Food Safety

We spent the entire day out of the kitchen.  Apron and toque-free, our only task was to sit and listen to a lecture on food safety.  It sounds potentially boring, but Chef Tim made it quite entertaining.  Former archaeology student, and self proclaimed "nerd", Chef has been back to school to study nutrition, and it made a difference learning from someone who actually got excited about the science behind food.  It also might have helped that interspersed throughout the lecture were  Chef's diverting tales about working as a private chef for A-list celebrities and dealing with their antics.

All in all, it was nice to have a day to relax a bit and absorb everything we learned from the day before.  At the end of level one we will be tested on the ServSafe curriculum. If we pass, we should get a food handler's permit that is transferable anywhere in the U.S.

Food for thought: Know where your food comes from, and don't be a fool in your efforts to be healthy. In contrast to the happy hens on McDonald's farm, that overpriced,"free-range" chicken from the grocery store was probably just fed organic feed and had a skylight in the filthy, overcrowded, poop-covered shed he was raised in.  Those really cute leafy stems left on your carrots, making them seem fresh-picked from the garden, are actually stealing all the nutrients from your carrots--cut them off. Consuming copious amounts of kale because it is high in anti-oxidants, isn't your only option.  Other leafy greens have equally high amounts and (bonus!) taste way better.