Batter Up! Day One in the Kitchen

Tuesday was my first day in the kitchen. 

 

And I am so sorry there isn’t a replay at 5x speed for you to watch with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of wine. 

 

My 4-hour kitchen shift turned into 7 hours. 

 

I won’t lie to you, I’m writing this email from the couch. 

 

Standing and working in the kitchen for 7 straight hours took everything out of me. 

 

I knew working in a kitchen was a tough job. 

 

But now I have a newfound respect for every single person that works in a kitchen multiple days a week. 

 

Luckily, there were some really nice people in the kitchen yesterday who lent me a hand. 

 

One woman, who makes kombucha, destroyed her nails by helping me open a 55-pound pail of one of my ingredients. 

 

I would not have been able to bake a single muffin without her help. 

 

Then, there were two guys who run a bread stand at farmers markets all around the area also working in the kitchen. 

 

They realized I was pregnant and offered to carry boxes and gave me some pointers around the kitchen. 

 

Even though no one asked, I’m pretty sure it was obvious this was my first day in a commercial kitchen space. 

 

All three had long days of physical labor for their own businesses, and they each took a moment to help the newbie in the kitchen. 

 

As for the baking...

 

Yesterday, I started small and made 2-pound and 5-pound batter recipes to warm up in the kitchen. 

 

I didn’t want to waste too much of my ingredients if the dough didn’t turn out well. 

 

The recipe ended up working out and I was able to get the muffins to taste pretty much the same as the manufacturer did. 

 

But, the shape, size, and the bake times are still something I’m working through. 

 

I’m going to need a few more days in the kitchen to grasp the baking process. 

 

Then, I should be able to figure out how many muffins I can produce each shift on my own. 

 

This is the not-so-glamorous part of the gig I signed up for. 

 

But even after an exhausting day like today, there’s something about the grind that fuels my motivation.