Week 4

Well week 4 in school was one of my best and worsts. My Monday Baking class was...interesting. We changed groups sadly and AGAIN I was the only girl in my group. There was one boy that is also in his first quarter so that is one step away from being the odd man out. But he was....well an idiot. The other two guys in my group were interesting. One was nice, good at his work and a little bitter at the chef instructor lol. The other was a total ass! He was rude, condescending, and not helpful at all.

The idiot guy didn't know what he was doing AT ALL! I pretty much had to do all his work. Which means I was a little later to do my work and by the time I was ready to use a mixer there wasn't one available. Picture this: 5 tables, each table making 4 different recipes; only 4 mixers in the kitchen! Helpful? FAR FROM IT! Oh well we do what we have to do. So I was one of the last to use a mixer. So my bread dough didn't have enough time to ferment and proof. Because of this it wasn't perfect and we got a little lower of a grade. We got a 90%. I was bummed that it happened but we would have gotten like a 60% if I hadn't helped (done) the doughnuts for that other guy. The one guy who was nice in my group was like yes a 90%, way to go team. The jerk guy blamed it on me, asked what quarter I was in and when I said first he said oh that's why. Then asked if I have ever worked in a restaurant before, when I said no he said wow you are going to have a hard time in school. By this point I was just angry so I told him actually I hadn't had any issues until I was in his group since he wouldn't help when we asked for it before. Even though I helped him roll out the brioche. Whatever! I helped on 3 dishes and he barely did one. I hope that the next time we are in groups of 4 I at least have one more girl in my group!

Here are the pictures of what we made:

This is our brioche.
These are our cinnamon rolls.
Here is out challah bread.
Here are a few doughnuts and doughnut holes.

Then on Thursday and Friday I had my pastry class. I loved this week. We got to make a quiche, an apple pie, and a few fruit tarts. I really like the people in this class. They are really friendly and helpful. Most of the boys are savory students so they are just as lost as everyone else even though they are in their 3rd or 4th quarter. So they ask me for help just as much as I ask them. It's nice to start making friends. We can joke around with each other and we check to see how each other are doing. It makes a crazy class day go so much faster. I spend 10 hours a week in pastry class and 5 in baking and I feel like I am in baking WAY longer! It's totally the people!

Anyway here is what I made this week in pastry:

This is my quiche and my apple pie. I didn't fill the pie with apples because I didn't have enough time to do enough apples so the pie dough cover sank down to meet the apples that were in it. Oh well not the prettiest but it still tasted good. My quiche had bacon, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and spinach it in. My dad said it tasted good. I didn't get a chance to taste it.

My tarts turned out pretty...I think so at least. I was excited to come home after working on Saturday and eat the strawberry/kiwi one...but while I was at work my mom ate it. I think my parents are enjoying me being in culinary school. But I took one to my friend Garret, my dad had one, my mom had two, and I took my boss one. They all seemed to like them. The last one was left for me in the outside fridge and I forgot about it. So again something I didn't get to taste. I will tomorrow when I make one for my midterm though. (I made 4 tarts which I am showing but I brought 6 home. One girl couldn't take hers so she gave me two of hers.) There was a contest in class to see who could create the most perfect tarts that day and whoever did it would get a full letter grade higher on the midterm or final. Well I was disqualified because I forgot to put the glaze on top. A mistake I won't be making again. So I put the glaze on top and took my sad tarts home. I still like them...well all but the one in the top right! :-)
So week 5 is midterms! AHHH! I will have another post soon about how those went! LOL!