Whirlwind

Whirlwind is the perfect word to describe the past few weeks. School started, my job ended, and I had family in town. A wonderful whirlwind it's been!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to culinary school!! I am having a ball in the kitchen and learning new techniques, history, and the science of cooking. Each chapter I read (it's about 4 so far in each book - so about 8) I find something fascinating or find myself saying, "Oh, that's why!"

Last week was our first week cooking -- besides the play dough we made the first week of school. Yes, I made mine orange and it was to practice our knife cuts. I am a little ahead of the game since I learned some knife skills at the restaurant, but I tell you the larger the dice the harder it is for me. I guess I am into the small detailed work. We also practice on potatoes and carrots. Carrots are difficult to cut (people cut themselves on carrots quite a bit), but since I cut about 4 lbs of carrots into brunoise over the summer -- I am pretty much used to it.

Sandwiches are the first project we worked on because they may use many pieces of kitchen equipment such as the grill, stovetop, oven, mandoline, deepfryer, etc. My team made a Pan Bagnet sandwich that contained tunafish with capers and green onions -- topped with thinly sliced tomatoes, red onions, and roasted red and green pepper. It turned out really good -- which surprised me since I am not really a tuna fan right now. The next day my team made french fries -- they were super yummy!! Nothing like fresh french fries in fresh oil! Mmmmm...

In my Pro Cook class we have to have our meal prepped and ready to go for "family meal". Yes, we get to eat our classwork. :) Our teams talk about what we made and then enjoy! Cleanup time is next -- we all participate in this and my class is really good about keeping up with the work.

Baking is similar style -- we have to have our items baked off and ready to go for roundtable. Then we get a bag we can fill with baked goods to take home. Yes, BF is very excited about this part! Last week my teammate and I made Spicy Banana Bread, Morning Glory Muffins (with carrots, apples, raisins, pecans), and southwest Corn Muffins (with cheddar cheese and red peppers). Other groups made gingerbread, poppy seed bread, sour cream muffins, blueberry muffins, cheddar bacon muffins, and streusel topped muffins. All this in about 2 hours!!

I have 3 tests this week already and I am nervous! I know I will do ok, but I am not sure how the test styles are going to be. Once I get through the first one I should be good to go.

I will fill you in on more adventures later, but until then -- bon appetit!

Our first wine dinner...

Last Friday we hosted our first wine dinner at the restaurant with a special guest speaker, a wine maker from France. It was a fantastic evening to say the least!

Team effort was the theme in the kitchen. We had 52 guests that needed to be fed and everything needed to go smoothly. We rearranged the kitchen so we could have an assembly line for plating. We sent out dishes in groups by table: two 10s, one 8 and two 12s.

The amuse-bouche was a deep fried won ton wrapper in the shape of a cone and filled with lavender delice and topped with fresh lavender.

We also made hors d'oeuvres for the event. We had mini wild rice pancakes topped with a small slice of lavender roasted duck breast, a dot of lavender jelly, and garnished with fresh parsley. Also available were poached shrimp with louie sauce in a mini phyllo cup and egg salad with truffle oil atop a crostini and garnished with a fresh truffle slice.

We started out the first course with a sea scallop on a bed of sauteed local veggies topped with ginger wasabi dressing in a scallop shell. The shell rested on a bed of kale and we placed 3 dots of roux on the plate. The second course was roasted quail with couscous salad along with a pheasant sausage, sauteed veggies, and lobster mushrooms.

Third course was mixed greens tossed in our house fig vinaigrette with 2 wedges of fresh figs, a slice of bermuda triangle and a slice of manchego. Last, but certainly not least was the dessert course: a mini blueberry cobbler with house made vanilla bean ice cream, a mini quatro de leche cake with caramel, whipped cream and a raspberry, and a mini chocolate cup with a dot of de leche caramel underneath the chocolate mousse, and topped with sea salt, whipped cream and a marcona almond.

YUM.

Yes, this all sounds delish -- and it was! Let's see....4 courses, 52 guests -- we put out over 200 plates of food that night! WOW!! When we were done plating, Lady Chef and all the kitchen staff were invited out to the restaurant to be introduced. The applause was overwhelming and I thought I was going to cry! It was an amazing and proud moment that I will remember for a lifetime. Lady Chef introduced everyone -- I was first and so nervous, but so proud! This was such a team effort for all of us -- we all made it happen and put on our best.

These kind of nights are the ones that will make me miss the crew. Only 2 more weeks.

Mise en Place

Books -- check. Chef coats, pants, aprons and hats -- check. Knife and baking kit -- check. Excitement for my first lab classes that start on Monday -- CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!! WAHOO!!

Even though I officially started culinary school in January, it truly isn't real until you get your whites. I am excited, nervous, open-minded and thrilled to be starting my lab classes. This is where the fun begins!

Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 to 8:30 will be my Intro to Baking class. Chef Lucy is my instructor that I had last semester for Menu Planning. I didn't want to take night classes, but I wanted to take Chef Lucy's class. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice a little to get what you want. Just flipping through the text book gets me excited, and somewhat hungry, of course. Looks like there are a lot of breads, danishes, muffins, cookies, cakes, icings, (must I go on? ...ok I will), ganache, tarts, brownies, pies, ice cream, mousse, and petits fours I will need to make. Oh darn. Hee hee.

Professional Cookery is going to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 2pm - I am so happy to have this as a day class! Pro Cook, as it is called on campus, will teach the basics of working in a professional kitchen from equipment to recipe writing to proper technique to plate presentation. I could go on for hours about what is in our text for this class, but I will tell you I am mostly excited about learning how to properly prep and cook meat, poultry and fish. This is one thing I wish I would have learned at the restaurant this summer -- things just got too busy for us for Lady Chef to teach me. But hey, that's what I am going to culinary school for!

Friday is my "boring but important" class - Safety and Sanitation. I took a mini test at work, so I am pretty familiar with it -- the class will just be more of the same. Since I am a clean freak, I think I will not have a problem with this class!

Can't wait!!!!

I love parties!

I love to plan parties, host parties, and cook for parties. Getting together for the simple reason of celebrating life is enough for me to start planning. So when Lady Chef asked me if I wanted to help her cater an event -- without hesitation, I said, "YES!".

Last night I participated in my first catering event and I loved it! Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to do what I do. Really. Truly. The event was a two hour fundraiser in a private home on Lake Michigan for about 40 people.

I arrived at the restaurant about 11:30 am to discover the store was really busy. I was afraid Lady Chef wasn't going to make our deadline it was so busy. I started by making cookie dough, (which we both knew should have been made ahead, but so be it) then onto making crostini, and even made mini twice baked new potatoes. YUM. Lady Chef worked on lamb chops, roasted duck and passionfruit mango slaw. Our newest cook (lets call her Protege') helped out with grating vegetables, baking brownies, and making phyllo cups.

We prepped all we could then, with the help of a few of the servers and dishwashers, we packed up the van and off we went! It was not a far drive, thank goodness, and I also found out we would be working in the basement - score! It was extremely hot and humid last night, I swear we would have melted on the main floor! Anyway, we had plenty of room to work with -- it was a full kitchen in the basement that was larger than our entire house! Lady Chef's husband (Winespert), our bartender, and one of our servers worked the party upstairs. They said it was really hot and they were wiped out by the end of the night! I suppose it was our little treat for the summer since we are used to working in a hot kitchen and they get the cool dining room. :)

Crunch time arrives! I started by working on assembling mini BLT's (YUM!), then cucumber and radish mini sandwiches (YUM!) then baked chocolate espresso cookies (YUM, YUM!). Lady Chef worked on the lamb, twice baked potatoes, shrimp, hummus and cheese plates. Protege' garnished the cheese filled phyllo cups, helped me with assembly of sandwiches and put all the brownies in cups. After each assembly we would arrange on trays and place a garnish in the center. Plating is one of my favorite things to do, so I was really enjoying myself. Protege' also did a great job and I am really grateful Lady Chef picked her to work with us. She kept telling us we had "attention to detail" and I joked and said, "you make it sound like a condition". Haha. She said "Well, it really is and a good one to have!"

As quickly as we started, we packed up, cleaned up and were out the door! We made sure to thank the hosts and headed back to the restaurant. After just a few minutes of unpacking we headed home.

Shower, feet up, glass of chilled wine. Ahhhhh.

I don't want to rush it, but.....

Summer. It flees by so quickly, doesn't it? I can't believe I only have 5 more weekends of work at the restaurant. I have mixed feelings about it, but I know it's what I need to do - more importantly - WANT to do. I love working there, but the 40 minute drive in the winter is really, really tough. Not to mention, BF and I haven't had any chances to have a full weekend to ourselves in almost a year. We've been fortunate to have the days we've had and it's been wonderful.

Starting the last weekend in August, I will officially be a full time student. I haven't been there for YEARS, in fact, the only time I didn't work while going to school was my first year in college at the age of 17!! Because I like to do things different, the last time I went to school full time I was also working full time - NO social life, just work and school. But I loved it! (Yes, that's the nerd in me alright!)

Of course I need to shake it up a bit and be different again. Full time school and the only "job" I will have is my home based business, which I truly don't consider work. The only thing that I am not so thrilled with is that I have 1 class that is twice a week at night. The upside is (because that's the way I roll) -- I took it because I wanted to have Chef Lucy as an instructor. I really liked her class last semester and I am really hoping to learn more from her. She is so enthusiastic about teaching and it really makes it fun to come to class. Well, I suppose my enthusiasm for learning helps too.

I went up to school yesterday and tried on the chef's jacket and pants to pick out my sizes. Putting on that jacket really made me feel awesome and VERY excited to begin my classes!! I also have to buy a knife and baking kit which has basically every tool I will need for the 2 years of training. It's pretty pricey, but not really when you consider everything that is in it. I might swap out some of the items with my personal stash - but then again, I don't want anything to get "lifted" if you know what I mean.

Lady Chef was joking around the other day about wanting to see report cards too -- she really has taught me some valuable lessons about working in a kitchen. My confidence level in the kitchen has really gone up too, and especially since she started giving me more responsibilities. I basically work as a sous chef during my shift and also as a fill in where ever I am needed. I make lists for everyone before they come into work so they know exactly what they need to do when they get there. You would be surprised how much direction some people need, although maybe you wouldn't. I keep everyone on task (Lady Chef says I am really good at this) and make sure we are all ready to go and all the staff has eaten by 6pm when the first reservation arrives. It's a logistical challenge, but such a rush!

Speaking of rush, I had better get moving! I have a few errands to run on my way to work and I want to be sure to arrive in a timely manner - who knows what adventures are in store for me tonight!

A winner by default

What ever happened to good sportsmanship? Or should I say sportsladyship? This morning I played 9 holes (thankfully NOT a full 18) for the "second chance" round of a matchplay. (Yes -- this means I lost my first match). Anyhow, I openly and willingly admit I am not that great of a golfer -- but I don't take myself very seriously and try to have a good time. Most of us on the league are like this. Then there are "those ladies" that you want to avoid like the plague. I just happened to golf with one of them this morningu -- ugh.

My first clue should have been her attitude at the pro shop register -- she was short and rude to Larry and it rubbed me the wrong way. Just as some side info, my bf is the lawyer for the golf course -- loves the guys that run it and so I take it as a personal insult. Don't mess with my boys! I ask her if she wants to drive the cart (just to be courteous, mind you) and that was a mistake too. Her driving was so jerky, I thought I would get whiplash before we found hole #1.

I have the highest average on the league (NOT a good thing, but I just started so I am totally ok with this), and miss spoil sport is the second highest. You would think she'd just relax since she's basically going to win the game -- but she acted like a complete idiot the entire time. I really tried hard to make her laugh, but it just wasn't working. By hole #4, she had thrown her club on the ground after teeing off, griped about every ball she hit (or failed to hit), and jerked me around in that cart for the last time. She was moaning about her 11, and I pointed out that I had 4 of them (told you I wasn't good) and tried making a joke out of it. She didn't think it was funny and just fumed about it. That and EVERY HOLE THEREAFTER. She kept saying, "this is why they put us together" as if saying, "you are a crappy player too, and I'm bringing you down with me".

I finally took over the driving because I couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't sorry when I accidently jerked the cart either. She lost so many balls or had them in the woods under trees, that a few times I just told her to throw one on so we could get on with the game. I seriously gave her 2 holes because I just wanted the game to be over and get the H out of there.

Finally, it was over and I couldn't get out of that cart fast enough. I told her I'd drop off the score card and see her tomorrow (our regular league play). Then she says, "That was fun. No lunch?" Fun??!! You call that fun, lady??!! No, I'm not going to eat lunch with you, you whackjob! I wonder if she saw the shock on my face? I responded with, "No, I've got an appointment with a photographer, family photos." She then says, "Real family or business?" I am not sure what she means by this, so I reply, "My boyfriend and his kids. I'll drop the card off and see you tomorrow."

Please, oh please, I hope I don't have to golf with her tomorrow. I ended up winning 2 holes and tieing 2. Honestly, I could have taken 4 -- but I couldn't take her attitude. Which reminds me I forgot to include the bit where she tells me about these lessons she's taking on Mondays that I should go to. Thanks, but no thanks. But thanks for telling me where NOT to be on Mondays.

In my mind, I won the round by default. Someone who acts like such an ass should not be the winner of anything. Life is too short to be a jerk playing golf. It's just a game.

Not a thing to wear!!

I just finished trying on my dress collection (the LARGE collection of 5) and I am really not happy with any one of them right now. Too much cleave, too much black, too much shoulder. Oy vey!

I am trying to find something to wear for my dinner date on Saturday. My BF and I are taking a short road trip to Chicago for the night and we made a reservation at Spiaggia, Chicago's only four star Italian restaurant. I can't tell you how excited I am!!! 2 days after we made our reservation, Chef Tony Mantuano makes a reservation at the restaurant where I work! NOT KIDDING, folks!! It was so exciting that night -- I had the pleasure of plating his dessert -- and he had some great things to say about our place!

As I am typing, BF walks in and I tell him my dress dilemna and he admits that he's not real enthusiastic about what he has either! So, we are going to bring what we have -- but maybe do some shopping on the way down and see if we can "get lucky". I love the way he thinks!

Ok, back to Spaggia for a minute -- get this -- they have a cheese cave! Yes, you heard me correctly -- a cheese cave! They have a temperature controlled cheese cave filled with pounds of Italian cheeses!! Oh, I just can't wait!! Formaggio heaven!

I will fill you in on all the details when we get back...

Ciao!!!