Sometimes more sausage is not a good thing

Rob spent a good couple of hours tonight stuffing sausage. I think he had maybe 20 pounds of two different kinds and the sausage just kept coming. "Sausage has the potential to change your life." Rob was not in the best of mood over his sausage. Something went wrong and for the first time since I have been working at the country club, I saw a side of Rob that made me remember why I like Rob so much.

"All I want to do is to make really good sausage." Rob, who I had up until now assumed did not make the kind of mistakes that I made, had something he wished he was better at. This was refreshing and hopeful. I do not know how to make sausage, but I'm ok with buying it. It's really not my thing, but when I make creme brulee and it just never seems to come out just perfect I understand Rob and the sausage.

I actually had two Rob epiphanies this week. I had a sort of conundrum over the fact that Rob seemed to easily get frustrated at other prep cooks and he hardly ever got frustrated at me. I assumed it might because I never really messed up his work, but the prep cooks that got on his nerves never worked on his prep. As I was watching a prep cook frustrate him I knew why people said that it must be hard working with me.

I like to work. I don't like to stop working. I don't like taking breaks while working. I like to be getting stuff done and to be doing it well. Unfortunately for everyone else I kind of expect this kind of work ethic from everyone I work with. As I watched Rob picking up the extra work that this prep cook was slacking on, I knew why Rob and I got along. He understands people make mistakes, but he also(like me) knows when people aren't trying and that is by all means the most frustrating thing on the face of this earth. Maybe sometimes that comes off as expecting too much; I don't think so.

Rob is a very talented cook. He can think up a new gelato flavor for every day of the week, and every one will change your life. He takes a piece of fish and fillets it and comes up with a whole dish surrounding it and people love it. I personally think that his recent failure in sausage does not make him any less of a cook, but I know that he won't be content until he can make the best sausage you've ever tasted. That's just the way he is. Food with Rob should be life changing, not just sausage. If something does not wow him, he doesn't want anyone to taste it.

Today was my last day at the country club. I am hoping to be back in November for their gingerbread house making festival, but no one knows what time will bring. Everyone at the country club played a different character in my summer performance. There was a dishwasher who played the bad guy I just never had the chance to vanquish. Alice was the teacher, who patiently showed me every knife cut and procedure. Rob was my inspiration. I wanted to know how to make an awesome graham cracker so I could help him create the dessert he was dreaming of. I wanted to be better so when he needed my help I was right there with an answer.

There are very few people in this world who I can say inspired me. I guess I'm pretty hard to impress in the first place. At the end of the day it is the people in my life that push me harder and expect the best out of me that make me a better person. I don't know where Rob will be in 5 years, but I know if he is running a restaurant that is in need of a P.R. Betty Baker I'll be there.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily