Hello, Sous Chef!

(Day 6)

I was in Junior High when I got my first job.  I still remember how nervous I was as I walked through the back door of the Tastee Hut for my very first shift.  The owners were a delightful couple named **Erbin and Lauretta, and together they patiently taught me the ins and outs of working at a fast food restaurant.  Lauretta taught me everything from how to punch in a time card to how to make a chocolate shake, make change, and keep the windows sparkly clean.  Erbin taught me the important skill of salting and peppering  burgers just right before you flip them.  Over the years, that dear couple mentored many, many kids as they, too, learned to work a “real” job for the first time.

I know they cared very much for the kids who worked for them.  But, they also made sure that each job was done correctly and properly.  If you wanted to slack off, working at the Tastee Hut wasn’t the place to go!!

I want our camp kitchen to be a good training ground for the “kids” who come to work here, too.

That’s one of the things we love most about this place ~ the people we get to work with.

This Fall and Winter, these are our “kids”:

{Pictured left to right, Back to front: Curtis, Melissa, Ben, Ryan, Emma, Travis, Josh, and Holly}

When they come to help in the kitchen, I refuse to call them my “kitchen helpers”.  They are much, much more than that.  They are my assistants, and together we get meals on the table for our guests.

I call them my Sous Chefs!

Some of them already come to us having taken the Basic Food Safe course ~ which is awesome!

But, if they haven’t, I try my best to teach them along the way.

The first lesson is the importance of coming to work dressed in the proper attire.  Here are the 3 simple rules:

1.  Although you may be a barefoot, flip flop lover like me, you have to lay that aside and put on your sensible, closed toe shoes.  It’s definitely a safety issue.  The first time hot soup splashes over the rim of a pot or a knife falls to the floor…you’ll totally understand!

2.  If you have hair long enough to put in a ponytail, you must put it up.  As I’m sure you’re not a fan of hair in your food, I’m not either.  I won’t make you wear a silly hat like I do, though… (But feel free if you’d like!)

3.  Before you enter the kitchen, you must wash your hands thoroughly at the handwashing station.

I’ll admit.  I’m slightly OCD about the handwashing thing.  We’ll be washing our hands a lot…

**And just to finish the Tastee Hut story, Erbin sadly passed away a few years ago, but I got to hug Lauretta’s neck when I visited my hometown last year.  And, the Tastee Hut is still in business.  In fact, we ate there just last month.  They still have some of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted in my live long days…