Oh, Hey Employment. We Meet Again... In The Hamptons.

Private Chef Chronicles: Summering in the Hamptons (Part 1)

So, did you all have a nice, relaxing long weekend to celebrate the 4th of July? Sunbathing, barbecuing, boozing it up with your friends and family? Yeah?

Eff you.

...Just kidding. Though I got to participate in approximately none of the above because I was busy cooking myself into the ground and then not getting to eat anything because apparently that's what you sign up for when you decide to become a private chef, I don't begrudge you your fun-filled holiday weekend. Much.

No, actually, the fact of the matter is, multiple private dinner-parties during fun summer holidays aside, I'm getting paid to cook, and that's pretty damn awesome.

Want to see some of the things I've been making for my very special Bridgehampton family? (I'd tell you more about them, but for now I'd like to actually keep my job. Maybe later I'll tell you that they're a family of four - a mother, a father, and two teenage daughters - and that they like to have a plate of crudité before and a platter of oatmeal raisin cookies after every evening meal. But for now you know nothing.).

Here, the savories:

Spiced homemade pita chips with garlicky edamame dip

Grilled veggie platter

Grilled sweet corn

Endive with white bean dip and cherry tomato

Caprese salad action

Grilled vegetable salads, ready for eating

Grilled halibut with tomato, corn and black bean salsa

And here, the sweets!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Banana whoopie pies

Cake truffles

4th of July cupcakes

4th of July chocolate-dipped pretzel rods

Yeah, I did temper chocolate for this. ...What?

4th of July strawberry shortcake

Patriotic cookie platter

Unpatriotic berry cobbler

So um, yeah. I've been busy. Tomorrow, I'm cooking for a party of twelve. The menu is ambitious, but I'm excited about it. It has potential. If it's successful, I'll tell you about it in my next post. If it fails... I'll probably still tell you about it. For now, have some crudité. ...It's mandatory.