Saturday, July 08, 2006

Working on day off

Today, July 8th must be the most stressful day I can remember.

I woke up with a gasp. Almost 7:00 am. Thank God for 6th sense. I had that feeling if I dont go down to the kitchen and check, something really sad is going to happen. So I dived from my bunk in my pajamas (thank goodness I still have the habit of wearing a full set of undergarments), my sleeping breath, and soggy face, and dragged myself to the kitchen. Nobody was there. So I dialled the Light House really quickly. Took forever for someone to answer and finally Nicky did.

Me: Is Rebecca and Anny coming to prepare the breakfast?
Nicky: Yea actually just gonna be Anny and it is only 7am and breakfast is at 8. I told her she can go at 745. She is in the shower right now, why?
Me: Uhhh...I kinda need them to come and make some pancakes. I think they need a little more time than that. We have to make it nice because the OTF (Olympic Task Force) people might show up.
Nicky: Oh, I didnt know that. I thought it is just gonna be Feeters who arrived. We will come now!

I went and check the pantry. Not enough fruits for lunch. Panic.
I checked all the ingredients for weekend menus. Slightly short of sour cream. Panic. It started to pour. Well, twas still early. I resolved to go to town and pick up all the missing items before lunch.

Breakfast was smoothly over.

The leader of the Kona Dts came to the kitchen.
Zach: Would there be enough food for all of us (13 people)? We are thinking about having lunch here.
Me (panicked...did I miss out on this one too? Anna said to prepare for 40, does it include them? Come on Angeline, do the math....gosh, i m so dead, so confused): Uhhh....have you told Anna about this? I thought she said she only got confirmation for 6 but not the whole team.
Zach: Yea, I was having trouble getting some of the people to confirm about their meal plans until today, but I guess if there's not enough then, that's okay. We will have lunch somewhere else.
Me: I am not sure if we do..maybe just for half of your team. I am so sorry.

Sigh. That's Kona.

I checked into my little office and started ordering online for the following week so that food will be delivered to me on Monday am. It dried up. So, I left to go into town, got everything I needed. Things were starting to go right. Even the sun began to shine too. So, time to take a nap and have an afternoon off.

The phone rang. Grrr...

Me: Hello.
Ms X: Hello. Could I speak with Miss Yong?
Me: Hey Karen, stop it!!
Ms X: This is Wellcome Delivery service,.....
Me (angry): No no no no..no Wellcome today, I didnt order for delivery today!!!!
Ms X: Uhh..Miss Yong, you ordered from our website this morning?
Me (oh no. not Karen giving me a prank call. gasp) : Yeaa....
Ms X: We are sorry, we are not able to deliver on Monday morning because many of the items you ordered are not available.
Me: Well, can you deliver the ones that are availabe on Monday and the rest on Tuesday?
Ms X: Too many items..but let me check and I will confirm with you later.

I went to the kitchen and check how the lunch went. Becca said there were some leftovers. Sebastian took four servings. Greedy..but the food was enough, that was the only thing I cared.

Ms X called again. Wellcome will deliver on Tuesday only!

Check the pantry. Not enough milk, not enough cereals, not enough bread to last for Tuesday. Sigh...what kind of a kitchen manager m I? Looks like another food run is coming up tonight.

Hmm...since I have a little time, I better write up my long dued newsletter.
Interruption. Becca called.

Becca: I cant find coconut milk. I only found one can.
Me: Yea, I am sorry, I forgot about the coconut milk but there are some coconut milk powder we can use. They are all in the curry spice boxes that I bought. Just open it and you will find two packet of things inside and one should be coconut milk powder...
Becca: Uhhh.. I dont understand...
Me: Never mind I will go down and get them for you.


5pm. I went to check the kitchen crew again. I dont even want to describe how stressful it looked. I felt really bad for choosing such difficult recipes for Rebecca. Faby and So Young came to visit. Another emergency meeting in the pantry.

Me: I think this is tough for Rebecca. All her helpers are new Feeters.
Faby: Isnt Anny supposed to be here to help??
Me: The schedule says Brandon and Rebecca for dinner prep. Anny told me she is doing cleanup.
Faby: No!!! I already changed that schedule. Anna and I made it. Anny was supposed to come.
Me: I guess the Feet Staff themselves must have changed things around again. And I dont have the new work schedule in that case.
So Young: Look (pointing to the Sunday's schedule). Rachel will be mad. This is not fair. She is on all prep and clean up.

Anyway, I had to go to town for food run. While I was in Park N Shop, 6pm....
Gasp. I forgot to tell Rebecca where to find the cheese for the saag paneer. I was sure she had no idea what ricotta was. So, I quickly dialled the kitchen. She answered.

Me: Did you find the cheese you are supposed to use?
Becca: No. I couldnt find it.
Me (regretfully): I m so so so sorry I forgot to tell you. They were all in the bag in the same fridge with all the things you used today.
Becca: Oh really? I didnt know that. I wanted to call and ask you but I was too busy. So we just decided to use the regular cheese.
Me: OK. So everything is alright?
Becca: It looks bad but tastes kinda good. The mango casserole is not done yet though. But I think it is alright. The OTF are very late anyway. We havent started eating.

I have to think Greek in order to use of the really expensive but left behind goat cheese.

I think if I were my boss, I would most likely fire myself after this weekend.
What a day!. 830pm now. Gasp. Time to take the pill.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

another day in the life of the kitchen manager at the base. You're doing great! Don't be so hard on yourself! You can do it I know you can! Blessings! Caryl

Anonymous said...

Hey Gato!

Yes... you are wonderful...good day managing the kitchen!
I'm glad is you and no one else...
Faby

Anonymous said...

don't get stressed out Girl, you're fine. you are great!
luv ya
holland

Anonymous said...

Wah Liao! I can't believe you make such difficult food in your kitchen! Hehe.. props to you girl. Mango casserole??? Wazzat? And Saag Paneer with Goat Cheese? ermmm... isn't Goat Cheese = Feta? Not ricotta... or maybe i'm wrong... arghhh... World Cup finals were too early in the morning.. only got 2.5 hours sleep
anyways... hehehehe.. i always wondered what it would be like running a kitchen so thanks for sharing your joys n horrors!