Sweet Misa

Lentil soup

2008-03-31T22:12:00.001-07:00

I just finished prepping for a big batch of lentil soup. I know that a lot of people aren't a fan, but I LOVE it. I'm prepping tonight so I can just toss it all in the crockpot in the morning. I'm a big fan of the crockpot anyway, but on Tuesdays, it's even more useful because that's the day that Jeremy leaves for work at six. I get home around three-ish, give or take roughly half an hour, and while I COULD make dinner, it's easier to just have something made already. In addition, I LOVE walking into a house that smells yummy.

That being said, it's not very practical for me to do prep work in the morning. So tonight, I picked through the lentils, cut up onion, celery, carrots, and ham, and stuck everything but the lentils in the refrigerator. Tomorrow morning, all I'll have to do is dump the bowl with the lentils (plus a bit of seasonings, including a bay leaf) into the crockpot, add some stock, stir in my ham and veggies, and set it on low. It'll be ready - and just sitting on warm - for me by the time I come home.

I've found that planning ahead is key to me staying gluten-free. I don't necessarily have to follow what I've planned, but it does mean that on afternoons when I come home exhausted or with little time between me getting home and Jeremy leaving, I'll at least have something that I KNOW I can have. I think part of it is just a mind trip I play on myself "Oh, I can't eat anything..." and then I do something stupid, like order pizza. It's also helpful if I make sure to have planned leftover for work so that I don't have to scramble to come up with something that I can eat when I'm dead tired at three in the morning. It sure makes the day a lot less stressful.

Some startling discoveries.

2008-03-26T03:50:00.001-07:00

As I sit here, I'm eating popped amaranth, a grain I'd heard of but never actually eaten until I read Shauna's book, Gluten-Free Girl. I've now had it several times and it's pretty good. Today I've added ground cinnamon, some pecan flavored coffee creamer (which gives it both flavor and sweetness), and some I've added some cherry-flavored Craisins. Pretty tasty breakfast, actually.

But, see, I've been lax on this whole "gluten-free" thing. That's because I just assumed that I'd have some stomach problems and that was mainly it. We've also noticed that I've gotten sick more often when eating gluten than not. But then I thought it was because of my other allergies - you know, cats, dogs, dust mites... things I'm exposed to every day. So I decided "Well, what's a little stomach pain? I'm used to that."

But last night, I did some more research. I found out a few things. People with gluten problems are more likely to get stomach and intestine cancer. If gluten is consumed on a regular basis, it can lead to malnutrition (even if you're overweight) as well as osteoporosis. A lot of people with gluten problems are misdiagnosed with lactose intolerance (well, they do have problems with lactose, but that's mainly related to problems absorbing food properly - a lot of people find they can successfully have lactose once they've taken care of the gluten problem). I don't know why I didn't pay attention to any of this before, as it has been mentioned on several of the blogs I read. I guess I was just so busy focusing on the stomach problems and the "I can't have ____" problems that I completely glossed over these other issues.

It's time to get serious about this again. No more gluten for Misa.

Olives

2008-03-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Shauna (of Gluten-Free Girl fame), posted about olives and about how much she loves them.

Me too. I love olives so much it's crazy. Sometimes, I'll leave the house to go buy a jar of olives because I really want some NOW. And I've always liked olives. As a kid, the black ones that come in a can were great for sticking on my fingers at holiday dinners. They tasted fine, but I really prefer green olives. And, in fact, this appears to always have been the case. When I was little, and we're talking four or so here, my mother would frequently come into the kitchen at night and find me munching on olives. And then, my mother started finding her jars of green olives with pimentos to no longer have pimentos in them - even though she KNEW she'd bought ones with pimentos. One night she caught me in the kitchen carefully sucking all of the pimentos out of the olives and putting them back in the jar. How kind of me to share.

One of my favorite things to do at the grocery store now is pick out a selection of olives. Yummy.

I guess a lot of people don't like any olives besides those that come in a can (those taste rather bland to me), which just makes more for me, I guess.

What about you? Do you like olives?

Cranberry Cobbler (Nov. 22, 2007)

2007-11-22T09:45:00.001-08:00

Cranberry Cobbler (Nov. 22, 2007)
Originally uploaded by Misa Arant

I used the recipe here. However, I did do some modifications:

- I didn't use the pecans because my husband hates nuts.
- I used 3 cups of cranberries (one package).
- I used the zest and the juice from two oranges.
- I used a large can of crushed pineapple w/juice.
- I doubled the recipe of cobbler batter.
- I used a larger baking dish.

This is, without a doubt, the BEST gluten-free dessert I have cooked yet. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this tastes. I'm really glad I added the extra pineapple. Both my husband and I love pineapple and orange, and they work really well with the cranberries.

And, as I told my mother, "If you didn't know it was gluten-free, you really wouldn't know. It tastes as good as - if not better than - a cobbler with gluten." And that's pretty much the best compliment I can give a gluten-free dish.

I've kind of kept away from gluten-free baking. The prospect is kind of scary for me. I'd hate to spend the time and effort on something, have it look good, and then have it taste... off. But I miss baked things SO much. This dish has really inspired me. I'm planning on doing more baking soon!

"Emergency" foods

2007-11-06T19:52:00.001-08:00

Now that I'm at my "permanent" spot at work (about 70 percent of us just moved desks because of shift changes), I am planning on slowly building up a reserve of emergency foods and snack foods. (By emergency foods, I mean things that I can eat if I've forgotten my lunch at home.) Things I'm thinking of getting:

Lara Bars (I love the Cherry Pie flavor. Yummy. I'm not, however, a big fan of anything of theirs that is cocoa/chocolate.)
Shelf-stable packs of tuna (or, perhaps, in tuna in a can.)
Gluten-free soups (canned)
Maybe some nuts
Gluten free crackers
Jar of peanut butter
Canned fruit/veggies
Dried fruit/veggies

I have at my disposal: a toaster (hesitant to use, because of cross-contamination), a microwave, hot water, and a can opener. They also provide plastic silverware and paper plates. Any other food suggestions? (Don't forget that I need them to be gluten-free!)

It's important to be vigilant.

2007-11-05T19:24:00.001-08:00

Here in the US, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. (Early November is the harbinger of busy-ness in my life. There's Thanksgiving, followed by my birthday, followed by my anniversary - all within a week and a day, followed by Christmas less than a month later.) Unfortunately, if you've got a food allergy or food sensitivity, the "food holidays" can be a mine field. Even when people mean well, it's a lot to think about. And, generally, unless it's you or your spouse who has the food issue, there are little tiny things you might overlook. Please don't think I'm getting "down" on anybody here. It's a lot to learn. I still pick up foods that I think I can eat and learn that I can't. So, I don't really expect others to know what I can and cannot have.

My mother makes a big deal out of her two favorite "food" holidays, one of them being Thanksgiving (the other being Christmas). We always have Thanksgiving at her house (sometimes, when I was a kid, there would be THREE Thanksgivings in one day, always including the one at her house). She makes a turkey, stuffing, etc. We can bring stuff (and I usually do) but even if we only ate what she made, there'd still be way more than enough. And my mother has always been fairly tolerant of my food issues, including when I was being vegetarian. But things slip by. Now, my mother is a cook, and has been for many years. When I was little, she made everything from scratch. And yet, in the same breath, she assured me that she normally thickens her gravy with cornstarch and then "double-checked" to make sure I can have cream of mushroom soup (I can't - it's made with wheat flour, something that most cooks would know, but probably not think about).

This year, I asked if she'd have it at my house. She said no, she didn't want to, and, in addition, she didn't know if she could talk my stepfather into it (he wants to watch football on their much-larger-than-ours tv). So, I'm planning on bringing a couple of dishes. I'm not sure what, but I do know I'll probably be bringing a pie or some type of dessert, in addition to whatever else I bring. And I plan on putting those dishes far FAR away from the "regular" foods. And they will probably be color-coded.

My mother seems to think I'm being a bit obsessive. I like to call it vigilant. I HAVE to be. Flour in the gravy, a crouton in my salad, or cracker crumbs on my plate could set me back a whole three days. When you're looking at something like that, it's important to be vigilant.

Who wants to be in pain, bloated, crampy, and feeling crappy for three days? Not me, thanks.

Nov. 05, 2007 Bento

2007-11-04T20:59:00.001-08:00

Nov. 05, 2007 Bento
Originally uploaded by Misa Arant

I cut this weirdly because... I need to clean my kitchen. ;) Anyway, in the white container (which is actually the lid), is an instant miso soup packet. And in the upper blue container is an egg purse, a piece of this weird tangy/sweet orange candy, and plum candies (they've been preserved with sugar and salt). In the bottom blue container, I have two onigiris, which have been flavored using some furikake (I think it's a mixed veggie one... the packet had hello kitty on a horse, so who knows?), another egg purse, and another piece of orange candy.

Food and organization issues.

2007-11-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have some bento supplies and have packed some fairly "American"-style bentos. I'd like to pack some bentos that are more fun, though, and have a better variety. Here's the problem: I'm not very organized. Actually, that's being kind. The only thing that I own that moves around (ie not something like the computer that just stays in one place), yet still has its own "home" is my work badge. And the reason for this is that aside from not being able to get into the office if I don't have it (although I can stand there and wait for somebody to come by, it's not a good thing), my bus pass is on the backside of my work badge. AND this way, I'll find it no matter what.

But, back to my point. When it comes to food, I need to be more organized. This is seriously becoming an issue because of my food sensitivities. But, I'm not that "type" of person. I prefer to what I'm going to eat right before I eat it, rather than days ahead. In fact, if I plan to have a certain meal on a certain day, or even just these various meals throughout the week, 99% of the time, that's not going to be what I want when the time rolls around to actually eat that thing. Generally, I just eat it anyway, but feel far less satisfied than if I decided "Gee, today, I'd like steak and potatoes" and went out and got steak and potatoes.

I'm hoping to come up with a list during week of some "pantry" items that combine well with whatever I decide to pick up that day. Now that I'm getting off earlier and going through downtown almost every day, it would be easy to just pick something up to cook for dinner on my way home. We'll see if I actually do either of those things. Like I said, I'm not too organized.

Lunch

2007-11-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

My work schedule is about to change, now that I'm done with post-training. Starting next week, I'll be working Mon-Wednesday, five to two, and Sat-Sunday six to two-thirty. Our lunches, during the week, are hour long (my "lunch" will be at eight-thirty, when a lot of people are still having breakfast), whereas on the weekend, we only have half an hour. There's a pretty good reason for this. During the week, the food court is open in the next building over (we're connected via an underground tunnel-walkway), as is all sorts of places in the immediate area. And, depending on the time of day you get food, it can take half an hour just to get food - not including the eating part - in the next building over because EVERYONE is there. But, on the weekend, those places close. There's a drugstore nearby that I'm pretty sure is open, but their "deli" is closed on the weekends, too (or so I've been told).

This pretty much means that if I want to eat lunch on the weekends, I have to pack my lunch. It's challenging to find food if you have no food allergies or sensitivities, but in my case, I'd pretty much be choosing between candy and potato chips. (That's a slight exaggeration - they sell canned fruit with syrupy stuff. Of course, half of that has high fructose corn syrup, which I'm also sensitive to.) I don't mind, though. It's not hard to pack lunch, even with dietary restrictions. The only time I buy lunch during the week is if I forget my lunch at home (oops) or if my husband joins me for lunch (he can't come into my lunch room - it's not allowed - but we can go over to the huge food court in the next building). I have the attitude of a two year old when it comes to bedtime (no nap! not sleepy!), so I try to make my lunch the night before, because I'm usually too tired in the morning. This has more to do with "I can't pull myself out of bed" than "I don't want to cook, I'm sleepy" but that's not the point here.

Earlier today, I was having a discussion with somebody who lives three minutes - walking time - from his work. He goes home for lunch. I'd love to do that, and probably could, during the week, but then I'd only have five to ten minutes at home before I had to turn right back around. Thanks, but no. He says that it saves him tons of money to go home for lunch because "you can spend ten dollars or so on lunch at work, when you go out". To which I mentioned that, you know, you could always pack your lunch (like I do). Something about what the guy said next didn't make sense to me, but I couldn't figure out what was "off" about it until he'd already left (I was tired, ok?). What he said was this: "But then you have to make it at home." Now, the logical part of my brain supplied me with the weird thing here. Whether you make your lunch and eat it at home or make it at home and eat it at work, YOU'RE STILL MAKING IT AT HOME. However, at the time, my brain interpreted what he said to mean "You have to make it in the morning," and so I said "Well, you don't have to make it that morning. You can pack your lunch the night before." And the response: "But, you still have to make it. That's a lot of work." I let it go.

As I said before, I mainly pack lunch. Part of that is out of necessity because of my dietary needs, but part of it is because I really do LIKE bringing my lunch. And I hate having to pay for a meal while I'm working. My defective brain likes to tell me how much of my work day I have just "wasted" by eating out.

My question to you guys is this: Do you mainly buy lunch or do you mainly pack lunch?

Getting over the pity party.

2007-11-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago, I went to see Shauna (of The Gluten-Free Girl fame) at Whole Foods. She was promoting her book,Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too and I bought a copy. I'd been hesitant to do so - not because I thought the book wouldn't be good, but because money was really tight for me at the time.

I'm so glad I bought that book.

It almost immediately brought my out of "feeling sorry for myself" mode. My husband had been saying "Don't think about what you can't have, think about what you CAN have," which was good advice, except that I couldn't think of what I COULD have. Shauna's book was able to finish that sentence for him. The book said "... and here's what those things are." (That's not all the book was about, but that was a big portion of the book.)

But now, I'm in a kind of "tough spot". The truth of the matter is that I'd love to try baking with specialty flours and flirting with gourmet ingredients, but I'm not exactly rich. And a lot of those things ARE expensive. So, I'm trying to figure out how to eaten gluten-free without breaking the bank or feeling that my food has become monotonous. I've found some inexpensive naturally gluten free things that have been pretty tasty. For instance, lunch yesterday was rice with cheese on top and tea eggs. It was pretty tasty, and not expensive at all. I packed it in my bento box and for some reason, that always makes things feel a little special.

To slightly switch topics, on Sunday night, we celebrated my mother's birthday at the Old Spaghetti Factory. They now have gluten-free pasta. It's actually pretty good, though it doesn't reheat very well (the same could be said about most noodles, however). The pasta is NOT spaghetti-shaped, but that's fine - it was spiral-shaped. It was okay with the spaghetti sauce, but was REALLY good with the mizthra cheese and olive oil. I think that it seemed like a simple pasta dish that way... maybe "old world" is what I mean to say. The pasta itself didn't really have much flavor, which isn't a bad thing. However, to be fair, I will admit that I'm constantly congested so it's hard for me to detect some of the "lighter" flavors. It had a slightly sweet hint to it. I'd be willing to order it again. Also, I called ahead and the staff was able to tell me what and how to order it in such a way that the kitchen staff would know what to do. It was nice. One of my little sisters was going to order the gluten-free pasta. I told her if she did, that she'd better not have any bread or the cake afterwards... or I'd personally kick her. Hard. I explained that it's hard enough to get places to offer such foods. It's even harder to get people to take us (people with gluten problems) seriously, and not just think it's a "fad" or worse, that we're being picky or want to be "treated specially" and are making it up/lying about it. She opted for the whole wheat pasta instead. I think she realized that I really would kick her. VERY hard. The dinner went fairly smoothly for me (food wise)... I only had a short wistful moment when the bread was down near me. I used to eat TONS of that bread every time we went (embarrassing amounts, really) but I thought really hard about how cruddy I'd feel for three days after eating it and it didn't seem as desirable after that.

Tea Eggs

2007-10-30T22:37:00.001-07:00

Tea Eggs
Originally uploaded by JoeGray

I'm talking to my husband and he says "Misa, did you put some eggs in tea this morning?"
"Last night, but... yes."
"Well... why?"

So, here's the thing: no answer I give my husband is really going to sound good to him. He doesn't like eggs, anyway. And so, "tea eggs" wouldn't sound good to him. But they're really tasty to me! Tea eggs are normally made with regular black tea, various spices, and some orange peel. It's mostly a Chinese thing. After hard-cooking the eggs, you gently crack the shell - you're trying to get through the shell but not the membrane on the inside. Then, you simmer the eggs in the tea/spice/orange peel mixture for an hour or two. I didn't have two hours and my stove doesn't like to keep an even temperature, so I attempted to simmer for about an hour, then left to "marinate" overnight. And I didn't have orange peel, so I used lemon extract. And instead of black tea/spices, I used chai tea. Chai tea actually has most of the spices that are normally used for tea eggs, so that worked out well.

I wish I'd gone for two hours. I can taste a small hint of the chai. It's yummy but I wish the flavor was just a bit more intense.

I forgot to take a pic, but I found this excellent pic by somebody who DID remember! Also, check out the inside of the shell. It's beautiful.

I cooked four eggs. Two remain. They're in my bento box, for lunch tomorrow.

Breakdown

2007-10-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

I had a breakdown today. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun. I yelled at my husband and broke down in tears. Yeah, I felt childish after it happened, but I was so very frustrated and overwhelmed.

Over the past few months, I've totally ignored the gluten issue. In fact, I've eaten TONS of stuff with gluten in it, not really caring that I'd suffer for it later. And maybe I could keep putting up with the pain and the gas and the "digestive issues" except for one thing: I'm pretty certain that all of this weakens my immune system. Early this month, I caught a "bug" at work. I started feeling the symptoms on the fourth or the fifth. It is now the twenty-first and I am still sick. This isn't usual. There's at least one or two weekends a month where I cannot do anything. I have to stay at home, sick. Many months, I'm sick three or four weekends... yes, sometimes EVERY weekend in a month. It's either annoying or frustrating, depending on how long the sickness lasts. Nothing gets done around the house. I have no energy. Our weekend plans get tossed aside. You get the picture.

But that isn't why I ended up a ball of tears. (Okay, that's part of it. Being sick for nearly three weeks can make a person cranky.) The real reason had to do with grocery shopping. See, today was my first day back "gluten-free". But because I'm still sick, my husband went out, got food for today, and told me to do some grocery shopping online while he was gone. When he came back, the only food I'd managed to put in the cart was tuna, rice, and cheese. I told him that's what I was eating for the week, and that he should get himself a bunch of microwavable meals or whatever he wanted to cook. Big argument ensues because my husband knows that I'd be tired of tuna, rice, and cheese by lunch on Tuesday. I didn't care. After all, I couldn't figure out what to eat and, to be honest, was holding a mini-pity-party for myself. Despite all my protesting and insisting that I had no clue what to eat (at the time, really, I couldn't think of anything), my husband insisted I order more things that I could eat.

"But, honey, I don't know what to order. I can't eat 99% of what we're used to ordering. You don't know what it's like to feel like you can't eat ANYTHING."
"Start by adding potatoes. You can have meat, too. Get some of that."

So, I did. I added those things and then some more. I still figure that I might need more food towards the end of the week, but I think I'm going to hit up Whole Foods on Wednesday night. I hear they're having a gluten-free vendor going on from six to seven that night.

Anyway, I'm still frustrated. And pissed. And yes, I feel a bit sorry for myself... but at least I'm not crying anymore.

Lunch today (Aug. 21, 2007)

2007-08-21T16:24:00.001-07:00

Lunch today (Aug. 21, 2007)
Originally uploaded by Misa Arant

I had sushi for lunch today. Much yummy-ness. I'd actually already eaten a piece when I took this picture today. Oh, yes, I had miso soup, also. Not bad for eight bucks.

Oatmeal with mango (Aug. 16, 2007)

2007-08-16T07:50:00.001-07:00

Oatmeal with mango (Aug. 16, 2007)
Originally uploaded by Misa Arant

This was my breakfast this morning. I've discovered a new (to me) way of cooking oatmeal:

1. Measure out your oats. Set aside.
2. Measure out your water. Put in pot and boil.
3. While waiting for water to boil, chop up a piece of fruit.
4. When water comes to a boil, stir in oatmeal.
5. When the oats all look wet, stir in fruit.
6. Cover the pot. Turn heat off and leave the pot on the burner.
7. Wait for 30 minutes.

This makes a nice, creamy oatmeal with the fruit all nice and soft. Yum! Try it yourself.

May 2007 Cooking Challenge

2007-04-26T02:12:00.000-07:00

I've gotten out of the habit of cooking at home. It has literally been a couple of weeks since we've had something that wasn't either from a restaurant or a can or a box. I like to cook, but I got out of the habit when I started working (I'm a cook at work). So, I decided that for the month of May, most of my meals would be home-cooked. I'm looking at it like a challenge and have set up a few guidelines for myself:

1. All meals must be cooked by either Jeremy (my husband) or me, with the exception of up to two meals a week.
2. Canned soups are allowed.
3. Meal-in-a-box meals do not count.
4. Frozen pre-made meals do not count.
5. Any candy/dessert must be made by Jeremy or me (unless included in the two "off" meals).

So, by the rules, a microwavable meal would count as one of my two "off" meals a week, as would, say, hamburger helper (and, obviously, any restaurant meals). I should also mention that I'm going to allow myself to count meals that I have at work, provided they are cooked by me.

One of the reasons that I'm allowing myself two "off" meals is that my husband and I have a standing date at a restaurant on Fridays. It's a pretty important ritual for me and I want to be able to keep it. The other meal accounts for what happens if I oversleep, am sick, lacking in energy, or want to have a meal with friends.

Would anybody like to join me?

Learning to adjust.

2006-11-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

This whole gluten-free thing is a BIG adjustment for me and there are some things I just don't know how to "handle" yet. For instance, yesterday, when I'd spent the night/morning throwing up, the only way I knew how to get my tummy to feel better (and, ahem, get the damn alcohol out of my system) was to eat crackers. Buttloads of crackers. And, no, they weren't gluten-free. So, yes, I can feel the difference in my stomach today. (However, my husband is now extremely sick with stomach problems. He's so sick that he's called into work. The last time he did that, he was in the hospital. And that time was the first time in probably three or so years. I mention this because maybe, just maybe, my own tummy problems weren't all alcohol related.)

And now, I'm getting this sense of "Well, if I did it yesterday, why not do it on Thursday? Why not have all my favorite foods at Thanksgiving?" I'm reminding myself that I ate crackers because I was sick, but I still have that thought going through my head.

Looking for healthy vegetable recipes.

2006-11-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to incorporate more veggies into my diet. I'm looking for recipes that are fairly healthy, somewhat low-ish in calories, gluten-free, and sugar-free. Jeremy also cannot have raw tomatoes, nor does he like them cooked if he can see tomato chunks (so, for instance, tomato sauce is usually fine), nor does he like things to have an overwhelming tomato-y taste (while sauce is fine, because it's usually just part of something, he doesn't like tomato soup).

Given those restrictions, what is your favorite healthy veggie recipe?

Mmm... meat candy.

2006-07-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Bacon of the Month Club

... which is awesome, and I'd get it, if it didn't cost so much. $140+shipping for one package, $215+shipping for two packages. Oh, plus you get a pen, informative notes, membership card, a bacon comic strip monthly, a free bacon t-shirt, and a little rubber toy pig. (I think the price is actually pretty fair - it is artisan bacon, and it averages out to less $12 a month for one person or $18 a month for two people.)

Mmm... meat candy. I LOVE bacon! Yum!

Should any of you have excess money just lying about, I would not be sad if you chose to randomly get this for me.

Exciting news!

2006-04-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

I've got a job - and it's in the food industry! I work as a cook in a tavern. It's amusing to me, because not only did I think I'd probably not be working in the food industry for a long time, if at all, but I really didn't envision myself on "this side" of the kitchen. Right now, it's only part time, but we'll see where it goes. I'm still learning the menu, but the staff likes me and the boss seems to think that my food looks and tastes good, so that's a good sign - right?

In Which I Eat a Candy Bar

2006-03-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

In Which I Eat a Candy Bar, originally uploaded by Misa Arant.

What can I say? I was looking for something to draw.

Snickers are only satisfying if you eat them.

(drawn on March 4, 2006)

Sushi... kind of.

2006-02-20T23:35:00.000-08:00

Quite possibly the most realistic-looking candy sushi that I have ever seen.

Soy sauce filled chopsticks

2006-01-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Soy sauce filled chopsticks for when you just don't have time to sprinkle your soy sauce.

Eat a chocolate god!

2005-12-22T01:34:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Deities

In which you can order and consume

The Goddess of Willendorf
The Sacred Heart
Kuan Yin
Krishna
two types of buddhas, including The Laughing Buddha
various different power animals and tricksters (like eagle, bear, or loki
various different symbols (like a celtic cross or a star of david)
the sun

... but strangely, not Jesus. (I do admit that I don't see Jesus as a deity, but I was under the impression that some Christians do. I could be wrong)

They also have a nursing mother, as one of the "mortals". How strange.

What happened and why I've been avoiding this blog

2005-12-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

During spring and summer of this year (2005), I got sick a lot. It turns out that all the flour in the bakeshop (probably along with the heat) was severely aggrevating my asthma. After discussing it my doctor and with the chefs, I ended up having to leave the program.

So, I'd been avoiding this blog. Reading it depressed me. Think about posting in it was also depressing.

So that's the reason for my long silence.

But I'd like to start using it again. So, hopefully, I'll start posting here more often.

Way more work than I thought it would be

2005-07-28T04:35:00.000-07:00

So, this summer is way more work than I thought it would be. I mean... I've got an evening class (creative writing) in addition to my regular classes. Some days, I feel like all I do is sleep and go to school. I was talking this over with a friend the other day, and I think that it wouldn't have felt like so much if I didn't have the evening class (if, for instance, it was an afternoon class).

But I really am enjoying my writing class. Yesterday, on my way to school, I was "inspired" - I ended up having an idea for a story, which I wrote out the basic idea for at school, then wrote the story at home... the story is called "How The Chocolate Bunny Came to Be." I may eventually post it, but not until it gets critiqued by the class.

Busy summer!

2005-07-10T03:48:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned yet that I'm taking 19 credits this quarter?

The required classes that I'm taking this quarter are:

Psychology of Human Relations (3 credits)
Advanced Buffet Desserts & Wedding Cakes (this is the practicum class) (8 credits)
Advanced Bakery Counter Service (1 credit)
Advanced Desserts & Breads: Theory (1 credit)

And nonrequired:

Creative Writing (5 credits)

The first week, it really bowled me over. Now, though, I've got it down just fine. On Mondays and Wednesdays, my long days, I go home to take a nap in between bakeshop and creative writing.

I'm having a really good time with it. :o)

Second wedding cake!

2005-07-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Close up, to show more detail:

We used blue ribbon, which I'm fairly conflicted about because I feel that everything on a cake should be edible. We could have done it in another way (so that it WAS all edible), but not within the timeframe we had to work with. Still, I'm fairly happy with the results. In "person," it was very pretty and turned out far better than I thought it would.

The top and bottom cakes are pistachio, the middle layer is lemon. They're all filled with chocolate mousse, covered in buttercream, then covered in fondant. The piping was done in royal icing.

2005-07-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

It's a lemon cake, filled with white chocolate mousse and raspberries, frosted with buttercream, then covered with marzipan tinted yellow.

The four of us (in my group at school) had one day to design two cakes, a day to bake our sponges, and two days to decorate this cake, the first of which was spent making buttercream and mousse. (Next week, we make another one.)

First day of bakeshop, Summer Quarter 2005

2005-06-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of bakeshop for the summer. I've not had such a good day at school in a long time... ever, maybe. My group spent part of the morning designing our wedding cakes (we have six days to produce two cakes), then we made our sponges. The cakes came out perfectly. Our lemon cake is going to be sooo tasty, I can tell. The pistachio cake is going to be good, too, but the lemon just smelled so good! I really enjoyed working on the cakes. It's funny, because I usually just tolerate, not enjoy, the regular cake rotations at school, perhaps because what I've wanted to do is decorate cakes, and normally, that's not what we're doing. Tomorrow, we make our fillings and start work on one of the cakes.

I'm excited!!

Concorde Cake

2005-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

This week, at school, I made this:

It's called a Concorde cake. It has three layers of baked chocolate meringue. In between the layers of meringue is chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse gets smoothed along the sides, little "sticks" of meringue are attached, and the whole thing is dusted with powdered sugar. It tastes pretty good.

I only had time to make that because I spent one and a half days in the case this week. The second time, I didn't mind at all - it was about 20 degrees cooler at the case. And, one of the days that I wasn't at the case was a C.O.D. day, which meant that Chef Regis (mostly) wasn't around to tell me how to make the cake. So I was "helpful in other ways."

Other than the heat (ooh... the bakeshop's AC was broken and it was really hot the last two days of the week), I had a pretty good time this week.

While I'm busy being silent...

2005-05-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

Read all about How to Order Food.

Ok, so I'm not being that silent, obviously. But, this week probably won't have very many updates because I was sick on Wednesday and have to work the case on Friday (*sob*), so Thursday's activities will have to be "finish-in-one-day" activities.

And, anyway, I'm humored by it. So, I hope you will be, too.

Individual Desserts Rotation, Sprin Quarter 2005 (this rotation is only one week long)

2005-05-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Karl, my partner for the rotation, and I made creme caramel. We also made pastry cream. We must have done something else, but I'm not certain... that just doesn't seem like enough. I do know that we had to make the caramel several times, though, so maybe that WAS all. Wait! No... I remember. We made made pate sucree (the highlight of my day, obviously, since I remember it so well).

On Wednesday, we made creme brulee (orange, as requested by my husband), pate a choux, and piped a ton of little eclairs. (We never did get around to using them or the pastry cream.)

On Thursday, we brulled the creme brulee. I made a ton of little tart shells, using rings, not pans. After having a horrible time with it for most of the day, Chef Regis walked over and told me what he was doing as he was doing it. And, you know, after that, I was able to crank them out pretty easily, though I had to stop at one point because our AC has not yet been turned on so it's a million degrees in the bakeshop and my pate sucree was arguing with me.

Friday, Karl and I worked the buffet. I could not work front of the house for very long.

Dough Rotation, Spring Quarter 2005, Week Two, with gasp a picture

2005-05-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

What I spent my week making:

It's a tart made from puff pastry, filled with mousseline made from pastry cream (flavored with a good amount of orange liquor) and whipped cream, topped with strawberries, and dusted with powdered sugar. (I made several of them.)

Other things made this week:

a really yummy apple-rhubarb filling

cinnamon roll dough

chaussons (these are filled with the apple-rhubarb filling)

a ton of puff pastry

Everything (besides the tarts) will have to be baked off by somebody else tomorrow, as I'm in pastry case again.

Dough Rotation, Spring Quarter 2005, Week One

2005-05-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, I started off the week by making puff pastry. Something went horribly wrong, and it looked like goo. Chef Don thinks that I overmixed the dough. This is entirely possible because I completely freaked out when it didn't look right, and pulled it off of the mixer, scraped the sides, mixed, and did this a couple of times. When I threw away the puff-pastry-dough-posing-as-goo and made a new one, it looked the same, but I kept mixing, and it came together just fine. I made a loose boule, cut an x in it (this keeps the gluten strands short and helps the final product be more flaky), and let it ferment for half an hour. However, all this meant that I wouldn't be making brioche, as I'd planned to earlier, and since it was near the end of the day, I just did a little more clean-up than normal.

On Wednesday, I worked in the pastry case. I don't like working the pastry case. I'd rather be baking. I understand why we have to, but it doesn't change my mind about it one bit. There was this guy who came to the case, and ordered a creme caramel. He took about five steps to the side, and started eating it (there are no seats near the case, so he was standing in the middle of a busy hall). He stared at me the entire time he was eating, making slightly exaggerated "I really like this" sounds. After finishing the first creme caramel, he ordered another. Again, he stared at me while eating, but this time, he didn't make any sounds. In the end, he'd ordered five creme caramels, one at a time, and stood there staring at me while eating. It was really creepy.

Thursday, I got into the bakeshop, pulled out my dough and whacked it with a heavy metal rolling pin for several minutes. When I finally got it soft enough to roll out a bit, I took it over to the dough sheeter and got one turn in before it got too warm. (If you're not sure what I mean by a turn, or are just curious on how to make puff pastry, Puff Pastry by Baking911 explains it well.) So, I ran it back to the fridge, and came out to mis en place my ingredients for the next dough, Cherry Bounty. Cherry Bounty (which is really Strawberry Bounty in disguise) is much like a brioche that contains dried cherries soaked in Kirsch and small chunks of almond paste. It also has a weird chocolate glaze on it. But, I didn't bother miseing the glaze because I knew that I wouldn't be baking the dough off until the next day. I mised all my ingredients, went back and got two more turns on my puff, went and had lunch, came back from lunch and got two more turns on my dough, mixed the Cherry Bounty, set it in a bowl to ferment, and got the final turn on my puff pastry. Then, it was time to go home. One of the most important aspects of being a baker, I've noticed, is being able to understand timing. If you don't have you're timing down, you can wind up in big trouble.

Friday, the first thing that I did was make my glaze and stick it in the reach-in (because it had egg whites in it). Then, I got out my Cherry Bounty dough, scaled it into 12 ounces, formed it into cylinders, popped them into bannetons, and stuck them under the plastic covered rolling shelves to proof. Then, Chef Don wanted me to make something he called "Choux Surprise." I told him that whenever I hear "Blah Surprise" it reminds me of stuff they serve in cafeterias that may be called things like "Beef Surprise" which really means "Odds and ends mixed together, with sauce" and generally, taste gross. He asked me to trust him, and since he's the chef, I decided that I really had no choice anyway, and reminded myself that if it turned out to be gross, I didn't have to eat any. I mised the ingredients, went off to lunch, came back, and made the choux. Then, Chef Don handed me a chunk of cheese to mix in with the choux while it was still warm (so that the cheese would melt). At this point, my Cherry Bounty was ready to be glazed, so I put them on parchment-lined sheet pan, glazed 'em, and put the bread in the oven. Then, I lengthened my puff dough, and cut it into four inch squares. Chef Don had me take my choux mixture, add some pastry cream "to sweeten it slightly," and pipe it into the middle of the squares. Then I folded all four corners to the middle, pressed down in the center, and piped more choux mixture in the middle. After eggwashing the pastries and topping them with slivered almonds mixed with powdered sugar, they went into the oven. In the middle of piping my choux, I'd removed the Cherry Bounty from the oven. Chef Regis had lots of fun joking around about how they looked like they'd been thrown up on (the tops really did look awful). So, to make them look better, we sliced the Cherry Bounty, sifted powder sugar on the top of the slices, and sold them at the case for fifty cents a piece (they were really wonderful tasting). After the puff pastries came out of the oven, a couple of first quarter girls offered to load them into a basket for me (it was the end of the day, and they didn't have much else to do). While they were doing that, I ran a tray of Cherry Bounty slices down to the case. I got back upstairs, thanked the girls, and sent a couple of other people downstairs with the two remaining trays of Cherry Bounty. Then, I took the basket of puff pastries downstairs, and got back upstairs just in time to finish my dishes before they emptied the sink.

I didn't take any pictures - on the only day that I remembered to bring my camera, but forgot it in my locker and didn't notice until the end of the day when I was too busy to run down there. Hopefully, next week, I'll remember better.

Here is a list of most of the breads that I made during the bread rotation

2005-05-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Pain Ordinaire (we make this bread daily - it becomes sandwich rolls, focaccia, rolls, and the crust for the pizzas that they serve us for student lunch on Wednesdays)
Olive
Walnut
Oat Pecan
Herbed Como
Hazelnut Fig with Fennel and Rosemary
Rosemary Wands
Aromatic Breadstics
Sour-cherry Chocolate Bread
Beer Bread
Ciabatta
60% Hydrated Baguettes
Two Castle (this bread is a German bread, it has a lot of rye)
Cheese
Spelt (completely wheat-free at my suggestion)
La Mouna

If anybody wants the recipes (ahem... formulas) that we used, I'll try to get ahold of them. Of course they're mostly done by weight, so if you're a home baker, and haven't got a home scale, they'll not be much use to you other than to give you a basic idea of what's in them.

Last Day of Breads Today!!

2005-04-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Woooohoooo!

I get to rejoin the land of the living this evening. The land of not being so exhausted I can hardly walk home. The land of sanity (no... maybe not that).

Sometime this weekend, I'm hoping to post a list of some of the breads that we made.

2005-04-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

We have too many people in the bakeshop this quarter. This is going to cause quite a ruckus at the breads table today... in a space designed for four people or less, we're going to have seven! I've discovered that having five people on the rotation works well - most of the time, you can have one person (not the same person all the time) off doing "other things" such as mise en placing, talking with the chef about breads for tomorrow, and such.

But, last week, we had six people (plus the two on the other side of the table, who don't figure into the equation). We kept running into each other. There was no room to do anything. And this week we have to add one more person?

How frustrating.

Breads Rotation

2005-04-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

I'm on the bread rotation this week and next, and I can't decide whether I love it or hate it! I hate half the stuff, and love the other half. Such is life, no?

I keep forgetting my camera at home. And I forgot my tools at school yesterday - luckily, it appears that I still have everything. I'm going to need to start writing a checklist because my brain gets really scattered.

Yesterday, we made a very yummy olive bread! I had some at school, which is lucky for me, because my husband hates olives. So I had some without having to waste any... always a good thing.

I'm at school right now, in between making the Pain Ordinaire and folding it. It didn't occur to me to come up here to the computer lab until about 5 or so minutes ago (I've been done with the PO for about half an hour). What reminded me was filling out "financial aid for summer" forms - they asked how many credits I'd be taking. I didn't know, so I came up here to look and then thought "Aha! My blog!"

... but I'd better skiddadle on out of here so I can go fold the PO.

Pics from last quarter that never got posted

2005-04-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from last quarter:

The croquenbouche half-built. See all the tons and tons of balls of choux? There were more - I think there were an additional three and a half trays not in the picture!

A marzipan rose that I made. I love marzipan and playing with it was so much fun!

Shamrocks made out of royal icing. As you can see, not all of them turned out well. That is why we made tons of them! Even Chef Regis had problems figuring out how to get them to look like shamrocks.

The shamrocks are on top of mousse cups, propped up by grape slices.

Sorry for the lack of posts

2005-04-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

I've been very depressed for the past several weeks, so much so that I haven't been able to think of anything to say. And when I did, I'd delete it thinking that nobody wanted to read it anyway.

But, I think I'm starting to feel better. I sure hope so.

This should mean more posts!

Croquenbouche

2005-03-19T00:33:00.000-08:00

This is what I spent the past two days doing (with Jayson and Amelia):

(The only thing I didn't help with were the blossoms. I did help make the leaves and the vines. I also helped with the base.)

This is a croquenbouche - a traditional French wedding "cake." It is made from profiteroles (cream puffs) stacked in a cone shape (it is hollow in the middle). The individual profiteroles are filled with pastry cream. (Traditionally, there are three puffs per person.) It is held together with caramel. We also put caramel strands on the outside. Very fussy, but very beautiful. A bit of a "show stopper" too. This takes a lot of work, and a bit of ignoring the burning pain one feels when molten sugar attaches itself to your skin.

Anyway, I'm very proud of it.

Edit: Edited to change the title to the correct spelling, noticed by a knowledgable reader. (Thanks!)

Individual Desserts Rotation

2005-03-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

So... this week, I've been on individual desserts rotation, with Amelia. So far, we've made pate a choux (and formed it into eclairs), lemon creme brulee (the brulee part takes far longer than I thought it would), creme caramel (which I've discovered that I don't really like), rich pastry cream, and tulipe batter (with which we made "lines" to use as decoration).

We made lemon creme brulee because we were supposed to flavor it and I thought my husband would like it, as he loves citrus-y things, and he'd been wanting some creme brulee (this is the nice thing about "working" in a bakeshop... if you want something, you can often make it without throwing things off schedule). It turns out that he only likes vanilla creme brulee. So I didn't buy any for him.

I pinched a nerve while moving, so everything hurts to do. Oh well.

And today is my make-up day in the kitchen. I'll be working with Chef Diana, who is pretty nice, but still... I'd rather be in the bakeshop.

I also have to present my 5 year plan. I understand the point of the things, but I don't know what I'll be doing in five years... that is part of why I'm at school: to learn more about options available.

The Thermomix

2005-03-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

So... if I had an unlimited amount of money to spend on kitchen gear, I'd purchase a Thermomix. It seems like a wonderful little gadget... if I were rich.

Because of moving...

2005-03-07T01:05:00.000-08:00

Because of moving, we ate out almost every night this past week... or ordered in. Mostly eating out, just to get the frell out of here.

But tonight, we had dinner at home. Steak with mushrooms and salad. Still nothing big, but... at least it wasn't pizza again.

One more thing before I lose 'net access...

2005-03-02T02:14:00.000-08:00

Last week, Chef Don said "Your croissants are exactly the way they should be." How amazing is that? Generally, all you get is a head-nod...

Just a note

2005-03-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of moving and don't know when I'll be getting 'net access again. I'll be back, worry not, but it'll probably take a bit. Hope everything goes well for all of you while I'm gone.

Cheese Plate

2005-02-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

For my cheese plate, I chose to create a cheese plate that would serve at least two people for under $20. The reason that I chose my cheeses this way is because I think that a lot people mistakenly think that getting good quality cheese is not possible on a budget, which is quite a shame, because it can be done. The entire cheese plate listed here would cost the average consumer less than $20 to put together, including the items on the plate that were not cheese.

The cheeses:

Brie de Nangis is a soft cheese, made from cow’s milk, and a smaller version of Brie de Meaux. It has a sweet flavor to it. Originally from a town named Nangis, the cheese is now no longer made there. Brie de Nangis has a white, rippled rind. The young cheese has a milky, sweet taste. As it ages, the flavor becomes stronger and more pungent. When Brie de Nangis is sold young in the United States, it is made with very low temperature pasteurized milk. This would be wonderful eaten alone or spread on warm, fresh bread.

Pecorino Marzolino is a traditional Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk. All Pecorinos are sheep’s milk cheeses. The name stems from the word “pecora,” which means “sheep” in Italian. Marzolion, which means “March,” refers to the fact that this is a seasonal cheese, made in the spring. This is a young, semi-hard cheese from Tuscany. It has a texture similar to mozzarella and a milky, sweet flavor. The cheese has no rind. If it were to be served with food, it should be paired with a strong flavor, such as salmon, or a sweet flavor, perhaps honey.

Parrano is a semi-hard Dutch cheese, made from cow’s milk. The flavor is much like that of Parmesan mixed with aged Gouda, and ever-so-slightly sweet and nutty. The cheese is aged for five months to allow flavor to develop and mature. It has been called “Dutch Gouda with an Italian flair.” This cheese would be best eaten alone – or perhaps grated into a salad or used in a sandwich.

Grafton Village Maple-Smoked Cheddar is an aged maple-smoked cheddar cheese from Vermont. The cheddar is smoked for between four to six hours by hard maple wood. The smoking flavors, but does not overpower, giving it a slightly sweet, slightly smoky flavor. In this cheese, aside from the cultured whole milk with enzymes, the only thing the cheese makers add is salt. No preservatives are added to this cheese. A good pairing for this cheese would be crusty bread, crackers, pears, toasted walnuts, grapes, or tart apples. Wine served with the cheese should be medium-bodied. Grafton Village Maple-Smoked Cheddar was judged first place by the American Cheese Society in 1996 and 1999, and was judged second by the society in 2000.

Stilton is a semi-hard blue cheese made in England. A protected name cheese, only six dairies are licensed to make Stilton. This cheese has been around for nearly 300 years, and is produced in the regions of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire, using only local cows. There is a village in Cambridgeshire, from which Stilton got its name but, Stilton has never been made there. In the 18th century, Stilton was the first stop travelers made on their way from London to Scotland. As the cheese became popular, the village sold thousands of the cheeses weekly. Thus, the “blue cheese bought in Stilton” became “Stilton Cheese.” Although more blue than most cheeses from the UK, Stilton is not nearly as strong tasting as Gorgonzola. The texture should be crumbly, but still able to be sliced without falling completely apart. Stilton pairs excellently with sweet dessert wine. Foods that would be accompany Stilton well are crusty bread, apples, figs, dried apricots, dried figs, pears, leeks, tomatoes, quince paste, and various jams/preserves.

All these were served with bread, fruit, and raspberry jam.

Finished stressing over this

2005-02-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

Woo. I had enough pictures that I was able to get creative, so now, my portfolio is all assembled and in my backpack, ready to bring to school tomorrow.

Stressing, big-time

2005-02-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

So. I have this huge portfolio due tomorrow - which, btw, I think is ridiculous anyway... they should have this class either fourth or fifth quarter, so that we have STUFF to put in it. But, that isn't the point of this post.

So, being the procrasinator that I am, I waited until tonight to print up pictures. When I get to the one-hour photo, I'm told that it will take three hours. Since it was about seven o'clock when I got there, I knew this meant that I'd have to come back shortly before closing.

So, I come back at about 9:30, pay for photos, walk out, walk a few blocks towards school, where I have to print out stuff for tomorrow. At a corner, I stop to look at my pics... they're all messed up. The tops are off of some, bottoms of other. My tart is missing a quarter of it off of the top. My bread crowns, a bit from the bottom. The cake, a bit from the bottom. Since I'm nearly at school, I go in, print out my stuff, then run (literally, which is saying something) to the one-hour photo (also known as Rite-Aid on Broadway in Seattle). It is now 9:50 pm. They close at ten. I explain my predicament to the cashier:

Me: "I just picked up my pictures about 15 or so minutes ago and I think your machine may have cut them wrong. The tops are cut off of some and the bottoms off of others."
Her (looking annoyed that I'm there in the first place): "Is it digital?"
Me: "Yes. Prints from digital."
Her: "We don't replace your pictures just because your camera is bad or you took bad pictures."
Me: "But it wasn't me. The pictures themselves are too small."
Her: "You wanted a bigger print?"
Me: "No! Your machine cut off some of my picture when printing and cutting it. I honestly wouldn't care so much, but this is due for a school assigment tomorrow."
Her: "Well. Are you sure it was the machine?"
Me: "Yes. I've got the pictures right here, along with my reciept. I was just wondering if they could be reprinted. I could even just pick them up when you guys open tomorrow." (At this point, I pull out the pictures. They're very obviously too small vertically and a couple of them have white spaces on the side.)
Me: "See? They're cut off here..." (and since she says nothing, I show her where they're cut off on every picture).
Her: "Are you sure it isn't how you took the picture?"
Me: "Yes."
Her: "And you didn't order a different size print?" (It only offered me one option of print size. So no. Definitiely no. But, I'm trying to maintain my temper here.)
Me: "No. I'm sure that I didn't order this size."
Her: *sigh* "Well, do you have the original disk?"
Me: "Yes. It is in the envelope." (... the one you have in your hand that very obviously has a CD in it).
Her: "Ok. Well, I can't help you with this. You have to talk to him." (And she points to the guy I remember from behind the photo counter, who just started walking towards us, then hands me my pictures back.)

At this point, I'm about to kill her. Really. A girl can only have so much patience.

Him: "Is there a problem over here?"
Me: "Yes. My pictures were improperly cut by your machine. I was just wondering if I could get them reprinted. I can just pick them up at opening tomorrow."
Him: "Do you have the original pictures?"
Me: "Yes. And the original CD. And my reciept." (At which point I hand him all of said items. He looks at one of the pictures and I can tell he knows I'm right by the way that his eyes get a little bit bigger.)
Him: "Ok..." (He looks over towards the machine.) "Oh. Um. Well, the machine just got turned off. So you'll have to come back in the morning to get them to reprint your pictures. Just tell them what happened, and I think they'll reprint them for free for you." (You think?!?!?)

I'm stressing because this is due TOMORROW and I know that if I go back in the morning, I'll have to wait at least an hour... by which point, I'll be in the middle of the bakeshop, a couple of blocks away.

Working on a cheese plate for school

2005-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

Today, at QFC, I spoke with the "cheese lady" behind the counter, because I'm doing a cheese plate as an assigment at school. Aside from the cheeses that I bought, which I assure you I will write about, I also was able to taste a wonderous, wonderous cheese. It was a Stilton with Ginger and Mango. I couldn't taste any of blue, and the other flavors blended together - even my husband raved about it (and he likes neither ginger nor mango). Upon doing more research at home, I discovered that the reason that I could not taste any blue is that it doesn't have any - it is a White Stilton. White Stilton is made in the same way as Blue Stilton except that the blue mould is not added to the vat at the making stage and the cheese will be sold at about 3 weeks of age. This produces a nice, mellow flavor. And... mmm. She suggested maybe serving it in celery, but I don't know that I'd want to serve it with anything. The flavor on its Hours later, I'm still excited about this cheese. I didn't buy any because it was not an inexpensive cheese, and since I've got a bunch of vet bills to pay, that was a bit beyond my budget. But one day, I will have a friend or two over and introduce them to the joys of it.

And now, to deviate from the topic of food for a moment, I'm so thrilled to have my dog back home. Murray had an operation to remove some stones (5, to be exact) from a rather sensitive part and stayed at the vet's all weekend. He came home this morning and appears to be doing much, much better.

Here's a picture of Murray:

And one of him with me:

This was really stressing me out. He's my little dude! And the financial aspect of this was pretty stressful too... we were told that it would be anywhere from about $2000 to $3500 for the procedure, depending on whether they could remove the stones, or whether they couldn't - if they couldn't, they'd have to bypass the whole thing and create a new passage to outside the body. Luckily, for Murray and for us, they were able to just push the stones back in, go in through the bladder walls, and remove them. Still invasive, but not as invasive - and on the lower end of the cost scale. Which means, as Jeremy says, "We're broke, but we're not Top-Ramen-for-a-month broke."

Now that the crisis is over, I can go back to being less stressed, which makes things easier on me in the bakeshop.

Cakes rotation

2005-02-17T23:23:00.000-08:00

This week, and the last, I have been on cakes rotation. Last week was a Sacher and a chocolate mousse/blackcurrant/almond sponge cake. I've spent this week making an opera cake. The reason that I've spent all week doing this is that I spent Tuesday making the cakes. Wednesday, I spent getting the ganache to a right consistency (unfortunately, this effort was wasted - I didn't assemble it on Wednesday), making buttercream, and making coffee simple syrup.

Today (Thursday), I started working on getting the buttercream back to the right consistency. Ha ha... I freaked out when I saw all the liquid in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Luckily James, the Chef in charge of the culinary students during their bakery rotation, let me know that it was supposed to look that way - and why. So, I got the buttercream to the right consistency (again), but then had to go talk to Chef Regis. After my chat with him, I had to leave... my dog had to go to the vet. He's having surgery tomorrow, and today was his pre-surgery appointment.

My next rotation is doughs.

The past three weeks

2005-02-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

Wow. Time flies.

I've actually been meaning to update for a while, but have been busy. And tired. Very, very tired.

My second week in culinary was slightly easier than the first. I really enjoyed making sushi and doing the fruit tray for the buffet. I missed a day, so Chef Diana has asked me to come back one day sometime during the quarter. One thing I can say about having done culinary is that now, I'm thinking about food more - as in considering experimenting in the kitchen a bit more, and not only about baking.

So, once I got culinary out of the way and done with (and that was truly how I felt about it - all of the culinary people were nice, but... very different than the bakery), I started my next rotation, back in the bakery: Bread.

Bread. It seems like my first bread rotation was so long ago! This time around, bread was very different. Firstly, I have been at school before 7 a.m. every day this rotation. This in and of itself has made the day long. Then, the sheer number of us (three second quarter students and three first quarter students - plus the two third quarter students on the other side of the table) has made things "interesting." Add to that the fact that one of the first quarter students barely understands what we're saying to her (partly a language problem, I know).

We've had a few problems. For instance, yesterday, our first quarter students made too much poolish for our baguettes today. The problem is that we'd never seen the amount before, so we didn't realize it until we had everything in the mixer. I looked at the soup and realized instantly that something was wrong. So Chef Don figured out what the problem was and had us scale out ingredients to match the amount of poolish that we had (they'd doubled the amount we needed, as we were only using a half recipe). We ended up making 37 baguettes!! Then, today, somebody misread flour - they mis en placed 8 POUNDS of flour, instead of ounces. Also, over the weekend, at work, one of our first quarter students cut her hand on a beer bottle and had to get stitches. This really limits what she can do in the kitchen. And another student took 45 minutes to feed the levain one day. This particular student actually takes a long time to do anything we ask her to do - I think she just doesn't understand what it is we're wanting her to do. So, we've had to constantly pair her with another student (it took us about a week to figure out how to work around the problem).

And, I think that I could now make Pain Ordinaire in my sleep, if I had to. But I've gotten really good at tossing the dough (I use the "pizza toss" with my focaccia to help stretch them out)! I love picking out focaccia toppings. Today, Loren grabbed some garlic and rosemary for one set of toppings. I used up the figs that one of our first quarter students had gotten out yesterday and started soaking (they were the wrong ones, but we got it figured out before we left for the day yesterday - glad we thought to check) and added some mascarpone. After the fig ones came out of the oven, we drizzled them with honey. They sold really quickly.

If I think about it, I'll try to bring home the list of breads that we've made.

These are a few pics of some of what we've done this rotation:

Batards. I can't remember what bread they are off the top of my head.

Crowns. These are great fun to make. You take these baskets that look like little sombreros, put a boule in the center, surround it with other boules, then slice inbetween the boules that surround the center ones. Brush the outer ones with water, then pull the little flaps up onto them. Lots of fun.

On the left is one of our first-quarters, Natalie. On the right is Loren, our second-quarter resident vegan.

(J.T. - I'll try to update more often!)

My first week in Culinary

2005-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

This week has been extremely long.

Monday, I had resume class. Normally, there is no school on Monday, so the week started off long.

Tuesday, I worked the Pastry Case by myself, but got done fairly early, as we only had cookies and scones to sell.

Wednesday, I worked in the 4th quarter Culinary kitchen, under Chef Scott. My tasks were making duxelle (which is a mushroom stuffing), making a pureed Carrot-Ginger soup, and grilling chicken.

Thursday, I spent the first half of my day putting things into a pot and the second half taking them out! I worked under Chef KG, in the second quarter kitchen, and helped make Minestrone soup and Vegetable Piquant soup with chickpeas. Then, after lunch, I had to drain/strain/cool stock. When I got home, my husband said "You smell like soup!"

Today (Friday), I worked under Chef Diana, and apparently, got a lot accomplished... I made deviled eggs, pan fried some halibut cheeks, and *cringe* deep fried salmon. It had to be used up, but it felt like it was such a shame to deep fry. The Chef had the halibut cheeks for her lunch!

I started out this week hating it, but today was good. I think that I've developed a bit more respect for the kitchen. I doubt that I'd want to do it everyday myself, but I've got a respect for people who do.

Banana Bread

2005-01-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

This morning, I had a resume class at school. My quarter decided to put on a potluck brunch. And I'd volunteered to bring banana bread, because I love banana bread and it is something I rarely make just for my husband and myself. I looked a recipe up online to find basic proportions, then modified it. One of the problems that I came across was that I didn't overripe bananas. I ended up cooking the bananas ahead of time. It helped sweeten them some. A couple of notes: the bread wasn't overly sweet, which I enjoyed, and I also left the banana somewhat chunky so that there were chunks of banana dispersed throughout the bread.

This recipe should produce a single loaf... I'm not sure what size our pan is, but it is about the average "bread pan" ... I think. The way I look at is that unless you're making mini-loafs, it won't matter... yours may be slightly taller or shorter than mine, but consistent in your own pan.

The recipe:

Misa's Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 bananas, mashed (slightly chunky)
2 tsp vanilla
juice of half a medium orange
zest from half a medium orange

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bread loaf pan.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until combined.

Fold in mashed banana.

Pour into pan, bake in oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Allow to cool five minutes before removing from pan.

Best served warm with Sweet or European style butter.

Grades for Fall 2004

2005-01-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

BAK 101 INTRO TO DESSERTS&BREADS 3.6
BAK 111 INTRO DESSERTS/BREADS:PR 3.5
CUL 106 INTRO TO CUL ARTS:THEORY 3.3
HOS 101 INTRO TO CUSTOMER SVC S
HOS 110 PRINCIPLES OF SANITATION 3.3
MAT 110C APPLIED MATH TECHNICIAN 4.0

GPA 3.56

Been a while since my last post

2004-12-26T01:23:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post. First, I got busy with finals. Then, the holidays. And we're on break now until January 4th, but after that, things should be back to normal.

Here are some pictures of my dough rotation:

Cranberry Apple coffee pull-apart ring

Croissants

Danishes

Pain Au Chocolat

While memories of challah danced through her head...

2004-12-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

I used to work in Ballard, which is a little Scandanavian neighborhood here in Seattle. There's a Great Harvest Breads down there. I used to go in and get sandwiches a lot. They had some rather tasty varieties of bread and, so, I'd use those to have either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (this was usually made with a sweet bread) or a hummus sandwich (have I mentioned that I LOVE hummus?) made with savory breads. Sometimes, instead of a sandwich, I'd get soup, which comes with a free roll. They also offer free slices of bread with fresh butter, which is wonderful when you see something you'd love, but you know your husband probably wouldn't eat any of.

But my favorite thing to buy was challah. They made challah every Friday, and I'd try to get a sandwich made with it, plus another slice. Sometimes, I'd buy a whole loaf and end up eating most of it myself. It was the thing that made me glad to be going to work. I might have been making telemarketing calls, but it was okay... I got good bread out of it.

I don't work in Ballard anymore. And, while I don't miss the bus trip (it takes an hour to an hour and a half to get there by bus from my place), I DO miss the challah.

What I've been up to over the past couple of weeks

2004-11-30T18:01:00.000-08:00

With the holidays and all, I've been fairly busy.

At school last week, I made a bazillion tarts (yes, you heard me... a bazillion). Ba-zill-ion. Hrm... did I mention that I made a few tarts? No? Well, I did. Actually, I spent most of the past two weeks at school rolling out tart shells. We did make some pumpkin filling, though, that was rather tasty.

This week is the start of a new rotation... I'm on doughs, with Sarah. I'm enjoying it so far.

Tomorrow, I have an ingredient report due for Chef Regis - on Buckwheat. Other people got fairly interesting foods and I got *sigh* buckwheat. Ah... it isn't so bad. I learned a few things. For instance... did you know that buckwheat hulls have been used in pillows in Japan for centuries? It is apparently better for your back and neck than most pillows.

And my ServSafe exam is on Thursday. I will be SO glad to get it out of the way.

Tarts rotation

2004-11-20T16:20:00.001-08:00

... is harder than I thought. But I love it!

So far, we've made Pear Clafouti tarts and a couple of Brown Butter Pear tarts. Friday was spent rolling out dough for next week... we're going to do a TON of tarts.

Rolling out the dough just right and getting it in the tart ring is a lot harder than it looks!! We don't use a bottom on our rings, so sometimes, it tears. If there's even a tiny tear, you have to do it all over.

"I don't make pies, I make taaahts."

Lots of pics!

2004-11-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

Pics of the Pear Clafouti Tart that Amanda and I made this week:

COD pics

Our final project is called Chef of the Day. In the Bakery, for "Pastry Chef of the Day", you are required to plan, cost, prepare and present your own line of products. This includes (I think) includes a bread, breakfast pastry, savory pastry, candy, a torte, a tart, and a plated dessert. It is a HUGE deal. Family and friends can come (to help pay for the products, they are charged $5, but my understanding that's because they get to taste everything). On Friday, three people presented their CODs.

Here are the displays:

These pictures don't do them justice. They really are gorgeous.

Pics of Harvest Dinner prep:

Pics of some classmates and their croissants and danishes:

Harvest Dinner was today

2004-11-14T01:23:00.000-08:00

Harvest Dinner is our big fundraiser. It's a fancy affair where people pay a lot of money for dinner to help support the program. I had a lot of fun working the morning shift. I mostly worked on making bread. For lunch, we made pizza. I made a couple that were olive oil based. (I find that as time goes on, I am starting to not like red pizza nearly as much.) We had a woman from the culinary program working with us, and she said that she could tell she was in the bakery because the pizzas looked so pretty. She said mine looked kind of like a tart because I try to spread all my ingredients evenly.

I'm amazed at how gaining knowledge works in the bakeshop. It seems that I feel like I'm clueless at something, then all of the sudden, I know how to do it. Instinctively.

2004-11-10T21:43:00.000-08:00

Our chocolate chip cookies turned out well today, as did those bars. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics... but I may make those bars at home sometime. If I do, pics will DEFINITELY be forthcoming.

There's no school tomorrow... Veteran's Day.

On Friday, we do prep work for Harvest Dinner, which is on Saturday. It's a huge fundraiser for us, and it sounds like lots of fun.

I registered for next quarter today. There'll be more time in the bakeshop daily, which is good.

My HACCP project is due on Tuesday. Ugh.

Burned Cookies

2004-11-09T21:41:00.000-08:00

Again.

Chef Don suggested buying a timer. I wanted to cry.

Tomorrow's a new day, and I've got big hopes! We're making ta bar cookie that's alot like nanaimo bars. It sounds really yummy. The shortbread layer that I made today has butter, sugar, flour, melted white chocolate, and ground semi-sweet chocolate. Amelia made a coconut cream for one of the layers. It'll be topped with a chocolate ganache.

The recipe can be found at the Seattle Times website. The recipe actually comes from this book:

2004-11-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

None of my cookies came out right this week. I thought the gingersnaps looked and tasted fine, but Chef Don said they had "just a little bit too much flour" in them.

Next week is a new week. We're figuring that it can't be much worse than last week.

Who would have thought cookies to be such a tough rotation?

Argh!

2004-11-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

This week has been somewhat stressful. I had a midterm in Sanitation, a few problems in the bakeshop, and was sick. Also, I had a sustainable fishing report to do (cooking theory is not my favorite class). And since I don't have a printer, I needed to get it done in time to go to the computer lab to print it out today.

Also, on a more personal note, I found out that my father will be moving to Arizona on less than two weeks notice. I don't get to see him much as it is, and he currently lives just about forty minutes to an hour away by car (not that I have a car, but he does). So that has added some stress. I'm a big stresser and a worrier so this week has been a bit... trying.

Tuesday, we made gingersnap dough and chocolate chip cookie dough, then baked them today because I was sick on Wednesday and Amelia had pastry case.

Today, we made honey oat cranberry dough, using too much flour. We tried to fix it with honey, but were informed that milk would have been a better choice. Also, we didn't "squish" our cookies down enough. They turned out more like sweet biscuits or scones, which I thought was fine... we could have sold them as small scones. The Chef had different ideas. *sigh*

The chocolate chip cookies, on the other hand, got squished too much and consequently were too flat.

After they got out of the oven, Chef Don said the gingersnaps had too much flour... everybody else said they looked (and tasted) good. I thought so, too.

We also made a biscotti dough today. Apparently, our logs were too thick. I think the Chef wants to watch how we weigh flour. (Have I ever mentioned that I hate baker's balance scales and long for a good digital? It would save so much time for a lot of people in the bakeshop.)

Cakes from Thursday

2004-10-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Chiffon Cake with Pear Bavarian Cream and Whipped Cream w/Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

Cheesecake topped with chocolate ganache with white spideweb piped on top:

Pics from school on Friday

2004-10-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

These are the basque cakes that Amelia and I made at school. Two of them had the top design and one had the leaf. They have a pastry cream inside. Jeremy and I bought a slice and it was very very tasty. (The date in the corner looks a bit odd to me... does it look like a 12 to anybody else? Weird things happen like this when you've been up since way too early in the morning.)
Edit: The mystery has been solved. The date is upside down.

Pumpkin Cake and Thoughts on an Explosion

2004-10-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, perhaps "explosion" isn't the correct word. I'll explain. But first, Pumpkin Cake pictures:

Those are two of the cakes we made yesterday. Then, today, we made a cream cheese frosting to put on them, then sprinkled on cinnamon sugar. The frosting wasn't too sweet - though it had more of a butter taste than I would have preferred - so I'm sure the cinnamon sugar wouldn't have made it too sweet.

Now, about that explosion.

Today, Amelia and I made chiffon cakes - twice, due to the aforementioned explosion. I'd have to say it was actually more like an expansion. You see, while I was measuring out dry ingredients for the cakes, I had to use an ounce scale. And I'm measuring out an ounce of baking soda and say to somebody else "This is an ounce scale, right?" "Yes." "But this looks like a lot of baking powder." "It does... but that's an ounce scale." I figure that I'm just being overly cautious. But then I move to the cream of tartar and measure it out... same thing. Again, I think "just being paranoid."

So, after mixing the dry ingredients with the wet, and then adding the egg whites (which where whipped with the cream of tartar), we started flouring our pans. A few minutes later, Chef Regis walks by and says "What is this?!?" I look in the mixer bowl, and lo and behold, what I see looks more like a slurry starter than a cake batter. And, it was rising. "You need to ask Don about this." So, after much trailing after Chef Don, he comes over, sticks his finger in it, and crinkles up his nose. Apparently, there was way too much baking soda and cream of tartar. After going through every step with us to see what could have gone wrong, he walked over to the scale. Somebody had toyed with it so that they could measure more than that scale should have held. "Next time you have a doubt, come ask me or Regis."

So, notes on how to not have this happen to you:

When in doubt, double check. If you think it looks like too much, it probably is.

2004-10-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Today, we made cakes out of a Pumpkin Muffin recipe. It isn't in our "formula binders" - but we thought we'd be seasonal. I didn't remember my camera, but they may still be there tomorrow because we're holding them overnight - we didn't finish until about 1:10 - and if so, I'll take pictures then.

This sure seemed a lot easier than breads.

Last Day of Breads Today!!

2004-10-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

A picture of the focaccia that I made on Thursday:

It has Rome apples, Gueyere cheese, dried currants, toasted hazlenuts, and nutmeg.
As much as I enjoy forming breads, the bread rotation is a lot of work. I'm glad it is over for the rest of the quarter.

Yes, today was the last day of my bread rotation. Tuesday, I start in on cakes.

2004-10-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today was much better than Friday. Everything got done quickly and efficiently. I didn't have to clean the mixer, though I probably will tomorrow (maybe not, though, because I have math class).

I made focaccia with Christy. Actually, that isn't exactly true - we shaped the dough and put stuff on top. We made three types of focaccia:

pear, blue cheese, and walnut
fig, goat cheese, and nutmeg
mushroom and oregano

I came up with the idea for adding the nutmeg and the oregano. I got to try the pear focaccia and I'm happy about that - I'd been concerned because, at first, the cheese we were using on it seemed overly ripe. Chef Don agreed, so we threw it away and got a new one. But, it turned out really good - except for having been a little crunchy. It was either overcooked or overproofed. Either way, the flavor was still good. I like focaccia a lot. Lately, I've started really disliking pizza sauce (the red stuff) and, to me, a focaccia is all of the best parts of a pizza without any of the sauce. Then again, I've had a few friends say that I like "yuppy" pizza (or even "hippie pizza") - I love things like potatoes on my pizza. One of my favorite pizzas is pear with gorgonzola. Yummy!

Anyway, aside from that, I helped Heather (one of the 2nd quarter students) gather up stuff for some herbed breadsticks that she was making. I didn't have to feed the levain, nor the slurries, but I did have to mis en place the pain ordinaire (btw, it is pronounced pan ord-in-air... like ordinary, but without pronouncing the "y"). And, of course, there were dishes and cleaning to be done throughout the day. But we were ready to leave a few minutes before 1:30pm, which I think is a miracle.

I forgot one of my books at home, so Amelia let me look at hers during class, which was very nice of her. So I've got some highlighting to do in my baking book, which won't take very long. Other than that, no homework today, though I've got a couple of projects that I could be working on.

Chef Regis let us out of theory class early today, so several of us sat in the atrium. (I think that's what they call it... there's a bunch of table and chairs and such near the food places... like a glorified cafeteria.) We talked about projects, homework, etc.

I can't believe that it is week three already! Time is flying by!

2004-10-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, by the end of school, I wanted to cry. I'm better now. I think it was the culmination of the stress from the week. And, yesterday, when I got into the bakeshop, I had to clean two huge mixers and a huge pile of dishes. The other girl who is in first quarter on the bread rotation with me had to work in the pastry case. One of the mixers can take up to half an hour to clean because it cannot be removed from the base, nor can the dough hook (which, by the way, if you ask me, is a MAJOR design flaw).The highlight of bakeshop yesterday was being able to chop fruit. I didn't touch an actual dough all day. My entire day consisted of washing dishes, and spending about 5 minutes chopping garlic and fruit, doing mis en place for the pain ordinaire that we make everyday, and feeding the levain and both the white and rye slurries. The levain is kind of a pain to feed, because you have to

weigh out 5 pounds of levain (which is a starter) in a regular bowl
weigh out two pounds of water (we've got a machine that you can specify the amount of water you need and it'll give you exactly that much, which is very nice)
put the water in a 10 qt mixer bowl
put the levain in the mixer bowl
squish the levain in the water until it gets to be the right consistency
at this point, I wash my hands because I cannot properly hold onto the bowl otherwise - which, btw, takes forever because it's so gloopy
weigh out the proper amount of flour
hook the mixer bowl up to the mixer (which is on the other side of the room)
hook up the dough hook to the mixer
carry the flour over to the mixer bowl
turn the mixer on
add the flour slowly so it doesn't fly up everywhere
stand there, staring into the bowl, hoping you'll get the right consistency of dough

The day before yesterday, we kept having to add more flour because we'd added too much water. Yesterday, however, I got it perfect on the first try.

The other starters (the slurries) are easier to do, though they require more elbow grease - after adding the appropriate flour, you have to beat the slurry with a wisk forever to get it properly incorporated.

The day started out with me and my huge toolbox getting soaking wet. It was raining when we left, my clothes were still wet from the morning (I change into my chef's uniform when I get there) and I had a million things to bring home. Jeremy came to pick me up and walk me home. We stopped at the pastry case and got some yummy treats. If you've never been to the pastry case before, let me assure you that our food is wonderful and so are our prices... for five dollars and some change, we got a danish, three individual sized tarts (but not the tiny ones), and four pieces of chocolate. They were all very delicious. I'd highly recommend that if you live in the area, you stop by the case sometime. We've got great bread prices, too.

2004-10-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting all week to do a "real" post about school. Here's why:

On Monday, I went to school to try to test out of math. This was a big gamble because the teacher said that our test grade would be our term grade and once we turned it in, we couldn't change our mind. In order to pass, we needed a test equivalent to a 1.8 grade - and since the test was only 25 questions, this meant we could only miss 6 questions. The problem was that most of these questions had several problems to figure and if one small thing was off, it threw off the whole problem.

I didn't make the grade.

But I wasn't the only one. And my teacher said that he'd let me stay in the class. Thank goodness!! While I wish that I didn't have to take that class, I am EXTREMELY happy that my teacher is going to allow me to continue in that class.

I'm having lots of fun in bakeshop. Today, I didn't get out of there until three. I also spent about an hour to an hour and a half working at the pastry case.

School tools

2004-10-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Those are my tools for school. I had to buy a tool box and the one that was big enough to hold my rolling pin was... bright. As you can probably see. Also, to buy tools, we had to run around to a million different places. But, $200+ later, I've got my tools.

At City Kitchen, while shopping for bowl scrapers on Sunday (because my instructor said "Oh, did I tell you guys that you need two bowl scrapers? Because you do."... this was AFTER we'd already gone shopping *grr*), I ran into Ami from my class. I was surprised to see her because she lives in Edmonds.

Small world.

My first week of school

2004-10-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've had a great week.

My class is down to eleven students. Somebody's been gone twice, which means she probably will not be back. That's fine with me - I hadn't really talked to her or anything, but I like small groups of people.

The way that my practicum course works is that we have five rotations - Bread, Dough, Tarts, Cakes, and Cookies - that each last two weeks. There are two or three people in each station (rotation). You get to work with several people, so it isn't the same people each time.

My first rotation is Breads, and I'll be working with Christy. She seems fairly nice. We actually fed the starter today, getting a jump start on next week. We'll both come in to the bakeshop early to help with the breads - she can do it all week, but I have a math class right before that class whereas she's already taken college math and thus, doesn't have to take a math class.The second rotation, I'll be working with Amelia on Cakes. She and I have talked a lot. I like her. During the third rotation, I'll be doing Cookies with Amelia, also. I'm glad that I get to work with her for four weeks. She's very nice and I feel comfortable around her. For my fourth rotation, I'll be working with Amanda on Tarts. My fifth rotation will be Dough - and I'll be working with Sarah.

Today, in my baking theory class, we had a chocolate tasting. Chef Regis, the instructor, is from France and I'm just starting to get used to his accent. He's very into "never compromising the ingredients" - and hearing him talk about American chocolate and how bad it is compared to European is hilarious and so true!

Later on, in my practicum class, we had a baguette tasting. Chef Don is very passionate about bread products. He sent somebody from the office to go buy five baguettes from QFC - different brands, though. One of the baguettes, we ended up not even tasting. After opening it, he said it looked so horrible he wasn't even going to taste a small amount. It was a day or two old. One of the breads - from La Brea Bakery - tasted like cinnamon and was sort of sweet. It wasn't supposed to be cinnamony at all. "Somebody down in California needs to wake up!" Maybe they were making cinnamon rolls on the bench and didn't clean it properly... who knows? He told us how Nancy Silverton (she's one of the owners of La Brea) came to talk at a bread conference that he was at and that a lot of people there didn't like what she was doing - making bread dough, partially cooking it, flash freezing it, and then sending it to stores to get cooked completely so that it would be fresh. It doesn't taste as good that way, nor does it turn out looking as good. There are other reasons that he doesn't really like the idea, mostly relating to the fact that he thinks things should be done on a smallish-production scale. And while she says that it brings artisan breads to those who normally wouldn't be able to get them, he says that a better solution would be for more neighborhood bakeries to open. And, in many ways, I agree. I think that more people need to be introduced to really good bread. Part of the reason that some people would rather buy Wonder Bread than artisan bread is that they've mostly had mass-produced artisan bread which tastes different and has a different mouth feel than stuff made on small production runs. Without going into the details too much, I'll just say that the machines make the dough come out slightly different and thus, it bakes up differently, and tastes a little different.

As far as my math class goes, I'm going to attempt to test out of it on Monday. The test if 25 questions and would count as our final grade. Since we're allowed to look at the test and decide whether we want to take it or not, I'll go in and see if I think I can get a good grade. If not, I'll be taking the math class. But not taking that class would give me more time available for the bakeshop (like in this bread rotation, where I could go in before class actually starts and get more experience with the whole process).

I'm glad we get to get into the bakeshop next week. It'll be fun!

First Day of School

2004-09-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

School was wonderful!

There are twelve students that start the pastry program each quarter, except in summer when they don't have a new set of students rotating in. Apparently, the graduating class this quarter only has six students left in it. Some people fail classes, some drop out, some take a quarter off. I'm glad it is such a small group though. I don't like dealing with tons of new people at once. Plus, we all have the exact same schedule, so we'll get used to working with each other unlike "regular" classes. The culinary program has 36 people each quarter. This seems much nicer... smaller groups mean more individual attention, no?

My first class is at 7 am (ugh) and the instructor's name is Cynthia. (It seems so odd to address teachers by their first name!) She seems nice. I probably wouldn't take this class if I weren't forced to - sanitation. But I learned a new fact: Alaska and Utah have the highest rates of foodborne botulism. "And why is that?" you might ask. Well, Utah has a high concentration of Mormons who do a lot of canning related to the "make sure to have a food storage" guideline. The higher the incidence of home canners, the higher the incidence of botulism. And Alaska? Some funky strain of it comes about if the whale meat isn't prepared properly. Tomorrow, I get my food handler's permit. I have to test for it, but I've done this several times before. It isn't hard. At any rate, Cynthia says that most people who fail her class do so because they didn't read the material at all, have attendance problems, or they have problems with the English language.

Speaking of attendance issues, there's a policy for the program which I actually really like: after the first absence, your overall grade drops by 0.2. The second time, it drops by an additional 0.3. The third time, you fail. And if you fail a single class, you have to take the entire quarter again. They make exceptions, but only on a case-by-case basis. Normally, I'd complain. But in this type of program, where you're highly dependant on other class members, they NEED an attendance policy. Plus, it instills good work ethics.

After that, we had class with Chef Don who team teaches with Chef Regis. Chef Don is more of a bread-oriented guy while Chef Regis is a pastry guy. This works out well. There's a lot of "I'm not a ___, I'm a ___" in the industry. (As in "I'm not a baker, I'm a pastry chef.") So having both is a good thing. And they seem to get along well, which is very important. He gave us an overview of the program and a tour of the kitchens. They've got a rotary oven, which I think is pretty frickin' cool. You don't see those very often anymore.

We were given a list of equipment to buy... I think it is going to be fairly expensive. Not good. My husband says not to worry, though. So I'm trying not to. On a positive money note, though, I've got somebody at Seattle University who'll consider hiring me for work-study... he just has to see if he has room next week. He's actually a graduate of the culinary program here at Seattle Culinary Academy (oh - they call the culinary school here Seattle Culinary Academy which sounds better than Seattle Central Community College).

Another cool thing is that the culinary students make a meal for all the pastry/culinary students every day (starting next Wednesday). This is similar to what some restaurants do (the "family meal").

Tomorrow, I've got math in addition to everything I had today. Fridays, my schedule changes again... no sanitation class. Instead, I'll have a theory class - Intro to Culinary Arts. And I found out that I'll be working at the pastry case only four times this quarter. That's way better than what somebody else had told me. I'd been told that we'd be bussing tables on the days that we had a "class-sized" break in the schedule.

We've got lockers and a locker room, which is nice - it means that I don't have to wear my uniform until I get to school. Also, I can just leave the uniforms there all week, then bring them home over the weekend.

Anyway, like I said, I had an absolutely wonderful day at school. I'm so excited - I can hardly believe this is actually happening.

2004-09-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Today's the day!

School starts tomorrow

2004-09-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

School starts tomorrow and I'm nervous beyond belief. Very excited, yes, but also very nervous.

2004-09-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

So, I'm surfing my livejournal communities and I'm looking at the foodporn community (no, not actual porn involving food, be not frightened). I see a bikini bottom - using a pattern that I distinctly recognize from knitty.com.(Because, yes, I'm a knitter.)

And I said to myself, "Ho! Self! "Isn't that the pattern from knitty? Isn't this the wrong community? Hmm. You know, that looks like licorice, I wonder what was used. Oh! Wait! That IS licorice!"

You really should go see it.

School fees and such

2004-09-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today, Jeremy and I went spent lots of money on school. ;o)

Firstly, we paid my fees online. This was important to get done right away because, once again, financial aid didn't know what they were talking about. I specifically asked what day I'd need to have everything paid by. I explained that I was already registered. And they said "You'll have ten days after the quarter starts to pay the remainder, but you can't use anything having to do with your student ID until then". I asked if they were sure, and would they please double check. After having been put on hold for about five minutes, the lady came back on the phone and said the same thing again. But, I got a bad feeling yesterday and called the school - sure enough, it was due yesterday or possibly the day before. It turns out that then "ten days" was ten days BEFORE school starts, and it was when financial aid paid the money into the account, not when the rest was due. The important thing was that I was in danger of being dropped from my classes. Luckily I called and they were willing to put a twenty-four hour hold on my account.

Then, we went to pick up and pay for my uniform. Even though we'd called ahead of time and was told that Winters (the formal wear store where we ordered the uniform) would be open at 10 am, when we popped in at about 10:10, it was dark and we didn't see anybody there, not that we walked in very far. (They've got a solid door that was closed, we opened it, saw nobody, and left.)

After that, we went up to Broadway and decided that as long as we were up there, I should go pay for - and get - my student ID. The picture was very horrible. Let's leave it at that. I'd planned to go up later during the day to confirm that they recieved my payment but since we were up there, I was able to do it then. Crisis over.

On our way back, we checked in with Winters again. This time, their door was open. We went in and there was somebody at the desk who brought out my uniform and gladly accepted my husband's hard-earned (but quickly spent) money. I noticed that it still looked very dark. The guy was probably there earlier. They just changed locations a few weeks ago and haven't got everything set up yet.

And the reason that I'm not geeking about the insanely large amount of money that was spent today? Jeremy had enough overtime on his check to almost cancel it out. But I still worry a little.

I still have to get tools, but the woman I talked to at the Culinary desk said that my instructors would tell me where to order them once school started. Do these people never have to work within a budget?

School starts on Tuesday. I'm excited and nervous and... everything, all at once. Mostly excited.

Jeremy and I made cookies last night

2004-09-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

My husband doesn't like chocolate. But he loves the chocolate chip cookie base dough. So we modified it some. I didn't add the nuts (again, not something DH likes), but I think it would be wonderful with them. We wanted to use dried cherries, but they were more expensive than we wanted to pay this time, so we picked up a bag of mixed chopped dried fruit.

Fruit Jewel Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 to 2 cups chopped bits of dried fruit
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine salt, baking soda, and flour in small bowl. Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl until creamy. Add one egg, beat well. Add remaining egg, beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in dried fruit and nuts, if using. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then move to wire racks to finish cooling... if they last that long.

2004-09-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

I went up to the school today because I'd been told that the work study stuff would be posted today. Nope. I have to go back tomorrow. I'll be so glad when this quarter starts.

We'll pay for the rest of the stuff that I owe to the school on Friday.

2004-09-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, I didn't like oatmeal very much. Sure, I ate it sometimes, but it seemed slimy, drippy, and gross - mostly. It took me several years to figure out why.

The first time that I recall enjoying a bowl of oatmeal was at my grandmother's house. Why, I asked myself, did I enjoy oatmeal from my mother's mother but not from my own mother? The answer is actually very simple. My own mother was a very busy woman. She had four little girls and, at the time, was supporting us on her own. She didn't have time to fuss around with breakfast most days. So, our oatmeal was out of little packets and flavored with things like "Peaches and Cream." This, my friends, is not truly oatmeal. There were little dehydrated chunks of fruit in there, yes, but still... it doesn't count.

At grandma's house, oatmeal was thick and had various other things in it - I particularly liked it with brown sugar, nuts, raisins, and chopped dates with milk poured on top of it. This was tasty! This was good! This was very different than the stuff that came out of pouches.

Today, I make my own oatmeal. Most times, I don't have raisins, dates, or nuts available in my apartment - I always forget to buy them at the store. But I still don't use oatmeal from packets. I boil water, add a big handful of oatmeal for each cup of water plus one for the pot (because I like my oatmeal thick and slightly chewy), then slowly cook it for about twenty minutes. When it's done cooking, I usually add some sugar (sometimes white, sometimes brown) and flavored creamer. Sometimes I leave out the sugar and instead add some jam or fruit syrup. But I do enjoy oatmeal.

Sometimes I wonder if most of the kids out there who claim to hate oatmeal are like I was - they'd only had the stuff from packets, made a bit too runny for their tastes.

I've got my schoolbooks.

2004-09-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Today, I went up to purchase my books from school. It was twice as much as what the woman had told me when I was in there last time... and that was with my maths book used. Apparently, they never get the other two in stock as used. I can sort of understand why they don't get those two in used - one seems to be a sanitation type book and one is a big guide with a workbook. But the twice as much figure? It makes me angry. Just another example of how frustrating this whole process has been.

Did you know?

2004-09-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Did you know that in 18th century France, there was a law that forbade anybody who was not a pastrycook to use butter, eggs, and sugar in making cakes for sale?

"The conflict between bread baker and pastry cooks in France was not yet resolved. The bread bakers were still handing on to the baking of simple traditional cakes, such as Twelfth Night cakes. The bakers' guild sent one to the king of France every year. This seriously offended the pastry cooks who, in the early 1700s, took the bakers' guild to court and were granted a ruling stating that "no one who was not a pastrcook might use butter, eggs and sugar in making cakes for sale."

- from The Making of a Pastry Chef by Andrew MacLauchlan

Farmer's Market day in the U-District

2004-09-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Today is Farmer's Market day in the U-District, which is where I spend a good portion of my day on Saturdays.

Last Saturday was the first time that I'd had a fresh pear all year because I'm sort of picky about my produce. A pear has to be pear-like, which is soft and juicy, and not apple-like, which is hard and juicy. It was very much worth the wait. I'm hoping to have one again today. I am, however, slightly distressed about the fact that I searched all year for a proper pear, but walked right past the Farmer's Market several times without popping in to see if they had any.

More about work study

2004-09-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

My work study is federal. I didn't know that there was a difference, but apparently, this means that I get to work on campus. Hopefully, I'll get to work on the day that I'm not going to school (Monday) and after school during the week. I'm only allowed to work 19 hours per week, 8 hours or less per day.

Sale at Rite-Aid

2004-09-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Cadbury bars were on sale at Rite-Aid for $0.79. So, I picked one up - Dairy Milk, of course. That's my favorite flavor of Cadbury bars. I also like Fruit & Nut a lot.

When I was a little girl, we lived in Germany for several years. The chocolate over in Europe tastes different than most of the stuff that you get here in the US. It is more satisfying, with a smoother texture... the kind of stuff that you'd rather take several minutes tasting than gobble up quickly.

2004-09-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I have to go up to the school and turn in my financial aid letter. School starts three weeks from today.

I'm excited.

Ordered my uniforms today

2004-09-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

I went up to Winters to buy my uniforms today. I found out that we won't have to pay for it until it arrives, which is somewhat helpful. They'll be about $120 plus tax.

School is expensive.

Another letter from the school...

2004-09-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

I got another letter from the school today. I've been awarded work study. This makes me happy beyond belief. It means that I can save everything I earn from work study this quarter and not have to worry about being able to pay for books or anything like that next quarter. Woo!

It seems odd...

2004-08-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I went up to SCCC today to try on uniforms. Not such a hard thing. I know what I need now, and I'll be able to order it. But then, I remembered... "Books!" So I headed over to the school bookstore with much trepidation. I know that sometimes books can be very very expensive. Mine aren't as bad as I thought, though.

Talking about school is seems almost surreal. It is hard to think "Yes, this is ACTUALLY going to happen."

I got enough funding!!

2004-08-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Between what the school is giving me and what Jeremy can afford, I GET TO GO!!! Woohoo!!

Financial aid, the cost of things, and my schedule

2004-08-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

I talked to the financial aid people at SCCC today. They're almost done with my file, which means that I should know within about a week! I also called up to the place where I will be getting my uniform. I need to order soon, and it is going to cost slightly more than $100 for the very basic uniform. She suggested getting the cargo style pants. I'd have to see how much extra that adds. I'll be nervous until I know, for sure, how much aid I'm going to get. I know that, right now, with tuition, fees, and uniforms, it's going to be around $1100. I don't know if it includes tools, but probably not.

If I get to go, my schedule will be:

Course Title	Days	Start	End	Instructor
Principles of Sanitation	TWTh	7:00am	7:50am	Hierholzer
Intro to Culinary Arts: Theory	F	7:00am	7:50am	Wilson
Intro to Desserts and Breads	TWTh	8:00am	8:50am	Bernard
Applied Math for Technicians	WF	9:00am	10:20am	Knudson, J
Intro to Desserts and Breads: Practicum	TWThF	10:30am	1:30pm	Bernard
Intro to Customer Service	Arranged	Arranged	Arranged	Dillard, T

Made shortbread cookies tonight

2004-08-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

Two of my sisters, Megan and Krissy, and I made shortbread cookies tonight. Aside from the fact that shortbread reminds me of being a kid (we constantly had a tin of shortbread in the house when I was young), it is fairly easy to make and doesn't require many ingredients. Butter, sugar, and flour. That is it. I probably could have added a little more butter to make the dough easier to work with but they turned out tasty. Most of them look good, too, though some have kinda fallen apart.

Back on the approved list!

2004-08-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back on the approved list for Pastry Arts for fall. Now, I have to go up to the school to register by Thursday.

However, the financial aid person that I talked to on the phone today told me that it could be 4-6 weeks before I'll know whether I get the aid that I need. So, I'm going to have to register with the assumption that I'll get the aid, and withdraw if I don't.

It's a start.

Called the school on Monday

2004-08-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Monday (Aug. 2) I called the school. Firstly, I've not gotten any information about financial aid. Secondly, I need to find out if I'm going to be able to go to the pastry program. I nearly cried when there was nothing in the mail today from the financial aid office.

Although I'm mad at the school, I realize I'm being irrational about this.

2004-07-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

Although I’m mad at the school, I do understand where they’re coming from. If they have no room, they have no room.

I asked Jeremy, "What happens if I don’t get in this quarter?" Jeremy said, "Well, I guess that you’ll have to wait until winter. At least it’ll be good for the taxes." He always tries to make me feel better about such things - does a pretty good job at it, too.

2004-07-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

No. The school won't fix the problem.

So, now, I'm on a waiting list. If somebody doesn't register, I might get in. If not, that'll mean I have to wait until winter... or not go at all. I'm not sure yet which I'll do. I really want to go to school, but... it just might not be in the cards right now.

Called the school today

2004-07-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

I called Seattle Central today. The good news is that I'll be finding out how much - if any - financial aid I'm going to recieve within the next couple of weeks. The bad news is that I'm not on the list for the Specialty Desserts & Breads program. And... the list is full. Somebody had called a few months ago to confirm that I wanted to stay on that list. The woman who manages the list wasn't there, so I'll have to call back in the morning.

I've been on the list since before spring quarter started this year. This is ridiculous.

I'm hoping I get aid.
I'm hoping that I can get into the program that I wanted to be in.
I'm hoping.

Sweet Misa

Lentil soup

Some startling discoveries.

Olives

Cranberry Cobbler (Nov. 22, 2007)

"Emergency" foods

It's important to be vigilant.

Nov. 05, 2007 Bento

Food and organization issues.

Lunch

Getting over the pity party.

Tea Eggs

Breakdown

Lunch today (Aug. 21, 2007)

Oatmeal with mango (Aug. 16, 2007)

May 2007 Cooking Challenge

Learning to adjust.

Looking for healthy vegetable recipes.

Mmm... meat candy.

Exciting news!

In Which I Eat a Candy Bar

Sushi... kind of.

Soy sauce filled chopsticks

Eat a chocolate god!

What happened and why I've been avoiding this blog

Way more work than I thought it would be

Busy summer!

Second wedding cake!

First day of bakeshop, Summer Quarter 2005

Concorde Cake

While I'm busy being silent...

Individual Desserts Rotation, Sprin Quarter 2005 (this rotation is only one week long)

Dough Rotation, Spring Quarter 2005, Week Two, with *gasp* a picture

Dough Rotation, Spring Quarter 2005, Week One

Here is a list of most of the breads that I made during the bread rotation

Last Day of Breads Today!!

Breads Rotation

Pics from last quarter that never got posted

Sorry for the lack of posts

Croquenbouche

Individual Desserts Rotation

The Thermomix

Because of moving...

One more thing before I lose 'net access...

Just a note

Cheese Plate

Finished stressing over this

Stressing, big-time

Working on a cheese plate for school

Cakes rotation

The past three weeks

My first week in Culinary

Banana Bread

Grades for Fall 2004

Been a while since my last post

While memories of challah danced through her head...

What I've been up to over the past couple of weeks

Tarts rotation

Lots of pics!

Harvest Dinner was today

Burned Cookies

Argh!

Cakes from Thursday

Pics from school on Friday

Pumpkin Cake and Thoughts on an Explosion

Last Day of Breads Today!!

School tools

My first week of school

First Day of School

School starts tomorrow

School fees and such

Jeremy and I made cookies last night

I've got my schoolbooks.

Did you know?

Farmer's Market day in the U-District

More about work study

Sale at Rite-Aid

Ordered my uniforms today

Another letter from the school...

It seems odd...

Dough Rotation, Spring Quarter 2005, Week Two, with gasp a picture