Monday March 26th

• Today i went to work and it was only me Fernando and Agota because its Tambis day off.


• I started working the line for about and hour cooking the orders that came in. One of them was the Beef dip which is a beef sandwhich.


• To make it you start by grabbing one of the already portioned bags of beef frp, the freezer and you put it in a pan with some Au Jus until it boils and then put in the bun and put the sauce from the pan in a little bowl on the plate for the customer to dip his sandwhich.


• After working the line i started doing some of the prep work which incuding slicing the chicken breasts and also chopping some up for the flutes


• After finishing all my work for the day i went home

weekly journal

This week was march break but i sill decided to go a couple days to the Niblick. I decided to go Monday and Tuesday because i worked during the day the rest of the week. Besides performing my regular tasks, on tuesday i went early and learned a whole new side to the restaurant business. I learned to recieve the orders and then helped put away the boxes. More over i did a bunch of new prep work that is done before i usually get there. So far the co-op experience has been great and has opened my eyes to an interest i never knew i had before that may lead to if not a career for sure a hobby.

Tuesday March 13th

• Today i decided to come earlier around 9am since its march break and i wanted to see and learn the restaurant operations that have to be carried out in the morning like receiving the orders, cleaning, and getting the prep work for the day started.
• The first thing i started to do was help Tambi break boxes and taking them outside, after that i helped him put everything in its place and after that we made breakfast.
• After doing my regular prep work for a couple hours it was already noon and lunch orders were starting to come through so i started doing those with Fernando and Tambi on the line. It eventually got pretty busy.
• The last prep thing i had to then finish was rolling the flutes, which entail of cheese, sauce, and chicken rolled into a tortilla and left in the freezer until later ordered and put into the deepfryer. After that everything was done and i headed home, it was the last march break day i came here until St. Patricks

Monday March 12th

• Today i went to the niblick at noon even though it is march break because its an opportunity to get ahead on my hours and i enjoy my time there anyways so i rather do that for 4 hours than sit at home.


• The first thing i that was the chili con queso sauce but i got interrupted by the many orders that came in, it was busy for a monday. Since it is Tambi's day off it was only me and Fernando cooking the orders but it went great, time went by fast and we had no problem finishing the orders in time.


• I also learned how to make a new plate, the montreal smoked meat sandwhich.


• After the orders i finished the con queso prep, ate lunch, and the finished the rest of the prep which included slicing chicken breast, frying the nachos and making the steak and mushroom pies.


• The last thing i did was learn how to cook the pizzas and after that i went home at 4

Weekly Journal

This week was a day short because of march break starting on Friday. I did my regular tasks of prep work the difference was the by now Tambi and Fernando don't have to tell me to do them i just check the list and I'm able to just start the work by myself. Its a good feeling knowing my stuff already and being able to work independently and not having to be babysat. More over i am using the skills I'm learning at the niblick at home cooking plates for my family. By now i am also more comfortable doing the orders by myself and i can tell that Fernando has more confidence in me because he goes into the office to do the orders and lets me work the line by myself. Also on Thursday Lori offered me a job for st. Patrick's day on the front cleaning tables and washing the glasses since it will be considerably busy with the niblick being an Irish pub and everything. I am glad i opted for co-op since so far it has been a great experience that has made me disciplined not only at the placement but at school and at home, having responsibilities at the restaurant has been great.

Thursday March 8th

• Today i go to the niblick early at around noon because i figured out that i would get there faster walking than taking the bus and therfore i could now get 4 hours a day by staying till four instead of 3.5 .
• The first thing i had to do was get money from Lori the bartender to go buy spanish onions at dominion.
• After that i started slicing onions into thin layers and then chopping them into small pieces for the chilli. Then i had to chop bacon to go in the frying pan along with the onions. After getting the beans and the rest of the chilli ready i moved over to the flute prep with the tortillas, chesse, sauce, and chiken and when i was done that i finished the Coleslaw prep and finished the day by doing the orders in the line.

Wednesday March 7th

• Today i was working with John and Tambi because its Fernandos and Agotas day off. I started slicing the chicken that just came out of the oven so that it will be ready to put on the grill and cutting some into smaller pieces to use in the flutes and some other dishes.


• My next prep was to portion the rice so it is also ready when needed.


• Today it was also my turn to cook lunch for all of us so i started gathering my ingredients to make a peruvian variation of fried rice called "Arroz Chaufa". I hat to get red peppers, sausage, eggs, chicken, beef, rice, soy sauce, chinese and spanish onions, salt and pepper, and lastly jalapeños to make it spicy.


• After finishing cooking lunch, which took about 40 minutes, we ate and then to finish the day me and John had to move the kegs around in the back to make room for the beer order arriving the next day.

Tuesday March 6th

• Today i arrived at the niblick at 12:30 and began my usual work doing prep. The first thing i had to do today was to get the red curry sauce ready which entailed slicing onions and emptying 6 cans of the curry into a pot, also i had to add coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients and put the pot on the stove.


• For the next couple hours i was doing orders like steak sandwiches, variations of burgers, bangers and mash and also some beef dips.


• After making my lunch, shrimp and steak sandwich, i finished doing the last of the prep which was the chicken wings and after that i went home at 4

Monday March 5th

• Today i had to start on a lot of prep work that had to be done. The first thing i did was start cutting cheese in small squares for the chili con queso sauce that goes on the niblick nachos. The next thing i had to do was grind a whole can of tomatoe paste to add to the sauce and then cut up a couple more ingredients to add to the sauce and put the pot to cook in a slow fire for the cheese to melt but not burn
• After the sauce i did more prep and then started to the orders that were coming in, by now im pretty comfortable making most of the plates.
• I finished the day fryin the nacho chips for the niblick and cheese nachos

weekly journal

Well i just completed my first full week at my placement and i enjoyed it a lot. The more time i spend at the niblick the more i learn about the restaurant business and cooking. I met most of all the day staff and get along well with all of them. By now i am able to do most of the regular orders by myself, i can dress the plates as well as do the cooking. I use the knives way better than when i started and im getting to learn the recipes for the prep work off by heart. It has been a great experience so far and i am able to use the skills i learned in the placement and apply them at home.

Friday March 2nd

• When i got to the niblick today it was pretty busy so i went right to the line and helping fernando with the orders, niblick burgers, cajun chicken, quesadillas. That lasted for a while.
• After that i started slicing some beef to later portion
• When i finished that i had to get some tortillas, special sauce, tomatoes, chesse, and chicken to do the prep work for the flutes. You roll all the ingredients in a tortilla wrap it tight and store for later use when they are deep fried.
• After the flutes i left early because since my stitches were not taken out on wednesday i had to take them out today.

Thursday March 1st

• Today when i got to the niblick the first thing i did was start helping out doing some dishes that were taking up to much room.
• Later i started chopping onions, and after that i started dressing the plates for tambi
• I did some orders on my own and then cooked lunch for myself.
• washed dishes and learned how to roll up and store the silverware in the restaurant
• i went back to cooking fries for the orders and ended up by portioning roast beef.
• worked from 12:30-4:00

Wednesday February 28

• Today i went to work and saw that another one of my friends from ht was working, this time John Black was in the kitchen.
• Wednesdays are usually not that busy so not many orders came in and most the prep was done. I finished the chicken wing prep work and then left early at 2:00 because i had to get my stitches out.

Tuesday February 27

• Tuesday started and i had to shovel some of the snow in front of the niblick entrance which wasnt that bad.
• I went in the kitchen and helped tambi by dressing the dishes that he would finish and put the fries down whenever i saw that the orders needed them.
• After lunch i finished some more prep work that needed to be done like cutting the cheese and grinding tomatoes and other ingredients required to make the chili "con queso" sauce that goes in the niblick nachos, and finished my day by choppping red and green peppers for the salads.

Monday February 26

• Monday i walked in and saw that turner was working in the kitchen that day too it was pretty funny and also it was my first day since the little accident on friday.
• i started by doing some prep work portioning roast beef and rice. I washed some dishes while i had nothing to do and then started next prep with the chicken wings which requires me to defrost them, mix them with the flour and seasoning and cook them about 80% so they are ready to be cooked just for a couple minutes when they order them.
• Today was also the first day i got to cook my own lunch which was pretty cool i got to experiment with all the ingredients avaliable in the kitchen and made myself a nice meal.
• I finished the day by cleaning one of the friers and dumping the oil outside.

worked 12:30-4:00