Life of a Private Dining Kitchen Intern

When I was a little girl one of my only jobs around the house was to peel potatoes for dinner.  I was probably the world's worst potato peeler, no joke.  I was so bad that I would have to bring my walkman(for those of you younger than me, that was a portable cd player before the times of the iPod and it was legit) in the kitchen with me and put on music so that I could find a rhythm to peel to.  You might find that super nerdy but hey, the potatoes got peeled.  In the past two weeks, the same girl that was a horrible potato peeler became a potato peeling master.  This was probably my greatest accomplishment in the past two weeks haha.

I had a blast in the private dining kitchen.  We were super busy the past two weeks so I really got a lot of hands on experience and insight into what it is like to work in that department when things are really going strong.  This past week while I was there we had at least 4 over 100 person banquets.  This was the first time in my life that I have actually worked over 40 hours in a week.  I know that shows my inexperience but you have to start somewhere and going to school full time, I was only able to work about 20 hours a week. I can tell you this, I loved the fast pace of the kitchen.  While I was there I worked with 3 chefs and 1 other kitchen helper.  There was only 4 of us to handle everything including Steven's orders, hanger orders, employee dining room, and all the banquets.  Sometimes you would have a banquet for 130 people at lunch and 180 people at dinner.  That was the crazy part of the job.  I have grown to respect the chefs I worked with because one in particular got there at 5 or 6 in the morning and sometimes didn't leave till 7 at night. That part was crazy to me because if I was tired and sore I know that she was.

While I was in the kitchen I mainly did prep work.  I peeled 2 cases of potatoes, cut 4 1/2 boxes of finger-length potatoes in quarters, sliced too many tomatoes to count, made tortilla and potato chips and diced and minced more things than I can remember.  I also worked on plating and mass production.  One of the most nerve racking but coolest things I did was during a banquet I was sent out to cook shrimp scampi in front of guest for them to put over grits.  It was fun getting to interact and talk to guests while I was cooking but man that first batch I was so worried I was doing it wrong.  Luckily, I cooked them correctly and everyone loved it.

Overall, my time in the kitchen was awesome.  I learned the importance of product consistency and working as a team no matter the size.  I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been give so far.

-Rachel

A typical box of potatoes.  I peeled 2 big boxes myself! Took forever!!!

The best peeler ever!!! 

Making potato slices for scalloped potatoes

Scalloped potatoes

Frying tortilla chips!

Tastes better than Mexican restaurants :)

Cute little baby biscuits

Buttermilk biscuit with onion jelly and bacon

Club sandwich

Beautiful salad

Pretty entree

Music Monday

Music has and will always be a very big part of my life.  Pretty much since I could talk I have been singing and listening to all sorts of music.  My parents are both good singers and they luckily passed on those genes to my brothers and myself.  We grew up listening to everything from the Gaither Vocal Band to James Taylor and lots of different genres in between.  I remember the very first cd I got and the first concert I attended, like it was yesterday.  Both of which I will cringe to say, because of her track record since, were Britney Spears. Ok, ok laugh all you want but I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and she was cool back then.  I used to have concerts in my living room at home and hang signs all over the house for guests to attend.

As I grew older, thankfully my taste in music developed. One of my favorite things to do is go see live shows! This weekend I was able to go to see Sara Bareilles and One Republic in Grand Praire, TX with my dad and little brother.  If you haven't heard their music you should really give it a listen! Sara Bareilles is my all time favorite singer.  She came out with her first single when I was 16 called Love Song.  She writes all of her own music and has an incredible voice.  I don't know how, but she was better live than on the cd.  One Republic was just as good.  Their high energy beats and catchy lyrics kept everyone in the crowds singing and swaying with them.  It was probably the best show I have seen because there was not one but two acts I absolutely love.  I could honestly sing every word.

In honor of my concert experience this weekend I thought I would count down my top five favorite concerts ever.

5. Kari Jobe- I saw Kari Jobe when I was a freshman in college.  I actually got a call from one of my pastors asking if I wanted to pick her up from her hotel and of course I said yes.  She was the sweetest person and her music truly allowed my heart to worship God.

4. Jason Mraz- I went to see Jason in Little Rock my senior year of high school.  He has always been one of my favorite musicians.  This concert was special to me because it was my first road trip with a friend.  My friend Coley came with me and we had written her mom a two page persuasive letter to get her to allow her to come.  It was a blast!  

3. Hillsong United- I saw Hillsong United both my freshman year of college and my senior year of college.  They put on a giant worship fest every time they get on stage.  It is absolutely an amazing experience to get to sing songs to the creator with so many believers.  I loved every minute of both concerts!

2. Coldplay- Two was really hard because honestly they could very well be number 1.  I don't believe you can be a music fan without liking Coldplay.  They are pure artists.  This concert blew my mind.  Everyone got wristbands that blinked to the beat of the music different colors, filling the stadium with thousands of twinkle lights.  It was simply amazing.

1. Sara Bareilles and One Republic- This was such a fun show.  As I have said above, I don't think you could find two better live performers in one show.

What kind of music do you enjoy?  Until next time!

-Rachel

Kitchen Confidential...well not so confidential

Good evening!

Today was my first day in the private dining kitchen at the Capital Hotel.  Let me just say it was a ton of fun! I left my house at 6:30 and was barely awake driving.  My drive to work is awesome.  There was hardly any traffic this morning and I caught a beautiful view of the sunrise sky over downtown Little Rock.  My favorite part of my drive every morning is getting to drive by our beautiful state capital.  It brings me back to all the days and years I spent in the committee rooms during Arkansas Student Congress.

I clocked in at 7 o'clock and from that time on it was a consistently busy work day.  I started off the day helping get stuff together for the employee dining room.  One of the best parts of working at the hotel is that they provide their employees a free meal for either lunch, dinner, or over night depending on when you work. It is the private dining kitchen's job to prepare these meals and put them into the dining room.

After the employee's were taken care of, we prepared lunches for the Stephen's building next door.  Warren Stephen's owns the hotel and we make lunch for him and his employees and deliver them daily.  The building was absolutely huge!!  It is one of the biggest buildings in Little Rock.  Once we had delivered the meals to the Stephen's building, the chef I work with took me to the 25th and top floor of the building.  On every corner of the 25th floor there is an outdoor balcony to look at the city.  It was amazing!!!  Here are some of the pictures I took.

The rest of the day included lots of prep work for tomorrow.  I chopped up a lot of stuff and cut myself not once, not twice, but three times. Yeah, it is probably my worst cooking performance ever.  The first two cuts were just small nicks that were no big deal but the last one was a good one.  I was cutting small cherry tomatoes and one rolled away and the knife was still determined to cut something.  Needless to say my finger suffered.  I don't need stitches but it is taped up pretty nicely.  The security guards at the hotel are in charge of the first aid and they got to know and make fun of me quite a bit today.  After work I went to Walmart and spent almost $20 in band-aids, gauze, tape, and antibiotic cream. I will be prepared now!

Overall, today was a ton of fun!  Time flew by and I could hardly believe I was done when I was.  I'll let ya'll know how the rest of it goes!

-Rachel

Stacks on Stacks...of Laundry

Happy Thursday everyone!

I have spent the last 3 days in one of the hottest and most worked rooms in the hotel.  The laundry room is where all the behind the scenes work in the hotel really takes place.  The longer I have worked in the hotel the more I see how unique the Capital Hotel really is.  You won't find many places that have so many different operations all focused on customer service.  The hotel offers not one but two amazing restaurants, a private dining operation that handles all major events, and a four star hotel for people who are in a food coma from the restaurants can rest and recuperate.  It is such an interesting thing to observe.  Because of all of these different entities the laundry stays super busy.

I have arrived every morning at 9 o'clock ready to get down to business.  For the most part my days have consisted of standing at a press machine and running stacks upon stacks of napkins, tablecloths, pillow cases, sheets, and duvets through the machine.  The press machine shown below in the picture reminds me of a loom(or so I say, seeing that I have never actually seen a loom in person, but to me it would look similar to this).  You basically stand in front of it and feed the linen through sending it on several loops that press the linen into a crisp, wrinkle free state.  This machine along with every other part of the laundry is hot.  With all of the pulling and standing, I leave everyday with a good back, shoulder and foot ache that lets me know I have completed a hard days work.  I have been thinking of patenting a new workout that deals with tugging hundreds of sheets, squatting to pick up pillow cases on the floor, lifting things above your head and standing in place for about 8 hours, in a sauna.  I just have to come up with a name.  I was thinking maybe something like Laundrates or Laundrobics.  Case in point, it is just as hard of a work out as housekeeping if not harder.

Today, I went into the press room where the uniforms are pressed.  These machines are a little bit different. It basically looked like an ironing board but a lid came down and locked and then you pressed a button to steam the item.  It was actually pretty fun and easy to use.  The funniest thing to me in this room was the machine you steam the pants on.  You attach pants to this machine that looks like it has a butt and it is standing up.  Once the pants are attached, you turn the machine on and it puffs the pants out removing the wrinkles and using heat and a little bit of water it steams the pants.  It was pretty crazy.

So far, I have learned that people who work in laundry are pretty tough.  If I am this sore after a few days they must be super tough to do this job everyday.  I have also learned that without the laundry the whole hotel would fall a part.  The COO of our hotel is always talking about being a linchpin.  A linchpin is technically the pin the goes into the axle to keep the wheel in place.  Without the linchpin the wheel would not work and you would get no where.  I believe that the laundry department is a prime example of a linchpin. They work tirelessly everyday to make sure everything keeps going.  If they decided to not show up one day then there would be no sheets for beds, no napkins and table clothes for the restaurants and no uniforms for employees.  I think so far this internship has given me such a perspective on the jobs no one really sees or cares much about but that are absolutely vital to the industry of hospitality.  Though its been a tough lesson in hard work, it is a lesson cherished.  I can not wait to continue to learn.  

Until my next adventure,

Rachel

A little bit of the laundry and the huge washing machines

 The press

 The press room machine

The funny pant steamer

Rest in Texas

Let me just tell you, housekeeping is a workout.  I am convinced that I have sweat more making beds than I have some days at the gym.  Sad but true.  By the end of my first week of housekeeping I could make a perfect bed!  I have bruises, sore knees and throbbing feet to prove my dedication to getting the full intern experience.   

Somehow, I was given a much needed 3 day weekend and I really feel that it was a gift from God.  By the time I got off work around 3 on Friday I had made a plan with my parents to drive to Fort Smith spend the night and head to Texas with my mom, step-dad and little brother.  My mom and step-dad were driving down to visit my step-dad's father who has lung cancer and is quickly losing health.  If you get the chance send a prayer his way, he needs all the prayers we can give him.  On their way to visit him, they dropped my little brother and I off at my aunt's house in McKinney.  I can genuinely say that I truly believe God blessed me with the best family on both my mother and father's sides. As I have said before, I live with my mom's brother right now and her other brother is also in the same city. It is so great to be able to hang out with them more regularly.  I also have a huge family in Texas and consider Texas my second home state.  Anytime I get to hang out with that side of the family we have a blast!  My aunt drove us to my dad's house in Denton and from there we spent the day showing my aunt different parts of that area of Texas including Fort Worth, Roanoke, Trophy Club, and Southlake.  We even got to stop by my favorite grocery store in the world called Central Market.  If you have ever been to Whole Foods, you will love this place!  Next time you are in Texas and see one, go in and enjoy the fresh market style fruits, vegetables and about everything else you can imagine.  Be sure to have enough time to really enjoy it.  As a super foodie, I could spend a couple of hours perusing the aisles.  

The next day I slept in a little bit then got up and took my dad's big Texas size Ford truck and went to Walmart to get some groceries to make pie.  I can only imagine how funny this little 5'1 girl looked getting out of a huge truck.  It was an experience just driving to and from the store.  Later that evening after baking two delicious chocolate pies, we landed at one of my other aunt's houses' in Sherman, TX.  It was so awesome to see the whole family and get to laugh and talk about everything that was going on.  

It was so refreshing to be able to take this time and relax a bit with some of my favorite people.  I haven't met any friends yet here in Little Rock but I know that God will provide.  On the way home from Fort Smith there is a certain point almost to Ozark with a clearing and a big white cross.  It is such a great reminder to me that God knows right where I am.  He knows what I am struggling with and the things that come easy and not so easy to me.  He is working in this heart of mine right now and preparing me for a much bigger journey.  I am so thankful for his restoration and provision when my body and soul are tired.  

Until my next adventure, have a great day!

Rachel 

Knock knock, Housekeeping

Three days down.

Well I am officially an intern and have begun my professional housekeeping career.  Let me just preface my housekeeping adventures thus far by saying this, it is hard work. I thought that housekeeping wouldn't be that bad. I mean I've cleaned my house, how difficult can it be to clean a few rooms. Well I'm here to say, it's harder than I thought.

I have also found that when trying to make a good impression on hundreds of new people I get really awkward, say really stupid things, and catch myself afterwards going did I really just do that.  I have always been really good at meeting new people but this just took it to a whole new level.

My first day started off a little hectic when I missed my exit to get on a different interstate and ended up having to completely turn around.  I know, I know you are thinking that this is what I get for bragging about how great I was doing navigating the city, but it happened and I accept it.  Thankfully, I made it to work right in time.  I picked up my lovely housekeeping outfit seen below which includes of a pair of black pants, a black short sleeve button down with a frilly white collar.  It really honestly is not that bad!  On my first day I pretty much watched the Head Housekeeper do purchase orders, schedules, inventory on each floor and coordinate with the laundry to get each floor what they needed to have. It really was a good learning day but I didn't actually clean any rooms.

The past two days I have learned what it is really like to be a housekeeper.  You have to first get up really early and go to bed really early to get a full amount of sleep.  It takes almost a full 8 hour shift to get through 9 rooms.  Depending on if they are checkouts or stay overs, the cleaning time per room can vary. Because this hotel is 4 star everything has to be done meticulously and it hasn't been easy learning.  One of the main challenges I have faced is that most of the housekeepers including the one that is training me speak little to no English.  I myself, took 2 years of high school Spanish and 1 semester of college Spanish but I was never good with it and I don't remember much of anything. It has been really frustrating getting something wrong in a room and my trainer not being able to tell me how to do it better besides showing me.  Finally, today after lunch I pulled out my phone and typed some sentences into Google translator and told her that I appreciated her helping me and that she was a good teacher.  I told her I was trying my very best and appreciated her patience.  After that she was so much more understanding and way nicer to me!  She even put on different music other than the Mexican music channel. The funny thing was that she put it on the classic country channel because she thought I would like that (I giggled on the inside).  The hardest part of cleaning the room is definitely the tucking of the sheets.  They use two normal sheets so you have to tuck both a certain way so that there are no wrinkles on the bed anywhere.  All in all I have learned that I am very slow at cleaning efficiently.

So far this experience has taught me a lot about respect and being in someone else's shoes.  I now fully realize that housekeepers do a whole lot that not many people know about. They have to not only make the beds and clean the room and bathrooms but they clean the halls, the baseboards, the doors, dust everything everywhere and lots more stuff for very little money.  Not once in the past 3 days have I heard or seen one person complaining because they have to clean up after someone.  So next time you stay at a nice hotel, tip the housekeeping staff, it will make their day. I have also learned what it feels like to be the minority.  I understand that this is an English speaking country and before this experience I was completely in the category of not feeling sorry for a language barrier but the fact is, and my mom even pointed it out to me that it is hard learning another language especially as an adult.  Before this experience, I could never really imagine going somewhere where no one really understands you, but now I do and all I know is that it requires patience from everyone.  I am thankful I am getting this opportunity to know what the job of housekeeping is all about but I am even more thankful that after next week I will never have to do it again...or as my uncle says, "at least not professionally."  

My uniform on the job! 

My official Capital Hotel badge!

There's nothing like a cheap Icee and a good read!

Hello friends,

Well I have almost survived my first week in Little Rock.  I have skillfully(or so I think) perused the city in my free time and have found a few hidden gems.  The best thing by far I have found was this gas station literally minutes from my house that has dollar icees all day everyday and get this...it doesn't matter what size you get, they are all the same price!  Can you say SCORE!!!  Coming from a girl who has developed a life long love affair with the frozen treat this was a big win.  I come by it naturally, my mother is an icee lover as well and from the time I was born every time we went to Walmart or Sams Club an icee was a must to begin each shopping venture.

While I wasn't busy driving around or going to the gym I found myself reading to take up the time.  For those who don't know me very well, I am an avid reader and often times get so caught up in a book that I lose track of time and stay up most of the night. Right now I am reading a book one of my best friend's mom let me borrow called A Voice In the Wind by Francine Rivers.  This book is part of a trilogy called the Mark of the Lion.  If you have read her book Redeeming Love, you would love this series and if not then you must read that book as well.  I have attached a link to this book title that if you click on it, it will take you to Amazon where you can purchase the book at an awesome price. (And no this is not an Amazon plug, although I do love Amazon, I just thought it would be nice to know where you could find the book if you wanted it.)

In the book, one of the main character's Hadassah is a young Christian girl that has lost everything and everyone she has ever loved and is now a Roman slave back in the days of the Gladiator fights.  Everyone in the story thus far believes she is Jewish because that is her born heritage and she is scared if she says otherwise she will be killed immediately.  Everyone sees her as different though and no one can quite grasp her humility and special quality.  One of the conversations she has with one of her owners struck a chord with me.  Marcus the son in the Roman family caught Hadassah praying and asked her what she believed her purpose was in life.  She replied to serve others.  He then told her that her purpose should be to please herself.  She then replied that we become slave to what we serve so if we serve ourselves then we are slave to ourselves.  I thought this was so poignant to where I am at this point in my life.  I want to be the type of person that serves others without complaint but with a happy heart.  That's what job field I am going into as well.  The main focus of the Hospitality industry is to serve others.  I want to serve the God that created me and the people he created.  If you haven't read the book and are looking for a good one, check it out.  You won't be disappointed!

Talk to ya'll soon,

-Rachel