Thursday, October 15th

Finals. Are. Done!!!



After our written exam and finishing up our desserts, a few of us headed to Barney's for a beer and some snacks while Chef graded us, then headed back to class to clean. Tomorrow is clean up day and even though I'm probably the most compulsive and OCD person you know, I'm oddly not looking forward to it.

A few important notes on unrelated topics:

1. I was up at 7am, with eyes wide open, because I saw Paranormal Activity last night.

2. I can't decide what I love more:

A. So You Think You Can Dance hopeful Ryan Di Lello who looks very similar to my hilarious friend David Craze...




Or:

B. Vampire Diaries...."Crosses? Ornamental."

Discuss...

And since I don't have an injury of the day (thanks to the sickos who think its funny), I have a:
Purchase Of The Day: Clorox Bleach Pen (so I can attempt to get the chocolate and piping gel stains off of my uniform).

Wednesday, October 13th

After all the studying and equivalents flash cards, we got to class all psyched up only to learn from Chef that the school... wait for it... was completely out of paper.

Yep.

So, we started our practical exam and got a lot done. Everyone finished their tarts for our fruit tarts, the Creme Anglaise, Lemon Curd and Sponge Cake and I think that everyone even got theirs rolled, which is great. So today we take the written exam, complete our two projects, present, take a piping practical exam (and we have all seen just how utterly brilliant I am at piping) then we have to leave the classroom at 3 to be graded, return at 4, clean, and leave.

Tomorrow is a deep clean day which happens every few months where we basically clean the kitchen from top to bottom - scrub the bottom of the ovens, wash down the walls of the walk-in, etc.

I. Can't. Wait.

Tuesday, October 13th

Happy Tuesday evening from the fantastically rainy City of Angels! It hasn't rained here in what feels like months... probably because it has been.

So... Cardamom smells and looks A LOT like Nutmeg... Sigh. And did you know that heavy cream is called Manufactures Cream? Well... now you do... I wish I did before the test today. But I am pleased that I got all my white powders correct. After the quiz we made Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache (Y.U.M.) and Creme Anglise. We also presented our Genoise and Swiss Rolls. While Chef said that my Genoise was over-whipped (eat me), she said that my Swiss Roll looked great as did my Creme Anglise...

After class I walked with Pharyn, Vicki and Kimberly to Bucco for a bite to eat and some study time. After eating, while we were going over our notes, we were approached by a guy asking us to join his table of friends for "some female company and we will buy you dinner, or dessert, or a drink...... with no strings attached."

.......

Well that just made me giggle.

We didn't accept the offer, mainly because we felt crusty, sweating in the hot restaurant in our poly-blend butch uniforms, hat hair and stale make-up.

Our final exams begin tomorrow and will last two days. We begin with a written portion comprised of fill in the blank, multiple choice and short answer ranging from French to English translation "Bain Marie" = Mary's Bath, "Creme Patisserie" = Pastry Cream, etc., what are the three things needed to form gluten, list some acids that are necessary when making something with baking soda (lemon juice, buttermilk, honey), what are the steps to making Genoise (meise, then whisk eggs with sugar over a simmering double boiler, move mixture to mixer with whisk attachment, beat for seven minutes until indefinite ribboning, etc). Then we begin the practical portion and must make the dreaded fruit tart (pate sucree) with pastry cream and fruit as well as the Swiss Roll we recently made with lemon curd filling. And lastly, dreaded conversions which I am off to study now... three teaspoons in a tablespoon... one tablespoon in half an ounce...

Monday, October 12th

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Today we made sponge cake that is rolled with a lemon curd (mom's favorite) filling and a Genoise cake - both of which we are to present tomorrow...

As for the results of last weeks first practical exam, the comments on my blueberry muffins were, and I quote "great job!" As for the Creme Brulee, the texture was "dee-vine!" and my recipe knowledge was "a little dark around the edges" meaning that when I torched the sugar it got a little dark, but I'll take it! Our normal Chef did not grade us as she was out of town on a book tour last Thursday and Friday (our sub, British Chef Cook, called pans "baking vessels" and I loved her), so I'm more nervous for the THREE exams I have this week (mainly because our Chef makes me nervous and I'm way too eager to please and I don't think she really appreciates sarcasm... ahem...)

Our test tomorrow is product ID which means there will be between 20-25 items set up and we have to identify each one which of course looks fun and interesting on Top Chef... Not so much when its for real and I have to be able to tell the difference between cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, corn starch, salt, sugar etc. which all, of course, are white. Then I have my finals on Thursday (written exam) and Friday (practial exam... again). I'm not gunna lie - I'm a bit nervous.

Sunday, October 11th

Friday, October 9th

Today we had our first “practical” test which means that we had to bake two things that we have learned so far… sour cream blueberry muffins and crème brulee. We walked in a little before noon to prepare and when noon hit, we were not allowed to speak except for “kitchen safety” i.e. “behind you”, “hot” etc. At 3, we were kicked out of the class for an hour so the teacher could grade us so nine of us took it upon ourselves to go for a drink at Kabuki where me, Vicki, Pharyn and Jessie did sake bombs and then we all sauntered back to class, slightly buzzed, to clean up. We won’t know our grades for a bit… sigh…

Thursday, October 8th

Today: Piped the cream puffs and filled the éclairs. Sour cream blueberry muffins (when you make anything with blueberries, coat them in some of the flour that the recipe calls for and then the juices wont bleed) and pound cake (which I turned into a lemon pound cake that the Chef said came out nicely, but I thought it was dry. Injuries sustained today: a burn to the top of the pointer finger of my left hand. Important item on weekend shopping list: oven mitts.