When I wake up..

Ask and you shall receive, folks! Today's creation was upside down sticky peach pound cake. Mouthful that that is, it's delicious. : )

( pictures taken on my shiny new web-cam! )

Things around the Crystal Palace have been looking up, but the chaos is far from over. Fourth of July was not as crazy as I thought it would be, but tell that to my right hand and it would slap you. It's still recovering from carving meat on a night that people generally consume a boatload of meat. More responsibility has been coming my way, and I might make my way into the Food and Wine Festival! That is, if things go as they have been going. However letting things play out may change that a bit. At this point I had pretty much settled on staying, and was happy with the progression. Until today. Today I got a message that my request to transfer locations had finally been sent. So, limbo again. Such is life. I just have to hope and pray everything goes the right way.

Speaking of things going the right way, I should be seeing a certain Marine in a few weeks! The celebration will be merry and indulgent, and rightly so. It's all very exciting. If nothing else, I would walk 500 miles just for that. ; )

~Cheers

Oh, and again, happy belated 4th, all.

Biscuit Crumbs

My sentence at the Crystal Prison has been progressing far better as of late. Of course, being interned (ha, pun) isn't a blast, but it has been getting better. The guards, and my fellow inmates, are softening up..

Ok, enough melodrama. It is, after all, my day off. Still, it's too much fun to put a spin on it like that. Want to know the best perks of working for Disney, in my opinion? Ghirardelli discounts. Guess what I'm doing today? I've been told you crave terrible things as a result of stress. So, there's an excuse! Things have been getting better, though. I got a favorable evaluation, and it seems as though I'm well liked, though everyone thinks I'm far too quiet for my own good. The sous chef has agreed to let me come in early and get paid to make whatever I want. Which, I suppose I could do at home, except I don't have to pay for ingredients, and I'm getting paid myself in the process. Still, it's an improvement. If not, hopefully this evaluation will work in my favor.

On the home front, midnight snacking has never been more indulgent. I should have considered devoting a blog to things I make at 2 am. Many baked goods. Lots of beer involved. (In the baking, of course) I spent a week making chocolate covered frozen bananas. Yesterday there was caramel peanut covered apples. Currently in my oven, is banana beer bread. And the beer cookies from last week. Ooh the cookies. Thank goodness I have people to throw this stuff at. (Though, to be honest, I end up consuming at least half of everything) There will be pictures of this stuff, soon. Pictures of the parks too, I guess. I'm sure people would rather see pictures of a castle than pictures of bread. Oh well, that's what happens when a blog is written by a culinary student.

To all you people on the West Coast: I miss you terribly. Also, I am envious. Envious of your places to go, things to do, food to eat, weather, freeways. FREEWAYS. Not the ridiculous highways/tollways they have here. The highways that all have two names, that interchange at random. I never thought I would miss the 5. That's all for now. Sorry for the inconsistent updates. There will be more. There will be pictures. I just have to leave my computer to accomplish this.

~Cheers

Not all stuffed with fluff

The lack of updates has been due to the fact that I have had one day off in the three weeks I have worked at Disney. Luckily, it's been seven days, so I'm due for another one. Work has slowly been getting more tolerable, though the tedium is still there. If I don't think of it as an internship for my culinary degree, and instead like a summer job, it's a bit better. Though I'm technically a glorified runner for a buffet. My training was due to end in week one, and I have yet to be assessed. Still hoping, though. Today was an interesting bit. There was literally a fist fight in our dining room. Over, of all things, Winnie the Pooh. I do not jest. It was surreal, being that you're in the 'happiest place in the world', surrounded by children, and having something like that happen. It seemed in slow motion. Now I re-enter the real world, with a new appreciation for just how fragile the image is. In an attempt to lighten the tone, here's what is on the plate for the week. Going to the 50's prime time cafe, seeing Animal Kingdom, exploring Little Saigon (and finding some Vietnamese food, there has to be some here), and culminating in Rocky Horror roller derby on Saturday. Oh yes, it will be glorious. It's surprising what I miss from California. We really are fortunate to have a cornucopia of different cultures all in one area, and the dry heat really is different. I miss the Asian food (any kind), the In N Out, Little everything(Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Little Saigon, Olvera st.), the Coffee Bean(which I didn't know was a Cali thing), outdoor malls, L.A, our beaches. Time to go on an adventure to see if Orlando has any potential that  West Coast girl can enjoy. Miss you guys.

~Cheers

It's not a party

Well, well, it's already June. Today is the start of hurricane season, y'all! Also, guess who is working on her day off? That's right. So, I'm trying to get a transfer, and I'll keep trying until they shut me down. At the very least every day I seem to get a little bit better at dealing with bureaucracy. Or so I think. Hm, I suppose there really isn't much to update. Hopefully that changes soon.

~Cheers

Building Nothing, Laying Bricks

Day three of working at the Crystal Prison..I mean Palace. Okay, so it's not what I expected. Day 1 I made mickey waffles all day. Not the batter, mind you, just funneling the batter into the iron, then flipping it. Ding, waffles done. Day 2, they didn't actually know who my trainer was, how to fill out my paperwork, or really what to do with me at all. So, after one hour of mindlessly running around, they sent me on an hour break. The only break I get in my eight hour shift. Did I mention most of us have already gotten overtime pay? Later, I did get to help with some of the line items, but I would equate the level of cooking to, say, cafeteria food. (Also, I'm never eating at a buffet again. You don't want me to explain.) Needless to say, I'm giving it a week and then I may try to transfer locations. Another culinary student works there, she says it really doesn't get any better. Even the person who ended up training me said that they lose a lot of college program students to location transfers. Not a good sign in my opinion. Yesterday was better than the first day, though, so I'll ride the week out. All is well in our house, though. Especially now that all our appliances are working. We noticed out bathroom outlets didn't work at first, and then our dishwasher broke. Maintenance fixed the dishwasher, and I fixed the outlets. (yay!) Our friend Kenny isn't so fortunate. His room mate seems to be broken, and maintenance said they couldn't fix that without a work order.

~ Cheers

Run Fast

00:00 - Did you know that Disney time is like military time plus? What I mean is that it's twenty four hour time, however, if your shift ends past midnight it is 24+. 25:00, 26:00. I'm working tomorrow morning at 06:00, four hours before opening. The next day I work until 23:00, three hours past closing. Apparently they call my location the Crystal prison. We have new room mates, so we're not moving. That's comforting. Now to get four hours of sleep before my eight hour shift.

Take the Wheel

05:20 EST. The start of a seemingly short six months with seemingly endless work days. Orientation was today, or rather, yesterday.  Traditions is the seven hour orientation into the Disney family. (Disney here - to - after referred to as "the Company"..no really, they say that) I've learned that business attire isn't "look nice" it's "you obviously don't know how to look nice enough, so dress like someone that goes door to door proselytizing or otherwise selling something." Funny, how it works. It seemed rather long while I was sitting there, but now I can't seem to recall all that we did or how long we were there. Sneaky, I think. Perhaps I shouldn't update my blog on less then five hours of sleep. Good news is, sleep seems in the forecast, and free time now = free Disney admittance. Also, discounts.

~Cheers for now