Friday, May 30, 2008

Frozen Snickers and a Thirst For Life

Now that we are in the full swing of things here at Coldfoot, i'm starting to fine tune my sleep schedule to match my work schedule.

My week looks like this starting on the weekend-

Sat-2:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Sun-2:30 AM to 10:30 AM
Mon- 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM
Tue- 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM
Wed- 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM
Thur- Off
Fri- Off

And true, my title does dictate that I may also cover a 6:30 PM to 2:30 AM shift everynow and then to help out. Also, I do have the occasional three day weekend. So all in all, not a bad schedule. Not bad at all.

The job itself? I spend most of my work day in the kitchen, a large series of rooms with some very nice equipment for such a remote camp. Well start from one end and end on the other.

The Line- The make line is a small rectangular room visible from the Diner via a countertop window.

There are: 2 flat top grills, 8 stovetops, 3 ovens (used as storage), 1 gas grill, 1 "make-line"/cooler (similair to that of Pizza Shuttle's), 1 reach in cooler, 1 reach in freezer, 1 frier, 1 three tray soup warmer, lots of different style plates and bowls.

The line does get a bit crowded with more than one person, so usually I am by myself when making orders. The line was my home for the first few weeks, as every meal was made to order. But as more and more "guests" arrive, we have started our transition to a buffet styled diner. Of course, truckers are always allowed to order off the menu, and when the buffet is not open, anyone (except "coworkers") are allowed to order off the menu. (I will get into the menu after introducing my workspace)

The "Kitchen" kitchen- The place where we actually make our food is called the kitchen, for lack of a better term. It's where our dishwashers reside, the baker does their thing, and I stand around feeling in the way. It houses many pots and pans, utensils, and types of equipment that I will list for you in new and exciting ways!

There are: 3 tables (1 wood, 2 steel), 1 large mixer, 1 hand mixer, 2 ovens (with digital display!), 1 ice machine, 1 wash station with chemical sanitizer machine (which makes noises and shakes, and I have steered clear of, in fear for my life), 4 trash cans, 1 reach in cooler, 1 speed rack (for cooling), an innumeral amount of pots, pans, utensils, measuring cups, bowls, hotel pans, and other types of miscellaneous containers.

Alot of slicing, dicing, and chocolate cake icing gets done in the kitchen, and when a buffet is in full swing, we'll have as many as 4 people running around making sure everything is in order, and the food is fresh for the taking.

The Pantry- Less exciting is the pantry. It's where all our dry food is kept. No need to list, just imagine the pantry in your own home, and now imagine it 15 to 20 times bigger. And with rats!

The Walk-in Cooler- Now that you are in the mood for imagining (see The Pantry) let's keep those creative juices flowing. Imagine your refridgerator. Now imagine you could walk into it! I know, exciting possibilities abound. You could have a giant pool of jello to swim in, a huge assortment of sushi grade tunas and yellowtail, steaks ready for the grill! Coldfoot? We keep eggs and leftovers in there. Oh, and sack lunches for the Air Adventure guests.

The Walk-in Freezer- The freezer. What can I say? Four times the size of the walk-in cooler, it has the potential to store 20 cadavers! Coldfoot? We use it for all our frozen foods, such as bread, meats (turkey, cow, chicken, more cow, and the occasional pig), vegetables, starch (or potato products as they are known in the lower 48), ice-cream, pies, and sometimes fish (but not sushi fish, boring old filets of fish (usually breaded, yuck!)).

Amazing stuff, right? But wait, there's more! We also have an adjacent building we lovingly refer to as "Dry Storage", a wonderful place that holds such mysteries as the locked liqour cabinet, the secondary ice-machine, cleaning supplies, and back up items for the guest shop. We venture there everynow and then, but I stay away as much as possible, hoping to never offend the Dry Storage gods that keep watch over the 3.2 beer and boxed wine.

The Menu- Oh, the menu. What a wonderful document, easily illustrating what it means to be a Trucker. Quick trivia fact, any salad at a truck stop dictates that your first action be to...? Any guesses? Go to the frier! That's right, if it's gonna be green, you need to balance out that healthy snack with some good ol' fried chicken! What about rolling up a slice of deli ham and turkey, cutting it into five pieces and arranging it on the rim of the plate? Well, hell! Why not? In fact, there is little on the menu that isn't more greased up then a seventh grade geek's forehead, to speak from experience.

We serve: Hamburgers, chicken strips, cod fillet strips, fried shrimp, onion rings, french fries, tater tots, hashbrowns, home fries, eggs made to order, white, wheat, sourdough, rye, texas toast, english muffin, pancakes, french toast, biscuits and gravy, bacon, french dip, patty melt, muffin sandwiches, breafeast sandwiches, cold cut sandwiches, BLT, triple clubs, soups made fresh daily, chili (LOTS of chili), hamburger steak, ham steak, sausage patties, sausage links, salads, pies.

I'm sure I left something out, but you get the idea. I've made a couple dishes of my own to impress a coworker or two, and to cut through the slower parts of the day, including a BLT with a fried egg (something I stole from First Watch) and The Mountain Climber, a dish specially made for Phil the cleaner.

The Mountain Climber (starting from the bottom, with the ingredients stacked on top of one another)

  1. Two sausage patties
  2. Hash Browns
  3. Fried egg
  4. Chili
  5. Cheddar Cheese
  6. Onions

Yes, delicious.

As the breakfeast cook during the weekends, I get the oppurtunity to make the soup o' the day. So far I have made such wonderful concoctions as Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, and Angel hair pasta with meat sauce (which is not a "soup", but is served in a bowl, which I feel is close enough when faced with making a soup from scratch at 4 AM with few hours of sleep backing you up.)

Well, my friends, thus ends my explanation of the Coldfoot kitchen. I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write, and there will be more to follow, fo sho.

Thanks for reading, keep in touch, and the best of luck to you.

Maxwell Crabb

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