SC - Open/Closed Kitchens

[James F. Johnson]

Elaine Koogler wrote:
> 
> I think there is a misunderstanding here, at least of my definition of
> "closed".  I welcome volunteers, and have no problem with folks sticking their
> heads in the kitchen to offer help.  However, I do NOT want the "kibbitzers" who
> have no intention of helping, but just want visit, snare a taste, etc.  It's
> distracting, dangerous and just plain old inconvenient!

I get the same feeling, that the terms 'closed' and 'open' mean
different things to different stewards. I'm going to rephrase myself
this way: I have an open staff and a closed kitchen. On site volunteers
_are_ welcome, if I have work and space for them (and there are _always_
dishes if you want to toss Alys for them...). The physical space of the
kitchen itself is mostly limited to the staff, not the entire attending
populace.

Part of the reason I prefer to limit non-staff access to the kitchen is
safety and comes from my working around commercial restaurant kitchens.
When I have five helpers, I have a sense of where all five bodies are in
the kitchen. If someone volunteers and I assign them a task, I have a
sense of all six now. What I want to avoid is lifting a large pot of
stock or soup from the stove, or pulling a large sheet from a 425 oven
and bump into a seventh person suddenly standing behind me to get a look
at what's being served for the feast.

"Laura C. Minnick" wrote:

> To clarify, folks- if Seumas has a blade in his hand and is grinning,
> folks around here know he's *joking*- he's the most good humoured, laid
> back person I've ever known (one of the reasons I love him so much!). He
> takes nothing personally and I have dubbed him 'Mr. Unflappable' for his
> ability to keep his head in extreme situations (like the water pump
> going out two hours away from the site with the truck full of the feast
> ingredients- the feast still went out on time and was delicious). OTOH,
> if he lowers the eyebrows and says "You're in the way- get out of the
> kitchen" you scoot. No one wants to hack off a good cook.

Hrmmph! You've told them my secret. :) And you forgot to mention that
half the kitchen equipment was off-line when we got on site. (Murphy
wasn't an optimist, he just worked in a restaurant). And if someone was
intruding, I would simply smile, say 'Scoot, scoot!' and wave/herd them
toward the door with my hands...if that doesn't work, I could always use
the tone of voice I used on the lions (the
if-you-don't-I'm-going-to-get-out-of-the-Jeep-and-slap-you-silly voice).
:)

Seumas