New Year's Eve

Saturday and New Year's Eve ... hummmm ... not sure what to write about today.

I guess that you could say that it is a day for reflection and to try and figure out how you are going to make the new year better than the past year.  I am not really smart when it comes to figuring this stuff out.

I think that I figured out last New Year's Eve how to make it a little better than the year before and I think that for the most part I was quite successful.  I actually had a very good year until the first of December when my back got so bad and I couldn't stand any longer doing what I loved most ... cooking.

I think that pretty much life is a crap shoot ... you can either go with the flow or fight it and be unhappy all of the time.  I have learned to go with it and over all I am a pretty happy person.  I think that if I continue on this path that it will only get better and better.

My words of wisdom would be to always stay positive.  Always find the good in whomever or whatever you are doing.  There is good in "every day" ... we just have to find it and make it a happy productive day.  Everyday I find the very smallest things to be grateful for ... life, health and happiness are a gift and we should always treasure the gifts that we have in our lives.

Happy New Year to all of my readers.  I wish you all health, happiness, love, family.  I will check in next year 2012.  Good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Friday

Good morning everyone.  Happy Friday ... enjoy your Holiday weekend!

Only one more day left after today to start the changes for the New Year.  As for me I have already started making the changes necessary to make my New Year a better one. 

I have started cleaning out my "house" so to speak.  I have started getting rid of all negativity in my life so the New Year will only be positive.

I am not too sure yet what "positive" means but I know that if the negativity is gone it can only be better, right?

I heard from school yesterday and as I have mentioned before everything regarding school has been put on hold until I get my back taken care of.  I am hoping that this process doesn't take too much longer as I am very tired of not being able to do anything without hurting.  To feel good would be a very good thing!

I am going to enjoy a quiet New Year's weekend and then I thought that I would go and stay with my mom for a few days and visit.  I don't know how much I will be able to help her with my back problem but maybe I can cook a couple of special meals for us or something?  She just got a new little freezer so maybe I can make something that she can put in the freezer for a later date.  I think that what ever we do that it will just be very nice to have the opportunity to spend some time with her.  I will be there probably at least 2 days and then I will come home and be ready to face whatever is going to happen with my back.

The following week I have 2 Dr.'s appointments so I am hoping by the end of the week of 1/13 I will have some answers and be able to move forward with whatever the future holds next.

As for this blog I am not sure what I should do.  It started out to be about cooking and school ... nothing says that it has to say that way but my question is ... do I really have enough interesting things to say that you my readers will want to keep on reading?  I would like some help with this ... if you have any ideas about what I should do or what I could write about please let me know.  I am open to all suggestions ... please help. Maybe I could still write about food ... just in some sort of different way or point of view?  Or maybe I should just start cooking at home and taking pictures?

Enough for now from 1HappyChef.  I am just a little frustrated right now ... sorry!  Have a really great Friday and I will catch up again really soon.  :)

Thursday

Good morning everyone.  Only a couple more days till New Years ... what exactly does all of that mean?

Any one out there have any resolutions?  I think every year we all at least come up with one that we pledge that we will never break but usually only a few days later we have all but forgotten about it and what we pledged.

As for myself ... I don't think that I will bother to make any.  At this point in time I need to change everything if I want it to end up differently this time next year ... that is way too many things to write down so I should just look at the entire package and go from there and start with the easy things and move on to the much harder things until I have made some sort of change that I will be happy with and can live with.  I don't want to make any drastic changes ... I just want to shake up the latter part of my life a little and maybe if it is in the cards for me maybe have a new friend to share some time with?  I have NO idea where I will find this friend or how it will happen but I am confident that this will be the year that things are going to change for me in many many ways.

I think that for now school will not get finished because of all of the problems that I am having with my legs and back.  I need to stay on top of that and get the problem fixed before I can even consider returning to school.  I would like very much to finish and get the certificate but it is not necessary for me to know that I did a fantastic job while I was in school and that I am a really wonderful cook.  The thing that is nagging at me is that I am not a quitter ... but I have not quit just to quit ... I have not really quit at all yet ... I am on medical leave right now but I don't know how long the school will leave me at that status before they drop me.  I am a little disappointed in Dorsey that I have not been notified in over 2 weeks now with what to do next.  I faxed them the information about being sick over two weeks ago and no one has been in touch as of yet to let me know what my options are ... Dorsey has been inconsistent with what they say and do since the beginning so I must say that I am not surprised.

Well enough about Dorsey and the up coming New Year.  It will be what it will be ... you hear for your entire life that you and only you have the power to change what you don't like ... I am not so sure that is true ... or maybe I just haven't been trying hard enough?  What ever the answer is I know that I will work harder on it in 2012.

Have a really great day today and enjoy the last few days of 2011.  Signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

PS>I am thinking and thinking really hard about what I can write about everyday now if it isn't going to be about school ... can anyone out there come up with any ideas or things that they would like to read about?  Please help ... and thanks!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone. I am not sure where to start … 1HappyChef is not so HAPPY these days. I was cut down in my tracks with this back problem that I have.

I would have to say that I am probably a little impatient these days as I am getting really sick of being sick. This now is going on a little over 2 months and I don't see the end in sight yet. I have learned some things along the way though … I have a whole new regard for people that are in constant bad pain all of the time. That is me right now and I have to tell you that it is not fun at all and not to be in pain is not fun either. The drugs are so strong that when I take them I do not know what I am doing, I can't drive, talk, walk … nothing … I can barely function. So because of this side effect I have stopped taking them for 2 of the doses … now I only take the one right before I go to bed so I don't have to worry about what I can't do while I am sleeping. But by doing this I am back in pain again … not as bad as before but still a lot of pain. I have another Dr. appointment on /13 to see what the next step will be … I hope that they can take me out of my misery.

About this past year … I am not sure yet what to think. I do know that for the first time in my lifetime I actually did something that I wanted to do and as it turned out I was very good at it but in the end …. I am not sure what I expected to change but I guess that I was surprised when nothing did change. This is hard for me to explain to you and I am not sure even what I am trying to say but I just expected something to be different at the end of this year and I realize that I couldn't change what happened to my back but it just isn't that … it is …. can any of you explain it?

Please don't think that I am not grateful for all of the wonderful things that did happen this year … hey, I have a food blog that is being read around the world and is being published in the Oakland Press News Paper, I gave my very first speech, I was on the Channel 7 News, I cooked with the TV Star Ann Thornton, I can skin a 5' Salmon like a pro, I can cut down a side of beef with the best of them and I loved going to school and learning all of the special things that they teach that I didn't think that I was even interested in … problem is that now that I am no longer going to school I don't know what to do with my day again. I was so busy for one entire year … and at some point my mom asked me … what are you going to do Denise when you don't have school to go to everyday any longer? I don't think that I ever answered her for sure but I do know that I have been out of school for most of the past 7-8 weeks sick and I don't like being home anymore. I like seeing people and socializing everyday … It is way better than talking to myself. For me school was not necessarily to end up being some big time chef … for me it was to get me out of my apartment … but in the end I was very good at school and enjoyed learning.

I had a wonderful support system … my MOM came through for me in every way possible. She is still supporting me and helping me make some tough choices about finishing school, getting my back operated on and what the future holds for me or what I will or won't be able to do with a bad back … and if I am to be honest I would have to say that maybe I will not be able to be some great chef because I will not be able to be on my feet that long because of my back. Cooking for me might just be for fun as it has always been … only now I have the knowledge to make it even more fun and interesting. And if that is what is in store for me … I will roll with it.

I just want to know … I don't like NOT KNOWING what is going to happen next. I like knowing what is next …

I need to keep writing in the blog but now that I am not in school I am not sure what to write. I will keep you updated with the back operation and what is going on with that but the blog started out to be a day to day of happenings at school … and for now there is no more school I will have to write on the day to day of …. any ideas?

What would be interesting to write and read about?

I do know that I don't plan on being alone for another year … maybe I could write about how I plan to find someone who is honest, sincere, funny and who wants to spend some time with me. I am not looking to be married again, or even live with someone again … I just don't want to be alone anymore. I would like to find someone who likes to eat … someone I could cook for, maybe someone to travel with, maybe someone to live in Florida with?

Well, this is an update of the past few weeks … I am hoping that it doesn't take this long again to write again … I don't want the Oakland Press to stop publishing my blog because I am not updating it as often as I should … I will write again soon.

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families and I hope that you all have a Happy New Year … stay safe and healthy! Good night from 1HappyChef. :)

Friday

Entire house made from Chocolate

Good morning everyone.  Hope that you are all well today ... I will get the results of my MRI in just a few minutes and then go from there to see what needs to be done to help me with all of this pain ... so for me it is a very good morning to get some answers.

Chef David, Chef Daniel, myself and Chef David's class

Yesterday was a very nice day.  We had to deliver the ginger bread houses to the OHCC so they could go on display and be auctioned off.  We left the building (school) with 4 and they were all very nice and we were so proud of our work and then when we were bringing them into the club for display the barn crashed.  It was so sad ... we all worked so very hard on all of them that we were just devastated.  We were going to try and put it together (we came prepared for anything) but the lady in charge said that she would prefer that we didn't put it together because she said if someone bid on it and it broke up again on their way home that that person would be mad.  After we thought about it we agreed and took it back to school when we were done for a barn burning.

We also got a tour of the entire club and it is really something.  I took some pictures that I will post for you to see.

Some of the ginger bread houses were really really great!  I mean we put hours into ours that we made and I though that they were pretty cool but some of the ones that we saw before we left were well WOW is the only way to describe them. 

Denise, Esther, Angie and Tammy's lighthouse

I also added the Christmas tradition for the United States of America, there are some things that I learned today reading about Christmas in the USA. 

Well, for me it is time to get started with my day so I will be saying good bye for now.  Please stay safe in this snowy weather.  Good day for now from 1Happy Chef.  :)

Take care everyone and have a really great day!

                                                   

Christmas in United States of America
Santa Claus was born in US in the 1860's he was named this as he had a white beard and a belly, so he was named Santa Claus as this was the Dutch word for St Nicholas, Sintaklaas. Although the Dutch had bought him with them in the 17th century, he did not become an important person at Christmas until the Novelist Washington Irving put him in a novel that he wrote in 1809. This first Santa Claus was still known as St. Nicholas, he did smoke a pipe, and fly around in a wagon without any reindeer, but he did not have his red suit or live at the North Pole, he did however bring presents to children every year.

In 1863 He was given the name Santa Claus and bore the red suit, pipe, and his reindeer and sleigh.
Now Christmas celebrations vary greatly between regions of the United States, because of the variety of nationalities which have settled in it.

Early European settlers brought many traditions to the United States. Many settled in the early days in the South, these settlers would send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks. In Hawaii this practice is still in use as under the sunny skies, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors.

In America the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit.

The majority of Americans celebrate Christmas with the exchange of gifts and greetings and with family visits. For many, the day begins on Christmas Eve with the Midnight Mass. At Christmas it snows in many states, so dinner is usually eaten indoors.

American homes are decorated with holly, mistletoe and branches of trees, most have a Christmas tree hung with electric lights, tinsel, baubles, and strings of popcorn and candy canes. 

There are two homes for Santa Claus in the United States one is in Torrington, Connecticut, where Santa and his helpers give out presents. The other home is in Wilmington, New York, where a village for Santa and his reindeer is located.

Christmas traditions/China

Good morning to all of my readers.  Here is the first Christmas tradition that I will be posting.  I have looked up the information and all of the Countries celebrate differently and I think you might find it as interesting as I have how different all of our traditions really are.  I think that I will post one or two of these traditions each day until I get through every country ... it is very interesting all of the differences.

Today at school we will still be doing the Ginger Bread Houses.  Frankly I am happy that this is winding down and also happy that the entire MOD is winding down and about over with.  Only 2 weeks left and then a break for about too weeks and then we start out externships.  Wow, this year has flown by so very quickly.  In a blink and it is over with and I will be graduating.

I picked China first because that was my RP and I learned a lot about China doing it.  Speaking of the RP all of that has to be turned in next Monday for the final grade ... hum, wonder what that will end up being?  I did everything that was required but I still am not too confident about what the final grade will be.

I am also waiting to find out the results from my MRI the other day and waiting to hear what can be done to make all of the pain go away.  I hope that I hear today or I may call tomorrow and see if the MRI has been read yet or find out when I can find out about the results.  I have another Dr. appointment next Friday so maybe I won't find out until then?  I have to tell you though that the meds. are making me goofy and somethings I feel so weird that I can't even talk right.  It's like someone else is in my head trying to talk ... so, the sooner I don't have to take these anymore the better.

I will be saying good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  Have a really great day everyone and I will write later and post some new pictures of the final products of the ginger bread houses.  Take care everyone ... stay warm and well today!

Christmas in China

The Christian children of China decorate trees with colorful ornaments. These ornaments are made from paper in the shapes of flowers, chains and lanterns. They also hang muslin stockings hoping that Christmas Old Man will fill them with gifts and treats.

The Chinese Christmas trees are called "Trees of Light." Santa Claus is called Dun Che Lao Ren which means "Christmas Old Man.".

The non-Christian Chinese call this season the Spring Festival and celebrate with many festivities that include delicious meals and pay respects to their ancestors. The children are the main focus of these celebrations, they receive new clothes and toys, eat delectable food and watch firecrackers displays.

Tuesday and Ginger Bread Houses

Good evening to all of my loyal readers.  Haven't had much to post lately but I will try and do better.  

Today we are still working on the Ginger Bread Houses and they have to be done by tomorrow or it will be too late.  They are suppose to be at the club by 10 AM on Thursday.  I will post some pictures of the progress that we have made so far ... they are starting to look pretty good.

I think starting tomorrow I will also write about Christmas traditions ... so, if any of you have any really neat traditions would you please comment and I will post them.  One that I know of right now is the Christmas tradition of the 7 fishes ... I will find out more about that so I can tell you all about it.  I also know of people who don't eat any meat on Christmas and I know that some eat black eyed peas for New Years to bring them good luck for the coming year.  I think that this will be fun learning about these traditions together, right?

So for now I will be saying good night to all from 1HappyChef ... :)  Have a good evening everyone ... I will write again soon.  Take care ...

Saturday

Good evening everyone.  Hope that you are all having a really great weekend.

As for me I just got home from getting an MRI .. neat machine if you are not afraid to be in small places.  I had to get an MRI with contrast of my spine ... hope that it isn't bad news. What ever the news I guess that I will just have to handle it.  I went to school yesterday with all Dr.'s papers and talked it over with Chef Abbey and I think that we can make it work so I can pass this mod and move on to the externship on Jan. 10, 1012.  I am sure that it will all work out the way that it is suppose to, right?

To the right are up-dated pictures of the Lighthouse and the Ginger Bread Barn.  I have not been able to work on these as much as I wanted because of my problem and this is my project that I brought to the school so it is very frustrating not to be able to work on it ... but I am still apart of it and I know that the rest of the team are going to do a wonderful job and they both are going to be beautiful!  Thank you team!

Tomorrow is Sunday and I am hoping with the new meds. that I got yesterday that I will feel better in school this coming week.  The Dr. put me on 2 weeks of bed rest ... that isn't going to happen but I will be very careful and take it easy until I know what I am dealing with.

So for tonight it will be good night from 1HappyChef.  Have a really great Sunday and I will check in again really soon.  :)

2 AM Friday

Good morning to all of my readers.  Guess what?  Can't sleep again ... this is happening more and more often these days and I am not liking it very much.  Tomorrow morning at 9 AM I have to be at a new Dr.'s office to see what we are going to do about my back and hip.  This morning I woke up with a whole new symptom and it wasn't a nice one.  My pain shifted from my right side to my left side and for a couple of hours in the morning I could hardly walk or stand on my left side until I sort of walked it off a little and too way too many pain pills. I am not sure what else to do at this point.  I knew that I had the Dr.'s appointment this morning so I thought that I would just tough it out ... it wasn't a very nice day but I did get 1/2 of a book read that I have wanted to read for a very long time now.  I was so concerned about babying my back and hip that I got into this book and have had a hard time putting it down once that I got into it.  I also think that reading is much more enjoyable now as I have my new glasses and they are GREAT!  I can see and I can read ... yea team!

After the Dr. tomorrow I am suppose to go to school to try and work on the lighthouse and the ginger bread barn ... we are running out of time but it depends what the Dr. tells me that I can and can't do.  My health is much more important than the ginger bread stuff ... I will miss helping though.

So that will be it for me tonight/this morning.  I think that I will try and lay down and see what happens ... maybe I will get a few hours of sleep before I have to get up and get ready?  I sure hope so ... I know that I would feel much better.

Something surprising did happen today .. my 88 year old mother told me that if they have to operate on me that she would come over and take care of me ... thank you for that mom ... you are the best!  That was the best offer that I have had in a very long time ... now I want to get an operation so my mom can take care of me.

Good night for now from 1HappyChef.  Have a good day today and I will check in later with the prognoses from the Dr.  Hope it isn't too bad of news.  Take care for now ... :)