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.