The new job: what was I thinking?

 OK, I admit that the lure of getting out of the house and being involved in something other than myself was a factor.  Also, the simple fact that my boss almost begged me to come to work for her was a boost to my ego. And finally, money.  Money is always a carrot on the end of the stick.

But seriously, the first two days were nothing but hard, physical labor. Coming into an old hotel that had been operating the same way for 30 years meant digging through the detritus of someone else's kitchen and hauling bags of trash to the car and then into a dumpster. Broken and bent utensils, torn plastic containers, stained kitchen towels, jars of spices that had expiration dates of 12 years ago, same with oils and flours and dried fruits. Sticky, greasy shelves that needed a scouring pad to get them clean. Dozens of scarred and stinky cutting boards, multiple sets of cookie molds, plastic bags full of plastic bags. So much trash.

We sorted and tossed and cleaned. Then came the real test: baking in a Wedgewood oven that is probably as old as I am. The muffins in the back of the oven burned.  The muffins in the front of the oven were undercooked.  The shelves dipped down in the back so the coffee cake was an inch higher on one end. The shelves were also very unstable and I feared they would collapse mid-baking. 

The general manager put me in charge of doing most of the baking for the small hotel, which wasn't exactly what I thought the job would entail. Now we all know that I love to bake but baking for friends and family is an enjoyable task with good feedback and a sense of satisfaction.  Baking for 20 - 50 people at a time is a different animal. You need to bake a lot in order to get that many servings and the goods are gobbled down quickly with very little feedback and almost no sense of satisfaction. You are on your feet for hours, in a hot kitchen on a hot summer day and there is endless clean-up needing to be done.

I committed to this job for six months.  The first two weeks have been very difficult and surprising. But hey, it gets me out of the house, gives me new challenges and will generate some income.  I am approaching it as an experimental adventure: try new recipes, new techniques.  See what works, what fails. Bottom line, if you give someone a baked item, be it a slice of a quick bread, a muffin, a piece of coffee cake, 95% of the time the person will enjoy it, even it if isn't the best baked thing in the world. That's my goal: 95% happiness.  We'll see if I meet it!