[Sca-cooks] dealing with cooks neurosis

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> Knowing the kitchen you were working in (assuming that it was at your shire's
> last event), that site can be nothing but controlled chaos.  It's so tiny
> that bumping into each other and spilling things is inevitable.  I hardly think
> that having an accidental spill and needing help to get it cleaned up so you
> can continue with your job of getting breakfast out is cause for criticism.

Well, yess. But you know me-- I do sometimes manage to make things that
are completely under control look like they are falling apart. :) Which is
what I was worried about. :)

> What makes me feel that a kitchen is a success?  Getting the food out on
> time, hot, and well-prepared; having a sufficent vareity of offerings; having the
> people eating be obviously pleased with the food.

I think these are good ways to evaluate the way things go. As the subject
line indicates, I'm just likely to get neurotic over the way things 'look'
to outsiders... I've never had people not like my cooking, and the only
case where someone didn't want to work in  a kitchen with me again, I felt
even more strongly about never working in a kitchen with her again...
but people do tend to notice that I am NOT naturally a duck (make it look
easy but underneath paddle like heck...)

[Sometimes I think people look at what I do, see the controlled chaos, and
think "oh, it must be easy, Jadwiga's just making it look hard!" *smile*]

> Did you feel like you'd lost control?  I've been in kitchens that got out of
> hand, and I've been in ones that look like they are out of hand but aren't.

It felt like it had actually gone more smoothly than any other kitchen
that I'd been in charge of (cooking with Juliana does NOT count-- she
supplies the duck part while I hedgehog around. *grin*)

> Had your "someone" spent any time in or near the kitchen at any other point, or
> did they simply walk in when you were trying to continue functioning while
> moving around a spill in a very tight place, and judge based on that?

She had helped earlier with some of the prep that morning, and she was
kind enough to come in and deal with the spill. I appreciated her help,
and I'm not offended at her honest opinion. I was just being neurotic
because it differed so radically from my perception of how things had
gone.

> Personally, I think sending out for help rather than distracting your cooking
> staff was an excellent decision.

I thought it worked out well and kept the spiller from getting uptight. I
also got an extra cook (Philadelphia Brown) which was a help.

-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
"What don't die can't live. What don't live can't change. What don't
change can't learn." -- Terry Pratchett, _Lords and Ladies_