In The Kitchen at TWC

Before this semester, I didn't have a huge amount of cooking experience. Don't get me wrong, I could find my way around a kitchen and follow a recipe - the basics. In fact, one summer I worked as a nanny and managed to cook for a family of four plus myself, and I managed to make it through a whole three-month summer without any of the kids suffering from malnourishment or getting food poisoned (even though I lived in a constant and irrational fear that that would happen). But this term, as I have been helping out in The Working Centre's kitchen, I am learning quite a lot. The cafe we cook for is vegetarian and sometimes vegan, which right away changes things up a bit. If I was to plan and cook a meal of my own devising, the main dish would most likely involve some sort of meat or meat product. So, instead, I have been learning how to make many dishes that centre around vegetables and meat alternatives. I usually make some sort of salad, though occasionally I've made soup, hummus, or wraps. The recipes usually involve two or more steps, which is quite different than what I am used to. Most often I bake, and at most that requires two separate bowls. Often, these recipies involve frying tofu, sauces and spices in a frying pan, roasting vegetables in the oven, and boiling pasta on the stove, mixing a sauce in a bowl, and then tossing it all together. The other difference is the sheer volume/quantity of food being made. Coming from a family of three, it seems crazy to me to make a soup using 1 kg of green beans, 8 potatoes, 4 giant carrotts, and three cans of tomato juice for one pot of soup. I have learned a lot about the vegetarian/vegan diet in this way.
However, my favourite part about working in the kitchen is the atmosphere. Although Tracie has only been working there a few months, she has really managed to find her rhythm and is doing a fantastic job. On my first day, I missed my bus and had to take a later one. When I called to let her know I'd be late, she told me not to worry about it. When I showed up for work, she gave me a recipe to follow. But the following weeks she let me choose between a few different recipes, and sometimes she first asks me "What do you feel like making?". She is always very friendly and helpful, no matter how many questions I ask her. She is always happy and smiling, asking me about school and my Ecuador trip. I feel blessed to have had the chance to work with her for such a worthy organization.