Read 4 Chapters and Call Me in the Morning

As promised, here is my post about MY FIST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Well, it was, for lack of a better word, interesting. Ouch! I expected it would be something but I didn't expect interesting, as in this is not the really good interesting it is kind of the interesting you say when you cannot think of a word to describe what something is, and all you can think of is an unenthusiastic interesting. I went through a multitude of feelings from boredom to exhilaration. One minute I was exhilarated by the learning environment and the possibilities it presents, the next I was eewww-ing at the fingerprint smudged glass doors. I'm not great with crowds of people and all their dirty germy fingerprints. I realize from this comment you can tell I am an older returning student. I have never heard anyone under the age of 39 express concern over touching doors that everyone else is touching therefore acquiring germs that could potentially belong to a very sick uncle or a cleaning lady that does not wash her hands after she cleans your toilet.

Anyway, Mondays I have a 3 hour class, centering around the hospitality industry. I spent the entire class wondering at every pause if I was indeed supposed to be in this particular class. Had I mis-read my degree requirements? This class has nothing to do with food preparation. I do see it may be a good idea to understand hospitality as a whole, yet, the instructor informed me, after making us all get up and write on the board what we know about hospitality and what we were there for, that no, this class would not discuss much if anything about baking or Pastry Arts. It would, she continued, have a section which she will cover running a restaurant and planning and purchasing, which would be good for anyone that had an entrepreneurial spirit. She did not stop to find out if I fit in that category.

After class, I heard others talking about how they had 2 more classes that day, and/or classes tomorrow and I was grateful that I have only 1 long class Mondays (well, not so grateful for the "long" part) and 1 even longer one on Wednesdays. How do people do it? My mind already feels like it is going to snap after 3 hours. We covered 2 chapters today, and did a review at the end, and I could not for the life of me recall 90% of what we just talked about in class. I was transported back to a time where I had to slump down in my desk and pray that the teacher would not call on me to answer a question as the night before I had chucked homework duty for the opportunity to go to Swenson's for my favorite cinnamon ice cream and a game of Ms. Pac-Man, and the extra added bonus of watching the cutest guy in school scoop double dips while dressed in a short sleeve old fashioned soda fountain servers shirt.

My other class is Food Service Sanitation. I got the book, and it's like my own little private train wreck. I am fascinated and want to open that book and take it all in, and I am repelled as I know it will cover things that make my diatribe about germy unsanitary glass doors with zillions of grimy mostly young people fingerprints on it look like a walk through a Clorox bleach corporate plant. Neurotic? You bet I am!

So, not as auspicious as I would have thought, but this day, my first, is over, and I am glad. I am now an established student. I'll let you know how THAT goes...

Follow Your Dreams

Well, the big day is almost here. I start school tomorrow! We will see what the day brings and I will write all about it when I get home.

You know, the other night I invited my sister, niece and nephew for dinner, because it was a rare night that both my kids were home so all of us could be together. See what happens when they grow up, you have to schedule dinners with them even when they still live with you! So I planned and made an entire meal all myself from salad to dessert. It was all edible! There were no leftovers so I know when everyone said it was good, it WAS good! I made a hearts of romaine salad with homemade mustard vinaigrette, pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and a peanut butter cake with chocolate peanut butter ganache. I rarely, actually, I think I can accurately say never, cook an entire dinner myself. Usually even if I plan to after a short time I lose patience and/or ability to execute and I end up asking my husband for help. I don't take ADD meds but I guess something made me focus that night. My husband was surprised, I could tell, that I didn't ask for a rescue. He actually enjoys cooking, and he likes being able to make dinner for family. Anyway, I am rambling, I'm tired, one of the dogs woke us up at about 4:30 this morning. So the point, I thought of the pork tenderloin recipe myself, I marinated it in lime for one hour then rolled it in barbecue sauce and pork rub and baked it. I took white creamer potatoes and cut them in chunks, tossed them in olive oil and salt, pepper, shallots, onion, garlic and a 12 spice seasoning from Trader's. The cake was amazing! Pic is above.

My nephew then asked me and my sister if we would bake for his office. My sister was to make cookies, her specialty, and I would make muffins or mini cakes, my perceived specialty! We decided we would do it this morning and my nephew could take the baked goods to work with him tomorrow. My sis woke up not feeling well, so I was on my own in my kitchen and started baking about 10AM. By the time I was done I was almost in tears, my kitchen looked like a tornado had come through it, and out of 44 mini cakes I baked I had 16 that I liked enough to give to him to take to work. 8 peanut butter cup with chocolate peanut butter ganache (pictured here above the cake I made for the family dinner) and 8 cookies and cream with dark chocolate cookie ganache (not pictured here as I don't like the way they look at all and I have not grown THAT much to show you but give me time.) Sometimes things don't work out the way I planned, and I need to figure out a way to deal with that which doesn't include crankiness and annoyance.

So, this all got me to thinking about people that expect excellence and how they are perceived. I think I can count myself in that category. One of my sons is becoming a tattoo artist, his apprenticeship is done soon. He tattoos now, but is not licensed quite yet. He is an AMAZING artist! I've mentioned it before I believe. He's been drawing since he was 3. He wants to be the best at what he does. He is really hard on himself, a perfectionist. Wonder where that comes from? I have learned from him what tattoos are supposed to be like. I never appreciated them that much. Now I do. This morning I was in line at Starbucks behind a guy with a really large tattoo on his arm, critiquing it in my mind. I wondered if the lines were supposed to be that heavy. They were straight, but thick. I had to stop myself from asking him if the artist meant them to be that way. Tattoo lines should be thin, and constant, and straight in most instances, of course, depending on the design. If a line is thick, it may mean the artist had unintentional hatch marks, and had to go over it to straighten it or get it to be consistent. I have become a fan of the show L.A. Ink, and Kat Von D is, in my opinion, a crazy perfectionist control freak. I mean this in a kind of good way, stay with me. She REALLY cares about what she does. And, I can relate. She is looked at as kind of a bitch, I think, and I can relate. But really, she wants to do a great job and it matters to her that she does accomplish that. Maybe there is a more PC way to get there, but , she is who she is and I have a respect for her integrity.

I was involved in a small business as a co-owner, and it had nothing to do with baking! I was a lot like Kat. I learned a lot of lessons from it, namely, I can care and want nothing less than the best, however, I can also soften up my approach and my expectations, or at least communicate them differently as most people are not as intense about it as I am. Then again, I am who I am. So today, when things didn't go exactly the way I wanted them to in the kitchen with my baking, I got a bit bent out of shape. I didn't want anything but perfect cakes going out there. Now mind you, I am a beginner. They tasted good, but they did not look as I wanted them to. You can be the judge, look at the pics.

Point is, I am going to follow my dream to bake. My baking may not turn out perfectly every time. I can adjust a recipe, and that is actually half the fun, figuring it out. I have already learned I love to bake from scratch, and tweak recipes. Doing it for others and having them eat and enjoy is satisfying, and it makes people happy. And I pledge, I will strive to be the best but if I'm not I will be okay with that, too. Well, maybe.

It's All About Boston Baby

This is kinda weird in a roundabout way but I had lunch the other day with a girlfriend of mine, and she was telling me she met a gentleman on a dating site and he lives in Boston, and he would be coming here this week to visit her. That very day, my husband and I sat down and watched Chef vs. City for the first time, and guess where they were? Yep, BOSTON! And of course, one of the challenges centered around Boston Cream Pie. I really like BCP, but hadn't had a piece in about 15 years, so, I decided to try to make it.

I found a recipe that required me to make a chocolate ganache and the custard cream myself. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, I've never made anything like this before. Frankly, the pie tasted really good, however, I do think I will be able to make it better next time. The custard cream was not as fluffy as I would have liked and the cake was not as light. I had issues getting my egg whites to form stiff peaks...hmmm, have to work on that technique! But, just in case you doubt my abilities I have a pic of the BCP as proof, it looks pretty good, right?

BTW, can you say GEEK! 4 more days and I start school. I printed my schedule, my notebook is stocked with paper, pencils and pens, I'm ready! I'll be sure to write Monday afternoon to let you know how it went my first day.

If you feel like taking the Boston Cream Pie challenge here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Pastry cream, recipe follows
• Ganache, recipe follows

Pastry Cream Filling:

• 2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Ganache:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream, boiling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until combined. Beat an additional 3 minutes on high speed and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the egg white mixture and fold in. Gently pour the batter into a 9-inch greased pie pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack, then remove from pan after about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Pastry Cream Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.

Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. (The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.)

Ganache: In a medium bowl, pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Let cool and thicken about 20 minutes before pouring over pie.

To assemble pie, cut the cake in half horizontally. Place bottom layer on a serving plate or board, and spread with the pastry cream. Top with second cake layer. Pour chocolate ganache over and down the sides of the cake. Store in refrigerator.

Let me know how yours turns out!

Holy Matrimony

I start school a week from tomorrow and you know what? I am nervous. Really nervous, I'm excited, too, but mostly nervous, which is not typical for me. Not that I've ever been in this exact set of circumstances before, but, I'm surprised nonetheless. I am having second, third and fourth thoughts. I will go to school, I have no doubts, but, all these thoughts are churning around in my head like fresh butter. Will I be the oldest person on campus? What makes me think I can compete with people that have been baking for a living for years?

So, I went right to the voice of reason this morning, my husband. Because (close your eyes and plug your ears hon) in times like these he is almost always the "r" word, or, for those of you not in a relationship, right. He quickly pointed out that even if I start baking professionally at 50, which is pretty likely how old I'll be once I finish school, and I do it for 20 years, and I am doing what I love, what is wrong with that? Well, nothing. But then why am I still more nervous to go to school than I was when I got married?

I realize the prevailing theme right now is more of the "what the hell am I doing?" variety, so, I'm going to list out my reasons why going to school for a Pastry Arts degree is a fabulous idea:

1. I will be a better student now than I was upper 20 something years ago, I want all A's. I'm now extremely competitive and actually really, really care that I do well. When I was in school before if I was more interested in not repeating the same outfit twice than in actually being a good student and getting good grades. You know what they say about wasted youth, well, poster child right here.

2. Since I HAVEN'T been in the kitchen at my mother's apron strings since I was little, I am a fresh slate and have no preconceived notions or ideals that my way is better...so, my professors will love shaping clay-like mold-able me!

3. I get to buy new shoes as I don't currently own even one pair of black stay-puff marshmallow orthopedic non-slips as part of my shoe collection at the moment.

4. I won't spend needless time in the morning having to do my hair, it will be under one of those floppy bakers caps.

5. Let's not even talk about not needing to come up with what to wear. The dreaded uniform of a chef - although in my book this may not be a plus I guess it is in 99.9% of most people's life, so I'm going to count it as one as well.

Okay, I feel better now. Off to Target for school supplies!

TV or not TV

I realize that my readership is somewhere between 1 and 3 people - me, my husband and one of my sister (thanks, love you guys!) so no one else may ever see that I am about to say something that most people don't like to admit to. I love TV. Specifically, although I do watch a few "regular" shows, I love reality TV. The list of shows I DVR is longer than the Mississippi if you stack them end to end. Yes, I've heard TV rots your brain, but really, can't TV be a good thing too? I think so. And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I think it can be downright inspirational.

Case in point, I have never seen an episode of So You Think You Can Dance that did not make me cry. When an un-trained b boy does a contemporary routine or a ballroom dancer tackles hip hop and does it well, and the judges give them positive feedback, how can that NOT be amazing?! Even Flipping Out, which centers around a not so lovable control freak, Jeff Lewis, makes me think, wow, look at what he is accomplishing. Watching Jeff meltdown or bark his fast food lunch requirements to his assistant is one thing, yet on the other hand, watching him make smart business decisions and maneuver a new approach to his business, flipping houses, which was grossly affected by the downturn of the economy, is another. And, if it weren't for shows like Top Chef and The Next Food Network Star, I wouldn't know an amuse bouche or duck confit from a french fry. Inspirational AND educational!

So, what does this all have to do with my blog and upcoming school-dom? As cliche as it sounds, life is meant to be lived, in whatever way we see fit. For some that means in front of a camera. For me that means being one of the older students on campus, going back to school to try to accomplish something most others in the culinary field have been doing naturally since they were old enough to crawl to the kitchen. Well, me and my walker say, bring it on! Did I mention I'm going to school with my 19 year old son?

That's a story for another day.

A Little Class Goes a Long Way

I know I've mentioned I don't start school for a few weeks, however, I am practically a professional kitchen aficionado already. My initial brush with culinary greatness came to a crashing stall earlier this summer, exactly 4.5 hours into my very first class, Basic Cookery. That is the moment my husband, who doesn't wear pants unless he absolutely has to, shot a panicked look at me from our attached off-kilter chair/desk contraption thingy and I knew it was over, temporarily. If he got up and I did not, I'd go crashing to the floor like I did when Susie E. (full name not divulged to protect the not so innocent) decided she'd rather go on the merry go round with David B. then support her best friend in keeping all the skin on her knees intact. I'm not saying my husband walks around naked in public or anything, he just prefers cargo shorts, even in winter, although we do live in the desert. I have a feeling even if we lived in Alaska his fashion choices would remain status quo.

Now, I'm not sure why neither of us realized we were actually IN culinary school, maybe because it is at the Community College. Between the two of us, a potentially over-educated non-pants wearing teacher, the other mildly intelligent, you'd think one would have a clue as to what Basic Cookery entailed. Did we think we'd be learning knife cuts out of a book? The college catalog was vague at best people, would you understand that this:

"Introduction to culinary fundamentals, techniques and skills of modern cookery. Class covers procedures, ingredients and cooking theories"

means ACTUAL cooking, kitchen, sanitary dish-washing class? So, when our professor, Chef Acosta, started touring the class around the Top Chef wanna be professional kitchen, I think we both realized this was getting serious. I was, although not expressing it, already having second thoughts about doing this class right now this summer, and my out came when Chef Acosta invited another Chef in to speak to the class after our tour to tell us about knives and the uniform. Now, I have always had issues with required garment wearing. I'm not sure why, but on corporate T-shirt Fridays I would break out in hives. I never worked fast food, instead opting to go into retail, just to avoid being a polyester look-alike. My parents wanted me to apply to Hot Dog on a Stick, because those girls made 2 whole dollars above minimum wage. Of course they did, who else would don a 3 foot high hat and bounce up and down making lemonade in yellow and red stripes? But even so, I was already thinking about scanning the Crocs website for cuter chef shoes than the ones that come with the student uniform. So I WAS gonna go with it, although I did ask if I could buy solid black pants instead of the checkered ones. For those of you out there wondering, solid black is for the actual Chef, not a student.

Just as my husband realized he would not be able to pair his chef jacket with shorts, we were given a 15 minute break. Both of us picked up our bags, went out to the hall, and began walking toward the Registrar's office. I knew exactly what he was thinking "no way am I putting on pants this summer." And me, I was just thrilled to have more time to prepare myself before I have to break down a chicken.

So does anyone know if the chef hat comes in paisley?

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

Who: Me - wife, mother, former career woman who failed Home Economics in the 7th grade

What: Writing a blog to chronicle my journey from kitchen catastrophes and extreme food finicky-ness to Pastry Chef

Why:
1.) To honor my mother who could bake like nobody's business
2.) To see if I can follow in her footsteps
3.) To possibly open a bakery with my sisters as we figure one of us should know what we're doing and can pass it on to the other, very sisterly-like
4.) To be able to look back and re-experience the experience
5.) To keep me motivated & committed because getting my Pastry Arts degree could take 2+ years

When: First class is Monday, August 31st, 2009

Where: The Entertainment Capital of the World, Sin City, Adult Disneyland, I just happen to live here

How: Just keep reminding myself someone is gonna have to say "yes Chef!" to ME one day