Confessions of Laughing Cow

SO, it's July.
Hello!
June was busy and fun and summery!

I'm working in the kitchen at Cherokee Cove this summer and there a few things you may not know about this type of work.

1. It's hot and lots of dishes abounding. Dishes = character building

2. You never quite know how many people will show up for any particular meal. Its the nature of this type of conference center which has open doors and a big heart to serve...so kitchen staff get real good at "wingin' it!"

3. Don't put cooking wine in a pan that's hot and has hot olive oil in it. Callie helped us figure this one out. It will flame up about a foot and continually burn, a giant pillar of fire, until completely removed from the burner! We were astonished! And you might pee your pants laughing like I did. In times of peril I die laughing. I need to work on that.

4. Strawberries whiten your teeth. Caroline and I recycle the strawberry tops from the fruit salad and have all natural whitening times. People may stare, but you will save money!

5. Callie has a giant heart, and she feels for every dying star that shoots across the night sky! Callie and Caroline and I were stare gazing one night after closing down the kitchen, and what we want to know it how come the constellations never die? And how are stars born? Also, is it a romantic or money wasting idea to name a star after your soul mate? And, we also talked about how moon dust is very very sharp. Astronauts have a hard time with that when breathing in their space ships.

6. Callie, Marj, Steph, Kenzie and I are all of Native American Decent. "HOW" Once we discovered this on morning, a tribute to the tribes of our fathers was born and consequently we have Indian names. In order: Mighty Moonshine, Silk Face, Doe eyes(or froggy frog eyes,) Flopping Lark and Laughing Cow. "HOW HO HOW" (that means I love you.) We have a Cherokee word of the day (even though I have Black Foot in my blood) and hold pow wows. This is what keeps the kitchen exciting. "HOW HOW" (that means goodbye)

7. Callie had a moment of panic when she was trying to burn a napkin with a tick in it. I suggested lighting a toothpick on fire from the pilot lights on the stove and then going outside to burn the nasty little guy. Well...she went directly to the stove, the napkin caught on fire and, realizing she was about to get burned, threw the flaming napkin into the trash can! I was saying NO! dont throw it in there, and she paused, looked at me, started laughing and grabbed a bowl. She then proceeded to dump bowl fulls of water into the trashcan. Oh my gosh I died!! Sooo funny! And thankfully no fire damage:)

8. I continually feel bad for the Uphill youth who have to help me fix breakfast... I am not a morning person. NEVER. It's not a peppy kitchen for me until about 9/10am. No amount of hugs or cups of coffee or smiling people will change the fact that I prefer to have a good hour to wake up alone, real close to Jesus reading His word, before seeing people. Having to be ready and cooking around 6:45 am is painful for me! Everyone is so gracious though. The next job I get I'm making sure it's not people intensive til after 11am.

9. Singing...and dancing is common. Beat boxing is routine.

10. We have really good talk times while chopping food, baking granola, sauteing veggies, washing dishes. God is so interesting and He's ever present in the kitchen. I love it.

Mighty Moonshine, Laughing Cow. Chiefs of the Kitchen "HOW"