Ouchies

So tonight I got my first "serious" injury at LCB. I mean, I've cut myself, but it was a tiny cut. Today I burned the entire inside of my index finger (ON MY CUTTING HAND O.o). So that was fun. Other than that I burned my refried beans (the second cooking not the first), my cranberry beans, I overcooked my lentils, etc etc. the only thing I didn't ruin was the hummus. So I got one out of five dishes correct. Luckily they weren't graded :). And hummus is the only dish not cooked, har har. So we made a wierd cranberry bean/asparagus dish, and no it's not cranberries and beans, there are actually beans called cranberry beans, weird right? Then we had refried beans, which was awesome because now I can make fresh refried beans for taco night! And we made tabbouleh, which is like a cold salad with a riceish grain in it. Pretty good. And last but not least we made lentil salad. Which was epically weird.

And Then You Have A Bunch Of Ecoli Dancing Around On Your Carrot

Anyone who reads this should give a nice round of applause to the D-Shift Foundations II class. Tonight was ridiculous. We had four dishes to make: (now I could give you the fancy French names for these but I'm so tired from the gym I'm not going to go all the way back out to my car to get names that you won't understand anyways) green bean saute, glazed carrots, risotto, and leek salad with vinaigrette. So the green bean saute was delicious. Very easy to prepare, just green beans, bacon and red bell pepper. The glazed carrots were a pain in the butt because the carrots had to be tourned (ugh, awful). The risotto was really good, it was flavored with saffron (yum!), which is ridiculously expensive. And the leek salad was surprisingly good. The leeks were cooked, with the vinaigrette on top. Nice little tangy kick in there. So while all these dishes seem relatively easy, they take time, especially prep time. And today, due to a long quiz, a long lecture and a long demo, time was something we were definitely short on. We started cooking at 10. And were supposed to have all our cooking done by 10:45 so we have time for clean up. So we have forty five minutes to perfectly cook four dishes. But we actually went over the time and no one checked the time until Chef was like "oh goodness it's 11!" So everyone shut off the thing they were cooking and we cleaned the entire kitchen, dishes and all in thirty minutes! It was crazy! D-Shift, I applaud you. I am glad to be called one of your own.

I Actuially Had Some Funny Title. ..But I Threw It Away. ..

Ahhhhh today. ..today was. ..unexplainable. I got to school early super stressed out to ask Chef if he had seen my notes and my recipe cards because they had gone missing. He said no, I freaked out even more and checked with the front desk, who also hadn't seen them. So I rushed back to class to check my Mise en Plase with someone else because I was sure most of mine were wrong due to the fact that I didn't have my notes and BAM! my bff Billy had picked up my stuff the night before and brought it for me. So I hugged him thankfully and got to work correcting my Mise. Then, I struggled to pay attention to demo because I hadn't had anything to eat because I had been job hunting before school. So I made myself a cup of coffee during practicals so I would stay awake. Turns out, I stressed for no reason. I had a ridiculous amount of leftover time after I finished my three soups (Dubarry, French Onion, and Consomme). And then I made my steamed rice and rice pilaf in no time at all. Both which I made with Consomme instead of water (for the steamed rice) and stock (for the pilaf) and it added tons more flavor. Yum. So I was stressed out for nothing because it all worked out in the end :). Thank you Jesus :).

"Chef, How Do You Spell Scouch?" "DO I LOOK LIKE WEBSTER?!"

So first, fun facts. AP Flour is actually just 50% cake flour and 50% bread flour. So if you ever run out of AP flour (and randomly, for no good reason, have cake flour and bread flour) you can mix some cake and bread flour together and BAM! AP Flour. Next fun fact, have you ever wondered the difference between mayonnaise and Miracle Whip? Mayonnaise is made with egg yolks and Miracle Whip is made with egg whites. That's why mayonnaise is much richer (and Miracle Whip tastes like crap :P). EGADS! So tonight was a busyish night? I'm not actually sure, I pretty much missed the entire thing, (I had too much coffee before hand, plus another cup when I got there AND a cup of sweet tea {yum!}). So I was like working at such a high speed I can't remember anything!! Anywho, we made four soups tonight. Clam Chowder, Cream of Cauliflower, Caldo Verde and Shrimp Bisque. The Shrimp Bisque is very very shrimpy. It needs to be cut with some sort of bread or mixed with pasta or something. I didn't really try any of the Caldo Verde cause I made it last minute and put it in a container so I could clean up. It's like a broth kind of thing flavored with sausage and kale, I brought it home for my dad cause he likes greens. And I brought the Clam Chowder home for my brother cause he likes Clam Chowder. My friend said my Clam Chowder was pretty good (I didn't taste it because I'm not a fan of Clam Chowder). And now to get some sleep! (Gotta study for a soup practical tomorrow, yay).

Voila!

Soooooo the practical. Bleh. First, I made a perfect Mornay. Second, I spilled half my Beurre Blanc reduction on my cutting board and I used an aluminum skillet to make it. So it turned out a little too thin and slightly gray. Hmmm let's see, what else. Then I made my Robert all wrong because I didn't make the reduction, I just added the white wine to the demi-glace. But that turned out fine I suppose. Then my hollandaise totally crapped out all together and so Chef said I could try again (I think he likes me :D) so I did but then it was still too thin. I'm hoping I at least got a 25/30. Ans then we made Consomme and French Onion Soup. DELICIOUS! Well the Consomme is basically like a broth but the French Onion was soooo good. I put two little toasted baguette pieces in it and then spread gruyere cheese all over to the top and melted it in the oven. Yum. Well, sorry this is so late but now I gotta head to school again! WOOOoooooo. ..

"I Like That Stringy Gooey Kinda Cheese Thaaang"

Ahhh it's so nice to be home. Tonight was slowish. We had a written quiz and then we had time to practice our sauces for tomorrow's practical. Yaaaaay. (Not). We have to make four sauces and two of those are derivatives of other sauces so we have to make the mother sauce first. So a four sauce test turned into a six sauce test. And we only have two hours to finish all six and season them perfectly and clean our station. AGH! I'm just concerned about the fact that if I try to rush and mess something up I'm screwed. Because before the test were going to mise everything out and that's all we get so if we mess up, that's it, were done. My station buddy made me laugh so hard I cried though lol. I can't even remember what I was laughing at. Silly Billy. So wish me luck America! I'm going into a two hour panic attack tomorrow night. Or well, tonight actually. Same difference.

WHAT?! No Way!

Got out on time on the last night of the week! That was about the only good thing that happened last night. My parents dropped me off at school because we were already in Sacramento so I forgot my lanyard. Luckily, someone in my class had a spare they lent me. Then, my back was really messed up so I had to sit down during lecture so I didn't get very good notes. Then we had to make hollandaise, mayonnaise, and beurre blanc. My mayonnaise turned out great cause I've made it before. Then with the beurre blanc I burned my reduction the first time so I had to start over. Then the second time I thought I ruined it again so I went up to taste Chef's beurre blanc and had to spit it out it was so gross. So then I had to taste mine four or five times to get the seasoning right and was spitting it out after each taste. Yuck. Then on the hollandaise I made it wrong the first time and the second time I made it the pan was too hot and I cooked the eggs!! AGH! So I asked my suite partner if I could have half of his and the seasoned it and turned it in. It was just an all around hectically, horrible night. I'm ready for the weekend though :)

We Almost. ..Didn't Make It

I'm honestly beginning to wonder if we'll ever get out on time. Most likely not. But at least we got assigned clean up duties last night instead of scrambling around not knowing what to do. So last night we took our espagnole sauce and turned it into a demi-glace. We then took that and made Sauce Chassuer, Sauce Robert and Merchand de Vin. Then we made a classic tomato sauce and turned that into a Spanish sauce. My station partner Billy and I did pretty well again. I did most of the prep work and he did most of the cooking. And then we separated and seasoned our own sauces. Chef said we both did well except we strained out two of the sauces that weren't supposed to be so we got in trouble for not paying attention to the demo. Oh well. I'm definately going to need something for my back because it was really sore and then standing up all of class made it worse :(. So one last night this week! Weekend here I come! Monday we have our first quiz and Tuesday is our first practical. No recipes. Wish me luck!

Whoa Whoa Whoa, Say What?

So tonight wasn't as bad. Chef Robert is just someone you have to get used to. And he hands out criticism in a very positive way which helps me learn better than just yelling at me because it's wrong. So tonight we made three mother sauces and two small sauces. And your thinking "okay, cool you got to see Chef make some sauces." Wrong. Well technically right because we did see him make it BUT we also made it. All 24 of us. And I know what your thinking, "that's cool that everyone got to make their own sauce." But I was thinking, "dang this is a lot of dishes." :/ So no more royal "we"! Everything Chef demos we make! Pretty cool eh? The only thing I hate about this class is that Chef has a hard time keeping track of the time. So were supposed to get out 11:25 every night. Tonight he was closer, I think we got out about 11:40. But anyways, we made Bechamel, Veloute and Espagnole. And from those mother sauces we made Mornay and Allemand. Allemand is delicious by the way, I brought mine home :). So Chef tried mine and said they were all very well seasoned and that I did a good job except my Allemand wasn't exactly nappe (thick enough). But yay me! I got three of the five mother sauces down! Woo! Now I'm gonna have to beg my parents to buy me some good Tupperware cause I'm gonna be bringing all kinds of food home. ..

"If It Ain't Sizzlin' It Ain't Sauteing"

So last night was. ..ridiculous to say the least. Our new Chef, Chef Robert, is very scatterbrained. He spent half the night running around shouting things that no one understood. And everyone in my class spent half the night asking each other what he said. Because of this scatterbrainness, we got out late and will probably get out late every night of the next month and a half. Sound great right? Last night was really hard because I didn't have any coffee and it was soooooo long. We only had one break at 8 instead of two and our class is longer. So now instead of getting out at 10:45 we get out 11:25 which is generally pushed to 11:45 O.o So now I'm getting home even later, and getting less sleep. Yay me. Last night was supposed to be our "slow night" and we had a review, a quiz, made two stocks and cleaned up. It makes me worry about what the next month and a half is gonna be like.

I'm Gonna Miss Him, When I Get Home

Yes, that was a country song reference. Just in case, you know, you didn't get it. So it was our last night with Chef Ted! *sadface* I'm definitely gonna miss him. At least everyone passed the class and so they'll move on with us. I'd hate to leave anyone behind. So tonight was fantasmagorical. We had a delicious buffet of all kinds of food that everyone brought in. I took ribs and La Bete Noire of course (my two most prized dishes). And everyone loved them! Didn't bring any of the ribs home and only brought a third of the cake (but it's super rich, so I don't blame them for not being able to eat it all. Then we had to degrease the worst of the pans which meant we couldn't use the sinks for anything else. So we had to rinse all the dishes and run them through the other class' dishwasher. We also watched this weird movie, I think it's called the god of cookery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzdlxOVTV2Y. Here's like a sneak peek. But it's all in Chinese with English subtitles. So it was a little difficult to keep up with. Still funny though. So we ate delicious food, watched a funny movie, and did dishes. Yupp, that's basically the extent of my night. Oh! And I got two A's in both my classes :)

BA BAM! *Mind Blown*

My mind was totally blown tonight by an epic deliciousness. Apparently someone had this great idea to shape mashed potatoes like french fries and deep fry them. Uh hello! Delicious! It's like totally weird and mind blowing because you don't expect it all. Anywho, Cuisine Foundations final was crap. I totally should have brushed up on my conversion chart cause I totally blanked on it all together. So I'm not feeling too confident on that test. But we had a knife skills test that was worth more that I think I totally aced. At the end of class we were discussing our "guilty pleasures" which is like a weird food or food combination that you like. So everyone started naming weird stuff and Chef was like, "yeah okay." And then I was like, "I eat pickles and ice cream." And everyone was like, "eww that's hecka weird." And so I try to explain myself and I'm like, "it's a crunchy-creamy combination and sweet-salty combination, it's not that weird." And they're like, "yeah, it's not weird if your a pregnant woman." -_- Ridiculous, I know. So finals are done! Tomorrow we watch a movie and have a potluck. YUM.

Not Going Well So Far. ..

Today we had the servesafe certification test, which I didn't think was too hard. I probably passed no problem. But then we had a mayonnaise demo and I (apparently under the weight of all the stress) forgot my knife kit again, so I had to wait until someone else was done so I could use theirs. And we only had 30 minutes. Luckily, Zach finished in like 15 so then I had 15 to do mine. It turned out okay, it wasn't really thick enough so I lost a point. I think I added too much vinegar. Then we had an out of the blue equipment test that was supposed to be tomorrow so I had no time to study for it, so I think I failed that too (and there goes my A in the class. ..). So it was a hustlin' and bustlin' night that I was completely unprepared for. And then tomorrow we have the Cuisine Foundations final plus a knife skills test so I'll be spending all day tomorrow studying for that and job hunting. And maybe swinging by AT&T since my phone seems to be broken. ..All in all a bad night, praying for a better tomorrow. ..

"I Want Some Choc"

Finals week is here! Woo! Not. Tonight we made Gazpacho, which is a basic cold tomato soup. It's pretty much like a mild red salsa made from red bell peppers, green bell peppers, red onion, basil, olive oil, tomato, and sherry vinegar. So tomorrow we have a servesafe certification test, a knife skills test and an equipment test. Then on wednesday we each have to make a perfect batch of mayonnaise, which should be loads of fun (i.e. horrible wrist cramping). And then Thursday we have a wonderful class potluck in which I'm making La Bete Noire and possibly some delicious Jack Daniels ribs, yum. So nothing really interesting, most of the time was spent making Gazpacho, well bye!

"Don't Treat Your Employee's Like Mushrooms"/"Butterflies Are Seen, Not Heard"

I couldn't decide on one title so I put them both! Ha! Let's see, I had a paper due on this book I read, a servesafe practice exam, a chapter four exam, and a weird French salad. As for the paper, I turned it in. The servesafe test, I missed 11 out of 80, so I did pretty well. The chapter four exam I did really good on the first part of it but when I got to the end I was confused on a few things so I'm a little worried about that. Especially since it's worth double points. The French salad was just dumb. It was made out of a bunch of different ingredients that made no sense, so we did the prep work and then Chef put it together and it wasn't even that good. But another class brought in pasta putenesca (epic spelling fail I'm sure). Which I've never had but was actually really good. Interesting name origination too, if you ever want to look that up lol. So I'm off to Monterey! Woo! Swc here I come!

Don't Boil It; Just Chop It's Head Off

So tonight went by really quickly. Probably because we actually helped with the prep work instead of watching Chef do it all. The night started out with servesafe jeopardy which turned into a very competitive violent sort of sport haha. It was actually very helpful and educational. Competition will do that to you lol. Then after that we started the prep work for potato and leek soup (that's one soup) and lobster bisque. So we got to watch Chef and two other classmates kill and part up a lobster. Then we cooked up the potato and leek soup, which was DELICIOUS! I plan to remake it. Lots and lots of times. Then we made the lobster bisque. Which was okay, I mean, I wasn't really impressed by it. I liked the potato and leek soup better. I would've filmed some of it and taken pictures but my phone was super dead :(. Which sucks because the lobster legs move for a long time after the lobster is already dead, it's kind of weird. Totally wanted to film that shenanigans. Anywho, off to sleep, got a busy weekend and a book report that's due tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Too Much To Do

Woohoo! Done with servesafe. Which means we have a practice test tomorrow and a final test next week. The end of this class came out of nowhere. I'd be more sad if I had to leave all my new friends but luckily I get to take them all to the next class! (unless they don't pass of course). I will miss Chef Elsner though :(. So I have a book to finish and two papers to write, plus I have uniforms to wash, (plus all the chores my mother left me): it's going to be a busy busy day! Next class two people get to kill lobsters. Which should be pretty cool. Also, Chef showed us this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzj95jHuPiw which people actually use as a decoration on food. And yes, as much as it looks alive, it is very dead. But honestly, after I saw it moving like that, I would not want to eat it. So in class we got to practice plating and my team did pretty well. Woo! I'm not gonna take all the credit but uh, it was mostly my design. Lol. I'm really good at plating surprisingly. Can't wait for the next adventure!

"The Eyes Eat First"

So tonight was slow, and gross. We watched a movie called Food Inc which kind of shows how corrupt the food industry is. It's kind of ridiculous how in America you can get away with anything as long as you have money or a corporation to back you. This movie just added to the many reasons I hate America, especially California. Everything is so backwards. I've found the fundamental reason that America is in the craphole. People nowadays lack integrity. Anyone, in any part of the government can be bought off. Slaughterhouses and dairy farms get away with anything and everything because they have political advocates. It's ridiculous. Were compromising the safety of individuals to produce things cheaper and faster and one day it's going to come back to bite us in the ass. So watch out America.