just hung out, and they even helped me get the job at the restaurant. "Looked good whatever you were eating." Rebecca said. "Oh so good. I love having a class where you eat what you make." "Aha I remember those classes. Enjoy them now." James warned. "Aw James don't scare her!" Rebecca laughed. "I'm just sayin! I can't eat my accounting homework." Way to bring down my mood James. "Well whatever, let's get to work." We walked off campus and rode the bus. I made it to my station of unchopped vegetables and got right into it. "Hey Elizabeth." Our head chef greeted me. "Hi!" I smiled looking up from my pile of carrots. "I'm also gonna need you to break down those romaine hearts. We got tableside Caesars going tonight." "Ooh fun. Are you guys making the dressing from scratch?" "Yeah actually, you ever done it?" He asked inspecting the various stations. "Just at home, it was okay." "Aha hard to believe this is your first year at culinary." What can I say? Humble brag. "Well I'll leave you to get back to work." "Alright, bye chef!" I don't even think I know our head chef's real name. I just call him chef. I set my knife down for a minute to shake the feeling back into my hands. The pile of carrots slowly began to dwindle down, so I shifted my focus to the romaine hearts. After washing and spinning them I broke them down for salad. I brought the bowls to the trolleys for the table side service. I stood at the front of the kitchen just imagining what it'd be like. "Alright on order! Four covers!" I said pretending to read a ticket. I heard laughs behind me and immediately I turned around shook. A few of the line cooks had seen me. "Aw..she's playing pretend." One of them said walking past me. "How cute..thinks she's an actual chef." Another chef smirked attempting to pinch my cheek. I pulled my face away, trying to be as stone face as possible as they walked by. Inside I was dying. I was so embarrassed. I ran back into the walk-in fridge to cool off. I took a few deep breaths to collect myself. The head chef walked in, and jumped back surprised to see me in there. "Whoa! I didn't expect to see anyone in here." "Oh..um I was just..never mind I don't know what I was doing." "You okay?" He asked looking me in the eyes. "Yeah yeah just..nothing." I tried to walk past him back into the kitchen. He held his arm out blocking my way. "Hey tell me what's wrong." He leaned up against the door. "No one can hear what we're talking about it's okay. What you say will be between us, and I can tell you're a little rattled about something." "*sigh well..alright. I was at the front of the pass with no one in the kitchen and I kinda like pretended I was calling out orders..y'know like a real head chef. Then I guess some of the line cooks saw me and kinda..made fun of me for pretending." "Mm I see. So lemme ask you something. What's your goal from all this?" "What? To be a head chef." "So what if you imagine yourself in that role and some people see? You can see yourself doing that, and that's what matters. Those chefs are probably just content working the line and never getting better. They probably stopped learning a long time ago. You're dreaming bigger. You've got something Elizabeth and I'm not just saying that." I nodded my head. "Now walk back in there like you belong in there." He pointed me back into the kitchen. I pulled my shoulders back and walked confidently back in. I found the chefs that passed by me. They smirked at me again, mocking the motions I was doing earlier. "I will be a head chef one day, and a damn good one. So FUCK YOU!" The head chef covered his mouth laughing as I returned to my station. I must've said it pretty loud since I could hear both James and Rebecca laughing their ass off. Good thing we hadn't opened for dinner yet!