Just had to get in that little nod to my classmates from Mt. Holyoke who are attending our 10 year reunion this weekend. I'm kind of jealous because I didn't get to go (haven't really been back to campus since our 2-year reunion in 2001) and I hear that everyone had a fabulous time.
In any case....
Wow! School is over! Classes got out on Thursday. I'm still slightly stunned that I actually made it through the year. It seemed like such a long haul back in September, and it was, but it went by shockingly fast.
The big news is that I'll be leaving on Wednesday for a couple of days of sightseeing before I start my co-op at Custer State Park in South Dakota. I'll be working with the pastry chef at the State Game Lodge, which was the "Summer White House" for Presidents Coolidge and Eisenhower. I'll be living in the park's employee housing (think dorm room), likely with a roomate. I'm getting paid, and meals and housing are provided. All in all, a pretty good deal. I've heard that the park is a great place to work, so while I am nervous, I'm sure I'll learn a lot and have a good time. I won't be back in Denver until after Labor Day, so it's going to be a long summer away from home.
I do have pictures from school that I need to post, I promise I will. I'll be taking the camera with me to S.D., so no worries: there will be photos of scenery and buffalo.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Practical Talk
I know I promised in my last post that I would talk a little about the concept of the practical exam, so here I am. Better late than never, huh? We've been working on chocolate and pastillage pieces in class for the past two weeks, and I will get some pictures up soon of my yarn ball and truffles. We seem to have misplaced the cord that connects from the camera to the computer, so once I find that I can actually free the pictures from the camera.
One of the things I like about chocolates is that we don't have to take a practical. In all my other labs, there's been a mid-term and a final practical, in addition to our written exams. I can't speak for what happens in the culinary side of things, but our baking and pastry practicals work something like this:
Most chefs give you a day's notice as far as what will be expected of you during practical. There are certain skills that they are looking for, and as such you are expected to complete a certain number of different kinds of pastries. In Classical French, the list was exact and nearly impossible. Nobody finished except for one girl. In Hot&Cold, we also had a specific list of things like a fruit pie and a cream pie, but we had a lot of leeway within those categories to design our own flavors and plates. In Cakes we had to torte, fill, and finish a cake. We had to produce certain skills (rosettes and marzipan roses) and complete some petit fours (see my previous post about that petit fours adventure). Practicals are incredibly stressful because you're under an exact timeline, and the chef is usually watching you more than usual. I do my best when I stay focused on my own stuff. Sometimes this is hard, because other people make it difficult by hoarding all the bowls or spoons or whatever. It was so bad in Hot&Cold that I brought my own wooden spoon and rubber spatula from home just to make sure I wasn't going to have to fight somebody for the things I needed. Some chefs don't mind if you bring your own tools like that, while others feel that the school-supplied tools in our kits are sufficient.
So, no practical in Chocolates. We have one more day this week, a field trip on Thursday (our original field trip got thwarted by a blizzard two weeks ago), and three days next week. Then, on to Advanced Cakes. I'm in the middle of selecting my co-op site. Friday I have my interview with the campus co-op coordinator. Working. Working on our big group project for Cost Control. Knitting a chicken . Reading. The weather is fabulous today, so I'm here at Tenn Street Coffee enjoying an iced chai, a blueberry muffin, and free wifi before I go to work. I had to email my paper draft to my professor, and I didn't feel like hauling the computer into work, so...
Speaking of work, I need to move on. Look for another update when I get pictures off the camera.
One of the things I like about chocolates is that we don't have to take a practical. In all my other labs, there's been a mid-term and a final practical, in addition to our written exams. I can't speak for what happens in the culinary side of things, but our baking and pastry practicals work something like this:
Most chefs give you a day's notice as far as what will be expected of you during practical. There are certain skills that they are looking for, and as such you are expected to complete a certain number of different kinds of pastries. In Classical French, the list was exact and nearly impossible. Nobody finished except for one girl. In Hot&Cold, we also had a specific list of things like a fruit pie and a cream pie, but we had a lot of leeway within those categories to design our own flavors and plates. In Cakes we had to torte, fill, and finish a cake. We had to produce certain skills (rosettes and marzipan roses) and complete some petit fours (see my previous post about that petit fours adventure). Practicals are incredibly stressful because you're under an exact timeline, and the chef is usually watching you more than usual. I do my best when I stay focused on my own stuff. Sometimes this is hard, because other people make it difficult by hoarding all the bowls or spoons or whatever. It was so bad in Hot&Cold that I brought my own wooden spoon and rubber spatula from home just to make sure I wasn't going to have to fight somebody for the things I needed. Some chefs don't mind if you bring your own tools like that, while others feel that the school-supplied tools in our kits are sufficient.
So, no practical in Chocolates. We have one more day this week, a field trip on Thursday (our original field trip got thwarted by a blizzard two weeks ago), and three days next week. Then, on to Advanced Cakes. I'm in the middle of selecting my co-op site. Friday I have my interview with the campus co-op coordinator. Working. Working on our big group project for Cost Control. Knitting a chicken . Reading. The weather is fabulous today, so I'm here at Tenn Street Coffee enjoying an iced chai, a blueberry muffin, and free wifi before I go to work. I had to email my paper draft to my professor, and I didn't feel like hauling the computer into work, so...
Speaking of work, I need to move on. Look for another update when I get pictures off the camera.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Picture Day!
Hello all-
This is my cake from my Cakes midterm, just before Christmas:
Sorry I've been a bad blogger. It turned out that I really didn't have too much to talk about during Hot & Cold Dessert Presentations, so I didn't blog at all.
After a lovely spring break full of reading, knitting, and lounging on the sofa with the four-footers, it's back to the grind. I'm in chocolates class now, and then my last segment will be Advanced Cakes. We (my fellow GYD's and I) are also taking a class called Menu Planning and Cost Control. There's math. There's a group project. Those of you who know me well know how much I just *love* math and group projects. Yeah, right. In any case, that class is going to kick my butt. Right now in chocolates, we're designing chocolate boxes and formulating our own truffle flavors. My box is going to be a ball of yarn with chocolate knitting needles and a swatch made out of modeling chocolate; the box will be a poured mold. For truffle flavors, I'm thinking about a chewy molasses caramel dipped in dark chocolate, and then an triple layer truffle, likely white chocolate orange in a white chocolate shell, dipped in dark chocolate. But, I need to do a little research first.
This morning I assisted Chef Clement, who was running an ACF competition on campus. ACF, the American Culinary Federation, runs competitions and certifies chefs in culinary and baking and pastry. Check out their website for more info. But back to the competition. It was just the thing I needed to reinvigorate my interest in food. School has been a long haul, and the class dynamics between the GYD's and traditional students in my class this tri is making everyone a little tense. I'm starting to feel a little worn out, and stress over picking and setting up a co-op site for summer term is adding to that. So, even though I was not looking forward to being at school at 5 am (!!!) today, it was totally worth it. I was timekeeping for a two person mystery basket. The entrants received a mystery basket that contained three protein items, plus a few side items, and then they had to formulate a four course menu (appetizer, soup/salad, entree, and dessert). They had three hours to prepare their food, and half an hour to plate and present for judging. Even though I'm not in culinary, it was fascinating. One of the chefs competing is a faculty member at JWU; I don't care for him as a person, but his food was amazing! And the quality of his work was amazing! Not just the taste of the food, but his precision and the fact that he was working really clean ("working clean" means keeping yourself and your work station free of trash and clutter, and wiped down). I mean, I've gotten better at working clean, but I've got nothing on that chef.
Now for some goodies, for my mom and for Leslie, who were asking: some pictures. These first ones are from cakes class, from our wedding cake project. Behold Team 4's Victorian-style wedding cake in robin's egg blue and eggshell...
In the group photo, from L to R: me, Kendra, Shannon, and Maria.
This is my cake from my Cakes midterm, just before Christmas:
And these are from Hot & Cold, my two plates for practical.
This one is my composed dessert, a lime cheesecake accompanied by blackberry-blood orange sauce in a cookie cup, blackberry coulis, and strawberry-kiwi salsa:
This one was my signature dessert. Flourless orange-chocolate torte with orange reduction, dark chocolate ganache, and candied orange peel. Ignore the stupid cookie. If I had my way, I wouldn't have put it on the plate, but we had to have a crunch component and height on the plate. Whatever. When I'm working in the industry I'm sure I'll really learn how to plate a dessert...
That's about all for today. I think in my next post, I'll talk a little bit about what a practical exam is like. I'm telling you, you've never experienced anything like it!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Moving Right Along...
Cakes class finished up last week. All in all, it was a successful segment. I learned alot, and I got my first "A" in culinary school!
Friday (we had a make-up day last Friday because of the MLK holiday on Monday) was our first day across the hall in Hot and Cold Dessert Presentations. It appears that all the rumors we heard about Chef K. are false. I'm finding her quite delightful. The class is much less intense than Chef Clement's class, but not as relaxed as Chef Comar's, if that makes any sense. We're making lots (and lots!) of pie; Moday was Dutch Apple, yesterday was Cherry. Today were Strawberry Chiffon and Lemon Meringue. Tomorrow we're going to do cream pies. I love pie :)
Bake Tech is moving along. It's not my favorite class by a long shot. I understand the reasoning behind it, but a lot of the time it feels really redundant. Maybe if we were Freshman who hadn't had a culinary lab before, it would seem more important. Besides which, the ovens work like c&*$ and there's never enough equipment.
Speaking of which, I've gotten really spoiled being able to bake in the labs. We have everything we could possibly need, from 5 kinds of flour to sheet pans in stacks and parchment paper that comes in sheets, and huge mixers with two different sized bowls. Not to mention space. Ergo, baking at home has turned into a challenge. I have to make a list before I bake to make sure that we have everything I need. We're kind of limited for space. And I still haven't figured out the temperature discrepency in our new-ish oven (that we've had for a year). Someday, someday. Someday we're going to win the lottery and build our dream house with a fabulous kitchen. Maybe.
Right now I'm avoiding doing homework. I missed Bake Tech yesterday, and since I missed a lab on chocolates, I need to write an essay about chocolate. I think. I can't seem to get either of the chefs to email me back, and Keisha said that when she told Chef Swanson I was going to be absent, Chef Swanson had no idea who I was. Great. 7 weeks of class and she doesn't know me from a tree stump.
In other news, we collected 142 hats for the DPL K4OT event last weekend! Yay!!
Friday (we had a make-up day last Friday because of the MLK holiday on Monday) was our first day across the hall in Hot and Cold Dessert Presentations. It appears that all the rumors we heard about Chef K. are false. I'm finding her quite delightful. The class is much less intense than Chef Clement's class, but not as relaxed as Chef Comar's, if that makes any sense. We're making lots (and lots!) of pie; Moday was Dutch Apple, yesterday was Cherry. Today were Strawberry Chiffon and Lemon Meringue. Tomorrow we're going to do cream pies. I love pie :)
Bake Tech is moving along. It's not my favorite class by a long shot. I understand the reasoning behind it, but a lot of the time it feels really redundant. Maybe if we were Freshman who hadn't had a culinary lab before, it would seem more important. Besides which, the ovens work like c&*$ and there's never enough equipment.
Speaking of which, I've gotten really spoiled being able to bake in the labs. We have everything we could possibly need, from 5 kinds of flour to sheet pans in stacks and parchment paper that comes in sheets, and huge mixers with two different sized bowls. Not to mention space. Ergo, baking at home has turned into a challenge. I have to make a list before I bake to make sure that we have everything I need. We're kind of limited for space. And I still haven't figured out the temperature discrepency in our new-ish oven (that we've had for a year). Someday, someday. Someday we're going to win the lottery and build our dream house with a fabulous kitchen. Maybe.
Right now I'm avoiding doing homework. I missed Bake Tech yesterday, and since I missed a lab on chocolates, I need to write an essay about chocolate. I think. I can't seem to get either of the chefs to email me back, and Keisha said that when she told Chef Swanson I was going to be absent, Chef Swanson had no idea who I was. Great. 7 weeks of class and she doesn't know me from a tree stump.
In other news, we collected 142 hats for the DPL K4OT event last weekend! Yay!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
"Maybe it's monkey!"
Just a note on the title: every day, lunch is a guessing game as far as what meat product we're eating. It's a little scary, sometimes, especially when the servers can't tell us for sure whether it's pork, beef, or veal. So, today, Keisha decided to be funny.
Today was the last day of cakes class. I loved Chef Clement, so I'm sad to see Intro to Cakes get ticked off my list of labs. Somehow, I'm thinking that the next segment won't be as much fun. Anyway, we had two days of practical, which went really well. The cakes that Kendra and I made were well mixed, though my finishing still needed a little work. The only snag came when we couldn't find the half of the petit fours sheet that was ours. After Shannon and Maria cut theirs, they put it back in the fridge wrapped in plastic and labelled with tape for our table. When Kendra and I went looking for it, it was gone. Nobody 'fessed up to having it, so we were left finishing somebody elses sunken petit fours. Chef was really p.o.'d and only graded us on the finishing; I'm just annoyed, because it obviously wasn't a mistake. The tray was labelled, for crying out loud. But, it's over. I shouldn't hold a grudge, especially since I don't know who did it (although I think I know who did it).
Tomorrow it's on to Hot and Cold Dessert Presentations. That is so not going to be fun. But, in 5 weeks it will be Chocolates, and then another dose of Chef Clement before co-op.
This weekend I'll be busy knitting away on hats for the Knitting for the Troops Marathon sponsored by Denver Public Library. The goal is to knit 5, 280 hats to donate to the USO for servicemembers deployed overseas.
That's about all from here today. I'm sure I'll have alot more to talk about after meeting the new Chef tomorrow...
Today was the last day of cakes class. I loved Chef Clement, so I'm sad to see Intro to Cakes get ticked off my list of labs. Somehow, I'm thinking that the next segment won't be as much fun. Anyway, we had two days of practical, which went really well. The cakes that Kendra and I made were well mixed, though my finishing still needed a little work. The only snag came when we couldn't find the half of the petit fours sheet that was ours. After Shannon and Maria cut theirs, they put it back in the fridge wrapped in plastic and labelled with tape for our table. When Kendra and I went looking for it, it was gone. Nobody 'fessed up to having it, so we were left finishing somebody elses sunken petit fours. Chef was really p.o.'d and only graded us on the finishing; I'm just annoyed, because it obviously wasn't a mistake. The tray was labelled, for crying out loud. But, it's over. I shouldn't hold a grudge, especially since I don't know who did it (although I think I know who did it).
Tomorrow it's on to Hot and Cold Dessert Presentations. That is so not going to be fun. But, in 5 weeks it will be Chocolates, and then another dose of Chef Clement before co-op.
This weekend I'll be busy knitting away on hats for the Knitting for the Troops Marathon sponsored by Denver Public Library. The goal is to knit 5, 280 hats to donate to the USO for servicemembers deployed overseas.
That's about all from here today. I'm sure I'll have alot more to talk about after meeting the new Chef tomorrow...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ode to Italian Buttercream
First, in honor of the 32 lbs of Italian buttercream my group made today, a little waxing poetic about Italian B.C.:
Egg whites and sugar
what a sticky mess you make
stop! medium peak!
sugar and water
is thermometer working?
please don't crystallize
pouring carefully
syrup hits side of bowl and
makes cotton candy
whipping until cool
add lots and lots of butter
whipping until smooth
oh dear buttercream
why must you take so much time?
Hours I can't get back
And yes, you read right. We made just shy of 32 pounds of buttercream. Hopefully I'll put some pictures up tomorrow of the cake monstrosity that requires so much buttercream. Actually, I'm sure it will be lovely. Just right now, that's alot of cake and alot of buttercream to deal with in the am.
We spent much of last week making petit fours. We did some petit fours sec ("dry") and demi-sec ("semi-dry"), my favorites of which were pine nut macaroons, and almond spritz cookies with raspberry jam. We also worked on petit fours glace, tiny squares of frangipane (almond cake) layered with raspberry jame and marzipan. Then, we had to cover the squares with cream fondant. Let me state for the record that while I have now figured out the cream fondant, I still don't like it. The highlight of last Thursday was dripping some on my shoe. Then, yesterday, the fondant was fine but my scrivosa for drawing on the tops gave me problems. Today, my skills were a hot mess. I hope it gets better before our practical next week.
Speaking of practicals, it's hard to believe that cakes class is almost done. I'll miss having Chef C. for class every day, but we'll get to see her again next tri for advanced cakes. We also have Chocolates next tri. I think I'll like chocolates, and I hope I'll be good at it. I mean, I do all right in cakes, and I did fine in my other two labs, but I feel like I'm not really excelling at anything yet. Granted, I've made lots of progress since the first day, so maybe I'm judging myself a little harshly. I don't know. I still think I'm going to like chocolates; apparently it requires patience. For the most part, patience is something I have lots of.
As an escape from school, Other Half and I have been watching the dvds of Battlestar Galactica. I didn't get into the show until the third season, and we've since discovered that Other Half didn't start watching regularly until almost the middle of the second season herself, so this has been a fun journey. The final 10 episodes start on Friday. We won't be finished watching the back episodes, but I know that I'll have a much better understanding of the goings on than I did before.
Check back tomorrow or Friday for pictures!
Egg whites and sugar
what a sticky mess you make
stop! medium peak!
sugar and water
is thermometer working?
please don't crystallize
pouring carefully
syrup hits side of bowl and
makes cotton candy
whipping until cool
add lots and lots of butter
whipping until smooth
oh dear buttercream
why must you take so much time?
Hours I can't get back
And yes, you read right. We made just shy of 32 pounds of buttercream. Hopefully I'll put some pictures up tomorrow of the cake monstrosity that requires so much buttercream. Actually, I'm sure it will be lovely. Just right now, that's alot of cake and alot of buttercream to deal with in the am.
We spent much of last week making petit fours. We did some petit fours sec ("dry") and demi-sec ("semi-dry"), my favorites of which were pine nut macaroons, and almond spritz cookies with raspberry jam. We also worked on petit fours glace, tiny squares of frangipane (almond cake) layered with raspberry jame and marzipan. Then, we had to cover the squares with cream fondant. Let me state for the record that while I have now figured out the cream fondant, I still don't like it. The highlight of last Thursday was dripping some on my shoe. Then, yesterday, the fondant was fine but my scrivosa for drawing on the tops gave me problems. Today, my skills were a hot mess. I hope it gets better before our practical next week.
Speaking of practicals, it's hard to believe that cakes class is almost done. I'll miss having Chef C. for class every day, but we'll get to see her again next tri for advanced cakes. We also have Chocolates next tri. I think I'll like chocolates, and I hope I'll be good at it. I mean, I do all right in cakes, and I did fine in my other two labs, but I feel like I'm not really excelling at anything yet. Granted, I've made lots of progress since the first day, so maybe I'm judging myself a little harshly. I don't know. I still think I'm going to like chocolates; apparently it requires patience. For the most part, patience is something I have lots of.
As an escape from school, Other Half and I have been watching the dvds of Battlestar Galactica. I didn't get into the show until the third season, and we've since discovered that Other Half didn't start watching regularly until almost the middle of the second season herself, so this has been a fun journey. The final 10 episodes start on Friday. We won't be finished watching the back episodes, but I know that I'll have a much better understanding of the goings on than I did before.
Check back tomorrow or Friday for pictures!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Holy Chocolate, Batman!
Okay, first things first: I really want to know why I seem to wake up on the klutzy side of the bed on Wednesday mornings. Could it be the 12 hours of class on Tuesdays? So, this morning I get to class and put my belongings (toolkit, notebook and binder, formulas book, apron, side towels, water bottle and travel mug) neatly under my station. Someone in class had very graciously filled soap and sani buckets for my table, and put them on the outside edge of the shelf next to my station. This is not where we ever keep our buckets. Surprise! There is such a thing as gravity, and it works really well to make sure that the slanted cover of a three ring binder is not the best place to keep one's apron and side towels. Hello, wet apron and towels and a big puddle of soapy water all over the floor. Chef just looked at me and shook her head. I wonder what she thinks when she watches me do stupid stuff like that.
Today was a great day for chocolate. We had to make a chocolate LSS (liquid shortening sponge cake) for our practical tomorrow, and a flourless chocolate sheet cake for a yule log. We finished the German Chocolate cake we started yesterday. We also made a jelly roll sponge, and a huge batch of Italian Buttercream. tomorrow we'll finish the yule logs and the practical cake. We'll also have our written mid-term. Then, two weeks of break! I'm looking forward to break, and to getting back East to see friends and family. But I am going to miss cakes class. I really love Chef C. She is awesome! And she told us today that we are one of the best classes she's ever taught!
Most of the baked goods that we produce get sent to the storeroom every day, and the folks there distribute them as needed to diningh rooms, the main dining hall, university events, or the freezer for use at a later date. I found out today, though, that the cakes are different! The cakes that we make (my class typically produces around 40 cakes a day, and the afternoon advanced cakes class at least another 20 cakes on top of that) get dontated to Project Angel Heart, which provides meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. So, that makes me feel good, that we're making desserts that will be enjoyed by people in the community as well.
I need to go do some studying... wish me luck tomorrow!
Today was a great day for chocolate. We had to make a chocolate LSS (liquid shortening sponge cake) for our practical tomorrow, and a flourless chocolate sheet cake for a yule log. We finished the German Chocolate cake we started yesterday. We also made a jelly roll sponge, and a huge batch of Italian Buttercream. tomorrow we'll finish the yule logs and the practical cake. We'll also have our written mid-term. Then, two weeks of break! I'm looking forward to break, and to getting back East to see friends and family. But I am going to miss cakes class. I really love Chef C. She is awesome! And she told us today that we are one of the best classes she's ever taught!
Most of the baked goods that we produce get sent to the storeroom every day, and the folks there distribute them as needed to diningh rooms, the main dining hall, university events, or the freezer for use at a later date. I found out today, though, that the cakes are different! The cakes that we make (my class typically produces around 40 cakes a day, and the afternoon advanced cakes class at least another 20 cakes on top of that) get dontated to Project Angel Heart, which provides meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. So, that makes me feel good, that we're making desserts that will be enjoyed by people in the community as well.
I need to go do some studying... wish me luck tomorrow!
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