— Sue Russomanno

They're very, very different, um, experiences. Um, you know, as a, as a personal chef, which I've, I've done off and on a few times, um, uh, you know, you, you develop a, a, a relationship with a, a certain group of people, you know, whether it's a couple or a family, whether the situation is, and, um, you can, I guess there's different si situations. One, you can offer your menu and just do it your way. I've been in that situation as well as a sit, as a situation where, um, you know, I, I, um, cooked according to, um, um, more input, uh, from my clients. And, uh, that can be fine, you know, provided you're comfortable with food handling and, uh, you know, how to handle rabbit if they want to eat rabbit or, you know, um, squash raviolis or, you know, making the pasta or whatever that request happens to be. Okay. On the other hand, if, if you are creating your own menu and offering that to your client and saying, Hey, you know, you choose from this list, uh, then you have more control and you can, um, offer things that, uh, you're more confident in making, uh, things where you know, your skills are more dialed in and you can, you know, um, um, you know, really create that, that best of, uh, in that category. Um, on the other hand, you know, being an instructor, uh, can be, uh, very rewarding, you know, if you're into the education, uh, into the sharing and the, and the, and the teaching part of things. You know, I have done this for the general public, um, have taught a number of times at, uh, Bob's Red Mill, uh, in their, uh, uh, educational kitchen on campus in, uh, Milwaukee, Oregon. Um, you know, as well as at, um, you know, on the, on the ground schools, uh, you know, here in Portland, uh, whether that was the La Cordon Blue Campus, uh, in Portland or, uh, the Art Institute, um, of Portland, you know, also, uh, a stint at Oregon Culinary Institute. And so, uh, you know, those are all very different. Um, you know, those two categories are, are different, but rewarding in their own way. Um, so, uh, yeah, think about what, what turns you on, you know, what, uh, what you like to do. Um, I, I like food in, in all sort of settings, and I don't mind, um, you know, doing catering, which is part of that as well. And, um, uh, you can step in and, and, uh, provide food to somebody while also sharing about the food, the culture, the history, the techniques that you're applying, and, uh, some of the different ways of handling that given food. And so there's definitely some crossover as well, uh, uh, you know, between these different endeavors.