RESTAURANT HIGH

I just came home from working at the restaurant. I waited tables tonight. In spite of all the hard work and the HOT kitchen, I really enjoy restaurant work. I am a people person. I can talk to anyone. I am honestly interested in where people are from and how they arrived in Waxhaw (Charlotte). I love seeing the expression on their faces when I set their plates before them and they take that first bite. I can see the pleasure written all over their faces. Since I am a hyperactive person, the intensity of the restaurant is like a drug for me. I get a high when I see food being cooked in the saute pans and tongs flipping. The flames of the grill leaving all the wonderful charred marks on the steaks and fish is art. I love a steak that is burnt on the outside and mid-rare on the inside. It is call Pittsburgh style. The dance of the plates going in and out of the kitchen is a beautiful thing. The kitchen of a restaurant is like an orchestra. All the different sections have to be in sync, if not the song is off key. The audience comes in expecting the best the conductor can perform that evening. Come visit us some time at Rippington's Restaurant at Waxhaw.

But it can also be an insane and frantic place. I honestly believe that grease is addictive like cigarettes. Once you work in a restaurant, you NEVER forget it. You might not sniff the grill smoke anymore, but the memories are for life.

Unfortunately there are those folks that go to a restaurant and treat the wait staff as the subservient class. But thank God the majority of the patrons are fantastic. And I remind myself that I will leave with cold hard cash to pay bills. That is a blessing in itself.

My ultimate dream has been owning a restaurant and working with my husband. He would handle the back of the house and I handle the front. But we need $100,000. Anyone out there lending?

My husband and I met in a restaurant. It was when I had a chance to work with him side by side that my life changed. And for the MUCH BETTER. I will share that story some day soon. FUNNY.

Today we did some prep work together. Crazy as it seems, it was so romantic. We wrapped some sweet onion wedges with bacon and drizzled them with this fantastic brown sugar, balsamic vinegar sauce and grilled them. They were to be served over a grilled ribeye steak. YUM. The special sold out tonight.

I ask myself why is food so important in our house besides the need to work a job. And the answer is love. Jesus broke bread at the last supper and told us to break bread in His remembrance. We celebrate a new life by bringing food to the new parents. We celebrate the passing of a life to heaven with food for the family for comfort. The centerpiece of a wedding is the bride and the cake. CAKE! People travel far and wide to have family reunions with grandiose picnics. And Thanksgiving. It is my all time favorite holiday. Besides going crazy trying to get home via train, plane and automobile, imagining that golden brown turkey in the middle of the table is enough to make the layovers well worthwhile. And all for love.

I still make sure that we have dinner together as a family in spite of the rat race. Sometimes we eat at 10pm, but we slow down and enjoy each other.

Plan to cook together as a family, or as a couple or even if you are by yourself. Look at a carrot or a piece of celery and marvel at God's wonderful creation.

Visit us at Rippington's Restaurant in Waxhaw, NC