Show me your guns

No no no I'm not talking about a boom boom gun. I want you to stand up proud, hold your arms up, and show those muscles. Contrary to popular belief it takes a strong person to work in a kitchen. I worked on some serious kitchen muscles at my first kitchen job and ever since then I've never gone out of my way to ask for help. If a guy can do it, I am going to try to do it.

For a girl that weighs 95 pounds soaking wet this is saying a lot, but in a man's world like a kitchen you can't be a wimp. I thought in honor of my now pretty impressive kitchen muscles I would give you all a how to on being tough enough for a kitchen.

Can you lift 50 pounds? This is the first step in being strong enough to work in a kitchen. Flour, sugar, potatoes, and onions all come in 50 pound bags. You're not going to be much good if you can't lift some of the most basic of ingredients. For me lifting 50 pounds is pretty much lifting half of my weight. Of course you don't want to get hurt lifting this much, but contrary to what all of the pretty HR posters tell you, you will not have the perfect situation every time. When I was in school, everyone would disappear every time the stock order came in. On a weekly basis I would carry in 5-6 bags of flour and sugar. I was tired by the end, but hey it was good practice. Now my arms don't complain when I carry in just a bag or two.

Can you move a hot pan, without oven mits across the kitchen? My arms and hands have been burned many times trying to perfect this art. Sometimes I watch people that have been working in the kitchen for 30 plus years and they can grab the pan with their apron and carry it all around the kitchen. In my defense these people have burned most of the nerves on their hands and could probably grab the pan itself and never feel it. They are my heroes.

How proud are you of your cuts, burns, and scrapes? Kitchen cred comes from nice looking wounds. When I was in Maine I got a really nice burn from grabbing a sheet pan the wrong way. The same week one of the line cooks was working the grill and burned himself. We stood around comparing wounds after work, and I was as tough as the guys. I know to most people scarred up hands and arms are not a beautiful thing, but in the kitchen scars are a thing of honor. If you have soft smooth hands you must not be working hard enough. This is one of those things that you obviously can't really work on, but trust after a few weeks in the kitchen you'll have something to be proud of. It's also important to remember not to complain about the wound; commenting on how bad it looks is definitely ok though.

How big is your family? The kitchen is a family. At the country club I work at now everyone has picked their places in the family; in most kitchens it's just understood. If you don't have extra room in your life for some brothers and sisters and dads and uncles, then get out of the kitchen, you're not tough enough. Your kitchen family will definitely get on your nerves just like your real family does, but you still have to work with them so it'd be a good idea to suck it up and get along with them.

How much can you get done in 2 hours? Chef Lou in Maine used to look at me every morning and smile at me and say "Emily we get more done by 9 than most people get done all day." The speed of the kitchen is part of the reason why it's important that you can do any job in the kitchen. If someone tells you that they need 15 onions diced and there's a list of things that needs to be done, then you better get moving. No one is going to tell you to take your time in a kitchen. You show up to work or you might as well go home.

I know a lot of people who come to me and tell me that they want to be a chef. If chopping 20 onions isn't a happy job for you then you might want to rethink your future. My first job out in Oregon was to make muffins, dozens and dozens of them. I spent all day making muffins and then on days when we didn't need muffins I made carrot cake, about 30 of them. Think of the worst job and imagine doing it 20 times over and you'll come close to knowing what making that carrot cake was like.

Now I don't want you all out there to think that it is all bad in the kitchen, because honestly I love working in a kitchen. I guess it just takes a certain type of person(with a lot of muscles) and a screw you attitude. I prove myself in every kitchen I step into. Sometimes that means making muffins and carrot cakes, sometimes that means julienning carrots, but every time it means a completed project that tastes good when the job is done.

I hope you all start working on your kitchen muscles. Maybe start bench pressing grocery bags; it definitely couldn't hurt. I hope and pray you won't have all of the scars I have, but one nice one with a good story wouldn't kill you I swear. And without my kitchens families I would be a lonely person, so I hope you all find the families like I have found.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily