So today was the first day of week 3. So far so good. We were making yeast breads. This week we had 5 new recipes to make. We made soft dinner rolls, black pepper cheddar bread, whole-wheat bread, hamburger and hot dog buns, and a pullman loaf.
I don't have much today say about today because we rocked!!! I worked with the same boys as last week. We work pretty good together, but next week the groups get switched up. We were the only table in the class to get 100% on our breads. Chef Kim said we worked efficiently, clean, and well. She tried the first 4 of the breads. Because the pullman loaf had to go in so late there wasn't time for her to taste it. Also it took FOREVER to bake because someone turned off the oven while there was 3 loaves in there! I guess they didn't look inside first. LAME! Luckily out of the 3 ours was the only one that didn't deflate so we turned the oven back on and continued to bake it. We had to take it out a little early also because class was over and we were the only 4 students left in the kitchen. But since we were so efficient and done before everyone else she also had our table grill up the Italian sausage for the class, for the hot dog buns. We had time for that, to do some extra cleaning for her, and to take a break. I am not sure how we did it. And our stuff came out great. I kinda wish the groups weren't switching.
Chef Kim also graded out journals. We have to type out all the recipes and on the opposite page of the recipe we put a picture of what we made and then we add comments about how we though it went and things like that. She said that I did great and it was perfect and to keep it up. That was a load off my mind because I still really wasn't sure how she wanted it done.
I am still getting to know everyone in the class. I still don't know most everyone's name. I know a few but that is pretty much it. But everyone is really nice and helpful. I can't wait for next week which is enriched yeast doughs.
Here are the things my table made today:
Theses are the soft rolls that I made.
These are the same thing as above but they are shaped in the "double knot"
These are our black pepper cheddar breads 
These are our whole-wheat rolls
Here are the hamburger and hot dog buns
And finally here is our totured pullman loaf lol
So today is Saturday, the official last day of the week (on my calendar at least). And I don't really have a lot to say about school because sadly I got sick on Wednesday night. I was running a low fever that night, Thursday morning it was gone so I went to work. By Thursday at like 11:00am it was back but no longer low... :-( I knew that I needed to at least go to school and talk to my chef instructor. So I went in and turned in my homework and told her I was running a temperature. I knew that I couldn't work with food with a temp and the way I was feeling. So did she and she marked that I had come in, graded my homework, and sent me home.
I don't remember driving home from school. I was so out of it. I felt like I was gunna pass out driving there. So I am just really glad I made it home safe. I pretty much stayed in bed all day. The fever would come and go.
On Friday I woke up with the fever again. It was so frustrating because I had class again. And again I was going to miss it. All day the fever was off and on. But I felt better. I had a little more energy.
Today I had to work. YAY! I love my job a lot but when you are not feeling 100% it can be rough. Luckily I work with amazing people who really try to help you out. Every time I checked today I did not have a fever. YAY!!!! But I have felt kinda crummy all day. Back to the feeling like I was going to pass out or throw up. Awesome. I would rather feel better but have a fever!
I work again tomorrow and I am just hoping that I feel better. I have this darn caugh that wont quit and when you have to talk a lot, it makes for a rough day.
Well I survived the first week. A lot of book work, A LOT of homework, even more feeling lost and out of place. By Thursday I was thinking...what did I get my self into? I felt like I was in WAY over my head and wasn't sure how I was going to do. With a lot going through my mind dealing with other things as well I kinda broke down and while talking to my friend Thursday night, I started crying. It felt good to get it all out. Then when I went to class on Friday I knew I had done what I was supposed to do the night before and I had brought the right things. We had some more lecture and review and then we had a lab.
We had 5 minutes to get our mise en place (everything we need) and then we were going to start. And when Chef Zamora (my pastry chef instructor) said 5 minutes...she meant 5 and that was it, you better be ready. We were practicing a few basic knife skills. We grabbed a potato, a lime and an orange. With the potato we ended up doing dice cuts and diamond cuts. We zested the lime and orange. Then we peeled them with our paring knife. After they were peeled we had to cut out the wedges. They couldn't have any white on them from the peel. It wasn't hard but you definitely had to pay attention to what you were doing. Then at the end of the class she looked at our cuts and told us if we passed or not. If we didn't then we had to practice at home and take a picture and show her. If we did that she would give us full credit for the day.
She came around as I was cutting the lime wedges out and noticed that my lime was rotten. I knew that it was but I was running a little behind so I decided to try it with this lime anyway. I shouldn't have because by the time I got the wedges out, most of the lime had fallen apart. And when she did my grading she asked me to try the lime at home again because I didn't have enough pieces to grade. But that was the only cut that I didn't pass. I was very proud of myself...and guess what, I still have all 10 fingers. :-)
Here are my cuts from class
And since I had to pracitce my lime cuts at home here is what came out
Today I had my Intro to Baking again and it was Quick Breads day. Quick Breads are breads that don't require fermentation time because they don't use yeast. So they are quick. :-)
After standing at my table a little lost for a few minutes the boys at my table helped we find everything I needed. Not only was I the only person at my table that was in their first quarter but I was also the only girl. Awesome. The boys really helped me out and I had a lot of fun today.
Here is a photo of what we made.
Going clockwise: The bread loaf that is cut into slices on the top left is banana bread; then we have a savory scone with scallions, pine nuts, and goat cheese; a few country biscuits; a few blueberry muffins; another savory scone; sour cream coffee cake is the bread looking thing cut into slices; another country biscuit; a cream scone; more blueberry muffins; more biscuits; and finally another cream scone.
The day for the most part was a success. Our blueberry muffins didn't turn out that great and when you squish them they rise right back up like nothing ever happened. We called them out "stress muffins" like the stress balls. Chef Kim (our chef intructor) thought it was funny and brought one of them to the kitchen next to our. The chef intructor thought it was very funny as well. We had fun, ate some pretty good food and got to bring some home. So today was a good day! Next week in baking is yeast breads...I can't wait!
Today was my first day in school. And I am not going to lie, I was VERY nervous! I was excited but most of my excitement was hidden under nerves. What if I fall flat on my face? I just didn't know what I was getting myself into. I felt like I might be getting in over my head and what if I couldn't figure a way out. But I knew that this is what I wanted to do so I went to class with a (nervous) smile on my face.
Today I had class from 12:30-5:30. It was my intro to baking class. Most of the day was paperwork, bookwork in groups, and then we got some bread dough to play with. There were 5 people at my table and one guy was able to do the double knot which is exactly as it sounds. It looks like bread in two knots. I was able to make balls (rolls) the correct way, and a single braid and a double braid! Might not make sense to anyone but Marie, but I was excited that I was able to do it. The guy next to me told me I was born to do it. That made me feel a lot better about school. Knowing that even though I was the only one at my table that was in my first quarter I was able to do something better than them. I know they will be able to do just about everything better than me but I hope that there will be one day that I will have all the skills I need! Here's to thinking positively.
Thanks to everyone for you constant support, good thoughts, and interest in how it's going!
Happiness #20: Good Frustration
There is some frustration that makes me want to beat my head against the wall. But there is some frustration that is good. It makes me smile...I feel challenged. I want to thank you for this frustration (you know who you are). For all the smiles...I might feel dumb sometimes but I can always laugh at myself. :-)
WOW! It's been a long time since I have blogged. One reason is that I have been out of town. I went up north to visit my family for a week. The day after I got back from that I went to Las Vegas for one of my close friend's birthdays! On both trips we had a great time. I loved being able to spend time with Haylie! And I hope GT had a great birthday even though we spent most of it in traffic! :-/ Then I had to do stuff for school all week since I start on Monday. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!
So if this is your first time reading my blog you should know that I am starting at The Art Institute of California on Monday. I will be in the baking and pastry program. It has been a hard decision to make but I really think I am making the right one to switch career paths.
Today I had an 8 hour orientation. 8 HOURS!!! It was soooo long and sad to say boring. I was there for 8 hours and I got my kit (which is my uniforms, knives, books and everything), and learned where to park and where the other buildings are. Which I could have learned in 2 minutes after they gave us the map. At one point we were learning how to copy and paste on the computer and I wanted to hit my head against the wall. That was when I knew I was just done and needed to get out of there!
Thankfully I have fantastic people to keep me busy. Krystle thank you so much for entertaining me during my lunch. And thank you so much for working for me the past couple weeks for my vacation and orientation. And GT thanks so much for texting me all day. You kept me entertained no matter what I was not learning. :-)
Now that orientation is over, I have my uniforms and everything I am nervous/excited! I am so excited that I finally get to start. And I am so nervous that I am going to fall flat on my face. But all there is to do now is start...well I need to get my uniforms altered. I am so small that nothing fits right and my chef coats are way too big! And I need to find shoes...but then I get to start. I can't wait to learn all I am going to learn.
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and encouraging to me, when even I was second guessing my decision. I can't wait to bake for all of you!
