I've got three of 'em

Jobs that is.

As part of my culinary education I need to complete 200 extern hours now that I'm done with classwork.  This means I go work somewhere for 200 hours.

To do this, I've gone back to the cupcakery where I externed last year.  I love working there.  I like making batters, baking and decorating.  We all take turns on dishes and making trips to the store.  (You want to see a grocery store employee's eyes get really big?  Go in and tell them you need eight cases of powdered sugar.)  This Monday I put in 7 hours on the mixer, making batters and icings.  I still get flour/powdered sugar/cocoa powder all over myself.  I still drop icing on the floor when I'm trying to transfer it from the big mixing bowl to the container it lives in.  I like going in early with the morning crew, running around giving each other a bad time and getting home in time to pick up my son from school.

But, I'm only getting 10 hours a week there.  I want to get my hours done more quickly than 20 weeks,  so I got in touch with the bar that employs three of my classmates.  To look at the place from the outside you wouldn't think they served food but they do.

My friend and classmate Karla vouched for me and I'm closing in the kitchen on Friday and Saturday nights.  I do dishes mostly.  And when I do dishes I get just as much stuff all over myself.  Water, bits of cheese that were melted but have now hardened, guacamole and whatever else is lurking on the plates I'm cleaning.  I somehow got bar b que sauce up my left arm last week, I still don't know how I did that.    I just get messy when I clean.

But, I'll be cooking this week. Probably, I'll start on the fryer deep frying chips and french fries.  Bar food can be good for the soul, especially when it's served with a side of ranch dressing.

I get another 12 hours a week at the bar.  Seven at night to one in the morning shift at a bar is good for people watching out the expo window.  (the place where the dishes are passed from the kitchen to the servers)  About 12:30 the white people are dancing in earnest, beer in one hand and giving us in the kitchen a very entertaining show.  They're having fun and I enjoy watching them.

In addition to these two I'm working church child care on Sunday mornings again.  This gives me somewhere to be five days a week.  I will say that getting used to it after having a few weeks of being home is taking some adjusting.  Especially since on Mondays my shift starts at 6 a.m. after having a shift that ends at 1 a.m. on Saturday nights.

And it gives me an excuse to sit around saying I need my rest on my two days off.

Amanda's beauty tip of the day:  When you work with powders, like sugar and flour, that get on your skin, they can really clog your pores.  Be sure to wash your face well before you go in and when you get home, if you can wash in the middle of your shift that's even better.