Saturday, March 28, 2015

Important things not on my resume: Can cook a meal for 40 without breaking a sweat.

This is the sorts of things that should be on your resume or in a job interview and does not.

Can you cook a meal for 40 without breaking a sweat?

This ability is not something that many people can boast of.  Yet it is something I have done from years of family and friends coming for holiday dinners.   Which holidays... well the various Jewish ones, of course.  The Jewish religion has many, many, many holidays. We are not satisfied with seeing family a couple of times a year while you try to keep interaction to a minimum.  We are up in each other stuff.  If you actually gathered for all Jewish holidays you might as well live in a compound surrounded by each other's tents.

This breaking of bread together solidifies the sense of community and perpetuates customs.   Customs evolve in a communal way that evolves the religion.  Any who.... The point is I can cook up a storm for a bunch of folks, and I mean a bunch of folks, without too much trouble.  Traditional dishes, vegetarian options, meats of all kinds.  To go with the Jewish holidays I can do traditional items for Purim, Passover, Rosh Ha Shana, etc. 

If you had put on your resume, the number of people you can cook for, it would tell a lot about a person.  Skills may include ability to multitask, think on their feet, be creative, be organized, prepare for a project, juggle obstacles and risks, provide customer service, understand your target market, budget resources, and the ability to stay calm under pressure.  Who does not want these skills in a manager, co-worker or worker bee?

From a young age, I enjoyed cooking.   I dated an Italian guy for 7 years, and boy could his grandmother cook. She was the head chef at an all-boys school in Toronto called Upper Canada College.  She could make tomatoes sing and meat make you mouth water.  Even years after I moved to Missouri I would fly home with an apron and a set of knives in my suitcase to cook for the latest holiday.


So here we are a few days away from Passover.  I am still planning the final guest list.  The first sedar is on Friday night, a work day, so it will be a little more challenging to get it all done.  Yet, I have full confidence I will make an incredible meal and no one will go home without a full belly and a great sense of their own celebration of the holiday of freedom. 

No comments:

Post a Comment