So my time here in Colorado is winding down… Never thought I would say it but I’m welcoming it (I’ve already started packing). I have enjoyed my time here don’t get me wrong. I’ll miss the people I’ve met and gotten to know for sure. I’ve leaned a lot over the course time here not only in the classroom but life lessons as well. I know I’ve grown a lot as a person out here. The Denver that I’ve gotten to know has been with individuals that wont be here (or be here long) if I chose to stay. I would have to start all over again. I know that I want to be closer to home so I would much rather have the new start in the place that I will be for some time.

I’m truly am going to miss the Denver that I got to know. The friendships that I’ve made will always be cherished. I know that our planned reunions will be just as much fun as the days together at the park or the nights out on the town. I will not hesitate to call if I’m in the same town as they are. I’m grateful for everything that has happened to me because it has made me into who I am now. It is crazy to think that I started out here in September and it is already May. My time here has been short but eventful and educational.

My labs and classes were fun and challenging, which I enjoyed. The quirky tid bits from chefs on the processes of items, the chefs that were always encouraging and the ones who weren’t have impacted me in positive and negatives ways (All of which I’ve learned from). For one thing I’ve learned how to bite my tongue even better than I did before. It is just not worth it sometimes and works in your favor in the end. There are individuals in my labs that I know I’ll remain in contact with over the years. I’m excited to see what they will be doing next.

The only thing I’m dreading about going home is the long drive. It’ll be my dad and me in two vehicles. When you are driving a Prius, it’s kind of hard to fit everything in without riding on your rims.

So I’ve gained and loss in the course of time here… More gains than losses. I’m looking forward to my time home before I head to France this fall for my internship. I’m excited and nervous about it, but I know it will be fun. That will be an experience I’ll be keeping all of you updated one!

Trying to keep this blog updated is hard to do. I do find it challenging to keep it recent... my apologies. So in somewhat of a brief fashion... I'll bring you up to speed with what has been going on.

Spring break was a lot of fun... Started off rough but all turned out well. My road-tripping partners hit the road at 6:30 AM and it had already started snowing... the weather the whole drive to California was interesting to say the least. Thought we were going to be blown off the road at some points. But we made it through... obviously. While in California we did the whole southern cal experience... Hit up Hollywood and actually got to see all of the set up for the Academy Awards. It was so awesome to see the whole set up and actually get to step on the read carpet! It was covered but I still walked on a part of it. Drove around looking for celebrity's houses and saw the sunset at Santa Monica beach... Beautiful.

Getting to Vegas was fun! We had an awesome view of the Bellagio fountain... No I didn't end up swimming in it or any other fountain. I behaved. It was fun walking around seeing all of the different shops and casinos. I want to go back!

Spring break came so early. Seems like other schools are on it now or had it at least 2 weeks after we did. Our break came at a good time I feel but was just a tease... I'm so ready for summer. I've enjoyed my time here Denver, but I haven't developed a deep connection with you. Its been fun here but I miss a lot of things about home. Classes are still fun and challenging but I'm ready for classes to be over! I am counting down till the end of May. Last day of classes is on the 19th then I'm loading up my car and a u-haul and trekking back East to the South.

I found out just before my spring break that I got the internship that I wanted... I'm heading to Yssingeaux, France to attend a school there in the fall. The school is called Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Pâtisserie, or for short... ENSP. I cannot wait to get over there and get that started. Getting this chance to live and learn internationally is unreal! Who knows, I might even stay over there! Then I might come back and move to Austin, TX. Who knows...

Right now, my countdown is to Easter weekend... I'm getting to fly home and see my family and friends. My parents came out here to visit me last weekend and I had such a good time! Got to go fly fishing with my dad one day, shopping with my mom, and then just getting to hang out with them was such a great refresher. The last time I saw them was New Years... Long time. I'm obviously a big family person. Only 8 weeks left till I'm back in the South for summer! so ready to be there!

Now I have to get to work and studying. Have to finish a project for class and do homework for another. So cheers for now... Oh and for those of you who do still read this... I'll be starting a different blog soon about my preparations and adventures of going and living in France. Be on the lookout!

Lots has gone on since the last time I posted! Having only a two-week break for Christmas was not enough. Three weeks would have been just right. It was weird with it being in the middle of a term. I’ll tell you one thing, it is tough being with the same group of people since September for 6 hours a day for 4 days a week sometimes 5 days. I am glad I got the break when we did because I don’t know if I would have stayed sane.

Christmas break came at the right time. I got to relax some and decompress. It was much needed. Still had to help out around the place with getting food ready and gifts wrapped. I didn’t get to see everybody that I wanted to see over break but I did have a nice surprise getting drinks and dinner with some old friends from high school and getting to catch up. I enjoyed being back around my family. That is one thing I’ve missed most about being so far from home.

Since I’ve been back out here I got to help out with a dessert for a dinner. The dinner was for the contestants, judges and advisors for the Intra-Collegiate Culinary and Pastry Competition, which was between all four of the Johnson and Wales campuses (Providence, Charlotte, North Miami and Denver). Got to put together an apricot compote with pine needle (which is edible like rosemary), chestnut pancakes with a honey chocolate sauce, and a tonka bean soufflé.

It was a lot of fun coming up with it and putting it together. The three part dessert was served on a plank of cedar that had been treated and added another element to the dessert. The coooolest part of the night for me was when we were presented to the dining room and given credit for our creations… I just so happened to be next to the table that the judges were sitting. Chef Keegan from the foodnetwork was one of the judges and I was right next to him. He leans over to me and taps my shoulder and asked me if I was really from Oxford, MS (we have to wear name tags with our names and they have on there where we are from). When I told him I was, he grinned ear to ear and said… “Hotty toddy.” Yes we did a hushed hotty toddy cheer together, too. He went on to tell me that he went to Ole Miss for a year or two before he transferred out to Colorado, and continued to talk about Oxford and other stuff as well. MADE my night.

Right now I'm a week and a day away from spring break!! So excited. Road tripping with two friends from here all the way to a friends place in Upland, CA, then on the way back stopping in Vegas for a few days. So excited! This break cannot come quick enough! My dad is coming out here to visit for the week after my spring break. That will be fun! But anyway, I need to keep this as short as I can b/c I have to get up early in the morning to go to my chocolates and confections class... love love love this lab!! 6 hours of chocolates!

Since my last post I have learned a lot. I’ve taken a class on hot and cold desserts. Yeah that includes ice cream. The class did have its challenges. My group came up with our own version of a guacamole gelato… we dubbed it guacalato. Avocado based gelato with candied tomatoes and jalapeños folded in, and served with lime wonton chips.

It was really good. It kind of threw you off b/c it looked like guacamole but it was ice cream. It was fun coming up with that though.

The next class was cookies and petit fours. Loved the Chef. He really challenged us w/different procedures. I got to eat a lot of sweets so I was happy to say the least.

This was my Chef... Chef Busch, and yes he is in a whoopie cushion costume. This was the Thursday before Halloween. Made for a good laugh all day in class. But we got to make sugar/short dough cookies that day decorated with royal icing. So being in the spirit of Halloween, we made Halloween cookies.

The final was a challenge just with the different products we had to produce as a group.

But as you can see we produced a lot of different products. Petit fours, macaroons, biscotti, different types of cookies, and madelines. It was a lot of fun though cranking this stuff out.

Thanksgiving was a much needed break. I wasn't getting burned out, just needed a break from the same people I saw pretty much every day. I enjoy the company of some, but others it is understood personality clash. We all try to stay very civil with each other, but there are days when the gloves are put on. But I got to go back home and kind of relax. Got to Go to two Ole Miss games while I was home. Didn't get wins but still had a good time.

Scored some tickets... the day before the game. So happy b/c I really wanted to go to the game. Row 9 in the Ole Miss section... Loved it! Felt good to be back in this kind of atmosphere. I've missed being out in Denver.
Got to enjoy the close seats with my little sister who is a freshman now at Ole Miss... So glad I got to be there for her first LSU away game, as a student that is. I also took her to her first away LSU football game a couple years before.

So a lot of LSU fans will follow the LSU band into the stadium as they come down Victory Hill... So what did we do as Ole Miss fans... We jumped in the mix with the corn dogs and followed the band into the stadium... Yeah we did that. It was fun. We got heckled but they were impressed that we had the gauze to do it. Great experience.
So we decided we would take a picture with this sign... It says "Col. Reb = bad BLACK Bear = good WTF? Geaux to hell Black Bears! GEAUX TO HELL!" Don't remember what our train of thought was for why we did.

Got to sit for part of the state game at home. Not bad seats that my friend had.
The smoked turkey we had for Turkey Day... It was awesome! I did make some pies that day but failed to take pictures before everybody dove into them.

The class I'm in now is a principle of bread baking class and it is teaching more patience. I'll have to do another post later about all the different breads I have done. Those of you that follow me on Twitter have seen some of the products I've made... I enjoy the class a lot. But working with bread doughs take patience. If you don't have any... don't even bother b/c you'll be in the worst mood while trying to attempt to make anything. But I shall post again soon.

Little Bites...

I don’t think I can put enough emphasis on how much fun I’m having here at culinary school doing baking and pastry. Granted I am attempting to get up at 4:30 AM for class, but it is difficult, so I sometimes sleep a little later to 4:45 or 5. And only once have I slept through my alarms (yes I have multiple alarms to go off in the AM which I’m sure the person on the other side of my wall loves hearing), but I did wake up in time for class surprisinglyThose that know me well enough know that I am by no means a morning person. I don’t even pretend to be. Luckily at the beginning of classes we have a lecture so I don’t have to talk to people; gives me some time to wake up. The up side of class is that everybody looks the same in the sense that make-up; perfume, aftershave, etc. aren’t allowed (reason being is that there isn’t the risk of somebody’s make-up wont get into any product, or somebody’s perfume/aftershave wont alter the taste of the products). Since I shower the night before… I just have to roll out of bed and put on the uniform (which is sooo flattering *note sarcasm).

I’m already in my second class, pies and tarts. My first class was a class focused on the fundamental skills and techniques of baking and pastry. You are given so much information in such little time. Instead of barely putting your toes in and gradually submerging yourself you are doing a cannonball. It is a great hands on experience. So far I’ve made diplomat cups filled with pastry cream and pears poached in red wine with a hint of orange. Then reduced the poaching liquid down into a sauce to put on top (picture below) (this was from the fundamentals class and was made w/my group I was with)…

In my Pies and Tarts class I’ve made a lot of pies and pie dough. I’ve made an apple pie with a streusel topping, another apple pie but with a dough covering, a blueberry pie, a cherry and raspberry pie, and then a quiche... the quiche dough was made with lard… yes lard, and yes… it was delicious. We (my partner in this class) decided to put sautéed onions, red and green bell peppers, asparagus, and of course bacon in the quiche (sorry no photo of that one). It was lovely. I was a very happy camper. That’s another good thing about class… we get to try what we’ve produced. Well we have to try what we produce. So this helps with not having to go get lunch somewhere… sometimes I still will go to the dining hall to get food b/c eating a lot of sweets is apparently not good for you. Who would of thought? But the last pie I made was a pumpkin pie... I was quickly reminded of how much I love making this pie... went to my ways of making it at home and did all the leaves like I do and my Chef approved of it... which I was really proud of.

This last photo is of obviously the pies my class produced... As you can see some pies didn't do so well in the oven b/c of too much filling or the dough wasn't cool enough before going into the oven... *note for the home cook: keep your doughs as cool as possible b/c if you don't it will look like your dough is melting in the oven b/c it pretty much is b/c of your fat (which would be your butter or lard or shortening) that is in the dough...*

But I must be an old woman now and go to bed... It is now 10 at night and past my bedtime.

long time gone...

OK so here’s what’s goin’ on now. I know that it has been a while since I’ve posted… OK a long while. But here is the run down…..

So for a while I had been struggling on what I really wanted to do. I thought about teaching my last year of college. Then I started looking at grad schools do get my masters in American Studies. It just seemed like a likely “next step.” I knew in the back of my mind it wasn’t what I truly wanted to do, and I knew I always wanted to go to culinary school, but never took the dive to go for it… Until now.

Back in January I started working @ City Grocery back in the kitchen. Worked there until the end of August. I did enjoy my time there. Learned a whole lot but know for a fact that I don’t want to work on a line in any restaurant. It is for sure that I want to eventually have my own bakery. I looked into many different culinary schools all along the East coast. Look as far North as Vermont, and Atlanta was about as far South I went. But here I am out West.

I decided on Johnson and Wales in Charlotte, NC. I was accepted but since the program I was accepted for, baking and pastry, was full I was going to have to sit out for a year OORRR I could transfer to either the N. Miami or Denver campuses. It was an easy choice for me. So here I am out in Denver. I love it to say the least. I’ve always liked the mountains and wanted to live near the mountains. The weather itself right now is something to get use to. I laughed today when somebody complained about the “humidity.” The fire over in Boulder is having an affect on the weather here though as well. Crazy to think that now I have to worry about those wildfires you always see on the news.

The program that I’m in is called Garnish Your Degree (GYD for short). Since I already have a bachelors degree, it will only take a year for me to be done. All the GYDs are in the same advising group and we are all in the same classes. Which is great since we are all older and are more focused on our work than the freshmen… All of us have had the college experience. Speaking of being more focused on our work I have to do a research paper and do some ready for class in the morning… I’m in class by 5:45 A.M. and we aren’t done until noon. The good thing is that I’m done at noon.

So it has been a while since I’ve last posted. I’ve just never found the right time to sit down at my computer and try to put into words what is on my mind or what I’ve been up to. Granted I never put fully into words what is one my mind, or ever mention the whole story. There is a reason why I choose not to. It is out of respect for the others in the stories/situations. I will change names and places so that only the people that were involved will know but it is funny when you get a phone call from somebody ranting about something you’ve posted and then demand an explanation as to why I posted that (That was an interesting conversation b/c the post the individual was referring to had nothing to do with them. I think they are still convinced to this day that it is about them).

But I digress. Since my last post the holidays came and went. The biggest news was that my older sister is engaged, wedding is just around the corner and my mom is stressing out. Like moms are suppose to. Thanksgiving this year was spent in the great state of Texas with some family friends. My little sister, our dog, and the parents piled into the Tahoe at 5:30 AM to drive all the way to Houston. We arrived around 4 or so if I remember correctly.

It was a lot of fun while there. Spent the day before Turkey Day getting stuff prepped so it wouldn't take so long the next day. We almost lost our turkey to the flames. We put it on the grill to warm it up (still in the roasting pan and wrapped in foil). I look out and see the heat waves radiating off the grill... flames were huge! Grabbed some baking soda to put the flames out since what caught fire were the 4 sticks of butter that were to keep the turkey moist. Some how we had a slightly smoked turkey but not burned. It was a funny sight to see. I was happy to head home of Friday when my younger sister and I met up with my brother and his wife in Jackson. We were heading to the Ole Miss vs. MS State football game. I didn’t like the outcome since Ole Miss lost but State won their only bowl game this season.

Christmas was spent at home. Which was really nice. The weekend before Christmas we made it up to my grandparents for a family get-together. It was a sight to see. When you have that many “Littles” in one room, it can get loud, quick. Lots of laughter and story telling. It was especially funny to hear my grandmother say that she couldn’t believe that we were watching half-naked women dancing around on the TV. Those half-naked women happened to be the Radio City Rockettes. I was trying not to die out laughing when she said it but my dad beat us all to the punch… “Well, Mom, we’ve actually have seen them perform there in NYC a few years ago.” Lets just say my grandmother didn’t approve. But for Christmas I did score some more cookbooks. I enjoy anything having to do with cooking. I got DVDs of Alton Brown's "Good Eats." One of my favorite shows on Food Network. My little sister wanted to cook lobster one night so we did... the pot was not big enough to hold all of the lobsters we had to cook for the recipe... But it was fun.

Lets just say it was a lot of work to cook those lobsters... which all were about 3 lbs. The recipe is from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" Lobster Thermidor. It is rather rich but soooo good. Highly recommend it to anybody that loves lobster.

New Years was spent in Dallas, Texas. I got two tickets to the Cotton Bowl for Christmas. I knew I was getting them, so it wasn’t that big of a surprise. Went with some girlfriends and had a blast! Went to a place called Eddy Dean’s for New Year’s Eve. It was an Ole Miss party! Saw so many people there and danced so much that my feet were numb. Ran into a group of friend I hadn’t seen since the last home game were there and it was lots of fun dancing with them. Over the years that I’ve known them, they haven’t seen me full out dance. They all said that they had no idea I could move the way I did. Ha ha. It was a great football game against OSU, but even better because Ole Miss won 21-7! Hotty Toddy!

I would continue to tell some funny stories that have happened but too soon to tell them. I will post again soon. Maybe the next time I post I'll be a culinary student.