Robert Ponsi:  

I'm retired now, and it's the best 'job' I've ever had! I was Chief Reliability Engineer at an aerospace company in my first career, and a pastry chef in my second. That was quite a change--going from building high-tech guidance systems for NASA spacecraft and teaching young engineers to baking croissants and teaching culinary students! I've won several culinary awards since becoming a chef, but one of the most rewarding things about this profession, other than teaching young, aspiring chefs-in-training, is being my wife's private Personal Chef. She hasn't cooked a meal in over sixteen years, and she LOVES it! (Mostly, however, I think she enjoys bragging about me to her friends). Currently, I spend much of my spare time as a guest chef-instructor at local culinary schools and cooking and/or doing cooking demonstrations at charity events. I'm also very active in the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). Lately I've done a lot of travelling to five-star resorts in the Caribbean to train and evaluate resort chefs for ACF certifications. For the past two years I was invited (and accepted the invitation) to help prepare banquets for the US Navy to celebrate them celebrate the Navy's birthday at their submarine base on Andros Island in the Bahamas (Google AUTEC to see the base). I'll be do...Expand for more