Baking as Fast as I Can

Post?

2008-07-01T15:54:00.001-07:00

Almost... I posted something in my other baking blog.

I've got to settle on which one I want to use and stick with it. I barely post as it is, do I really need two?

More is better... greed is good.

Mmmmm... Cobbler!

2008-03-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

So last week, I was making marshmallows for Easter, and I used these crappy eggs that would not whip. I kept trying with new eggs (after thoroughly cleaning and drying both the bowl and whisk) to no avail. Finally, I grabbed some old eggs and they whipped up fine. But, by that point, the marshmallow had set to the point I couldn't fold in the whipped egg whites.

I threw out the lot and pouted.

I didn't feel like starting over... more aptly, going to the store, buying more freakin' eggs, coming home and starting over. So, I looked around and saw some blueberries that I'd bought.

Faster than you can say "anti-oxidants" I'd baked my first blueberry cobbler. I'd made a lot of interesting stuff in culinary school, but no cobblers.

Behold, my cobbler! Feel free to drool (it was delicious!)

"Take a bite out of this, bitch!"

2008-03-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I will finish up my externship! Yep, at 4:00am I will cross over the magic 240 hour mark. Let the churchbells ring and the cupcakes roar!

Martha Kostyra

2007-11-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

September 16th, 1914 - November 16th, 2007

Martha Stewart’s mom passed away on Friday. Lord knows, I love me some Martha—her mom was a real kick. At 93, she was still driving and still vibrant. How wonderful is that? That’s the way I want to go: a long, happy, healthy life and then—way past my 80’s—slip off into the night.

God Speed, Big Martha!

Holidays on Ice!

2007-10-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve updated… try over a year. Well, it was an eventful year. But I’m back, with a whole new groove.

So, this is what I’m thinking: I really can’t write about work, because I know I’ll say something I shouldn’t, get in trouble, and get fired. I’m working at a bakery for my externship and I need the gig to get my degree. So, dishing on the industry is out.

However, since the holidays are approaching and I intend to bake for gifts and certain occasions, I’ll discuss my results, ideas, etc. as I go. We’re very fluid here at Baking as Fast as I Can…

I got my first orders for Mimis* for Christmas. I’ve worked out a production schedule for Christmas, so we’ll see if I can keep up. I really, really want to get a guitar lever slicer—but they go for about $2K. Maybe if I make enough this Christmas I can use my profits for that? HA! Like I’d make half that…

I’m also going to make mustard this year. It’s a hot & sour recipe that’s really freakin’ good. It’s a great gift idea. It takes a little work, but it’s SO freakin’ worth it.

I have a good bit of Limoncello made and I know some people that want to purchase that, so I’m probably not going to give that away to anyone this year. No one ever says “Hey, I tried your Limoncello—it was delicious!” I think it’s sitting forgotten in their freezers.

However, I’m really excited about a new “product,” which I have not named yet. I take my homemade (hard) pretzel rods, dip them in caramel, roll them in nuts, and dip that in chocolate. No wholly original, but I make everything from scratch, which should be a nice touch. Any ideas on a name? If I love it, I’ll give you naming credit—and an order of the pretzel-caramel-nutty-chocolaty-thingies.**

I’ve got some other ideas bouncing around, I’ll let you know about that as things get more solid.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I am in charge of the dessert at my family’s Thanksgiving celebration. I’m going traditional with the pumpkin pie, probably a pecan as well. Definitely mimis and the PCNC-thingies as a test run. I made a really nice Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake last year (with a bourbon whipped topping)—f’ing fantastic. I’ll find the recipe and post it. I think it was on Food Network… no, it was on America’s Test Kitchen. If you can find it, use it—it’s worth it.

*pronounced mee-meez—my homemade marshmallows. Delicious.

**don’t even think of using that name, it sucks.

Busy Week

2006-09-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have a HUGE final coming up this week (small batch of croissant dough and I need to get 12 croissants with NO leftover dough), a Basque Cake and braided white bread--along with baking recipes for class each night--I am creating timelines for each night so I know what I need to be doing at any given moment in class.

Not that I have posted much in the last few weeks, but there probably won't be any posts this week. In the meantime... here are a few pictures from our school tour of Copia this weekend:

The Goddess Copia:

One of the hundreds of sunflowers in the garden:

Julia Child's Pots and Pans (and wall rack built by her husband Paul):

Tomatoes from Copia's Garden:

Wine Tasting (the Merlot won):

Morning Treats

2006-09-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

I realized that I did not post my pictures of my croissants and danishes (Bear Claws, Pastry Stars and Butterhorns), so here they are! (They tasted delicious).

Mmmmm... croissants!

Don't say nuthin' bad 'bout my Danishes

I made focaccia bread today for the very first time... I nearly burned down the kitchen. Oh, Martha Stewart, why do you vex me so? (There's a ton of olive oil in the recipe and it 'boiled over' in the pan and onto the coils.) I was so tired that I started to cut it up before I even thought to take a picture. It turned out pretty well--I took most of it to my mom (she LOVES focaccia)--and the rest was lunch and dinner (very filling).

Hello, Again

2006-09-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, it’s been way too long for me to not write something—and much has happened.

First, Baking 101 is over! There have been an additional 17 sessions since my last entry.

Here’s what we’ve made in Baking 101:

Pastry Cream (a basic in any bakery—and mine is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself)
pâte à choux (éclairs, baby, é-fucking-clairs!)
Pane Francese (crunchy bread…. Mmmmmm…)
Vanilla Buttercream (using the Swiss Method)
Almond Sponge Cake
Caramelized Sugar (for decorations) A really fun class where we just played with the sugar
Bavarois (aka Bavarian Cream)
Raspberry Sauce I like-a the sauce…
Vanilla Pound Cake Sugar, butter and eggs… what could be better?
Hazelnut Short Dough
Fruit Tartlets Not a big fan of these, but mine looked pretty cool.

We had a written and “practical” final for Baking 101. I got a 100% on the written (no one was more surprised than I and a 94% on the practical.

The practical was to bake an Almond Sponge Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, cutting the cake into three layers, topping each layer with pastry cream. Doesn’t sound that hard, but cutting a layer of cake evenly is an art—an ability I do not possess. I lost six points on my layers being uneven. However, Chef Steph thought my decorating skills were good (for a beginner).

Baking 101 was designed to get us in the kitchen, understanding how to properly use the equipment, as well as learning basic techniques and ingredients. Apparently, we got it down because we all passed. I also got my results from my Serve-Safe final and I got a 94% on that (seems to be a pattern—if I could always get a 94%, I don’t know if I would be that upset).

Students
I did not note my fellow student’s names past posts, but I have decided to drop that. I’ll use first names and since I like everyone, I do not forsee a problem. [NOTE: if you’re one of my classmates and you want your name removed, let me know and I will make horrible, horrible comments about you—using an alias for you, of course].

Let’s meet the “kids”, shall we?

Debi: Got pregnant and dropped out. Very quiet, but very sweet. I hope she decides to pick up next year—she was very good.
Rabia “Super Sous”: She was the second sous for chef and Nick dubbed her “Super Sous”. Part of Nick’s Click… Very funny (in a sarcastic and fun way)
Canela “Spicy Sous”: Tiny little thing—Again, lots of fun. Good sense of humor.
Gwyne: Hasn’t been a sous, yet, so no name. A school teacher – this last week it finally hit her that bakers do not make much money. I understand her frustration, but I’m not letting it get me down. Also has a great sense of humor—and, yes, a member of Nick’s Click.
Nick “Just Sous”: Our first sous, so no catchy title. He’s 22 and will tell you a thousand times a day, whether you ask him or not. A nice guy, but he’s 22 and acts it. I never thought 22 was that young. He and his Click have command of the back row of chairs during lecture. They do a lot of chatting back there, so I sit in the front.
Steve: I think he’s the oldest of us all. He’s been in the Navy (flew planes, so he’s got the cool factor going for him) and now he’s an engineer at Lockheed—so he’s smart, too. He’s also a great baker—seriously good.
Rodney “Hot Rod Sous”: Rodney and I worked together quite a bit the first week and we laughed a lot. He’s got a great attitude. He designs websites for a living—I’ve seen some of the sites and they are really great. He also sings—on his website, he has posted some of his studio sessions—they are really great. The guy has been holding out on us.
Samya “Crazy Sous”: (She hates that name…) Brazilian and a hoot. She gets so excited when Chef creates something, she practically jumps up and down. She’s brought in pictures of the cakes she’s made—pretty spectacular stuff. Very talented decorator. She also has the metric measurements down pat.
Jenny “Yaba-daba-Sous” (She really hates that name). She’s taken classes with Chef before at Cabrillo—so she’s got this ‘inside track’ on everything. She is a quick study so she knows everything before class. I know that bugs some people, but she has been incredibly helpful to me in offering suggestions and advice. She does it in such a great way, “I know you already know this but…” and then tells me something I hadn’t thought of or missed during lecture.
Hong: (no sous as of yet) She was in class last year, but dropped because of a car accident, so she came into the class about a month late—it’s hard to walk into a group that has already gelled. She’s also pretty quiet and there is a little language problem, so I she hasn’t warmed to us yet. She’s a good baker and she has made friends with Samya, so I think it’s just going to take some time.
Skye: (again, not sous, yet) She is officially the youngest person in our class at 18. However, she’s more mature than Nick… Very much the 18 year-old, she’s got funky dyed hair and sometimes a bit of an attitude, but I worked with her last week and she was a lot of fun to bake with.
Me: In case you were wondering, my name is “Amazing Sous”…

Baking 102: Breads and Pastry Doughs

So far, we have baked:
Buttermilk-Cream Biscuits Can’t go wrong with biscuits…
Scones Not a big fan of Scones… but they were pretty good
Chocolate-Honey Muffins Horrific recipe
Apple-Pecan Muffins Ditto
Banana Bread Never a big fan, but this turned out great—I made muffins out of the batter…
Tiger Cake Turned out really nice
Soft Gingerbread Cake Interesting…
Chocolate Gugelhuph Disgusting. Third worse recipe. Ever. (see Chocolate-Honey Muffins and Apple-Pecan Muffins
Basque Cake Really rather nice
Meyer Lemon Semolina Cake Lemony-sugary-cake… rocked.
Croissants Turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself…
Danishes, Bear Claws, Butterhorns Talk about winners! Just amazing stuff—butter and flour, layered a thousand times—classic goodness.

The big problem with the two muffins above was that each of them had a TON of ingredients—no restaurant, bakery, home would ever make such items. And what week did I get to mise en place for Chef? Damn muffins… On Monday, mise en place took 15 minutes. On Tuesday, with those damn muffins, it took almost an hour to get all the ingredients together!

When we finally baked them, they were just “okay”. However, in all fairness, if I were to think of them as truly great, they would have had to have come with cash prizes…

Two weeks ago, they had a film crew in to interview Chef Stef for the new ads and website. Well, they decided to interview students. Since I’m not “camera friendly” I didn’t think they were going to talk to me, so during breaks when they were interviewing other students, I kept offering advice to the students“don’t forget to mention yada, yada, yada.” I thought I was quiet, but the guy said he wanted to interview me.

Egad.

So, as I rolled out my puff pastry dough, he asked me questions about how school was going and what my plans were—what can I say? The school is great, the people are wonderful, I love my fellow students, the kitchens are top notch—I sold like I had an interest in the place. I’m not sure if they will use me, but it was fun.

All in all, it’s been a blast these last few weeks. It’s been exhausting, but I look forward to going to class every day.

Bon apetit

pâte à choux (before chocolate and pastry cream)

éclairs

Tarts

My first final

Week Three: Into the Kitchen… Into the Fire

2006-07-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

(I'll fix the formatting problems later... tired... must sleep)

Finally, we got into the kitchen! Our group is pretty solid and we seem to be working well. Chef Steph is our instructor-chef and she is quite a pistol. She has a great sense of humor, but most important, she has 30+ years of practical baking experience. She knows a lot and is willing to impart her knowledge onto us.

Each week Chef Steph will ask one of us to be her sous-chef for the week. The sous has to get there a half-hour early to help set up, assists Chef Steph throughout class, and then is responsible for making sure we clean and sanitize everything in the kitchen (and I mean everything). It’s a dirty job, but someone has to get volunteered to do it. I was standing next to J when Chef Steph asked her if she would be the first sous. J said she couldn’t, so instead of asking me, she asked N. I felt no love…

We are going to be paired up with another student each week. Starting next week, Chef Steph will assign us our partner. However, this week we chose our own and R and I decided to work together. Poor R… he had no idea of my idiocy…

Day One:

Lecture
Chef Steph lectured on everything we need to know about working in her kitchen. “Yes Chef” was a phrase we have learned and learned well… She also lectured on leavening agents. Talk about fun!

Actually, it is interesting. I came up with an acronym for leavening agents: YABABS—Yeast, Air, Baking Powder, Ammonium Carbonate, Baking Soda, Steam.

Cooking Demo
Chef Steph demonstrated how to make Short Dough—generally used for cookies. She made Thumb Cookies and These Little Round Thingies With No Name (seriously, I think that is their actual name… well, that’s what I call them). So off we went and cooked to our hearts content. R and I did a good job.

We did not cook anything on day one, because lecture took so long and the Short Dough is going to be cooked on Day Two.

Day Two (or Day One + 1):

Lecture:

What fat does to food (flavor, tenderizer, adds moisture and richness, keeping qualities (shelf life), assists in leavening, acts as a creaming agent, and creates flakiness in dough.
Types of flours:
1. White Flour—highly bleached, glutens are taken out, used for “light fluffy” cakes
2. Pastry Flour—hard wheat flour, low in gluten content (8-9%), good in doughs such as pie crust and cookies (bad for cakes and bread)
3. All Purpose Flour—mixture of pastry and bread flours (10-20% gluten)
4. Bread Flour—(11-13% gluten)
5. High Gluten Bread Flour—(16% gluten) Added to bread flour to make it stronger.
Butter and Shortenings
1. Regular Crisco—hard and “plastic”-like, excellent creaming quality, no flavor, melts at high temperatures
2. Emulsified Shortening—Less “hard”, spreads easily through batter, smoother and finer texture to cakes, does NOT cream easily, good for cakes and icings, holds sugar without curdling (good in cake where sugare is greater than flour content).
3. Butter—drawbacks, consists of 80% fat, 15% water and 5% milk solids (European butter is higher in fat content). Available in salted and unsalted (unsalted is almost always used in baking to control salt). Advantages: FLAVOR and Melts well (good texture).
4. Margarine—fake butter. Made from vegetable and animal fats (80-85% fats, 5% salt and milk solids, 10% “moisture”)
5. Baking Margarine—can’t buy in stores (why would you…?)
6. Pastry Margarine—Bright yellow in color, leaves a greasy film in your mouth.
7. Oils—Liquid fats. Shortens glutens too much, not used a lot, occasionally in bread doughs, used in frying.
8. Lard—Rendered pork fat (rendered and clarified). High melting point, usually processed (unprocessed has a meat flavor), lots of saturated fat, makes great pie crusts.
Milk Products
1. Cream is the #1 milk product in bake shop (it’s expensive and can separate—tastes great when fresh).
2. Bake shops use Manufactured Cream (39-41% butterfat), longer shelf life than heavy cream, whips faster, doesn’t separate as easily.
3. Heavy Cream—buy at grocery store (by law, must be 30% butterfat) can go as high as 35%
4. Heavy Whipping Cream—36-40% butterfat
5. Cream is best when it nears its expiration date—Fat is congealing. It will taste fine a week or two past expiration date.
6. Whole Milk—4% milk fat, if you use 1% it changes the texture. Used in yeast doughs—adds in browning, also used in puddings and custards.
7. Half & Half—half milk and half cream
8. Evaporated Milk—either whole or skim where 60% of moisture is removed
9. Condensed Milk—60% of water removed and sweetened with sugar (thick and sweet)
10. Dry Whole Milk—Not used in too many pastries
11. Fermented Milk Products—very acidic
12. Buttermilk (Sourmilk)—cultured or churned, today it is almost always cultured. (For each quart of buttermilk add ½ oz of baking soda and subtract 1 oz of baking powder.)
13. Sour Cream—also almost always cultured. Lactic acid is added for fermentation.
14. Yogurt—cultured, made by using lactobacillus acidophilus.
15. Crème Fresh—cream and sour cream (yogurt and buttermilk) left out overnight at room temperature in a covered container. Helps digestive system
16. Milk Products pick up flavors—always use by the expiration date (except for cream)

Cooking Demo:

We made Quick Puff Pastry (QPP). Well, we tried… Actually, everyone else in class did rather well with their dough. It is supposed to start out very crumbly and lousy and through rolling and folding is supposed to come out as a lovely dough that will puff beautifully.

R and I mixed our dough too much and it came out in this big wet lump. I believe the fault is mine since I was the one who insisted on mixing “a bit more”. Needless to say, our dough did not puff well.

We rolled out our QPP and laid it out over our rolled Short Dough, cut them into strips, twisted them into pretzels and dipped them in sugar and crushed almonds. We did not cook them until Wednesday, but everyone else’s pretzels puffed beautifully. Mine stayed small—however, because of the liberal use of sugar and almonds, they tasted okay.

I did not sleep well on Tuesday night as I kept going over what I did wrong with the QPP. It really bothered me. I was going to make some this weekend, but ran out of time. However, I did make Short Dough and had a hell of a time getting it not to stick to my rolling pin and board… I suck.

Day Three:

Lecture
Functions of eggs in baked goods
Structure—can make things chewy and tough, so use care
Emulsifying of fats and liquids—makes smooth and uniform butter for proper mixing
Leavening—adds expansion and rise
Shortening actions—yolk is high in fat
Moisture
Flavor
Nutritional Value
Color

I have a chart I need to draw out and scan… I’ll put that in here… someday.

Cooking Demo:
We made Crème Anglaise for use next week and cooked our pretzels… as I said, sugar can cover a host of sins… My Crème Anglaise turned out really well—a number of things can go wrong, but ours turned out well.

All-in-all it was a good week. I know that I don’t know squat right now. I hope I catch on quick or this is going to be a long ten months…

Week Two: 93% The Boy Passes!

2006-07-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

I took the ServSafe® final today and got a 93%! I could actually have 100% if—and only if—the six questions I missed are within the ten “tester questions” that are not counted. What a relief.

Now that the test is over, here are the big ticket items I am looking at right now:

Monday is the start of actual baking classes. I am really looking forward to those classes. We also found out who our chef-instructor will be. Sometimes there is a bit of a communication problem at school and we were all told different chefs would be teaching our classes. On Tuesday it was confirmed that Chef Stephanie would be our chef-instructor. According to Jennie, a fellow B&P student, Chef Stephanie is “very into chocolate” right now. Now I am really looking forward to class.

Chef Bo, who wrote the textbook on pastry, will only teach an occasional class—which, for me, is a good thing: I do not want to screw up in front of this guy, so the less I see of him, the better my chances of not f’ing up in front of him. Then again, I want to get in there to gain as much knowledge as I can from the guy.

I found out that there are banquets hosted at the Institute and we can get paid for working them. I am going to sign up—I need to get as much practice as I can.

Well, I need to get started reading on The Professional Pastry Chef book for class.

Bon appétit!

Week One: Keeping it Clean

2006-07-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

The first week of classes are over! I managed to work a 40 hour week go to 5 hours a night of classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday—and live! Red Bull is my new best friend…

Classes seem to be going well. I like our chef-instructor Scott, who is very knowledgeable in the field of sanitation and is also very funny—which makes a dry subject that much easier to enjoy.

The first two weeks are sanitation studies—readying for the ServSafe™ test, which will be this Wednesday. We are learning about bacteria, time & temperature issues, etc. Scott, our chef-instructor, has given us the background on a number of really nasty health issues that have arisen in the last few years.

For example, he told us about the Viva Mexico Mexican restaurant death that happened in 2000, where a woman died of Shigella bacterium—apparently, they did not have ANY sanitation supplies in the restaurant… and no soap in the ladies restroom… and none of the employees could tell them when the last time it was that the salsa bowl in the kitchen had been washed. They simply refilled it every time it got low… never bothering to clean it out after it sat out all day on the counter. My question is: how come only ONE person died?

Also a big lesson in ground beef: never eat it. Seriously, I will not go into details but just never go near that… hot dogs, too. If it is kosher, you are okay… otherwise, stay away. Ground Chuck and Ground Sirloin are okay, because they are from specific cuts of meat. Suffice to say, the rest of the cow is up for grabs… and what you are grabbing in ground beef is just that: the rest—nothing goes to waste.

On Wednesday, he showed us a video of some fast food restaurants in Tennessee and Long Island that were too disgusting for words. Foul, foul stuff that made me ever eating at a fast food restaurant again (and definitely not eating a hamburger, as it is made of ground beef).

I got to meet my fellow classmates. We are a mixture of “Baking” and “Hot Foods” (which is how one of the chef instructors referred to our individual pursuits). My class is not just the B&P people, but a mixture of pursuits, which is nice.

J & M are a married couple from Santa Cruz, she will be in my baking group, while he is pursuing the cooking side of the culinary arts. I asked if they were going to open a restaurant when they were done, and they gave me a look that said, “We’re not saying… but yes.” Actually, I get the impression they want to, but do not want to talk about it right now.

During a break, M came up with a cool idea for a restaurant (I took a vow of confidence not to reveal it), which if he can get backing would be a lot of fun. Yes, there is a theme, but in this case it is culinary—with a huge and fun twist.

S, R & C sit to my left, they all are very nice and finally got their uniforms on Wednesday (they had been using loaners from the school). The rest of the class seems so much younger than I… mostly because they are. Actually, S might (might) be older than I am, if so, not by much.

On our breaks we have been watching the other classes cooking, which is a lot of fun. Especially when we catch them doing something we consider questionable on sanitation: “Did he just wipe his hands on his apron?!” Not a deal-breaker, but still, sanitation foremost on our minds right now, so any minor breach in protocol somehow seems critical.

It is cool to watch the other classes cook, to see what they are making and how they are instructed. The chef-instructors appear to be quite helpful, which is good to see. I asked one of the instructors what happens to all the food at the end of class, to which he replied, “We eat it!” and patted his stomach.

Based on what I saw them baking this week, I am a little worried that I will be eating up a storm for the next 10 months.

During break on Wednesday, a chef-instructor from the Eastern Foods class, came in and asked if we wanted to try a few dishes of Thai food they were about to finish… why bother asking? Just bring it in! There was a chicken dish, a small game bird (we debated for a while on what type of bird, but none of us could quite figure it out—someone insisted it was duck, but ducks are so much smaller than chickens, and they have darker meat. I thought it was quail, but no one agreed with me and I am not confident in my game birds to give a convincing argument. All I know is that it was delicious), and finally a Pad Thai dish that was excellent. I only took one bite of each, so I was not pigging out, still, I can not wait to see what else they cook up for us... er, for class.

Well, I have a lot of studying to do before this next week, I have to finish reading the book and take all the practice tests in the back of each chapter. I am creating flash cards so I can master some of these questions. I have got to pass this test to go on to the next part of school.

I probably will not write again until after Wednesday—unless something amazing occurs. Just more classes and studying for the week ahead.

Bon appétit!

One Day More

2006-07-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

Orientation was last Wednesday. My train from work was running 45 minutes behind schedule so I got to school with just minutes to spare. I was completely frazzled because
I wanted to get something to eat and bring some water so I would not be irritable or sleepy during orientation. My worst fear would be to fall asleep as they were discussing the program. Much to my surprise, the evening was capped with a dinner!

We were broken into our respective programs and seated together in the main dining room. I am with the evening B&P’s (that’s Baking and Pastry for those of you who do not know…) I had no idea that I was a “B&P” until everyone kept asking, “Are you culinary, or B&P?” Feel free to come across as superior to others using that…

There were only 8 of us at my table—I am not sure if that is our total group, or just those that could make it, but I am definitely the oldest one in my class. So excited to be the old man. We chatted a bit and they seem like a good group. While I am the oldest, I am not the only guy in the class, which is nice. Everyone was pretty excited about starting classes and I am hoping we will get along well. That said, if anyone is a jerk in the class, I really hope it is not me.

We got our books! I have no need to ever lift weights again—I just have to carry those books to and from school and I will be bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger in a month. The first few classes are on sanitation, so we do not have to bring our big pastry books. However, the author is one of our instructors, so we can get him to autograph our books. I thought that was kind of cool.

They could not find the uniforms for myself and three other classmates. We signed up a while back (Nick signed up in February!), so Nancy kept saying they should be there. I felt bad for her—she seemed really worried. I figured that we would eventually get them, so I was not too concerned. Eventually, they found them downstairs. I got three jackets and scarves and two each of pants, hats and aprons. I ironed everything this weekend, so I will look nice this first week. When the President of the school spoke to us, he noted that our “professionalism, including our uniform” would be part of the grading process. Terrific. With my outfit completely pressed, I still have a disheveled look about me. I doubt I will be getting an A in that subject…

Sadly, we did not get our pastry kits. I was really looking forward to tearing through mine this weekend, so I will have to forego that until the first day of class.

I do not think the President anticipated speaking to us as his talk sounded more like he was selling us on the idea of going to culinary school. I kept wanting to raise my hand and say, “Sir, we already drank the Kool-Aid...” However, if anyone had any doubts about what we were getting into, he cleared it up: There is going to be a lot of work on our parts in the next few months and we had better not try and slack off.

This weekend, I read the first four chapters of our sanitary kitchen cookbook, Serve Safe Coursebook, and it is not exactly the most fun read ever. In order to move into the kitchen I have to master that book. I am about to re-read the first unit again, so I have it down. I want to get into that kitchen and soon.

Currently on my iPod I am listening to Les Misérables and the song “One Day More”:
Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!

(gulp!)

"Step One..."

2006-07-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight is orientation. I have to cut a really huge check tonight (the first of three), which is going to hurt. Plus, I am a little nervous as I will be meeting my fellow students whom I will be spending the next ten months learning all that we can about baking and pastry.

I hope I like them... and I really hope they like me. There is always that one guy in a class that you think "if only that asshole weren't here, this would be a great experience..." I am praying that asshole is not me.

Classes start on Monday, so my next post will probably be Tuesday. I say probably because I may feel inclined to write on Monday before class, but I am more likely to be in full panic mode ("They're going to hate me!" "I can't do this!").

Countdown: 7 hours until Orientation; 5 days until class begins (127 hours... tick... tick... tick...)

Orientation is Next Week...

2006-06-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

I got a call this weekend that orientation (and the delivery of my first huge tuition check) is July 5 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. I am excited that it is finally starting, school is now close enough to touch and I can't wait.

I get my books, kit and uniform... how ridiculous will I look in it? Only my classmates and instructor will know. I'll post a picture when I graduate... (if I don't burn down the kitchens first).

Reaching for the Stars

2006-06-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today, I was walking and I realized that in one month I begin culinary school: July 10—6:00pm. Unlike school in the past, I was not filled with a sense of dread. Even in college there was a sense that school was rapidly approaching, like some out of control train and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

However, today I realized that I am looking forward to school. Really looking forward to it. I am not dreading the workload, the stress, the lack of free time—I want it now.

With school in the past, I never was never moving towards something; it was something to do in the present. I knew I should go to school, but I never saw beyond that. “Okay,” I would say to myself, “I’ll work hard and get my degree.” But what about after? It never came to mind. Mostly because I knew I was never going to get that degree.

Now, I see school in front of me and all the possibilities and opportunities beyond. The degree is no longer the destination, but a stepping stone to so much more. In high school there was a sign that read something like “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” I now think about that constantly. I never thought that something I learned in high school would actually be of use to me later in life… go figure.

Now all the motivational quotes are popping out at me and for once I am finding them useful. Especially to counter my inner self-doubt: It will not be easy—but nothing of value ever is. There will be days that I will want to quit—If you lose hope, you're just not looking far enough ahead. I will struggle with many things that I believe to be easy—Through struggle to the stars (Per ardua ad astra).

Here’s to reaching out for my dreams.

The Chef is In (someday)

2006-06-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

I have been admitted to pastry school and I will start instruction on July 10. School is 10 months and I will be attending three nights a week--as well as working full time

Join me as I struggle to learn about the baking and pastry arts with my fellow students.