Mark Linden, CEC AAC APRIL 2012 Greetings Fellow Culinarians and Associates "A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him". This is a quote from General Douglas MacArthur and truly underscores what we as chefs so truly understand, "We are only as good as the cooks who work for us". Many times we as chefs tend to forget this principle because we get busy with administrative functions, meetings and general business that keeps us from our kitchens and to many, our true calling. We need to re enforce the principle of having daily visits with our teams in their areas, showing that we do appreciate what they do for us day in and day out. It is easy to come up with new recipes, ideas and presentations; however it falls on our culinary team to consistently produce the items based upon the specifications we have given them. One of the best ways to do this is through a simple form created on EXCEL or WORD that allows for the importing of pictures right onto the recipe card. With advanced cell phones it is a great, quick and simple way to insure consistent production and presentations. Another great way to lead others by providing the tools they need to succeed. A chef mentor of mine always said the cooks who deserve the gold medals are the ones doing it right no matter how frantic it gets. Wise words of a seasoned chef.
March Presidents Award Meeting
Many thanks to Chef James Haskell and the Columbia Tower Culinary and Dining Team for another great awards gala evening. He is a Bourbon fan so on behalf of the chapter we presented him a very fine bottle of such. Close to 100 people were there for this event. There was an informative education on the science of Sous Vide cooking. Presenting another way to cook and present foods in a unique manner. Thanks also to Laurie Sanborn from Royal Cup Coffee for the nice gift bags. 
Several awards were given out including Professional: Chef Kevin Blaylock CEC, CSCE, Humanitarian, Jeff Pratt, Pastry Chef, Hilde Korsmo, and Educator of the Year to Chris Plemmons, CEC, CCE, AAC. Our student of the year went to Megan Carroll. Walter Bronowitz received the Western Regional Herman G Reusch Award in Reno. He will then compete on the national level. Our congratulations to each of these. A thank you gift of a fishing reel and pole combo was presented to our past president Gary Fuller, CEC,CCE, AAC thanking him for his years of service to our organization. View pictures and more details from the Presidents Awards Dinner on the Member News page.
Western Regional Conference Several of us attended the Western Regional Conference in Reno Nevada and came away refreshed and energized by the learning of new techniques, renewing of old acquaintances and gaining new ones. I had the chance to catch up with my youngest son and see "his town". It should be a goal of all to try to attend one of these every few years or so. The next Western Regional Conference is scheduled to be in Coeur d" Alene, Idaho. We had a very active chapter in this conference with many up for awards. A special tribute to our Culinary Knowledge Bowl regional gold medal winners goes out to the Lake Washington Technical College for their great efforts. The team included Coaches Janet Shaffer and Matt Dimeo along with students Rich Hill, Randall Poole, Meg Venema, Sarah Ridges and Crystal Medwar. My sincerest apologies to this team as I had failed to mention them in my last letter. We also had the culinary team from the Bellingham Technical College earn silver medals for their culinary achievements. These include Coach Micheal Baldwin, and students, Elizabeth Vincent, Oleg Vetkor, Immanuel DiNicola, Whitney Worrel and Colleen Glaser. A lot of work goes into preparing for these events. A special thanks to the coaches whom are often forgotten in the recognition of the teams.
March Board Meeting Our monthly board meeting was full of dialogue on our continuing efforts to grow our apprenticeship program. We have a full slate and continually are looking for sponsor business to employ our apprentices. We welcomed Lori Taylor to our Board of Directors. She represents FSA. We thank outgoing board member Karl Nore of FSA for his active role in our chapter. Our local AAC Chefs contributed as a challenge to the National AAC members a check for $1000 hoping to stir up competition from among the regions to bolster the funding for AAC scholarships. We are beginning to explore greater use of social media in order to get the information out to the general public about who we are and what we do. Stay tuned for exciting announcements from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and whatever else is out there.
Next Meeting
I will see you at our next meeting, which will be at the Renton Technical College and is our annual Bite of The Apprentice Evening, showcasing our culinary school students and apprentices. They will provide some wonderful appetizers for us and also serves as a fundraiser for them also. Come out and support these students. Remember if you bring your Royal Coffee Bag or card you can bring someone for free. . The date is not our usual 2nd Monday of the Month, but will be on April 16th, one week later due to Easter. Click here to visit the meetings page to register online...
Our meeting for May is scheduled to be in Bellingham which requires some considerable traveling (approximately 2 hours). It will be a great evening as Chef Baldwin will have a chance to show off his state of the art kitchens and present some great food. Please take a few minutes to fill out a small survey (click here for survey) to let us know if you are planning on attending and if you would like transportation provided. Join us on WE ARE CHEFS and FACEBOOK Gouter a la Cuisine
Mark Linden CEC ACE AAC Washington State Chefs Association Website | 
