Ask any chef wife or significant other whose chef has been working in the kitchen for a while about their chef’s injuries and well . . . you better grab a cup of coffee and a chair because you might be there for a while.
Over the past 19 years we’ve dealt with cuts, burns, a broken back and torn ligaments, just to name a few.
Now it’s not totally fair to put all the blame on the career. When my chef/husband makes eating healthy and working out a priority, he can physically handle the job easier. However, when things get really busy as work, those are the things that tend to be pushed to the side. (This happens with many of us, not just chefs, right?)
However, no matter how good of shape you are in, sometimes injuries happen.
Right now, my chef/husband is sporting a lovely black cast on his left arm. (I would show you a picture, but decided to skip asking him if I could take one as I know he hates it when I take his picture. You can take a peek at it in this Facebook post from New Year’s Eve.) He’s left handed. He doesn’t have any broken bones, but has torn ligaments in his elbow from repetitive movements (chopping, working the sauté station, etc.) Even with the cast on, he’s in a lot of pain. (more…)
You know how your chef comes home too exhausted to really do anything, but you want to spend time together? What do you do besides sit around and stare at each other or the TV?
Earlier this week I received the following question from a reader on another blog post.
“What activities can we do that are not too exhausting for him, are not on a precise date, and can be done after 5 pm (his morning shift ends and I can afford to get off work)?”
Every time I look at the calendar, I am amazed that we’re in a new year. 2014 just flew by for our family.
Somehow in the midst of the craziness I started blogging. I had no idea how much I would enjoy writing and really wasn’t prepared for all the comments and emails I would get from so many people around the world that could relate to my life!
Today I thought I’d share my 5 most visited blog posts/pages from 2014 and also my 5 personal favorite posts.
You Know Your Dad’s a Chef When . . . Part 2 – Our kindergartner wrote Modernist Cuisine on her homework and I tweeted about it. Modernist Cuisine tweeted back and my site went crazy with visitors! Woohoo!!
Stitch Fix – This has absolutely nothing to do with raising a family with a chef, but all about me falling in love with this company. Who doesn’t love having great clothes show up in a box at your doorstep? I tweeted about this page. Stitch Fix pinned in on Pinterest and people visited. I doubt any of them were chef wives, but you never know. 🙂
My 5 favorite posts from 2014:
Letter to a Young Chef Wife – I loved putting together a list of things I wish I knew 19 years ago when my husband first started working in a professional kitchen.
The Hands of a Chef – I asked for pictures of chef’s hands on Facebook and received such a great response. 🙂 (more…)
My chef/husband and I have had many conversations over the years about his salary. Usually the conversation starts because he’s been working so many hours and he’s on salary. (Sound familiar?)
He jokingly tells me how much he makes an hour, which comes out to be ridiculously low with the hours he works. He’s even said a few times that a server went home with more money than him after working 6 hours than he did after working 16 hours, running the entire restaurant and/or kitchen.
When he was a line cook, he occasionally got paid overtime. But as I have come to learn over the years, that overtime kills your labor budget and often the Sous Chef and Executive Chef work extra hours to pick up the slack to save their numbers (especially if those numbers are linked to a bonus.) (more…)
I’ve asked it before, “Is the restaurant killing the chef?”
