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: