First Day back in a kitchen

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the kitchen of an upscale caterer/take home food shop. All I can say is it was HOT. I mean, I was dripping hot. I spent the afternoon slicing and dicing, 30 peppers, 2 kg of mushrooms, 20 onions, then grilling all those vegetables, making mass quantities of salad dressing. 3 pm rolls around and they pull out beers to celebrate a birthday....hmm, I could get used to this and I don't even like beer. The whole time I was thinking " What am I doing? What have I traded in my cushy, air conditioned life for?". But this is what I want, I want to live and breathe food and learn how this whole industry works. We'll see if I stay there or switch around, only time will tell.

The day finished off with a fabulous dinner at the Gastropub: tuna sashimi and then halibut...I love that place way too much, nowhere in Ottawa even comes close.

On another note, please excuse the temporary lack of pictures. 1) I am not super computer savvy so I have yet to figure out how to put a picture exactly where I want it. 2) Not a huge picture taker, I refuse to take pictures of the food in a restaurant. I will take pictures if it's a birthday, special event..but of the people, not just of the food. So I guess this makes this blog kind of boring but just be patient please.

New beginnings

I am not a writer.  I am not a photographer, nor am I a chef.  I am a cook, an entertainer, I enjoy making people think about food and what they are eating.  The world does not need another blog,  Twitter account or Facebook page, so I am not going to write on and on about my dinners, desserts.  This is to document an adventure since the ending to this is nowhere in sight.  I have no idea where this is going to take me; all I know is that it will involve food.

I recently moved back to Ottawa from Montreal, a city I loved so much for a job in healthcare, I have subsequently left that successful job in health research to pursue my passion and take a job that pays me a third of what I was making.  No condo in Westboro just yet...

I decided against medical school even though I knew I was fully capable of it and would make a great physician but I didn’t love it, my heart and soul were not in it.  Someone told me not too long ago “Do what you love Larissa and 1. You will never work a day in your life, 2. The world will love you for it”.  Although I had heard that before many times, it had never been so crystal clear, so I thank you.  What a revelation, do what you love...

So this is what I am doing, I am giving what I love an honest shot, I have no idea where it will take me but I am excited for the journey.  The purpose of this blog will be to write about the ups and downs of following my passion.   I will share some recipes and food stuff but it will not be literary in any way, trust me.  I write scientific papers, that is all I know how to write.  I am blunt, to the point and sarcastic.

My past week has involved meetings with Ottawa food people, which I am surprised to say, Ottawa has a great dining scene going on with great food, which is local, organic and well prepared.  Not bad.  I am finding out what is needed, what there is too much and how I can make some sort of difference. 

My background in nutrition will be my foundation, what I will build this around.  However, I am all about going all out, I love, wine, cheese and olive oil too much and do not eliminate anything from the diet.

I leave on Sunday for Europe for 12 days with Jael, one of my best girlfriends and hope to come back full of inspiration for next steps.   I will be enlisting the help of many close friends who have encouraged me from day one to do this so I will keep you posted.

Create it, make it, eat it, have a good glass of wine and life is good, the end.

Larry

xox