HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINES!!! Semper Fi!

We are not going to talk about the football game last night. Let's just say that I won't have to sit in the snow this year for playoffs and leave it at that. The weather was very nice for sitting outside. I worked in the concession stand for the first half but only wore my coat for maybe half of the second. I sat with some other parents (the funnest, noisiest ones!) and had a blast. Looking forward to basketball!

I slept better last night. I started a little too late to feel great today but at least I slept! This morning I walked to 711 for coffee before my carpool got here. About halfway there I tripped in my clumsy chef shoes. I threw one hip and shoulder out of whack and they are sooooooo sore! I skinned a hand and an elbow and scraped the heck out of one knee! The knee and elbow are turning darker and darker. When was the last time I skinned my knee? I'm going to be black and blue tomorrow! And stiff! Today I am very thankful for Tylenol!

School was cool. I don't want to say that I'm bored because that's so negative and I don't want to have a negative attitude toward school. I like it. I really do. We went over all of the small equipment in the kitchen and through each piece of our knife kits. Lecture time was mostly the history of our industry--Careme, Escoffier, and so on. It is very interesting and I took thorough notes the first time! I had a hard time hearing today (battery might be dead) and might have been less bored if I could have followed better. Standing around achy and too tired didn't help. More than anything, I don't want to come across to my instructors or my classmates as a know-it-all. That's annoying! I obviously do not know everything or think I do. I'm just saying that I very recently covered the materials that we are going over right now and I still remember them. We start knife cuts Thursday. I never did master that so it will do me a lot of good! I sure need practice! I tourned a potato to show Julianne Sunday. It was horrible but not even close to my first few in class.

I really have to start eating before school! We won't be cooking anything to actually eat for a few weeks and the smells from the other classes are soooooo gooooood!

Our knife kits don't have nearly as many things as the ones from Le Cordon Bleu but I think the knives are even better! This chef's knife is awesome!

To nap or not to nap?

That is the question. I don't know what was wrong with me last night (maybe I was just excited or nervous about today) but I never did even doze off! I hate that! I finally just got up at 4:00 and made myself poached eggs and toast and a pot of tea. By the time the alarm went off I had consumed all of that, showered, ironed, dressed, and played on the computer. All day I've been so sleepy that I've been nauseous and when I get no sleep I feel like I have a cold--runny nose, achy eyes, scratchy throat. So now I'm home and miserable and I just want to sleep. I'm not sick--just overtired. I'll be fine after I sleep. I have six hours until I have to be in the concession stand. If I sleep now and sleep for too long will I be able to sleep tonight? I really wish football was a different night. I would just suffer until about 6:00 and then crash! Obviously, missing the game is not an option. Whining isn't helping anything so I guess I'll stop now!

School was great. I felt like crap but it was an easy day. We waited around a lot early because we had to wait in line to get our stuff and so did some other classes and they went first. When we finally got to our kitchen and met our instructors, they introduced themselves and then divided us in half. One (Chef Smith--I guess it's last names here) took one half on a pretty extensive tour of school while the other (Chef Dewes) gave the other half a tour of the kitchen and all of the equipment. Then they switched. We took a little break and then had lecture, which was basically going over every minute detail of our class syllabus. That wasn't good. We sat still for that and I had a very hard time keeping my eyes open! Our new books are awesome and the knife kit is great! I'll have more to report tomorrow.

Well, tomorrow is my first day at L'Ecole Culinaire and I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! We had Orientation last Thursday (it was three hours of pep talks--what a great decision we've made, what a wonderful industry, etc.--and rules and that stuff and I thought I would pull my friggin' hair out. We didn't get our loot. We get it all tomorrow except uniforms. We get some utility shirts and aprons and maybe hats but the rest will take a couple of weeks. I don't know what the hold up is--maybe that our names are embroidered on the jackets (cool). We wear jeans or our own chef pants if we have some (of course I do from LCB) and a plain white shirt with the utility shirts that they will provide in the meantime. I was disappointed to not have my new knife kit and new books to play with over the weekend. We are encouraged to personalize the cases of our kits so we can tell them apart easily (and will be able to engrave our names on the blades of the knives in class). I assigned Julianne with that task. She's very excited and even wants to pay for puff paint herself to do it. Actually, she's thinking about getting a Bedazzler! There is no telling what I will end up with but I can't wait to see! I'll bet nobody grabs mine on accident! My plans are to finish the degree program in Culinary Arts and then to go back and get a degree in Culinary Management. I can't remember how long that takes but not nearly as long as Culinary Arts but it will help a lot with the job prospects. I get more excited all the time about the career possibilities. I need to dig out my class notes from LCB and study them.

Our Blue Devils are in playoffs AGAIN this year! They won their District game against The Principia last week and play Brentwood in the Regionals game tomorrow night. It's a home game for us and I am working in the concession stand for the first half of the game. I hope the weather is as gorgeous as it has been for the last few days! I have short sleeves and open windows today. It's incredible! The sun is shining. At the last couple of football games I shivered until my back ached! Maybe it won't be as bad for this one. The Principia section of the stands was packed and their fans were on fire! That's cool. There was a bunch, though, that thought it was real clever to come sit in the middle of us. Then they seemed a little put out by our cowbells and very enthusiastic fans! Whatever! At least they are a very polite and civilized group and nobody waited around to "shank" anyone after the game!

Andrew was home for Halloween weekend. He & Julianne bought new fish and a new frog for her aquarium. One of the black fish is dead already! Since she set up the tank last January she has lost two frogs (keeps replacing them), a couple of big snails, and a couple of suck-uppers. The angel fish and a pink fish are the only two original residents. She started with two angels and several pink ones. We both like the angel fish. He (she?) will follow your finger against the side of the glass. It makes us imagine he likes us and wants petted. We're goofy.

This dude has been at every game that I've been to for three years now. He's great! He yells instructions and encouragement with his autographed megaphone. The players probably can't hear him but he makes me feel better!

I love this kid's spirit (and his hair)!

Blue Devils vs. Blue Hornets

Last night MRH beat the Northwest Blue Hornets. It was our last home game of this season. Man, it was COLD! I was pretty bundled up but it took me over an hour to stop shivering after I got home. I made Julianne cuddle with me. It helped a lot! The newspaper predicted, based on all kinds of stats and probabilities, that the Hornets would beat us 42-0 (or something like that). Nobody scored at all until almost the end of the third quarter and that was it. It was a good game and there was certainly no reason for either team to be embarrassed. What a bunch of thugs! Apparently the first hint of trouble came before I got there when the teams were warming up. I don't know what happened exactly but Julianne said that there were coaches and cops pulling players off of each other. Our cheerleaders always take turns going in pairs into the stands to sell 50/50 raffle tickets during the game. Our cops stopped the girls from going into the part of the stands where the other fans were. They let a couple go but promised to "keep an eye on them". No--they weren't even a little bit weirded out by that! When J & I were walking through the parking lot to walk home the whole Hornet team was there supposedly waiting to "shank" our team. That's what I heard from other folks. They were stopped from slashing our bus tires and keying cars. I couldn't really tell a lot of what was going on as J was pulling me around the other way so we wouldn't walk through them. I saw cops with handcuffs in their hands and coaches yelling at players. I don't know who started what and I don't want to completely blame just one team if there was some tension between them before the game (I'm sure our guys didn't just shut up and ignore them) but our team was nowhere in sight on that parking lot and I can't blame our cheerleaders if there was some reason our policemen didn't want them in the stands where Hornets fans and parents were (and it's pathetic that there should be any trouble with parents there--ours would have skinned us). That's the first time that has happened. Maybe it was just tension because this game decided who goes to Districts? I know that one of their players was yelling really gross things (Number 79--you're a pig and I don't just say that because you look like you ate the rest of your team) at our cheerleaders during the game and if I had known it during the game I would have told someone about it. He should have been kicked out of the game. Who taught these kids manners, respect, and sportsmanship? Way to go. You sure have a lot to be proud of. I am reminded again why I was so desperate to get out of the City school system!

We also won the cheer war!






Julianne is "flying" now. Oh, joy. They aren't "catching" her yet (not at games but they do at practice where I don't have to watch). Thank goodness! Ease Mommy into this! This is the first time that they did it at a game (and the first time for me to see it). I thought we had escaped this because she's very tall but apparently she's a "natural". Dang dance class! She LOVES it! Can you tell?


They're so cute in their warmups!

Got it all figured out now

I went to L'Ecole Culinaire this morning to figure out the details--how to pay and when to start. Looks like I'm all set for November 9. YAY!!! Even got fitted for uniforms while I was there. I have four chef jackets embroidered with Le Cordon Bleu if anyone wants to be a chef for Halloween (size small). There is an open house this Friday and an orientation the first week of November. I'm very excited! I'm also just a little cocky thinking that I'm gonna just breeze through the first ten weeks. I might be in for a very rude awakening. I am going to work very hard. I want to be a Student Ambassador and I want a 4.0 for at least the first term and I'm going to try to have perfect attendance. To do that, though, I have to not be with Julianne when she has tonsils out on the 24th.

Tonight is Julianne's last home football game for the year (yeah, I keep saying that). It's also the first time I will see her "flying". Ugh! I thought she was too tall and we didn't have to do that. She loves it. I'm reserving judgment. No, I'm not. I hate it. Let's just be honest. Pictures next time I'm online.

Julianne's boyfriend, Andrew, was looking at this blog one day and saw a picture of the hat I made for myself. He said he "loved my beanie"! He jumped on it when I offered to make him one. He wanted black (it really is black) with one gray stripe and he wanted it to be washable. I whipped it up from Plymouth Encore yarn this weekend as he was on his way home from college. It's nothing fancy. I don't usually use a pattern for hats. It should keep his head toasty, though.

Andrew is a good kid. He had mid-terms this past week and came home on Wednesday after his last test. Of course, he wasted no time getting to our house. When he left later he hadn't been gone 5-10 minutes tops when Julianne went to her room and squealed for me to come "FAST!" There was a HUGE bee-type creature on her nightstand (it looked like a giant mutant bumble bee but it was gray). I thought it was a mouse from across the room! I don't usually freak out about bugs and I'm not afraid of spiders. Unless I have the vacuum cleaner out anyway I just ignore them (if I know they are not venomous). I never squish them. The only thing grosser than bugs is bug guts! I did not want to clean up the mess this sucker would leave! So basically what I'm saying is that I did not help my poor, innocent, helpless child get rid of the big, scary monster by her bed. I told her that she was a strong, independant woman and could take care of her own pest control needs. She did exactly that, too. She called Andrew! He was halfway home but he turned around and came back. I think, to be honest, that it was as much out of curiosity as chivalry but that really doesn't matter. He got rid of the bug. The bug, though, has a twin! And this one has made itself at home on the Eiffel Tower lamp by MY bed! I'm S.O.L., too, because Andrew was four hours away this time and refused to turn around. Ungrateful bastard......

School News

You have probably guessed, since I haven't posted any cooking pictures in awhile, that either someone in class finally told me where to put my camera or I just don't go to school anymore. It's the second one. I can't depend on a carpool. To be fair, the second chick didn't volunteer. One of the school administrators asked her to do it. Apparently she did not really want to. My car is getting worse every day and I don't drive farther than the three blocks to the grocery store. I still don't know what is wrong. It has times when it doesn't want to go in gear so I think it's the transmission but it seems to only do that after I've made a turn so I think it's related to the power steering still. I drove it to L'Ecole Culinaire a couple of weeks ago and it shook when I got below 40. Weird! Anyway, Le Cordon Bleu withdrew me for not attending. I am definitely going to go to L'Ecole Culinaire and in the degree program instead of just a certificate (so much better and I wish I'd done that in the first place). The only hangup now is that I don't know when I can start. It depends on how soon I can get financial aid again. I have to take them a statement from LCB telling how much of it they used and how much they sent back. I just got that today. I might have to wait until after my graduation date from LCB in March. If not I will start in November. I'm so excited! I got a very thorough tour of the campus by my admissions rep, Mike. That was cool. I'm excited about the extra classes that are part of the degree program. One is charcuterie and garde manger (cold foods). As part of charcuterie we will butcher hogs and then use all of the parts. We will cure and smoke meats and make bacon and sausage and all kinds of things that aren't part of my normal diet. It sounds gross but I look forward to doing it all once. We will make other kinds of sausage, too. In Garde Manger we get to do ice sculptures! I will get a total of fifteen weeks of baking/patisserie instead of six. I'm thrilled about that! I will be in school for 90 weeks including a ten-week externship. I'm glad that all of our books are different from LCB--not because LCB's aren't very awesome books but because I love books and I like variety. I can hardly wait to get started. Know what else I love? What did I whine about several posts down? This admissions rep showed me PROOF that students CAN take their food home with them! Their bookbags were lined up in the floor outside of the kitchens and many of them had wrapped food on them. Cool! Julianne is ready! I should breeze through the first ten weeks. It will be knife cuts, sanitation, stocks, and mother sauces and I've done all of that. I hope I don't sound like I'm bad-mouthing Le Cordon Bleu. I'm not (except the taking food home part--I was never happy about that). It's a great school. I am only not there because of transportation. I do regret not checking out other options before I commited to it. It was a very spontaneous thing. I should have enrolled in a degree program in the first place. LCB will have one--their other campuses do--but they are brand-new and not accredited for it yet. I don't have anything bad to say about the school. The people there are wonderful.

Styper

My friend, Linda, & I went to a Stryper concert last night. It was GREAT! Even worth missing Knit Night! Linda bought soundcheck tickets so we got to watch that and and do a meet-n-greet to have them sign the CDs that were included. My only complaint about the show? There was someone very flatulent very close to me! EW!!!

Me & Oz Fox:

Linda & Michael Sweet:

Soundcheck:

The concert (love the yellow scarf):

Bolivar or bust!

I had an amazing weekend! It was Homecoming at SBU and my class' 20-year-thingy. My friend, Christie, flew to St. Louis (she's a flight attendant so she can do that), rented a car, picked me up, and we headed west. There was an alumni banquet Friday night and we met up with several old friends there. That was great! They took group photos of the classes that had special years. There were only a few of us at the banquet so there aren't many folks in the picture. After the banquet and lots of visiting, Christie, Terri, & I went to my best friend in the whole wide world, Wendy's, house for a couple of hours. Wendy & her family moved back to Bolivar from New Jersey a few years ago and built a gorgeous log cabin on her parents' farm land. It was so good to see her!

On Saturday, Christie & I got up early and headed back to Bolivar (we stayed in Springfield) to watch the Homecoming parade. Each graduating decade watches on a different block. The 80's people are always right in front of my first dorm, Beasley Hall (which was also my dad's dorm a long time ago). There were many more people there than at the banquet. We met up with Wendy for lunch on campus and then the four of us (Terri, too) found a quiet spot (or it was quiet before we found it anyway) at a table in the fieldhouse to chat. I don't know how long we sat and talked but it was FUN! Name a subject and we tackled it! Seriously--any subject! Eventually Terri & Wendy both had to go home. I went with Wendy while Christie roamed around for awhile. I think she caught part of the football game and I think we won. Wendy & I made (mostly Wendy made--I chopped the onion) very yummy salmon chowder. She also took some homemade rolls out of her freezer and heated them up. MMMMMMMM!!! Christie joined us by the time it was all ready and we ate and visited until bedtime!

After we got back to our room Christie checked available flights for today and found that the only way she could get home was to leave St. Louis at 8am! We got up at 2:30 and drove back. As tired as we were, I don't think we ever stopped talking. I got home about 5:30 and dozed for a couple of hours. Julianne was home alone all weekend. She was supposed to go on a trip with one of her classes to rock-climb, but when she went to bed Friday night she had a slight fever. It had been very cold and rainy for a couple of days and she cheered in it Friday night (and they won!) so I think she was just run down. Since she still had a fever Saturday morning I made her stay in under orders to stay home and to sleep all she could. She seems to be a whole new kid today, so the sleep therapy worked! She was in my bed when I got home this morning! I should have gone to church but I was so wiped out. I hadn't slept much for four nights and it hit me in the face! One of Julianne's camp friends drove up this morning to go to church with her. She isn't home yet. I've had a very restful, quiet day but I miss my baby!

We had a little excitement on the block this morning! I walked to 711 for coffee and when I left there was a police car in front of Dave's house next-door. When I came home he & his daughter were outside so I had to chat. His truck had been stolen! He said that four cars have been stolen in Maplewood (Maplehood?) in, I think, a week. I haven't talked to him since then but I don't think it's been recovered. I haven't seen it. Earlier in the week a dude across the street called the police because he saw a guy skulking around our yard. Julianne came to me to say that there was someone with a flashlight outside her window. It turned out to be a cop. He told us that they caught the guy and he lives in the apartments by 711. He has no priors so I guess they let him go. Weird! We're being a little extra-careful right now.

Wendy has inspired me and I want to make chowder. I think Tuesday I'll make a pot of it and some bread (I'm too busy tomorrow--Stryper is in town!). Sounds so good. For now I have a pot of chamomile tea and I'm just counting down until bedtime!

This is the class of '89 people who were at the banquet:

Me & Ellen Bell. She worked for the college for 50 years! She was a dorm mom and then maybe someone's secretary. My mom's generation called her Ding Dong and mine called her Ma Bell. I don't know how old she is but she seems to be doing great. She has never been married or had kids. Maybe that's her secret?

Me, Christie, Judy, & Terri at the parade (I borrowed Christie's pashmina and LOVE it!)

RJ, Lauri, me, Terri, Christie, David, Susan, Michelle, & Tracy:

Melinda, Terri, Christie, Wendy, me:

Here's some Stryper to tide me over:

Last weekend I went to a trivia night with a bunch of folks on Facebook that I know from high school. It was FUN! I took my usual artichoke florentine spread but added cayenne to give it some kick. Trivia Night benefited Clowder House, which is a cat rescue/shelter in the city where one of our gals (Debbie in the pink shirt) volunteers. I made everyone pose for a Facebook picture (both tables are us). I'm the one in the middle in the red sweater.

Homecoming Weekend

Julianne had Homecoming this weekend. It's early this year and I think the kids had a hard time really getting into it. They won their game Friday night against Grandview 58-8. The dance was last night and everyone got ready at Molly's again this year. I have tons of pictures and will post them as soon as I can. Julianne's boyfriend is away at college and couldn't come home for the dance but she got "permission" to go with a different guy just as friends.

Yes, she's cutting her stitch. She wouldn't let me breathe on it (still hasn't gotten over her first lost tooth) but every one of these girls had a turn picking at it trying to pull it out!

Hannah, Julianne, Sophie, Jayme, Barb, Molly before:

Jayme, Sophie, Julianne, Molly after:

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arg!

Julianne's foot saga

We visited a surgeon, Dr. Durgin, (real nice guy who was an Army surgeon in Baghdad) this morning and got her darned foot fixed. He was able to do it in his office and I got to watch. He was trying to get the thing out without any stitches but she did end up with one--her very first stitch ever. The "foreign body" looks like the business end of a thumbtack and it's rusty. We saved it 'cause we're goofy and a couple of teachers wanted to see. J has a low-grade infection. She ended up with antibiotics but no pain stuff and the shot he gave her has pretty much worn off. She can't cheer tonight but she donned her uniform (and slippers) and rode the bus to the game. I'm sure she's milking the sympathy for all she's worth! Just got a text. They won 25-7. YAY!!!

Julianne took this cheesy picture in Whole Foods on the way home from the doctor's office:

I went to the night class again last night. I really don't like it. The chef instructor does things and makes us do things so differently from the other instructors I've had so far. I wouldn't mind that but he just expects me to know to do them his way and is a little snotty about it. The class is much smaller than the morning class (and everyone is very, very nice) but, my gosh, they are the slowest cleaners! Class is over at 10:30 and they didn't get done last night until at least 11:00. My carpool & I were planning to go back to our 6am class today. Her F3 class at night only has eight students in it and they are always done very early. She just waits for me. Her dad is inICU this week and she works right after our morning class. In order to be able to be at the hospital during visiting hours she needs to go to the night class. I totally understand and am grateful to be able to get to school but I really hate it! Chef Todd (gosh, I miss him this week) called me this morning while J was in x-ray (more on that below) to tell me that he has a schedule all worked out where I can pass the class but I have to be in his class and I have to be able to stay over. I had emailed him and asked him to be very honest about whether I could pass the class because if I had to take it over anyway I was not going back at night this week. I have to figure out the ride situation for staying after class. Next week is the last week of F2 anyway so I do need to catch up quickly if I don't want to take it again.

Last night we paired up and made roasted chickens with jus lie', pommes puree', glazed carrots, goujonettes of catfish, sauce tartar and cocktail sauce. It was all quite yummy! It's starting to matter how we plate the food. That is not my gift!

Julianne broke her toe on her bedroom doorway a few weeks ago. I thought it was getting better but the top of her foot is bruised and swollen and very tender. There is a little knot by the joint of that toe. I took her to an urgent care facility this morning. After an x-ray the doctor told us what's wrong--and you're not gonna believe this--she has the tip of a needle embedded in her foot! On the TOP of her foot! How the heck did that happen? She denies vehemently crawling around in Nanie's sewing room. Very weird! But kinda funny! There is no infection. This doctor didn't remove it because she didn't know how much tissue was around it and didn't want to dig around in there. I would have let her. Now I have to take her to a surgeon to remove it but they will probably do it in their office.

Egg Day

I made it to school last night! Chef Todd seemed happy to see me (but I had Chef David for my instructor). He said to just worry about Egg Day for the night and that we would catch me up slowly over the next two weeks and that I can still pass F2! There were tests yesterday but I don't have to take them yet. I've missed a lot! I've missed Vegetable Day, Legume Day, making homemade pasta (I really looked forward to that), and I don't even know what else. I want to do all of it but I don't want to be too overwhelmed. I know that on Monday we are roasting chickens (don't know what else except that it will also be roasted). I'm telling you right now that I am NOT throwing a whole chicken away! It's coming home with me. Chef has to look away some time!

Egg Day was easy! We made Eggs Benedict, French omelets, and fried eggs. I had never eaten eggs Benedict before. I don't know why, except that I don't really care for English muffins. I love poached eggs. I only had to try this recipe once and Chef declared it "the best so far!" It was awesome! I inhaled it while I cooked the other stuff. I had to do two omelets because the first one had a weird texture and wasn't setting up. Chef said that it was because I didn't use a non-stick pan (I NEVER use non-stick) but I don't think that was it. I did switch pans, though, and it was perfect the next time. Now, I've fried eggs for years, but I had to do them THREE times last night! The first time I broke one of the yolks. The second time I lost half of it between the stoves when I tried to flip them (never tried that before and was intimidated but I'll never do it with a spatula again). The third time even my flip was good! I meant to do them over-easy but they felt hard to me so that's what I told Chef they were. They were medium. They were good, though. Obviously, I couldn't eat all of those eggs, so they did get thrown away (except the poached ones). Chef took a picture of each of us with each dish for our portfolios. Thank God I wore makeup to class! I hope this is not going to be a regular occurrence. I'm just not real photogenic. To round out the class, Chef David felt that he should pass on some wisdom on his own, and he showed us how to season pans. That was cool. I'm going to do that to all of mine over the weekend.

Just when I think I have it all worked out

my new carpool chick slept through her alarm this morning! Go figure. We are hitting the evening class so I just put my uniform back on and I'm waiting for her. I have no idea who teaches F2 in the evening but I do know that it's Egg Day. I canceled a date for it so those better be some darn good eggs! I can't remember what they made last time around. Chef Todd was planning to have us make hollandaise again this morning. Maybe we won't have to this evening. I almost made a poached egg for lunch. I'll be glad I didn't later!

It looks like I'm staying at Le Cordon Bleu. What a relief! I was getting excited about the alternative but I think I would rather just finish what I am already doing--and paying for. I had a voicemail last night (weird because I was holding the phone when it came through but it never rang or showed a missed call--maybe I accidentally rejected the call?) that I didn't bother to check until this morning from another student who lives very close to me and works after school just a couple of blocks from my house. She said that she would be happy to pick me up. I should have checked voicemail last night so I could go to school today! I have emailed Chef Todd and asked what I can do to catch up or to at least pass. I would like to go back to this class and repeat everything I've missed but I would rather just pass it and keep moving! I really don't want to repeat the things I didn't miss! I don't know how expensive it is for us to repeat a 6-week class and I would like to still graduate in March. I still want to find some baking/pastry classes to take on my own. I'm going to check with Forest Park College to see what they have. I know they have a culinary program and I saw online last week that they have just been accredited to offer a baking degree. I don't want to take all of the general education classes that I would need for their degree program but I think I can take some individual classes and I'm going to look into it. There's no such thing as too much knowledge, right?

I'm feeling a little better today. I talked to an admissions representative at L'Ecole Culinaire and might go tomorrow afternoon to see a chef demonstration there. I'm dying to see their campus! He can't do anything financial aid-wise until I officially withdraw from Le Cordon Bleu. I talked to a financial aid representative at LCB about the financial consequences if I withdraw from there now. She couldn't tell me. I will have to talk to the financial aid director about that. She did say that she has an email out to all of the chef instructors about my carpool problems and doesn't want me to quit yet. I've missed more than a week but she says I can catch up. It would be hard but I know I can. I can learn the recipes. I have them. I won't see Chef's demos and I won't know exactly how he wants them to turn out. He has his own funny little things that he does to recipes that aren't in our books--like whole grain mustard in the Sauce Robert and a wine/shallot reduction for hollandaise. I love details like those and they do make them better. The end texture and consistency is important and what I think is good isn't always what he wants. because, of course, cooking for public is different from cooking for family. If I don't have a carpool by the end of this week I am going to withdraw from LCB. I really don't see how I have a choice. If I can work out financial aid I am going to LEC starting in November but I'm going to go for 90 weeks and get an associates degree instead of the certificate. Julianne & I would graduate at the same time! The certificate takes 36 weeks at LCB and 60 at LEC and the classes at LEC are two hours longer each day. I hate to say it, but it sounds like it might be a better education anyway and I should have examined that possibility before I made a commitment at LCB. Even for the certificate the baking & pastry class is 15 weeks as opposed to 6 at LCB. If I work at a restaurant or hotel I want to be a pastry chef. I think it suits my temperament better for several reasons--one of which is that you don't bake a cake to order at a restuarant! I want the general culinary knowledge, too, but I plan to take as many extra baking classes as I can wherever I can find them. I want to start a personal chef business. I was planning to do that in November when I finished up with the cooking technique classes at LCB but in time for the holiday busy time but I have to have a dependable car for that. I can't haul that many groceries and a knife kit and recipes and whatever equipment I need around on the bus! That's assuming that everyone who hires me even lives on the bus line.

I just got a promise from Julianne that I can make her wedding cake someday if I'm any good at it. YAY!!! I'll make my own, too, if the nursing home will let me use the kitchen.

Julianne got a refill for her henna kit tonight and she gave me another tattoo--a chef's toque on top of my foot--only I smeared it so the other foot looks like I stepped in something in the yard. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow.

I'm having big issues. I don't like to whine in public like this but I guess I think I have to explain or something--you know, why there are suddenly no cooking at school pictures. I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu very spontaneously. I've wished for a long time that I had pursued the culinary arts years ago. There is a culinary school called L'Ecole Culinaire very close to here and every single time I've ever passed it (often because it's right off the highway) I've felt that twang of regret. I kind of thought that I couldn't go back to school. I've been a single working parent for so long and won't commit my time to anything else. I wouldn't even work evenings and nights after Julianne started school because I didn't want sitters and teachers raising her. In fact, I've avoided the hospitality industry completely because of that and that's where I wanted to be. She's in high school now so I'm much more open about my schedule. When I'm alone again in a couple of years I plan to get back into that industry and not in St. Louis. I didn't know how I could pay for school. I've done the financial aid thing before and figured I had tapped it almost out. I'm also extremely hard-of-hearing and have a lot of problems following instructors even if I'm paying close attention. I saw an ad for LCB and requested information without taking time to think about it. An admissions representative called me and I made an appointment with her but I still didn't think I could go. Long story short, the financial aid worked out and everything fell into place very nicely. LCB is in St. Peters and that is thirty miles from here. There are no trains or busses to get me there. I am driving an ancient car but I really thought it would last me until I graduate in March. I still signed up for the carpool thing but have never found anyone to share a ride with. There was one chick who emailed me but never returned an email or call when I tried to contact her back. Frustrating! Of course, a couple of weeks into classes my car started having problems and they were bad enough that I was scared to drive the thirty miles to school in it. I missed three days of F1 (Food Foundations 1--the first six weeks of school) because of car trouble. Those were the days when Chef Shane demonstrated soups for us so I totally missed the soups. I still have never made consomme'! Of course, I had to take a practical test on what I didn't learn those days. A dude in my class offered to drive me. That was working out great as far as I knew. We get along fine. His car is comfortable. He has great music. I gave him gas money. He stopped showing up last week out of the blue. He doesn't answer the phone and doesn't return an email. I don't know what the problem is. I have one guess unless he has quit school. Bottom line is that I can't drive my car and have no way to get to St. Peters and it looks like I have to quit Le Cordon Bleu. It's killing me. I'm heartbroken and just pissed at the whole wide world tonight. I'm really getting seriously depressed and I don't get depressed. I was so excited about this and so extremely excited about the future after it. I'm going to check out L'Ecole Culinaire in the morning. Their program is almost twice as long and therefore more expensive and they don't have the big name but I can get there on public transportation if I have to. I'll make sure of that before I even make an appointment with an admissions rep. If financial aid works out again I'll go that route. I don't know what else to do if I want to be a chef. I just feel like I should have my act together by now and have at least a car that I can depend on.

Thank you for letting me whine! I promise to not do it here again!

We won!!!

We won our first home game and it was against our biggest rivals--Brentwood. The score was 28-14. It was exciting!

Rice Day

Today was a very easy day. We made Rice Pilaf and Risotto Alla Parmigiana. They are pretty simple. I overcooked my pilaf a little because I made my risotto while it was in the oven. They both tasted good, though. Apparently, Some Of Us still need practice with hollandaise so we had to do that again, too! This was the best that I've made. It was just a little thick but it didn't break. Chef said that we would be making it three more times in F2 to make sure we have it down. Yippee. I was sous chef today so I had to set up Chef's mis en place besides my own and supervised the cleaning instead of participating in it. That was weird and kinda boring! It's a curious thing to me that there are several folks in class who have restaurant cooking experience that are not getting done cooking until the very last possible minute. I was feeling a little smug about my own timing--and my food hasn't usually been perfect but not bad at all and it was the first time I made any of these dishes--until three different people said to me separately that those people were doing that on purpose so they wouldn't have to clean up. It doesn't surprise me that some do that but it does when it's these particular people or really anyone in our class. They are very dedicated, driven and very, very intense students--and, like I said, experienced. They all jump in to clean and work very hard the rest of the time.

Chef Todd demonstrated risotto for us:

We tasted Chef's risotto:

Apparently, the hot water bath under the mixing bowl is more important to successful hollandaise than I thought because mine was good this time:

I got a few inches of my scarf done. Now whaddya think? I love these two yarns together.

Last night was the first game of the year for our football Blue Devils and they lost. I can't believe it! This is the first regular-season game that they have lost while Julianne has been in high school. I don't want to say it's because of the guys that graduated last year. They were incredible but they can't have all of the credit for those two awesome seasons. Maybe they were distracted by the unbelievably cute cheerleader? I just hope they get their focus this week and kick some Brentwood heinie!

Need opinions, pleeeeeease!

A couple of posts down I showed you this hat and said that I was making convertible mittens to match and wanted to make a solid scarf. Maybe this one. I have some yarn that I think looks good with it but I need someone else to look and tell me! What do you think of the solid yarn in these pictures with the variegated yarn? Is the blue okay? You can see the cuff of the first mitten there. What do you think about a pom-pom on the hat? Should it be solid?

Eight weeks down!

WooHoo!!! We've made a lot of sauces and soups this week. Today we had tests--both written and practical. I got 81% on the written. I should have done better but I was having a very hard time with focus. It's been an extremely stressful week outside of school and I'm over-tired and grouchy and my tummy hurts. For the practical exam we made Sauce Robert (I forgot the whole-grain mustard that our chef instructor added to the recipe), Sauce Mornay (Chef said it would be great if not quite so thick--it was approaching the dreaded "g"-word [gravy]), Buerre Blanc (awesome), and Corn Chowder (I got it just a little thin but it tasted great). I'm learning to pace myself while cooking in class. The first two days that we cooked in F2 I got done very quickly and spent most of the morning confiscating every dirty dish left unattended and trying to look busy. Then I still tried to do too much at a time and got a little mixed up. Today I got my mis en place ready for everything but then cooked one thing at a time and took it to Chef to be graded. I had plenty of time left when I was done and was far from the last one done. I felt calmer and my food was much better. The hardest part was saving gruyere for the Sauce Mornay. I love that stuff! We will be making four or five recipes every day now. I just want to get them right!

I have only one complaint about school. Everyone is nice and helpful and I'm learning a lot. The school is brand-new and looks it. All of the equipment is new and clean and we leave it spotless after each class so I guess it will stay that way. My one problem is that--and I've whined about it enough to know that I'm not the only one--we were told that we could take the food that we cook home with us. That was a small factor is my decision to attend. It's expensive and I'm broke but knowing that dinner four days a week for a couple of months was made already helped me to justify it. I also do mostly a raw diet and Julianne does not so she was very excited about this. Plus, I'm unemployed and grocery money is not plentiful. I struggle to have good food around. It wasn't the biggest factor, but it was a factor. Now we are told that we cannot take food home. First we heard that it was because of the expense of go containers but then because of the cost of the food and folks making too much just to take home. We make a lot of food at school! There are five classes--F1, F2, F3, Baking & Patisserie, and Cuisine Across Cultures (or something like that). Each of them has three classes a day and each of those classes has 20-something people in it. F1 doesn't cook much. They do a lot of knife cuts and they use the scraps from those to make stock and they do some mother sauces but F2 & F3 make four-five recipes each day. Cuisine Across Cultures won't have anyone in it for four more weeks and I don't know what they will be making. It's set up like a restaurant so maybe food will be cooked to order. The past two days in F2 we each made three kinds of soup each day--a saucepan full of each--and we made one today for our test. After Chef took a bite to taste the whole rest of the pan was tossed. We're allowed to eat it but we have to clean so there isn't much time. You have to scarf it. Maybe I'm being petty but I'm greatly irritated. I think that they need to have a talk with the admissions reps. but that the people who are already in school and were told that they could take food home before they signed anything or paid any money should be allowed to take it. I can't tell you how sick I felt today throwing away at least four good-sized servings of very good chowder. It's fresh and hot and tasty and I had to dump it in the trash. Of course then I go home and I'm hungry and looking for something for lunch and all I can think about is the soup I wasted. I'm pissed. I understand that the Chicago school donates to a homeless shelter. I would feel better about that but not happy. The office folks get fed. That's still not right to me. I don't mind sharing but it's a lot of work to get to take just a few rushed bites yourself. So that's my soapbox. Thanks for letting me vent!

Yes, I have been knitting!

I took a little break just because I was disorganized--both my head and my knitting supplies--and distracted for a few weeks. I worked a little on a couple of scarves. I have Fall Fever BAD, though, and with it comes Knit Fever! I always long for Autumn about this time of year but it's also been very cool the past few days. I love it! have a bunch of things on my needles now and I am really enjoying working on all of them. I don't even want to read! Just knit! How odd. I've also been fantasizing about moving to New England so I have mental images of myself in all kinds of adorable hat/scarf/mitten sets. I couldn't wear the same ones all the time!

This is the Baby Surprise Jacket that I made for William (I think they took his picture in it):

I don't know how to crochet at all but I thought the neck needed finishing so I made something up. I think it's not bad!

This is a very odd (but extremely easy) pattern. It's all one piece. The tricky part is folding it into a sweater when you're done. The only seams are the shoulders.

I made this hat last weekend to go with my brown coat. It's SO soft and I love the colors! I have convertible mittens started from the same yarn. I think I want a solid scarf for this set--maybe the medium blue color? Julianne says the hat needs a pom pom in the same solid color. We'll see about that. Gotta find the yarn for that first.

I have had this sock yarn around for awhile and I really don't like it. I'm making a lacy scarf to use as a gift. I can think of a couple of folks who would love it.

Remember my knitted-lengthwise Feather & Fan scarf? Here is why I did it that way in this picture. The Malabrigo Silky Merino is hand-painted and the colors vary so much from one hank to the next and I felt I could blend them better sideways. The three balls below are the same colorway! Julianne & I both love that scarf but it is so short. I have two cast on now--one for each of us. These will be long! I'm going to give the old one away.

This is the start of Loralei's Scarf. It's the same yarn as my felted tea cozy (the four socks in that post are sitting right here by my monitor waiting for heels--I got distracted!). I love this yarn! Love the color! If there is enough I might make a hat, too. I wanted this to be a nice, big, warm scarf and not a lacy one. I think it will be!

This is the easiest lace pattern EVER! It's my Cream Of Spinach Scarf. The yarn spoiled me. It's mohair and silk and SOFT! I love this!

These are next. I love them! I don't dress like TV or movie characters and have no other Twilight swag at all--and don't want any--but Bella's mittens are just gorgeous. This picture is from the actual company that made the ones in the movie so they are identical to Bella's. I'm using my friend's pattern so they will be a teeny bit different. The yarn won't be close, either. I'm thinking about City Tweed in either Brocade or Morning Glory. Whaddya think?

It's time for football!

Already! Tonight was Blue & White Night. Didn't we just have one of those?! It was pretty much the same as last year--football and soccer scrimmages--except that they remembered to introduce the cheerleaders this time. The cheerleaders did a clinic with elementary girls yesterday and they performed tonight. Julianne's little sister, Devin, participated in that. It was wet and chilly. My teeth should not chatter in August! It was fun, though. J's boyfriend, Andrew, hung out with her dad and me. He leaves for college early tomorrow morning. She's been crying since she got home.

She's so dang cute!

Practicing with the little girls in the cafeteria (in the cafeteria out of the rain):

That's the volleyball team standing against the rail. They introduce all of the fall sports teams.

Julianne & Devin:

Juliandrew:

Yesterday we made more sauces. This time they all started with demi-glace. We made Sauce Robert, Sauce Chasseur, and Sauce Marchand de Vin (YUM!!!--all of them with wine in them are YUM). I should have reduced my demi-glace much longer but there was a little mix-up. Other than that, Chef's only comment was that they needed more salt. He added some and had me taste it. I thought it was too salty. Several students said the same thing after their sauces were graded. I know that Chef knows best but I also know that smoking affects your sense of taste and while I respect Chef and his knowledge, experience, and judgement for the most part, I also think that he should take into consideration his own habit when tasting our food. I would have sent it back in a restaurant. The Sauce Chasseur was yummy! It has wine, mushrooms, shallots, and tomatoes in it. How can you really go wrong? I couldn't throw it away. I dubbed it Soup Chasseur and ate it with a spoon!

We started the morning with a little gathering where awards were given out for 3.0 and 4.0 grades (I got neither) and Perfect Attendance (I woulda had that if not for car trouble) for the last term. I guess we're going to do this every six weeks. We did it the first week, too. Just wait until the Baking/Patisserie class. I'll get a certificate then!

I ended the week with three bandaids! Let's hope this is my record.

Monday is Emulsion Day. There are no words to adequately express my excitement.

Obviously I have gotten over feeling silly to get my camera out in class!

Today in class we divided into pairs and used some of the stocks that we have been making to make second sauces--sauces derived from the five mother sauces. We used fish fume' to make Sauce Vin Blanc, chicken stock to make Sauce Supreme, and we made bechamel so we could make Sauce Mornay. My partner was Martin, also my carpool, and we finished up pretty quickly--a lot quicker than everyone else--so we ended up cleaning a lot. We snatched every dirty dish left unattended to wash and tried to keep busy. Our sauces were okay. One was just a little runny and our Sauce Mornay had a red hair in it. There is only one redhead in class. Guess who has to wear a hairnet from now on? Dang it.

Chris taking a picture of me taking a picture of him:

Kevin:

Wayne, Meredith, William:

Matt & Charles having their sauces graded:

Josh & John & the moment of truth:

Rachel & Jamie:

What does Dewey think I'm doing?

Sergio & Chris primping:

We are gearing up to make sauces so we made more stock today! We cooled our veal stock from yesterday and got it in the cooler and we made chicken stock and fish fume'. The veal stock smelled so good! The fish not so much. I love fish but it never really smells good until it's cooked. We just used bones for the stock. After we got done with all of that we practiced some knife cuts. I'm getting really tired of them! Guess they're just part of life now.

I got through six weeks of F1 without a single bandaid. Today I have two! Each hand has one on my "cuss finger". They are both just scratches but they bled a little. The first one is from my peeler and I got it from reaching into my knife kit. I guess I have learned my lesson about putting the plastic things back on the blades. I got the second one making batonnets from a carrot.

John & Wayne:

Making MORE mirepoix:

We just put chicken stock fixins into the big kettle:

"Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads......"

Josh & Wayne & fish bones:

Chris:

The safest way to cool stock:

Making fish fume':

The fish fume':

Chef Kim made a game out of quizzing us about what we learned in F1.

The other team:

My team:

The huddle:

Food Foundations 2 (F2)

Today is the first day of the seventh week of school and that means that we are in a new class--Food Foundations 2 (F2) and have moved over to the next kitchen. We will be cooking much more now. The F1 class focused a lot on sanitation and we watched Chef demonstrate cooking techniques in there. Now we do it ourselves! Today we made veal stock. I took a TON of pictures! You can see that we roasted the veal bones and mirepoix first because it is a brown stock. It needs to cook all night and there is a lot of it so we took in downstairs to a different kitchen and put it in kettles. Good stock is the foundation for most sauces and all soups so we go through a lot of it at school. It sure smells good!

I'm still having car trouble. I think something is up with the transmission. Thank God, though, that I have finally found someone to carpool to school with! My classmate, Martin, offered to pick me up. I can't even tell you how grateful I am for that! I really want to finish this course but I can't get to school without a car. There is no public transportation out that far and I wouldn't want to be on it quite that early anyway. School is at 6am. I don't know how early I would have to leave to get there on a bus or train even if they were available and I don't think that I would feel safe walking when it's still dark.

Making mirepoix (50% onions, 25% carrots, and 25% celery):

Martin:

We are roasting the vegetables:

Heather, Dinah, & Sergio:

Our new F2 teacher is Chef Todd:

This is our school president, Todd Pearson, giving us a pep talk:

Jamie, Rachel, Dewey, Kevin, and Matt (he's the most cheerful dude):

Martin, Meredith, Rachel, Jason, Jamie, & Charles:

Dewey & Kevin (and Chef Nathan):

Roasted veal bones:

Charles:

Pince' tomato paste and deglaze the roasting pan:

Chris, William, Daniel, & John:

We dumped everything together and took it downstairs to a kettle:

Matt laughs all the time! Cool guy!

Jared deglazing the roasting pan:

Chef Kim & Chef Todd:

Measuring out aromatics:

Adding the aromatics:

Sweet William

Little William was born yesterday. He was 15.5 inches long and weighed 5 lbs,. eleven ounces. That ain't bad for six weeks early! I think he would have been a roly poly baby full-term. He has a lot of beautiful, dark, wavy hair. He was already in Heaven when he arrived but Kim, John, and my mom got to spend time holding and kissing him and taking pictures. I hear that there were some taken in the sweater that I knitted for him. I think, too, that they are coming to Missouri next weekend to bury him at the cemetery in Arcadia where our Grandad is buried. It's so sad but I know that William has a new, perfect body and that he is happy and healthy and being passed around between great-grandparents who all want to hold him. I think Grandad was standing at the pearly gates just waiting for him. Kim, John, and Granny still need prayers, though, please. I can't imagine losing a child and I don't know how you get done holding one and let them take it away. I look forward to meeting William one day.

What a sucky week!

I've missed three days of school this week for car troubles. I hate it! I'm not in a position right now to pay a mechanic and I am just not knowledgeable enough to be able to fix it myself. One of Julianne's teachers swung by today to diagnose the problem. He ordered a part and is replacing it tomorrow. I really hope and pray that whatever he does is enough! I can't even start to express my gratitude for this guy for even just looking at it in the first place. I don't want to miss more school. I have practical tests next week on the things that I should have learned this week but missed. I've gotta study my backside off all weekend and hope that reading recipes is enough to be able to make them for a test. I can't buy ingredients to make them at home first. I'm completely broke this weekend!

I'm ditching the car and getting a horse. Or maybe a motorcycle. I'll have to move either way since I have no garage, but it will be worth it! Nothing in my life has ever made me feel more frustrated or more helpless than my cars. Maybe I just don't become this dependent on anything else. I've had some doozies. My first car was a 1980 Honda Accord (that I bought in '89) with a mystery stalling problem. Out of the blue as I was driving the turn signals would come on and stay on (and not blink) and I knew I had to get off of the road. The car would die and there was nothing in the world that you could do to start it again. You just had to wait until it was ready. It might be a couple of hours or a couple of days. After two and a half years and countless repairs--including by mechanics and many male friends and boyfriends of my girlfriends who messed with it--it was fixed for free by a dude whose house I got stuck in front of. Took him five minutes to figure it out. Turns out that the turn signals and the fuel pump were grounded in the same place and they were loose (or something like that). If I'd had a dime for every time a guy told me that the turn signals had nothing to do with anything that would make it stall I would have bought a new Porshe. My next car, a Ford Tempo, would not start if it sat in the sun. It only did this for one summer. It took me a couple of weeks to make the connection with the sun but then I had to be so strategic in choosing a parking spot. Eventually I figured out that I could touch two things under the hood together with something metal and hotwire it. That was always fun! There was one place at work where I knew it would be in the shade when I got off and it was way far from my office. That's where I parked all the time from then on. The problem mysteriously went away and never came back. No men that I knew had a clue why it did this but years after I got rid of the car a gal told me it was a vapor lock. The next car, a Saturn, never gave me a day of trouble and I would kill to have it back! I heard that the brakes went out on the dude who bought it from me just a week or so later. My next, and last, car was an Escort station wagon. I don't remember much trouble from that one until the end. It needed the entire cooling system replaced so I just ditched it. I lost my job before I replaced it and have been driving my mom's extra car (a very sexy '94 Chrysler New Yorker) since then. I'm very grateful to have it to drive but I really look forward to having my own car again! One day I'm going to have a brand-new car and every ounce of wear and tear will be my own!

I stole Julianne's pictures from camp (it was week before last) so I could share them here. Julianne's newest toy is her henna kit and she had fun with it at camp! She gave me a tramp stamp the night it came in the mail--a Chinese symbol that she says means "love" but I think it says "beef with broccoli".

Holli, Julianne, & Lauren

Julianne & Jenna

Jenna, Holli, & Julianne on Memorial Day, 2001

School is still going well. I had more tests this week. I did well on the written two but the practical was tricky. My mayonnaise and hollandaise didn't turn out as well as they did the first time I tried them. The mayo was awful. The hollandaise just wouldn't get thick no matter how much I whisked. I stirred the little bit that I had in a souffle cup for grading until Chef got to me. Amazingly, it did thicken that way. He even said it was good. My knife cuts test was better than the last one. My tourne' was even good. I'm still not happy with dices. It's hard to get a good cube. Mine are usually sort of rectangular on one side. At least I'm getting the sides straighter.

HUGE Prayer Request

This might not be something that I should blog but it's something that is important to me and it needs a LOT of prayers! My sister, Kim, & her husband, John, are expecting their first baby this September. It's a boy named William. The poor little guy has skeletal dysplasia and a club foot. He would be a very small dwarf. Apparently his organs are all perfectly formed and perfectly sized but his ribs don't grow all the way around to protect his lungs and his chest cavity is too small and too crowded for his lungs to develop. Little William's odds of being born alive are tiny and if he is he will probably only live for a couple of hours. Ultrasound pictures are so detailed these days. It's so hard to see pictures of his beautiful face and teeny little hands and to feel him moving around and kicking and know that we will never meet him or get to hold him. We're already attached! Kim was doing okay for awhile because she was determined to donate his organs if he didn't make it so that other babies would be able to go home with their families. Now she is being told that they can't be donated. His condition is in every cell of his body. I don't understand that but I'm not a doctor. Please pray for William and for his parents and grandparents. This is hardest on them.

LCB

I have three weeks of school down and it's going great! We made stocks and mother sauces this past week. Chef Shane demonstrated most of the sauces (we students will make them this week) but we made hollandaise and mayonnaise ourselves and he graded them. He warned us that it would take three tries to make hollandaise. He said that we would have scrambled eggs the first time and that we would try too hard to not repeat that and it would separate the second time. Mine was fine. The texture was perfect and it was seasoned well but was slightly vinegary. My mayonnaise was a little thin and a little salty but otherwise okay. I was pretty proud of them both. I've never attempted either before!

I made my own beef stock when I got home from school on Friday. I stopped at Sappington Farmers Market for produce (I spend sooo much money on fresh produce since it's most of what I eat and Sappington is the best place to buy it) and then went to Freddie's Market for whatever bones they could part with. They had beef femurs that they cut for me. I roasted the bones and mire poix and filled up my stockpot. The house smelled like Heaven for a few hours! I don't know what I'm going to make with this stock. I think I'll divide it and freeze it for now. Julianne will be getting her tonsils out later this year and I want to make her some really awesome soup. NO more canned crap now that Mommy thinks she's a chef! I cut processed foods from our kitchen months ago anyway. She's not thrilled with that but I keep telling myself that she'll be grateful someday. I'll be cooking more and better now that I'm getting excited to cook again.

Here are some pictures that I've taken at school. Most are with my phone. Even though I have a 12-megapixel camera in my bag at all times I seem to use the phone most! I feel silly getting the camera out in class. The pictures from the ribbon-cutting are with the camera. Notice that I'm not in any of them! Actually, one is a picture of a picture of me that is on the wall of the hall outside of our kitchen. We are supposed to be taking pictures during class (there is a camera in each kitchen) for collages on the walls of the halls but our class hasn't taken any since the first week. I stayed after school Tuesday to help get ready for the event that night. I was in the pastry kitchen most of the day. That was cool! I love to bake and am fascinated with making all of the little fancy pastries. I definitely want to do the patisserie/baking program when it's available. I'll get six weeks of it this fall but I want more than that!

This is all of the stuff that was issued to us at Orientation--four uniforms, lovely shoes (I know you're jealous) that may replace my ankle weights, books, t-shirt, cup, tote bag, and a knife kit.

My knife cuts test: tourne', batonnet, and small dice potatoes; julienne, brunoise, and large dice carrots; cissler onion; concasse' tomato; and minced garlic and parley.

Chef Shane grading our tests.

Rachel & Meredith

Kevin

Charles

Jaime eating the heavenly soup that Chef made for us while we took our tests. YUM!!! I want to make it but there is no exact recipe. He just cleaned out the walk-in. There were a lot of veggies in there from our knife-cutting practice. We have mostly practiced with carrots so it's mostly carrot soup.

This is Chef cutting the cheese. We made the cheese & fruit trays for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

We're making veal stock here--or mostly watching Chef make it this time.

Deglazing the pans with red wine after roasting the veal bones and the vegetables.

Sergio & Towanna cutting melons for the fruit trays.

Straining veal stock

Chef Shane's watermelon sculpture.

What is hotter than a man mopping?

Except maybe one doing dishes?

Sergio's centerpiece contest entry. It is missing a few feathers since he left it in a walk-in overnight! He got second place, though, even without them!

This is Chef Cheryl, the pastry chef instructor.

Yes, she is using a paint sprayer to apply chocolate to these truffles.

Chocolate!!! I wore half of this home with the juice of the strawberries I brunoised! Thank God for Tide sticks! We all keep them in our bags.

Chef Nathan & his ice sculpture. There is a tube through it and they poured drinks through to serve them.

Rachel & Sergio

Rachel won the centerpiece contest and she totally deserved it! She covered this wine bottle (it's not empty and she said it's "good stuff" so she kept an eye on it!) with fondant, candied some grapes, and made the leaves and the truffles that are in the glass. Awesome!

^ Le Cordon Bleu means "The Blue Ribbon" so where did this red one come from? ^

^ This is my mayonnaise and my hollandaise. I'll never buy mayo again. Julianne is horrified! ^

One of the other classes brought us this platter the other day and five plates with different meals. We had a little feast after class! The green stuff was YUMMY!!!