Uniforms.

"Part of the secret to success in life is to eat what you want and let the food fight it out inside." Mark Twain

Hey There, Readers.

It's Uniform Day.

I HATE uniform day. I hate it with all the fire of Hades.

Second-years assignment for the day was to find a uniform of two chef jackets, two pair of checked pants, two aprons and two hats for each first-year student.

There are approximately fifty students in C-shift, five of which are second-years.

We had a few minutes to go through some of the uniforms before the first string of students. We then had to take them one at a time, and decide what size pants and jacket they would fit into best. This process consists of passing out various sized dingy-checked pants (that may or may not be clean) for them to try on the in the locker room. Some of these pants were given looks of contempt, to which we answer that although we wish that we had a veritable wardrobe filled with the most fashionable foodie frocks, we don't, and this is NOT a Catwalk.

Altogether, we are the Motley Crew of Culinary; dressed in ill-fitting, badly-stained jacket and a pair of dilapidated, once hounds-tooth pants that are either three inches too short, or being held in place only by their grease-besmirched apron.

It was possibly one of the longest hours-and-a-half of my life.

Everyone got their uniforms, but it took ALL of class time.

Glad this day is over, and it's the weekend.

Back in Black

"Stop being a vegan, and start enjoying what you eat." --Jamie Oliver

Hello Readers.

So begins the new year! Well, not quite yet, but I wanted to give you all a peep into what my plans are for the immediate future.

I'll be returning to William D. Ford Career and Technical Center on September 6th, but with a few changes. I'll be attending C-shift in the afternoon rather than B-shift in the morning. This is necessary because I'll also be taking a few credits at Westland Christian Academy. These are the few last credits necessary for me to graduate at the end of the year.

I am very VERY excited about going back. Although I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, or how anything is going to go down, I'm so ready.

I have a feeling that the first few weeks are going to be a lot the same as they were when I started last year, but I feel like I can go in expecting that and if it's different, then I can be pleasantly surprised.

I'm also hoping to be a bit more on top of this blog, and posting more regularly, so I can keep you all informed.

Thanks for reading.

<3

Aub.

Lobster.

"Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends." George Bernard Shaw

Well, hello there long lost readers.

I'm not going to come up with some dumb excuse about why I haven't written about the past couple weeks. It is what it is. All I have to say about it is "Hakuhna Matata".

I'll tell you about Monday, because that was insane.

As I'm sure you have deduced by my prolonged absence, I've been very VERY busy training and trying to make sure that I'm ready for states. But what you don't know, is that Chef Dave has also been training. He's taking the executive chef's test which dwarfs mine into oblivion. So we've been kind of training together, and it's been fun.

BUT MONDAY WAS NUTS.

One of the elements that is required in the executive chef's test is a whole lobster.

A whole, LIVE, lobster.

The kind that you have to kill in order to cook.

Yeah, that kind.

Generally, I thought, you just throw them into a pot of boiling water. But I guess that you're supposed to kill it before hand.

So here's how it went down.

There was a table set up in the middle of the kitchen, and next to it was a rack. There were various items on this rack, two of which were still alive.
The were named as well. I think it was Tim and Victoria.

One of the fated victims was taken to the board. To make it lay flat, Chef Dave had to flip it upside down. When the lobster was in place, Chef Dave set his knife at the base of his head, and applied pressure.
CRACK.
There was a jump from the lobster and the crowd that had formed around table. From there, everything moved so fast. We ran from the table to the front line where the poor, little guy was launched into a pot of boiling water. I was nominated to hold it down with a pair of tongs.

I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

Thanks for reading, and being troopers... I appreciate it!

Also- Chef Nate, if you're reading this, I think that if it's ok with your girlfriend, you should grow your beard out again. Just saying. :]

Hungry.

"All real Americans love the sting of battle." --George S. Patton

OMG.

Midwinter Break officially sucks.
After my victory at regionals, I thought that I was exhausted, and was so glad that I wasn't going to have to go to school for an entire week, but I was quickly disillusioned.

Monday. I really didn't do much of anything. I hibernated until the ungodly hour of 9, went to school with Michelle, came home, and proceeded to squander the rest of my day on completely pointless pursuits.

Tuesday looked the same in a lot of ways. Except for one thing that shook me out of my mold a little. Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I love Love LOVE watching any sort of cooking show. Ever since I was little. Every Tuesday, there is a show called Chopped on the Food Network. There are four chefs that square off over a three course meal (Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert) , with one chef eliminated after each course. The winner walks away with $10,000, and the title of Chopped Champion.

So, I turn on the T.V. and get into my favorite chair, and start watching. It's customary for me to pick my favorite of the four chefs, and either predict, or hope that he/she will win. This week it was Madison.

Madison Cowan is a South London native who is now living, and has a restaurant in New York. He's an incredible chef, and has an emotional and almost spiritual connection with all of his food. Seriously, look him up on hulu or something, and watch him cook. Like Now.

But there was something about him that immediately recognized, and decided that I wanted, and I would do anything to get. He had an insatiable hunger (figurative) to be the best. He was completely focused, and was in it with his entire heart. And his dishes were completely flawless. I mean FLAWLESS, people.

During the competition, he and his opponent were very well matched, and because of that, he was absolutely pushed and driven to do better, and ultimately be the best.

This is what I want.
I want to be pushed to my limit. And then pushed harder.
I want to pour my soul into my work.

But most of all, I want to be the best.
The very best.

The Heat of Battle

"War is cruelty, and none can make it gentle." Gilbert Parker.

I fought in a war today, and came out the victor.

Today was the Regional Competition for Skills USA.

Me and twenty-three other students met together at Oakland Community College for this competition. I was in a culinary classroom with five other students, and after we set up our stations, we all went into the lecture hall for some guidelines.

While we were there, we were introduced to a few of the judges, and given some basic ground rules. Basically : no talking to other students, be courteous, and be conscious of the time limit.

The menu was a pan-roasted chicken breast, basmati rice pilaf, vegetable medley, and a poulette sauce. We had a 2 1/2 hour time limit, which seems like kind of a long-ish time, but trust me, it's really not.

For the first ten minutes, my brain was frozen. I just started gathering random ingredients that I knew I was going to eventually need. As I went on, though, I really started to feel the rhythm of things. I was totally in my own zone. Keeping my head down, and not even caring what the other contestants were doing.

I truly think that I turned into a machine.

After plates were finished, we had to clean up all three kitchen areas that we had been using. This took pretty much the entire time for the judges to deliberate, which was good. I was glad to be doing something, rather than sitting around waiting endlessly for the verdict.

The judges and host gathered us all into the big kitchen, and congratulated us on our accomplishments, and told us that we should be proud of what we had put out today. They made a few more comments, and then got down to the "nitty-gritty".

I wasn't expecting to place very high. I kept listening for my number(24), and they kept not calling it. I waited through the twenties, teens, and through the single numbers. when it came down to third place, and they still hadn't called my number, I thought that maybe there was a mistake. Like they had forgotten my number, or something. Then I heard,

"First place, Student Number24."

I looked at Chef Nate and my other schoolmates in complete disbelief.

I went up, accepted my prize (a 5 quart stainless steel Cuisinart pot), and my medal.

The next half-hour was a complete blur. People congratulating, handshakes, smiles, blushing. It was amazing.

Chef Nate called Chef Dave and Chef Tony when we finally got on the road back to school, and told them how we placed.

"Well, Sherard placed 19th, Kamyriah placed 18th, and I believe that Aubry placed, um, first."

Neither of them could believe it. They were so excited, and proud. They have both been such a huge part of my success. Pushing me when I wanted to stop, and giving me encouragement when I needed it. They're great. Thanks, guys. :]

Also, the entire reason that I even made it this far is sheerly because of the Grace of God. He supplies the strength for my every move (and every dish:)). All glory be to Him.

Thanks for all of your support as well, dear readers. It is totally impossible to tell you how much it means to me. I love and appreciate you all.

TI AMO.

It's Training, It's Pouring...

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation." --Aristotle

Well, this week of training has got me thinking that this competition is going to be a bit more intense than I first thought.
But there's one thing that I'm sure of, and that is this:

I am extremely slow.

I didn't really think so when I started, but the chefs have definitely made me aware of this.

In the beginning of the week, I kind of got into the swing of things, and got a reasonably good pace (at least I thought I did), and then Friday, I was completely off my game.

When I came in, Chef Dave told me that he wanted me to make two sauces, and he wanted them done by 9 o'clock. Which shouldn't have been a big deal, because I started with twenty minutes.

Somehow, I had a total lapse in memory, and forgot how to cut everything. Chef Dave came over to see how I was doing, and asked me if I was alright.

'Jeez, is it that bad?' I thought to my self.

I told him that I was fine, just really scattered. I got my sauces done, twenty-five minutes late.

The rest of the day was kind of the same. I stayed for C-shift, and cooked the four orders we got on the line.

I'm really going to try to do way better this week, but I need you all help by praying for me. I'm starting to get a little nervous... :/

Thanks for reading, guys.

Paperwork/Update

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." --C.S. Lewis

Cherished Readers.

How good it is to come to you and share my stories. It's so very therapeutic, I wonder why I don't do it more often.

Today was a long day. Not necessarily bad way, just very demanding in the mental energy arena.

As some of you may know, my dear cohort Lydia, who I drive with every morning, has made the decision to drop Culinary Arts from her academic load. She is hoping to graduate this spring, and she didn't have the time or energy required of her to be able to accomplish that.

So, as a result of this situation, my dear mum is going to have to drive me to school for the next week until I can get my license. Because of some other previous engagements, I had to be dropped off early at school today. I arrived at about 8:00, and was assigned to Chef Tony, who had me doing plenty of paperwork by the time I got dressed. I did a lot of paper work for the rest of the day, as well as taking a break here and there to make a grilled cheese, or get a refill on my Diet Coke.

I stayed at school until about 3:30, and during that time, Chef Dave took the opportunity to show me some things that are going to be important in competition.

I know that this isn't really the most thrilling of posts, but I just wanted to say hey, and give you a quick update.

Thanks for your reading. :] Love you!

FINALS...

"The best thing one can do while it's raining is to let it rain." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Hi, my dear readers.

The past week has been full of preparation for finals that started on Friday (explain the logic behind that one if you can...).

The state requires for all students to have a written final, so instead of taking a 200 question test, Chef Tony has a different approach to finals.

Our assignment was to pick a country, and write a research paper on what it would take to travel there, and spend a few days there as well. And for our cooking final, we were to make a dish from that country.

After much deliberation, I chose Poland. The paper was relatively easy, and I cranked it out in a couple hours. The part that I had trouble with was choosing what to cook. I know that the first thing that I think of when it comes to Polish food is Pierogie, but I knew that there was another girl in my class that was already making them.

I combed through the Saint Stan's cookbook, hoping to find some old polish grandma's recipe for some delicious ethnic concoction, but to no avail, except pierogies!!!

Haunting...

So, I finally decided to make them. A little against my better judgment.

I came to school the next day, and word got around that I was making the same thing as Sam. She finally came up to me at the end of class to confirm the rumors, and I had to tell her that they were true, much to my own chagrin. :O

On Friday, we all turned in our written finals, and A-shift started cooking.

THE KITCHEN WAS A FREAKING MADHOUSE.

I felt a little like Nurse Rachett in the middle of the ward, trying to find some sort of order, while helping who I could.

There was no chance that I was going to try to start my own cooking final until A-shift was gone.

I still ended up in the kitchen anyway, though. Chef Tony had me slice about 20 pounds of turkey for sandwiches. It would've been a solitary job, but some other B-shifters were around, and came to keep me company.

By the time I had finished that, I had two 6 inch pans full of sliced meat. It was kind of a tremendous thing to behold. Slightly overwhelming.

A-shift left, and there was a lull in the storm, so I decided to start on my filling. Sam had already gotten her's finished, and asked if I wanted to taste it. It was delicious. Her recipe is more of the traditional, Polish Grandma type. Mine is actually a Pittsburg Pierogie recipe, which is a little unsettling, but I'm pretty sure that it will be ok.

Let me tell you what people, that was the shortest hour of my life. On Iron Chef they say the same thing, but it's true. I goes really fast.

But I as able to get all of my chopping done, and when I started to gather all the rest of my ingredients together, it was time to go.

So that was Friday... but I also have to tell you about Monday and Tuesday. Sorry this is so long. Hopefully I'm not boring you. :]

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we had the opportunity to do ice carving. It was really cool. I had a great group, and it was a lot of fun.

On Monday, we all tried to decide on what we wanted to carve, and agreed(finally) on a shooting star. We worked on the actual carving on Tuesday and Wednesday. It turned out really good. Probably the best out of all of the carvings, if I do say so myself ( I actually didn't do a whole lot of the work, but I did do some :)).

So that was the past fun-filled week. I hope you all enjoyed hearing about it.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you feel like it. I'm all about feedback. ;]

The Past 100 Years

"Absence and Death are the same- only in death there is no suffering." --Theodore Roosevelt

To the remnant of my devoted readers;

The amount of time that I have NOT spent on this blog is completely gross, but I won't waste more of your time that I don't deserve with some paper-thin excuse.

The past couple weeks have consisted of completely monotonous jobs that are hardly worth blogging about, but hey, it's all I got.

During our prolonged absence, I've been boxing the rest of our Christmas cookies. This also entails searching every nook and cranny of the entire tech center building (oh, no... not just culinary, the whole building) for any and all of the rest of our Christmas cookies. But to look on the bright side, once they're done, they're done.

HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU, JESUS.

I've also been participating in some other extra credit projects. I worked a party for all of the secretaries in the Wayne/Westland school district.

Probably the easiest party in the history of Modern America.

AND, scored a thirteen dollar tip.

There was another party that I worked the last Friday before Christmas break.

It was a dinner party for the mentally handicapped citizens of Wayne.

WHAT A BLAST.

I'm telling you, they are possibly the sweetest people out there. So much fun.

I was also given a very generous tip for this party. Try $20. Chef Tony's too good to me.

And since then, I've been on break. And hating it.

I've never wanted to go back to school so badly in my life. The first actual day of break, I was so bored, I wasn't quite sure to do with myself.

Like, seriously. I had NO IDEA what to do.

It got better as the week went on, and got busier, but since Christmas is over, I have a feeling that this next week is going to take forever.

Oh, well. I suppose that I should stop complaining, and just enjoy it, but all I ever do is complain on this bog anyway. I'm sure you guys are use to it by now...

Love you all. Thanks for sticking with me, guys... :]

The Case of the Missing Crab.

"An unwatched pot boils immediately." H.F. Ellis

Dear Readers...

Today was rather uneventful, but I thought I'd just give you all a quick update.

I spent my morning battering and frying shrimp. It was considerably messier that I had first imagined that it would be, especially since we were in tighter quarters that usual.

But, as always, we made it work.

After we had finished and cleaned up, Chef Tony had me run around and do some other odd jobs. Then he informed me that he would be leaving, but he wanted me to make crab puffs.

Oh, boy.

I've made them (once) in the past, so I assured him that it would be fine.

So, I went about gathering all of my ingredients, and the first thing that I was worried about was (Obviously) the crab-meat. Chef Tony had told me to ask Chef Dave where he had put it, so I sent one of my toadies to figure out where it was. When Steve (toady) came back, he said that the crab was on the table, and proceeded to walk away.

Ok, that's fine. Just walk away. Whatever.

I looked on every single table in the entire freaking kitchen and finally spotted some.

SCORE.

I went to grab it, and Chef Dave simply told me not to use that crab, and there was some on my rack in the cooler.

Lies.

I searched high and low, practically combed the entire cooler, and couldn't find the dang stuff.

I pretty much gave it up after about a half an hour, and left to get dressed.

...chefs

Dreams.

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men" --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I love this quote. The kind of love that makes you feel fearless inside. The kind that makes you feel like anything is possible, and that nothing can stop you.

Being the wet blanket that I am, I usually dismiss quotes like this as rubbish. I usually say that they give me an unrealistic view of life as we know it. Sure, there's that occasional underdog that catches his lucky break, but what is that supposed to mean for the rest of us?

Should I continue do this the right way? Finish high school, go on to college, graduate, then what?

Of course I'd like to think that my dreams will move the hearts of men, but often times I view people's hearts as things too far beyond my reach.

...Ok, that's enough of that mess.

Oh, joy of joys! Holiday bake, in addition to baking for the holidays, has taken on a bit of a hot foods flavor. No pun intended.

This week, I've rolled meatballs, battered coconut chicken, whipped mashed potatoes, chopped vegetables, and today, made crab puffs.

To borrow the words from a Christmas song,

"Oh, what fun..."

Speaking of fun, I got to work a party last night.

Invite only.

The event was the Tastefest.

We got the the Hellenic Cultural Center at about 4:30, and set up our tables with a vast array of gorgeous French pastries. The star of which as a French Cocubush(

Every single person who came through the line had something to say about it.

We won the award for best table, and some of our students went up and danced.

I, however didn't.

1. I was in uniform

2. I don't dance.

But it was still fun. :]

Thanks for reading.

Postage... or the lack thereof.

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." --Vincent van Gough

Patient Readers--

As you can probably tell, this blog has left some to be desired as of the last week.

Allow me to explain.

I have been keeping VERY busy with school (core subjects, that is) and other projects that consume pretty much all of my free time as of late.

Plus, with the holidays upon us, (Happy Channakah!:)) there is very little time that I have to update you all on what has been going on at Culinary.

In holiday bake, we haven't been doing much more than boxing countless dozens of Christmas cookies that are to be sold to the masses, and I am sure that this will continue for some time to come.

I haven't forgotten you.

Au revior mes amoures.

God Help Me.

"Action is the foundational key to all success." --Pablo Picasso

Well, I've officially made the decision to participate in Skills USA.

I'll be doing hot foods.

There's only one thing that I'm legitimately nervous about at this point.

My fear of taking action and/or messing up. This particular facet of my personality will not serve me well in the kitchen [or life, for that matter], so I'm going to need to shake it off sooner or later.

I guess that I've chosen sooner.

I'd ask you all to be in prayer with me about this. The actual training only lasts 2 weeks, so I'm a little nervous about that as well.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all had a great holiday!

*kisses*

Change of Face

Hey Everyone.

I'm sure that most of you have realized the changes that I've been making on my blog.

Some of them subtle, some not.

This is one of those not subtle ones, but I have hopes of keeping it this way.

And about the name, it's a joke between my uncle and I, and if I was going to change the title, I figured that the background needed to be a little more dramatic as well.

So just so you all know, it's still me! Don't worry. :]

MORE PUMPKIN.

"Monday's are the potholes of life." --Tom Wilson

Seeing as it's been a week since the "Day of Defeat", I have sufficiently recovered, and throughly embraced this Monday.

My day in itself was fine, but I observed other people who looked like me last week.

I was assigned to make more--yes, more--pumpkin rolls.

Seriously.

I've seen, smelled, and eaten enough pumpkin to last me till next year. Thanks, though.

I gathered all of my ingredients, and then realized that the kitchen was in a mad frenzy over the 20-quart mixer bowls. Apparently every last culinary student was after one, and I found myself at the end of a very long line.

"Well, screw that."

I went to Chef Tony to tell him of my dilemma, and to explain why I couldn't start for a while.

On Friday, he gave me this long lecture about how even though he wasn't always watching me, he was always tracking my "time on task". I wanted to let him know, so I wasn't accused of dawdling.

When I went to tell him, he immediately assigned me to help Kim make pumpkin cheesecake. She then reported that Chef Tony had been yelling at her all day, and she was glad that I had come to help her.

When A-shift left, there was a sudden clearing in the air. I looked at the pot sink, and there, shining, was a whole mess of 20 quart mixing bowls!!!

HALLELUJAH!

I picked back up where I had left off with the pumpkin rolls. I threw it all into my freshly washed bowl (IN THE RIGHT ORDER, might I add.), buzzed it around, and before I knew it, I had a lovely, silky batter.

I went to go and prepare my pans for the batter, and left my batter in the mixer. I didn't really think much of it.

I finished up with my pans, and made my way back to the mixer. But when I got there, I was confused.

Standing in front of the mixer that I had been using, was Kyle.

I will describe Kyle to you as the "class clown, sixteen-year-old, doesn't-really-know-when-to-shut-up" type.

Anyway, he was standing in front of my mixer... with a bowl of cake mix in his hand.

He was pouring HIS cake mix into MY batter.

I looked at him, and he looked at me... a pause, and then, the moment of dreadful realization.

After shock had set in, he asked:

"Oh, my Gosh. Is this your's?"

"Yup."

Now, I have to let you all know that I was NOT mad. At all. Merely surprised. I just really didn't know what to say, until I looked at Chef Tony.

"I'm not gonna tell him." I said.

Seriously, I don't think that I've ever seen a more anxiously distraught expression in my life than what was on his face at that moment. He was frantically muttering to himself, unable to process what he was going to do in the next few moments of his life. For all we knew, they could be his last.

I felt so bad for him, that I almost said "Never mind, I will tell him." but I didn't.

Well, he did tell Chef Tony, and then he (Chef) called me over.

"Are you ready to kick someone's *censored*?" He asked.

"No." I answered.

"You realize that he just ruined your batter, right?"

"Yup."

"OK, go make another."

Kyle made a mistake today.

Just like I did last week.

Anise Biscotti

"When a man's stomach is full, it makes no difference whether he is rich or poor." --Euripides

I know that you all are sitting on the edge of your seats, wondering if I did go through with the lethal injection or not.

Well, fear not.

I have resolved to press on, and have emerged, enlightened.

Good cooks have bad days.

Thank you all for you kind comments, I appreciate them all.

The past couple days have been a little bumpy, but mere nothings in comparison.

And also, I have witnessed others having difficulty as well. Not that I enjoyed their struggles, but they helped me to realise that I'm not the only one.

I'll give you the last week (since Monday, at least) in a nutshell.

I've probably made enough sweets to give a full-grown man a heart attack, or two.

Hey, it's the Holidays, whaddya want?

I made about two doubled recipes of sugar cookie dough, which equals out to an UNGODLY amount of cookies. Also several large pumpkin rolls with a luscious cream cheese icing inside, and dusted with powdered sugar. Sublime

On Wednesday, Chef Tony asked Lydia and I if we would stay with C-shift, and help out with a fundraiser at the school. When we had finished with our own B-shift obligations, Chef Dave asked us to work the Front Line.

Dumb question.

"Actually, Chef Dave, I think that I'd rather sit in dish tank, and wash dishes until 2:00."

I think not.

I did work the front line, and throughly enjoyed it.

It was nice to see all of the "fruits of my labor", if you will. A and B-shifts do all of the food prep, and we were able to serve it.

Kind of awesome.

Thank you, everyone who has taken time to read. It really does make my day to see all of your supportive comments. :]

The Day of Defeat

"If you live on doughnuts, rest assured, you will not do well."-- C. Din

Well, just so everyone knows, the culinary honeymoon is officially over.

I still love it, of course, but yesterday was probably the worst day that I've had for a very long time.

Yesterday was the day that I started with Chef Tony.

The day began with taking a cookie inventory.

If I had to decide the worst job ever, it would be inventory. Any inventory. It is the single most torturous job that anyone one person can endure. Within Culinary, I suppose.

I should've known then that the rest of the day wasn't going to get much better.

After I had counted 1,519 thumb-print, jam-filled, cookies, Chef Tony told me to find a recipe for Raspberry Swirl Brownies. I then searched his clandestine-labeled index, and combed through the entire folder, twice, I told him I couldn't find it.

Of course.

Five minutes later, he came out into the kitchen, and hands me a recipe, and told me to get started.

I took the recipe, and looked down at it.

There wasn't a word of direction.

So I started by gathering my ingredients, which took way longer than expected. I guess you can't really ask much of a kitchen full of students, who half the time don't even know what they're doing.

Whatever.

Finally got started, and Chef Tony came over to see where I was at.

So we were talking, and I went to grab the flour, and poured it into my mixer... before I finished with my liquid ingredients.

The product was the stickiest, chocolatiest, gooiest, lumpiest, mess that I had ever seen.

Aubry Gross was not a happy cook.

Chef Tony told me to still use it, and that it would be ok.

I finished making them, and set the pans aside to be baked. I then realized what a mess I had made. My uniform was trashed, my station was in complete tumult, and the bell was ringing.

What the heck.

I cleaned up my station, and got dressed, and left in a foul mood.

It didn't help that that ridiculous Christmas song "Feliz Navidad" was on the radio when I got into the car. For the second time that day.

Really?

When I got home, I attempted to write a quick blog to all of you, but I was in such emotional duress, that I didn't get much done before I had to go and get a ROOT CANAL.

By the time that we finally got to the doctor's office, I was asking for the lethal injection.

Ugh, it pains me to even think about it...

Thanks for reading.

Rolling...

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." --J. R. R. Tolkien

On the whole, a good day.

It started out with putting chicken on a stick, which is harder than it sounds.

What I had to do was to take pieces of sliced chicken breast and thread them through a long bamboo skewer. Now if they had been chicken tenders, it would've been easier, because they're thicker. But hey, you work with what you've got.

After I did a couple, though, I got the hang of it, and just started banging 'em out.

Between four of us, we did about 200.

When we finished, I put them in the cooler, and did some other odd jobs, and cleaned up. Chef Dave then had me help another student bag sliced ham.

After I finished ( the other kid had to leave), I kind of just stood around until one of my buddies needed some help on a recipe. He needed me to strain some sauce, and while I was doing this, Chef Dave came over to talk to me.

He asked if Chef Tony was talking to me about Skills USA, and he told me a little more about the competition, and told me about when he had done it in high school. He said that he thought I did really good work. He also said that he wanted to teach me how to cut up a whole chicken (a second year student assignment), and sort of "see whatcha got," type of deal.

"Sounds great!" I said.

I finished straining the sauce, and Chef Dave came over and gave Josh and I some concentrated actual teaching with the recipe we were doing. It was really cool and fun.

Yeah, It was a really great day.

Thanks for reading.

"Like a G"

"Man is born to eat." -- Craig Claiborne

Sorry it's been a while. Most of what I have to write about happened on Friday, but I neglected to blog.

What the heck kind of logic is that?!

Anyway. Not much happened on Friday until about 20 minutes before I left school. Chef Tony approached me and asked if I would like to join a team that he was organizing to work directly under his direction. He said that we would be doing a lot of baking for Thanksgiving and other holidays.

He also wanted me to compete in a nationwide competition called Skills USA, which is kind of a big deal.

On Monday, I told him that I would like to accept.

I thought he would've wanted me to start immediately, but he told me that he wanted to wait for a little bit. "Maybe next week,"

"Great," I thought. I was pretty sure that I had blown my chances. Maybe if I had accepted right away, I would've had better luck.

I can pretty much only trust that he really does want me to join him, and that he'll come for me when the time is right.

Until then, I'm with Chef Dave. Today I made mushroom pilaf, and helped with making the twice-baked potatoes. I also washed pots and pans as well.

Maybe hoping for a little extra credit?

Maybe?

Please?

For anyone who hasn't had twice-baked potatoes, you have no idea what you are missing.

DEE-LISH.

So now, there's just the wait....

I don't exactly know when it is that I'll be starting with Chef Tony, but you guys will certainly get an earful when I do.

Thanks for reading. :]

For the Love of Coconut.

"...cassoulette, like life itself, is not so easy as it seems." --Paula Wolfert.

Day one in Hot Foods.
Hooraayyy!!!
What I've been waiting for the ENTIRE TIMMEE!!!

I came into the kitchen, and practically skipped to Chef Dave, and asked what he wanted me to do.
He then assigned me to collect 25 carrots. To peel, and slice. Most of you are probably like "Wow, this girl is nuts." or "What a fruitcake." but I love it.

After I had taken care of the carrots, I helped one of the other students assemble Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches.
GOOD STUFF.

After I had done this, A-shift was gone.
Nothing against A-shift.
Heck I think they're great, but after they leave, there's much more room in the kitchen, and it's easier to figure out from the teachers what they need.

SPEAKING OF WHICH... Chef Dave is officially the absolute hardest person to get directions from. Granted, he does run more than one station, but yeah. That was probably the thing that was the hardest to adapt to today.

ANYWAY, after A-shift left, I was assigned to fry the coconut chicken.

To be completely honest, I ruled the fryer today. Chef Dave told me what they were supposed to look like, and I made them.
Sublime.

Also, I have to tell you all. On Monday night, for Michelle-My-Belle's birthday, we went to Michael Symon's restaurant, Roast, in Detroit. I would highly recommend. I had the Beef Cheek Pierogi and the Roast Chop Salad. Very, Very, Good.

Sorry that I seem kind of like a kid in a candy store, but I pretty much am. XD

Thanks for reading everyone. <3