Monday's at work

Recently a co-worker an I have started bring food to cook in my slow cooker at work. It cooks on high for 3 or 4 hours and we have a nice hot soup or stew, jambalaya or what ever else we feel like making that week.  Recently others have joined in, and brought their contributions and so we share.  This is fun, but at the same time I understand very clearly what the "to many cooks in the kitchen" comment is all about.

Stone Soup

I must have been blessed with a great family and family-in-law to where we know how to work around or with others in their prospective kitchens.  In other's kitchens they take the lead, in mine I am the maestro of the meal.  This has not worked quite the same here at work, but there is only one unruly cook out in the group.  It must be because the space itself feels like theirs, because the rest of it certainly is not, but they do feel the need to water down things that the rest of us would want to keep thick.

I'm not sure how many of you have collaborative cooking events or have weekly meals at your work place, some places do monthly pot-lucks, some you just have to boobie-trap your lunch box so no one rifles through it and eats your food.  I learned quickly in those previous places to make notes about having licked and spit on everything in my bag already, and maybe alluding to colds or other communicable things as necessary.  I have found these notes do not have to have a shred of truth to them, but there must be that possibility to protect your lunch.  The saddest part of this is that this last scenario played out at two of my previous work places one of which provided lunch materials for all employees to eat from, and the other place was a religious house of worship.  The later office place I only had to make notes regarding licking and stealing being a sin, but it still needed to be stated as sad as that is.

This week our current group collaborated on Taco Soup, and it was delicious.  It was the Jambalaya that went less than stellar.  I prefer a thicker stew like meal, but this other cook decided she would have preferred a soup, and rather than adjusting her own bowl the whole pot was adjusted.  With some conspiring between myself and the other co-worker who began this with me, we made a few minor additions as well...we both like things spicy.  As it turns out our soupy co-worker is a light weight when it comes to spiciness.  Today  it worked out well, nothing was adjusted this round, and we shall see what happens in the future.  It does stand as a reminder that if one of you deviates from the recipe, the others might follow and make some changes of their own as well.

For the Taco Soup recipe.