Having finished the first week of my senior project I can say that so far it has far exceeded my expectations. I have been able to freely work in my home kitchen throughout the day making whatever dish I like. Every Tuesday I also go into the Lower/ Middle School building in the morning and help with any prep work as needed. Then I go over to the high school and talk with Chef Eric Baer about upcoming lunches and deliveries that need to be made. I was told that in the coming weeks I’d be doing tasks such as chopping vegetables and cleaning brisket.

Coming into this project I was expecting my work to be very limited, especially in the school kitchens as I don’t actually work there. I expected more of a mentoring or shadowing type of experience. I was surprised to find out that on the second day in the kitchen, Chef Patrick McCann already had me grilling chicken on the industrial kitchen stoves. I saw it as a chance to prove myself as a chef and I did just that. The point of this project for me was to gain as much experience as I could working in a professional kitchen, and so far I have not been disappointed. Working at home was also something I had lower expectations for. But after a week of making dishes such as General Tso’s Chicken, NY Strip Steak with potatoes and asparagus, or Chicken Katsu over rice, my expectations were blown out of the water. After the first few days, I got up every morning excited to decide on what to make next and got into a routine of stopping at the grocery every day to pick up ingredients. Then again when it came time for dinner, deciding what to make, and getting the necessary ingredients. I want to expand my repertoire as much as possible and I think that this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

I feel inspired and hopeful about the upcoming weeks in my senior project not only because of the dishes I will make but also because of the dishes I will invent. I want to become more adept at making my own recipes and now that I have a blank canvas, I want to start dipping into more experimental cooking. Instead of finding a recipe to make, I’ll try to use the knowledge I’ve gained to make something without a recipe. This involves tasting, reworking, and finding the right balance of flavors until I’m happy with the result. This will help me in the school kitchens too as I am not strictly being told how to do something, but rather just to do it.

Going forward, my expectations are much higher now and I hope to be doing some more advanced work in both the LREI kitchens and my own home kitchen. The end goal still hasn’t changed either and when senior project’s final weeks approach I know I’ll be confident enough in my cooking ability to pull it off.