Deja Vu All Over Again

Meghan wasn't in class today, so those of us on the Menu team spent the open class time re-researching and re-writing our recipe cards for next week's benefit. Again. Alex is going to be a handful for the chef who hires him -- I can see this already. He really doesn't like to be tied to a recipe. But the problem with that, from a professional standpoint, is that you can't guarantee consistency in results, not to mention costing. He writes some great procedures though: "Put your 50 tomatoes through a food mill..."

During lecture, Peter talked about the importance of operations systems, in costing, pricing, purchasing, production, presentation, and service. In order to have a consistent product that keeps your customers coming back, you have to develop and implement systems in each of these areas. And your challenge, as a manager, is to get your employees to understand the systems, and to use them. (See above.)

Anybody who's in a public school, or a school that accepts public funds (CCA qualifies because they administer federal student loans) was required to sit through a federally mandated "Constitution Day" presentation today, complete with sign-in sheet and Powerpoint presentation (ask your school-aged children). We spent some time talking about inalienable rights, and Kristina perked up with "I hate to tell you kids, but you get more conservative as you get older." "I beg to differ," I shot back. Peter winked at me.

Sarah was back in class today. I spoke to her at break. "I heard you were leaving us, but it's nice to see you here." She said, "Well, it's only eight more weeks. I figured I should stick it out." We high-fived.

P.S. I told David that I earned an A in Advanced Baking and Pastry. "I'm kind of bored with all that," he said. And hey, so are we: group senioritis, big time.