I was very excited to be offered a job working for Hucksters as a Chef. I was ready to take on a new challenge preparing and cooking food for up to 80 guests (how hard could it be!!!!) The first couple of weeks consisted of getting to know my new season family and home for the next 4 months and exploring the resort and the best places to drink (not difficult with the bar right next door) I also managed a little bit of skiing!! While working we practiced the menu and finalizing recipes which was great fun catering for only a small number of guests. Then the first big week Christmas!!!!! For me this was an incredibly hard time. I had never been away from home at Christmas before and I missed my family and friends terribly :( however my lovely season family and out wonderful guests help to make it extra special. Christmas eve came and the veg prep was immense. I have never seen so much veg this was going to be a total chalet effort. Despite the hard work it was great fun sitting round with all the staff and guests singing along to Christmas songs and have a drink or two (maybe three). Christmas day came and went in a massive blur of Christmas jumpers, Christmas hats, Secret Santa presents, a well deserved visit to the spa and then the mammoth task of cooking a 3 course Christmas dinner for 50!!!!!! Somehow myself and Sharon (the head chef) pulled it off, only melting a few Christmas puddings.
Natalie
New year came next and so did the snow, so much snow. This was the first time we had had such a large dumping of the white stuff and there was a lot of snow clearing going on and people getting stranded and staying up til 2am waiting for guests to arrive. However it was worth it to see the appreciation when we could offer them hot food before heading to their beds. New year it's self was so much fun we had a guest appearance by the -3 degrees (myself, Nats and emily) who performed badly for the lovely guests until a chair malfunction sent Nats crashing to the ground, taking Emily with her. Once Christmas and New year were over with I was given the opportunity to work for a couple of weeks in our chalet in Serre Chevalier. It was really lovely to get to ski in a different resort and to cook for one big group of guests however I really missed my little family in Vallandry and was very excited to return.
Throughout my ski season there were many up a and downs, more ups then downs however. One of my most memorable days of a week was a Tuesday on this particular day the guest had chicken skewers for dinner. These skewers were a total team effort and took ages to prepare, putting the exact amout of chicken, onion and courgette on each skewer and in the right order. We would also play Robbie Williams swing album and sing along and get on with the job it was tedious at the time but actually now I kinda miss it. Although I did enjoy burning the left over skewers at the end of the season. With the end of the season approaching it was an excuse to enjoy the mountains in the sun. There was so much to Do, picnics on the pistes, waterslides, dancing on the tables at the Arpette bar and BBQs on the Bar Mont Blanc terrace. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone but it was nice to finally head home with the knowledge that I would be coming back the following winter for another ski season. I enjoyed my time with Hucksters so much that I have been lucky enough to be invited back to help at peak weeks where I get to interact with our wonderful guests. I just want to say thank you to all the seasonaire and guests for making my seasons so much fun and special thanks to Julie for inviting me back time and again. See you All soon :) xx
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