After loosing my job at the Country Club I revamped my resume and started the less than popular pastime of the unemployed. I applied at cjef jobs online. I applied for Chef jobs in the area. I applied to hundreds of jobs. I revamped my resume several times focusing on various key skill sets. I wrote hundreds of cover letters and mailed off even more to give them that old school appeal. But in the end I only got regjection letters. We hired someone who was a better fit, we hired someone closer. The job market had changed. The Executive Chef positions I was applying for all wanted chef's with Bachelors degrees and certification from the ACF. The Certification was on my list of achievemnets and I was actively practicing for the final part of that process. But the degree, that was a tough one. I had never been to college and my Culinary school certificate from Western Culinary Institute in Portland was only a certificate. It had been great for the past twenty years but the industry had changed. It had grown up. Now I needed to adapt my skill set to compete in the modern culinary market. 
I decided to go back to school. I researched "Le Cordon Bleu", perhaps I could go back to Portland and get credit for the classes I had taken earlier and find a speedy route to a degree. Then I researched "The Art Institute in Seattle", they have a culinary degree program as well. Both of the options were a big NO. So what about the "Culinary Institute of America", in Hyde Park New York. Well it wasn't cheap and I almost had to say to that as well. But I was able to get scholarships and grants to cover the first two semesters.
Karin wanted us to make the move with some planning. Her vagabond spirit is less developed than mine and as a good husband I finally agreed that she had a good idea. So I needed a job that would help us to get ready to make the move.
A good friend of mine happened to be the Executive Chef of one of the two local hospitals and they had converted from tray service to an ala carte kitchen. He needed a good line cook to meet the demands of the 900 meals a day line. I was actually amazed at the food that was offered to the patients. Fresh salmon, stir-fry, pastas, burgers and pork tenderloin. Quite a selection of salads and sandwiches as well for those not on dietary restrictions. The main cafeteria also was improving the quality of it's daily offerings as well.Sanford was a fin place to work with many great employees in the kitchen. Since then the kitchen there has actually won several national awards for the quality and service given by those employees.
As a seasoned line cook I was able to excel on the line and help some of the younger less experienced cooks understand the differance between trayline service and restaurant style ala carte service. I ended up training some of the newer cooks before I left for the CIA. I was tapped to cook sushi for a doctor's dinner event. I wasa ble to work on a project for a massive gingerbread display as well as prep and practice for my ACF C.E.C. test.
This was also my last year to enter the South Dakota Taste of Elegance. So I wnet big and decided to do a decontructed Reuban. I would corn pork belly, make kraut and fresh pickles. I also created a gallentine from shank meat. The dish had some flaws but the experience creating it and the process of developing the plate was priceless.
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