Head Chef and Off Christmas Day! Are You Being Serious?!

15 is the number corresponding to The Devil in tarot cards

So, my first week as Head Chef. It's been a hard week, that's for sure. I've had to meet some reps to get the suppliers I want and I've had to employ some staff. I've revamped the menus to do the kind of food I think will sell and I've moved the kitchen around to suit how I work. It's not been the easiest of weeks, that's for sure. The biggest shock has been the mountains of paper work. Because I've revamped the menus, I've had to cost everything. Basically I have to take a dish and write down each individual ingredients. For example I've put a Burger on the new menu. I have split it into ingredients, like the mince for the Burger, the cheese, the burger bun, etc. I then have to work out how much each ingredient costs. I get the cheese in 2.4kg blocks for £10.75 and I'll put maybe 40g on a burger (approximately) so I have to work out how much that 40g of cheese costs (18p by the way). Once I've done this with each ingredient I add the totals together to come up with a total 'cost to make' figure for the dish. I then have to work out how much I need to sell the dish for to make a profit taking into account VAT and the GP I need to reach. It's really not just about writing a menu, it's all the other bits. On top of doing the costings I've had to operate a working kitchen on my own and so I was ready for my day off today, let me tell you.

Despite the hard work and stress involved with my first week, things aren't all bad. We are now closing on Christmas Day so I get only my 2nd Christmas Day off in 14 years! I can actually look forward to Christmas for a change! On Christmas Eve we are doing a free buffet so I shouldn't be too late finished on that night and we are doing a free buffet on New Years Eve too so I should be able to finish reasonable early that night. I'm planning on having a few drinks then, let me tell you. It is nice being able to look forward to the festive period for a change.

Today is Monday and so weigh in day. Last week I mentioned about losing 3.5lb to reach my first stone. Throughout the week the diet has pretty much gone out of the window. I haven't eaten lots but point counting was the last thing on my mind. I would've been happy with a pound but I'm down to that stone mark! I lost 3.5lb! That means that I've lost a stone in 4 weeks and I'm so proud of myself. I have no doubt that the stress has contributed and I am planning on enjoying myself at Christmas. If I can lose another 5lb before Christmas in 2 weeks I'll have a nice cushion to take me into the new year.
With all of what's been happening with work my mind has drifted from thoughts of my op. It's only 15 weeks away and on Friday I'll only be 100 days away from my op. It'll be nice to get down to double figures although it'll be even better to get down to single ones!