Narcissism pt. 2

" The best way of fulfilling your own interest is to take care of others" - His Holiness The Dalai Lama

In my last post, The joy of narcissism, I touched on the happiness and warm fuzzys I receive when I am able to make people feel good through cooking but today I was able to be a part of something, that even though I didn't realize it at the time, multiplied that feeling tenfold.

At first when I was asked to give a demo/lecture on using marinades and seasoning blends to survivors of mouth and throat cancer, I was hesitant . Having had my mother go through the pain and problems associated with esophageal cancer, I really didn't want to bring up some of those memories.

As the lecture was only to be 30 minutes I agreed to do it and I am extremely glad I did. Having the survivors ask me questions on how to prepare food that they can not only swallow but enjoy, and then seeing their eyes light up when I was able to share my knowledge and skill to give them answers and ideas that will help improve their quality of life was, to quote the commercial, priceless.

I think helping these survivors not only made me feel a sense of well being, but I believe it also helped me understand to some extent what mom was going through and that gives me a sense of inner peace.

O.k. enough of the philosophical mumbo jumbo for a while. I promise my next post will be more food based
and less introspective.

Until next time, enjoy life.

The joy of narcissism

Ok I admit it - I am a narcissist. In my line of work you have to be. Not in a cocky, I am the best-the rest of you are shit kinda way but in the food service / hospitality sector you need to derive a certain self satisfaction from seeing the delight and gathering the praise from your customer.

In the past two weeks I have received a couple of compliments that, to me, were as good as winning any competition or monetary compensation.

Last Saturday I was asked to cater a wedding for some friends of ours that just going to be a buffet style menu for the couple, their respective families and a few friends. The menu was simple, roast pork loin, rosemary garlic potatoes, fresh green beans, salad and bread - a meal I can do in my sleep ( and probably have back in my hotel days). The meal went well and the bride and groom were both happy, I believe the groom went up to the buffet 3 times, but the highlight of the night was when the mother and father of the bride came up to tell me how good it was and the dad said " I don't know how you can make a dead pig taste so good"! Man, that is one of the best compliments I can remember.

The other event happened this Friday. My daughter's swim team was hosting the true team swim meet on Saturday ( they took third - way to go ladies!), and the tradition is that the captain's parents hold a pasta dinner the night before. Again the menu was very simple - tortellini, Alfredo and marinara sauces, Caesar salad and garlic bread - no biggie, but watching the girls eat and listening to them have fun really made me feel good.

Being a little narcissistic is not always a bad thing especially if you are getting self satisfaction from causing joy.

" Inner peace comes from taking other's interests to heart" - His Holiness, The Dali Lama

boom chicka boom boom

this my brain on smoke!

I have been racking (racking -ribs - get it?) my brain trying to come up with an insightful, relevant, and entertaining topic for the latest installment of chef's musings but as it is late and the weather outside is really starting to tick me off(possibly snow by Saturday), I am not feeling very insightful, relevant, or entertaining.

So my fallback is to post gratuitous food porn pictures of dishes I made this year- cue the cheesy  music.

Oh.. and If you like these, there are more over on my Instagram page. Follow me @ prus613!

photo by Samantha Ruszat

photo by Samantha Ruszat

photo by Samantha Ruszat

Ok so not a dish I made, but really good pie . photo by Michelle Ruszat