Week Four

On Sunday I got a new roommate, Travis. He is from Oklahoma and came here to work with the horses. The whole week from Monday to Thursday I worked from 9-5 and came home and watched TV and chatted with Travis. Nothing was too new in the kitchen. Chef Afif and Joe were working on the new menu to be put out in April. I also have been working with Shauna; she works in the recreation department.
Shauna and I have been working on the mountain bikes. I am using my family connections and my knowledge to help the ranch get new bikes for the guests to enjoy. Chef and I also have been hanging together. Before and after work we would go to an open field and throw the ball for his two hounds. He uses his hounds for bird hunting in the late spring and summer. I hope that I get to go with him before I head home in the end of June.
In the kitchen I have been working the lunch line pretty much by myself. Its fun even though we do only about 6 to 10 covers in a 2 hours period. The plates that I am preparing are Buffalo Burgers, Rueben’s, sliced pork loin sandwiches, homemade macaroni ‘n’ cheese, chili, and chicken pot pie. During breakfast Kim likes to work the line so I normally prep for lunch or help Kim with the employee lunch.
On Friday, I was supposed to have off but Joe couldn’t work. I had to come in at 7 am on my first day off and work 7 hours. Starting Saturday I have 5 days off. On Saturday, chef and I went into town and did a little grocery shopping and to get some lunch. He also drove me around to show me the area. It is very beautiful, and I wish I could live here the rest of my life.
Today is Sunday and I don’t go back into work until Thursday at 8 am. Hopefully I will catch a ride into the ton of Show Low before I go back to work, but you never know what will happen.

Week Three

This week started out normal. I had off Wednesday and Thursday and we only had a few guests. I mainly worked the hours of 9-5. The whole weak we were planning and prepping for our big Easter Sunday buffet.
For the buffet we were going to serve freshly carved leg of lamb with mint jelly, tabbouleh, hummus, hearts of palm salad, fresh pitas, carved ham, eggs benedict, and other brunch style foods. We had planned on 20 guests for this buffet, outside guests and ranch guests. I had made the tabbouleh. It was made of cous cous, parsley, mint, garlic, diced peppers and tomatoes, and lemon juice. It was very delicious and very fresh. Chef Afif had fresh grav lax prepared for the guests along with 2 legs of lamb. Sous Chef Joe had prepared the hearts of palm salad along with many other delicious dishes to be served at the buffet.
Friday, two days before the big Easter Sunday buffet, we found out that we had only two reservations for the big day. What a disappointment! We canceled our ongoing preparations and served the pre-made dishes to the employees who thoroughly enjoyed them. The legs of lamb were returned to the vendor and we served our normal Sunday menu to out two lonely guests. Oh well!
On Wednesday, Chef Afif and I went hiking up to Canou Lake. It is about 2.5 miles from where we parked to the mountain lake. The hike is all along a dirt road and 70% of it was covered in snow up to our knees. Luckily snowmobiles have also been on the road and packed most of snow down so we didn’t fall through, most of the time. It was a fun and tiring hike. It took us about 4 hours to do the total 5 miles, and by the end I was very satisfied. I can’t wait to do another one with Chef Afif.
This week was also my first paycheck. I got about 77 hours in my first two weeks and made about $80 in tips. I was very happy, and that day I mailed it home to my mom so she can deposit it for me. I am still very happy here and I can’t wait for the next week to start.

Hey Everyone

Hey family and friend who read about my life!

I am just writing this to say thanks for showing interest in me. I will be adding to my blog weekly. I will also add more photos of me and my co-workers. And a few of the chef and sous chef. Here is a picture I took while on a 5 mile hike to a lake with chef. I will write more about it in my next journal entry.

Thanks again.

If you would like to talk to me my yahoo is: adnoakes
and my aim is: andrewdnoakes
I do have phone service but it is only about 1/2 maybe even 1 bar if i am lucky.



(in the picture where the white starts you should be able to see the Arizona desert. It is very beautiful. I see views like this almost everyday.)

Week Two

After having Saturday and Sunday off, I start off working new hours, 2-10. With these new hours, I leave working the breakfast and lunch shift and start to work the dinner shift. Starting at 2 when I arrive I get right into prep. For three hours I would prep everything needed to work the line efficiently during dinner hours. During my prep I would make such items as roasted corn and avocado salsa, cutting and marinating the New York strip steaks, cooking pasta, making crab cakes, and making crab wontons. I would also start on an employee meal for dinner, unless the earlier shift has already prepared it. The first couple days while on the dinner shift there was not many guests eating at the ranch house. This was good because it made it easy to learn how the line during the dinner shift worked. During those couple days I worked with night cook TJ. Once it started to become busier Marshall, another night cook, joined in the prepping and working on the line. Towards the end of the week I was given new hours, 9am – 5pm. With these new hours I was able to work the line for lunch and be able to prep for dinner. Because of this I gained the experience of cooking on the line during a less busy time, lunch, and be able to prep for dinner.
Since I have been here I have had a few days off where I can work on my project and relax. Joe, the sous chef, has a house in the town of Spingerville and he also lives in the staff house that I live in. Many nights we have hung out and watched movies. One night after my 9 – 5 shift, Joe and I took his truck and drove up and down the dirt road. We also took it a bit off-roading and went up a huge hill called the Breakfast Knoll. On top of the knoll is a great view of Arizona and also a cave. You can go into the cave pretty deep, but as we were not prepared we didn’t.
My second week here at Hidden Meadow Ranch was even better the first. I can’t wait for my adventure in Arizona to continue as I see only better things happening to me.

Week One

I left Rochester at 10:01am on Monday morning. I flew to Chicago then hopped on my next jet to Phoenix. At the Phoenix airport I couldn’t locate where I my next flight would board at. I finally walked across the airport until I found this small, separate building where my flight was. I looked out the window and found out that I was flying on a small puddle jumper. The plane itself could only hold about 30 people. It was very loud, but the views out the window were very amazing. I could see the flat desert around Phoenix turning into tree topped and snow covered mountains. The flight on small prop powered plane only lasted about 40 minutes. Once we landed I hopped off the jet, grabbed my bag that was too big to carry on, and walked inside the even smaller airport of Show Low. I waited for my bags to unload off the small plane. During that time, an employee of Hidden Meadow Ranch showed up. His name is Mike. In about 10 minutes time I found out that only my big black duffle bag showed up in Show Low. I waited another 10 minutes until a representative of the itsy bitsy airport arrived. I told her about my missing bag and gave her some information. Mike and I loaded up his SUV and drove to the ranch. After about 40 minutes of driving through Show Low, by a rather large casino, and through small Native American town, we reached the dirt road that takes us to the ranch. Once we arrived to the ranch it was dark outside so I couldn’t see much. I got situated into the staff house. Filled out some paper work. Later, Chef Afif and Sous Chef Joe showed up. We talked for a bit and then they left. I picked a room, unpacked, and went to sleep.
My week of work started today. I got up around 7:00am, and at 8:00am Chef showed up. We went to the welcome cabin where I got some more paperwork. Chef and I went to his office in the ranch house. The ranch house is where the dining room and kitchen are located. There is also a lounge area upstairs where one of the only two televisions for guest use is. After we filled out all the needed paper work and everything that needed to be faxed was faxed, Chef and I went to go sign me out a uniform. Now the time was about 10:00am. I went into the kitchen and began. On the first day all I made was stew and chili. Both tasted amazing. The day ended for me around 3:00pm. I found out that my bag arrived to the ranch, so I picked it up at the welcome cabin. I went home and unpacked. During the rest of the week I maintained the hours of 8-3. During those hours breakfast and lunch as served for the guests in the dining room. For the first couple days we had no guests at the ranch, but we had employees to feed. The employee’s get at least a lunch everyday, whether there are guests or not. If we have dinner, then there is employee dinner.
For the rest of week I prepped even more than just chili and stew. Once the guests showed up I started to work the line for breakfast and lunch. During breakfast I made omelets, pancakes, French toast, and waffles. During lunch I made Buffalo burgers, mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, quesadilla of the day, and plated the chili, stew, and soup of the day.
It has been a great week. I have met many awesome people, and seen amazing stuff. The views here are amazing, the air is clean, and the sky is clear and full of stars. I cannot wait for next week to start, but I never want to leave.

Co-op Photos