It's Spring Break. Finally. YAY!

Have I mentioned how SICK TO DEATH I am of attitudes? Of students being given extreme leeway on attendance, but others being hounded if they miss a class due to having an abcessed tooth pulled?

I don't CARE if you live an entire county away. I don't give CRAP if you work until 1am. It's not MY problem. You should plan your schedule accordingly. THAT is part of being an ADULT. And if your roommate/lover has cancer, I'm sorry. I truly am. But that doesn't give you carte blanche to skip every class and still expect to pass the class! If I were the instructor, not many would be LEFT at this point. And laying out drunk and coming to class hung over or not showing up at all would be enough for me to throw you completely out of the program. Either you're serious, or you're NOT.

OK - I've ranted enough. To say I'm ready for graduation is an understatement. I feel like I haven't learned anything useful in culinary school at all. Except maybe to make an omelet. That's about it.

What happens after graduation? God only knows. I think I deserve a refund from the college for the baking & pastry classes I took where we made genoise for 8 weeks in a row and never got to bake them because the damned instructor thought the ovens were inferior. And the fact that we NEVER made bread. WHAT IS THAT? Jesus, do I have any marketable skills at all?

I can't begin to say what a Mickey Mouse operation this culinary program has been. I had such high hopes when I began. Dashed and destroyed at every turn. I've learned NOTHING. I hope my instructors read this and hang their heads in shame. I hope Mr. S., the head of the business dept. grows some balls and takes charge for a change instead of being cowed by Chef Z. There are sooooooo many things wrong with the entire program. I'm not sure they can be fixed......

Wow - 1/3 of the way through my final semester now. My purchasing class is going great. It will end at Spring Break (which is about a month away). I presented my project on Caviar last week and it went smashingly. Restaurant Management couldn't be any easier as it's just basically waiting tables in La Friandise. Beverage Management is a hoot as it's mostly wine tasting. We tasted a great Viognier last week which inspired me to buy a bottle at World Market last week. My Mom is scandalized as she is a teetotaler and doesn't even like having ANY kind of alcohol in the house. Practical Exam class: I missed the first exam due to having a tooth pulled. OWIE. I'll have to make it up some time (at Chef Redd's convenience). The baking exam is this week. We have to turn in a decorated cake. Mine is going to be a chocolate cake with a mocha cream filling and a coffee/chocolate ganache. Think I'll go for the simple decorations - just pipe the words "Be Mine" for Valentine's on top. Good enough...

More later......stay tuned!

The beginning of the end...

Howdy! It's official - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

I have now begun the final semester of culinary school. This semester I have the following classes: Food Purchasing, Beverage Management, Restaurant Management (front of the house), Garde Manger (this is a repeat since I withdrew from it earlier) and Practical Exam. As you can see, I only actually have to cook one day a week now (that's on Fridays). You gotta love that!

This is the semester where I have to figure out what I'm going to do with the education I've achieved. I spoke with Chef Zombori on Thursday - he has some contacts in the world of purveyors. Food sales seems to be the best option for me - as I need the corporate benefits. It will be so great to have those again! As much as the idea of working for Disney has intrigued me, I really do not wish to move 7 hours away from Mom. After all, she's 86, and as much as I'd like for her to live forever - it's neither probable nor possible in the real world.

I'm psyched that this semester is mainly academic classes for me. I must say I did NOT enjoy cooking in a restaurant setting. It is exhausting and I'm not physically able to withstand it. It is a career for the young, as far as I'm concerned! As my background has been mainly clerical, I feel that the business side of things is where I belong and that is what I will focus on. I may even further my education with a business degree - who knows? I only need 3 math classes to get my A.A. and the possibility of getting it online exists.

But as Scarlett O'Hara once said, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Thanks for sticking with me, dear readers & supporters. You've been a godsend!

Holy Cow! The end of the 3rd semester...

Wow - time really escaped me this semester. I only posted twice!

It flew because I was as busy as a one-armed cheerleader! Four days a week in La Friandise - 3 of them in the kitchen, one in the FOH. And Fridays were Pastry classes with Sandor.

Anyway - it's over and only one more to go. Next semester will be Purchasing, Bev. Mgmt., Garde Manger (yep, I gotta repeat it as I withdrew from it before), Practical Exam and FOH two days a week. All in all, not a bad schedule and not nearly as physically taxing as the others have been.

Got....to....decide....what....I'm.....gonna.....do.....after.....I.....graduate.
No clue whatsoever. But whatever it is, it's gotta be corporate - because I've GOT to have medical benefits! I'm at a vulnerable age and require insurance! I'd really like to work at Disney in Orlando. Great bennies and retirement too! Not to mention that Erin would be ecstatic!

Enough for now, gentle readers. More when classes resume on Jan. 8th. Happy holidays till then!

1/2 way through the 3rd semester!?!

I finally had Mom take a pic of me in my front-of-the-house tuxedo - here I am, in all of my 47-year-old glory!

Wow - I can't believe it's Oct. 16th already. Time is really flying. I'm so busy I think I pass myself coming & going some days.

Let's see........school........ well, I've been the Patissier, the Baker, and Potager so far. Today I was the Potager and Rachel (Garde Manger) was out, so I covered her station also. I made a fabulous creamy Carrot & Ginger soup (which I previously made last semester). For the appetizers, we had classic Cobb salad with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette, fried oysters with a coconut/mango dipping sauce, and classic Escargots with a cream sauce in vol-au-vents. Needless to say, I worked my a$$ off! With some help from my bestest buddy, Chaney, we whipped it right out! We were very proud of ourselves and almost strained our arms patting ourselves on the back after service.

Everyone - chant along with me: One more semester! One more semester! One more semester!!!

We had our first service in La Friandise today and it went very well. I was "Chef of the Day" - which means I got to go out with Chef Redd and introduce the banquet-style meal to the guests. And instead of working at one station, I got to help out EVERYONE. It was really cool - sort of like being an Executive Chef. But, just so it doesn't go to my head: I am in the dish pit next week! From the top straight to the bottom! I helped George in the bakery make lemon muffins - I iced pecan cakes for Shefa'a, etc. etc. etc. Overall it went very well for a first service of the semester. Trust me when I tell you that this semester is a piece of cake compared to last semester with the evening service!

Got some really fantastic news in the mail today when I arrived home too. There was a package from Reiman Publications (which owns Taste of Home magazine). I told Mom that I hadn't ordered anything and was prepared to send it back. But I opened the attached letter which began like this: "We are delighted to inform you that you are receiving a copy of Everyday Slow Cooker & One Dish Recipes, which includes your recipe on page 66. This complimentary copy is yours to keep free of charge. It's our way of saying "Thank you!" for contributing to this one-of-a-kind cookbook".

What a great surprise, eh? The recipe I submitted is "Cranberry Apricot Pork Roast with Potatoes" - their test kitchen prepared the recipe and it has an 8 x 10 photo of it! It looks wonderful and I'm really proud!

Second Year - Second Week

How nice to have a holiday in the 2nd week of class. Labor Day and the end of the summer tourist season has finally arrived in this beach town on the Redneck Riviera.

All that happened this week was more cleaning, organizing, sorting, and stowing. We did make 6 huge pots of stock - both chicken & veal, to freeze for future use.

We did a tour of the library and I actually found there are things I didn't know! Mostly about their computer system and eBooks. Valuable knowledge to have for the projects we have to do for "Cuisines of the World".

I started doing a little research last night on what I'm going to do with my Chef-AAS degree after graduation. Food research or working in a test kitchen would be my ideal job. I noticed there are teaching positions available also.

One more week until we begin service in La Friandise. I'm looking forward to being back in the swing of things!