Jagged Little Rose Petals

This is my second attempt at cake decorating. It was frustrating at first, but after it was all said and done, I was quite pleased. The hardest part was frosting the cake. I could NOT get the darned thing smooth! I tried a hot spatula and a smooth paper towel.

Once I got past the idea that it didn't have to be completely smooth, I got down to decorating. We learned how to make roses, sweet peas, vines, stems, shell borders, rosebuds, and drop flowers. It was a full day - that's for sure. My hand is not pleased with me.

I was happy with my flowers, but Ms. Lora said that my icing was a little stiff and that is why the edges of each petal are a little jagged. Honestly, though, I really liked them! They were more dainty and carnation-like. I cannot wait to try all of the new things we are going to make! I'm already thinking of birthday cakes and such that I will be creating. Watch out, Duff! Chef Bland is on her way up!

Only Two Pounds of Sugar...

This, ladies and gents, was my very first attempt at icing (for real icing, not cream cheese who-really-cares-if-there-are-crumbs-it-tastes-freaking-amazing icing) and decorating a cake. I was quite proud. I'll be putting more photos of precious (hopefully) cakes up as I make them. Sadly, though, the cake was not the best tasting thing I've ever eaten. Next time, possibly less sugar (yeah... less than the TWO POUNDS we used), more butter, and more vanilla.

Comfortable in the Kitchen

Well, I'm back. It was a lovely holiday and I cooked and baked more than I ever have before! I had a lot of firsts: homemade marshmallows, homemade smores (with homemade marshmallows), Chef Hallman's famous cinnamon rolls, and Christmas dinner.




And now, it's back to school and back to cooking with a person looking over your shoulder and grading every move you make. In each class we had a practical exam on the first day. That was... well... awful. I did fine, though. I didn't have time to get all worked up over it, so I was more relaxed. This is definitely something I have noticed in these first two weeks of Semester 2. I have a certain relationship with the kitchen now that I never had before. I'm not afriad to get burned, cut, or wounded in any way. Instead, I have a respect for my knives, the skillets and stock pots in the kitchen, and myself.

I can't wait to continue this crazy journey I decided to embark on. Today my partner and I made a killer Bolognese sauce. Chef Joe tasted and it grinned. I'm really not sure if there is a better compliment out there.

Pumpkin Oat n' Fruit Bread

I almost forgot! Here are the pictures of the creative baking project I did: Pumkin Oat n' Fruit Bread:

Exam Week

Today was my Bakery Skills practical final exam. I've never taken a practical final... so it was a bit awkward for an essay test-taker pro like myself. But, it wasn't too horrible. We had to draw a random sheet of paper and make whatever was on it. I ended up with Whole Wheat Soft Rolls and Standard Pie Crust. Luckily, I had made both before (except for the whole wheat... which was the tricky part). So, first, we had to convert each formula into the yield amount that Chef gave us. This would have been easy except my roll formula did not have any percentages. So, I had to convert the original weights into percentages, and then do the baker's percentage formula. Not the easiest feat. Especially, since we had never done that before. But, luckily, I studied quite a bit and knew how to do it. If you haven't ever done this before, this part of the post probably makes no sense, but just think of it as weird science/algebra - baking style.

The pie crusts came out great. I was excited about that. I got darn good at making the things the other day when Chef had Megan and I make 20 lbs. of dough... and all the pie crusts that come with it. But, we learned it, dangit! The directions were to blind bake one pie crust and not bake the other at all. And that was exactly what I did.

My rolls, however, were another story. They were just beautiful to behold (as you can see in the above picture), but weighed as much as a darn baseball. When I handed it to Chef Hallman her arm dropped. It was hilarious... at my expense, of course. Hah. I didn't let them proof enough before I baked them, sadly. With whole wheat flour, it takes longer for the dough to rise & proof because the whole grains react with the glutenin and gliadin... causing it not to rise as well. But, you live and you learn. And now I know: whole wheat flour = longer proofing time. Simple, really.

Tomorrow I have two written exams, so I won't be taking pictures (for obvious boring reasons). Wednesday I have my Culinary I written & practical exam. I shan't be taking any pictures, though, since I have to focus all of my energy on my knife cuts, veloute sauce, bechamel sauce, chicken fabrication, and chicken cooking. Sigh... lots to do in only 2 hours!

I'll blog about that later. Right now, I need to try my very hardes to motivate myself into studying. Yeah. We'll see how that goes...

Nearing the End

I cannot believe that my first semester of culinary school is almost over. It has flown by! Definitely a different experience than I expected. At first, I was very discouraged. Going from university-college to technical college was a larger, more difficult task than I expected. Then, things started getting excited. Instead of making stocks and soups, we were making real food. Then I started making good friends... and realizing what a gem the Rel Maples Culinary Institute really is.

All I have left is one week of school, and my exams. It shouldn't be too bad. In Culinary I we have a written exam and a practical exam, in Bakery Skills we have a practical exam, in Dining Room Management we have a written and practical exam, and in Human Resource Management we have a written exam. Luckily, I already completed my ServSafe Certification exam and passted! That was very exciting.

I will update later at the end of the semester. I need to post my photos of the Holiday Pumkin Oat n' Fruit bread I made for my baking creative project. All in good time...

Something Fishy...

Today was fish day in Culinary I class. I can't believe how many people don't like fish! It blows my mind. I wonder how many of them have ever had good fish, though. We are in a land-locked state, so it sorta makes sense.

We learned to filet a flat fish and a round fish. My group (Lanna, Mindy, and I) also got to tackle some mussels. The recipe was just for mussels, but we made a pasta dish with marinara for 1/2 of the mussels (top picture) and a garlic white wine cream sauce for the other portion (middle picture). Delicious.

Our other assignment was Flounder Patouille (the third picture down). Basically, that is just a fancy way of saying: seared flounder with red bell peppers, red onion, celariac, and terragon - wrapped in butter-coated parchment paper, and tossed in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Everything went pretty well today and I'm feeling quite good about my new cooking abilities! Today was our LAST culinary I class in the kitchen. Sadness! But, next semester will be fantastic! Good times...