Or to paraphrase John Lennon, life’s what happens while you’re waiting for your plans to take effect. I had the best intentions of moving along on publishing, or at least writing 500 words on it but find myself back in a bit of pain so yeah, no.
I had to work and love what I do but playing 2 drum tracks and an additional track with congas, triangle and claves for a recording session may not have been the best idea. One of the tunes was very left foot heavy with lots of high-hat cymbal work entailing pressure on my left foot and shin with my heel going up and down repeatedly. Like one of my exercises in p.t. but on steroids. There I do it 3 sets of 10 and I’m done in 2 mins. This was about 30 minutes.
Should have thought that one out better but the show must go on. In this way music and cheffing are so similar. Making it happen is the prime directive.
Also did a catering gig for a regular customer that’s always enjoyable. They live nearby and are very sweet. Here’s their menu:
They prefer sitting at the island watching and bullshiting with me, than me just cooking for them with little interaction as most of my clients do. But shopping and prepping the day before and then five hours on my feet twisting and turning the day after the session is probably why I’m back in our recliner with a heating pad bungeed to my thigh and shin.
A couple long car rides didn’t help either but my niece had a recital 40
miles from Chicago and Uncle Alan and Aunt Theresa promised to go
besides the recording studio being an hour away as well. This is the same scenario that started the pain last time- a 4 hour recording session coupled with several long car rides and cheffing over a few days.
We overdid it during physical therapy last week so now I’m in pain from that as well. In addition there’s a few undesirable side effects to the medication I’m taking (gabapentin) so time to wean off of it under doctor’s supervision.
It’s hard to be patient being a patient. You’ve got to advocate or your doc or therapist will never know what’s up.
Take a Chef, the cyber chef company I work with asked if I’d be interested in an auto response feature- something I’ve championed for a few years to them but up until this point haven’t been listened to. I’m top guy in the region but miss out on a lot of gigs because of the timing and the algorithm. It’s turned me into a slave to my email which I despise. This should help fix that but it’s labor intensive to get started. For that I need to create nearly 20 menus- 2-3 each at varying price points for French, Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, Indulge, Latin American, Seafood and Local cuisines.
Taking all this into consideration, as far as publishing goes I got nothing.
Chef/percussionist/writer/reprobate and lover of all things beautiful & delicious, Chef Alan Lake’s culinary career includes East Bank Club in Chicago; Sunset Marquis in W. Hollywood; Izakaya Hiwatta in Ichinomia Japan and legendary nightclub Purpur in Zurich, Switzerland. Working all around the world for over four decades, he's won numerous awards, professional competitions and distinctions. He’s the author of Home Cookin'- The Stories Behind The Food and The Garlic Manifesto- the history of garlic going back to 10,000-year-old Neolithic caves and contains facts, fiction, folklore, myths and legends (besides 100 recipes).
A lifelong musician that plays 70+ percussion instruments, he coined the term “Jazzfood” to describe his cooking style i.e. “solid technique coupled with tasteful improvisation.” He views his food as he does his music and writing and has been known to bust a pout if subpar in any way.