I was reading Rosie's post regarding chocolate chip banana pancakes and I had an instant flashback to 1994 and my first "real" job as a kitchen assistant at a highly regarded and respected boy's private boarding school located righ here in Vancouver.

My mom had been working there for years. I needed a part time job and they needed some extra help in the kitchen. What started off as a two week gig, ended after a 6 year engagement - and only because I finally gave it up.

My initial duties were pretty low key: clear tables, wash dishes and generally, keep it clean and tidy. Three years into it, the weekend cook left and rather than hiring someone new, I got a promotion: breakfast cook. My job included preparing brunch and hot breakfast for a group of growing boys (and mooching teachers) between the ages of 9 and 17.On average, I had approximately 40 customers for breakfast. However, every few weeks, I would wip up my secret chocolate chip pancake recipe and EVERYONE would come down for breakfast. On those days, the average breakfast crowd grew to 60. Those pancakes reached the same status as the banana pancakes with butterscotch sauce - the all time number one requested breakfast item and my mom's specialty.

I sometimes miss those mornings. Creating a meal in a state of the art kitchen with every ingredient necessary at your fingertips. A grill the size of a 52" big screen tv, a massive walk in fridge and shelves upon shelves of utensils, pots and pans. but most of all, I miss the boys. I miss their happy hello's and from some, the grumbling g'mornings muttered under a still lingering blanket of sleep. I miss being asked what I thought, and how to do this or that or when I was going to make those famous pancakes again.