Have you ever had

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

a whole day to just get in the kitchen and cook? What would you do? Would you bake up some sweets? Would you make some nice meals and freeze them up for future use? How would you best utilize a rare treat like that?

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Wow, Cathy... your question brings to mind "the good ole days" when I cooked for a living- sometimes 16 hour days cooking TONS of grub, non-stop! Sometimes it seems YEARS ago- but in fact, I left kitchens and Alaska and returned home to Illinois only months ago, really.

I worked many types of positions in many types of places, over the years. Each position had a different routine.

As chef at restaurant and hotel kitchens I started each day around 5:00AM. Began w/ making stocks and soups. If the particular kitchen served breakfast I always observed the breakfast cooks and assisted if they needed help or got busy. Mid-morning I always sorted out lunch specials and made sure the lunch cooks were prepping accordingly. During this time I also spent time in the office doing Admin. work, ordering food, etc. Lunch periods were usually busy so I supervised the cooking line and observed all food going out to the dining room. Afternoons were spent butchering meat and working closely w/ dinner cooks to prep, plan specials, work on desserts, etc. On BUSY nights I remained in the kitchen sometimes until closing- 10:00PM or so. On slower nights if they were no banquets or special functions sometimes I was lucky and able to duck-out half-way through dinner-service by 7:00 or 8:00PM. Busiest times were weekends, Sunday Brunches and holidays. BUSIEST holidays by far were always Valentine's Day NIGHT, Mother's Day and the whole Christmas Party season. Also summer wedding recepetion season could be heavy, as well. LOVED IT! Often miss it, too!

At the Alaskan work-camps I usually either baked during the graveyard shift (which I LOVED!) or managed during the day. While similar to restaurants and hotels, work-camps were also very different. Hard-pressed to say which environment I preferred- both were neat in their own ways! Time card every week was 84 hours- seven 12 hour shifts- WHEW!

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

That sounds like so much fun, and yet it would probably "dog me out" I'd be soooo tired.

I love cooking on Sundays when we've nothing planned, I get into that kitchen and just begin whipping out all kinds of stuff for the upcoming days. Sunday dinner is ALWAYS a big deal, and there are multiple offerings, as well as desert.

I like to prepare potato salad and macaroni salads for the next weeks meals, also casserole type dishes.

By the end of the day my feet hurt, and I am pleasantly exhausted!

[Max Sutton]

Since I'm retired I can spend everyday all day in my kitchen if I want to do that. Instead, I prefer to read crime fiction books.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Hey Max, it has been a while since you posted here! Hope you are well, and it is nice to hear from you.

READING IS GREAT, I would probably do ALOT MORE IF I WERE RETIRED!!! But in reality (and in my DREAMS) I would garden, read, cook and clean I would probably work myself to death if I were retired

[jglass]

I have some regular things I made pretty often like roasted chicken or buttermilk fried chicken. However I love trying new things from my cookbooks or recipes I found online.
On days I can spend cooking I will cook up things that can be easily reheated for the next couple of days. Jon has zero patience when he gets hungry lol.
Last time I spent the day cooking I made a roasted chicken for dinner that day. I also made homemade hotdog sauce for the next day plus beef vegetable soup for Jon's Dad and peanut butter fudge for a friend of Jons. It was his birthday and that is what he wanted lol.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Your PB Fudge sunds great, janie. LOVE me some PB Fudge!

Max- I love to read too... right now I have everything on my bedside table from Shel Silverstein and E. Lynn Harris, to Sophia Loren and John Grisham.

[Keziah]

I'm reading Mornings at Seven by Eric Malpas just finished The long Dances. I have read this series before, many, many years ago.

I laughed the first time round.

I love Cadfael books, I really enjoy them. I like crime fiction but no gore or sadness. When a body is found I don't want to feel sad.

[jglass]

I am reading Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey.
One of my favorite books is Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
I love Alice in Wonderland. I have a little leather bound copy of it Jon won when he was in 3rd grade.
I also have a large hard back copy of it I picked up at the bookstore.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

My favorite author is John Steinbeck then I adore anything by Fannie Flagg, she wrote a book called "Daisy Mae and the Miracle Man" (or something like that LOL) it made me laugh so hard I would have teras in my eyes. Many of her stories are my favorite, my next favorite is Mary Higgins Clark!