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5/30/05-Monday 11:10pm-back from my California wedding trip I had a nice memorial day planting new flowers then attending Lacie's BBQ. I have a new appreciation of my freedom after returning from the visit with Erica, exhausted mother of a 1 year old, Orion, and 3 year old, Bella. I saw in action exactly HOW raising kids is a full time job. The feeding, dressing, cleaning, bathing, feeding, dressing, cleaning, bath.... over and over process. Erica and Daniel are so tired. Orion is going to be a chef when he grows up. His favorite room is the kitchen and his favorite thing to do is pull all the bowls and food out of the cupboards. Bella is adorable. She's in the "why" stage and she likes to talk. My favorite moment was eating cherries together. Local grown and full of flavor cherries! Surprising since they aren't quite in season yet. The first bowl of cherries of the season must be eaten with full focus on the experience. Bella got cherries all over her dress and face. She spit out the pits while drooling cherry juice down her front. She made the experience extra lively for me this season.
The ceremony started 12:30 Friday in a small public garden and was followed by lunch, Indian food of course, and Mango Lassi's. Yummy! The reception was held at 7:00 at an Indian Restaurant banquet hall. More tastey Indian food, cake, and traditional dances. Then we all danced, did the train...no wedding goes without the dancing train. I hardly got to speak with Pankti, no surprise on her big day, but I'm glad I was able to be a part of her wedding day and experience her family culture. This upcoming week is Phyllo dough and Struedel week. Last Thursday's practical went ok. I did get a "B". If I do well with the phyllo I still have a chance at an "A" for the whole Laminated Dough section. |
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5/25/05-Wednesday
11:30pm Well, I'm taking my practical early tomorrow instead of Friday because I'm flying to California to see my old high school friend, Pankti, get married Friday. Erica & Araya, other high school friends, will be at the wedding too. I'm staying a few days with Erica. We haven't spent quality time with each other for awhile and I fear lack of contact is snuffing our friendship. She has a whole family now and I have no clue what her life is like lately. Must rekindle old friendships, they are the best. The wedding will be close to traditional Indian wedding. I'm looking forward to the experience and cake! Lots of cake! |
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5/24/05-Tuesday
11:00pm Rich and I ended up snowshoeing to Green Lakes in the Sisters Mt. range this weekend. 10 miles round trip, quite a slog. The weather report said sun, But it rained and snowed Saturday early evening throughout the night! The wind rustled and whisped our tent all night. Luckily we have a great all-weather tent. Our new high-altitude stove decided not to function. We fussed with it for 2 hours before it put out a strong flame. That was scary...thinking we'd have to live on cold trail mix and 1 pint of water. We woke up Sunday to a sunny morning that lasted throughout the day. So much sun it cooked my face. I wanted a little color, used the low spf 15. Tip: always use spf 30 and higher on a sunny snow day..oh the pain. On our slushy trek back to the car we stopped for lunch - gouda & parmesan cheese, olive ciabbata bread, cucumbers, and a flask of red wine. We met a sweet gray feathered snowbird groveling for food, which I happily shared a little bread and trail mix.
The trip was good for my brain and spirit. A little time squating in the snow does so much. Alot of four letter words come out of my mouth when in this extreme cold , but the moments of wilderness beauty are worth all the pain. |
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5/19/05-Thursday
10:35pm
Then went to sugar pulling club where Chef Peggy formed this Swan in just 1 hour
Today I assembled this messy Napoleon. Puff Pastry filled with custard cream.
Tomorrow is the big Puff Pastry Practical then Rich and I go backpacking! I'm looking forward to this much needed escape outdoors. I think we are heading 4 hours south and a bit East past Albany to wildflower meadows and lakes. The weather is supposed to warm up to 75 degrees! |
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5/17/05-Tuesday
11:45pm
Pithivier
Petit Fours |
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5/16/05-Monday
11:45pm My "Cherry-tangerine platter" went over well with Chef Peter. He thought the flavors were very sophisticated - kids would hate it, adults would appreciate it. I was docked a point because my cherry cobbler was a little dry and another because my macaroons were too soft, again! My macaroons need work. Rich was so great this last week for picking up tangerines and specialty dried cherries for me when I couldn't. It was a full week of testing recipes, so many tangerines. I used Dark Morello Cherries from Germany that Trader Joe's stocks. As a cherry lover these are the jar cherries to indulge on over the winter. So much flavor! Chef enjoyed the Kirsch soaked cherry tart. I was surprised by the floral flavor the Kirsch added.
Kirsch Cherry tarts, Pavlova Meringues, Cherry Cobbler with cream Chees Tangerine Crust, Cherry Macaroons filled with White chocolate tangerine ganach, Orange Tangerine Sponge Roll filled with Cherry Cream and Topped with tangerine-rum soaked cherries
Pavlova filled with Tnagerines & Topped with cherry-chocolate sauce & squiggle chocolate garnish
Orange Tangerine Sponge roll filled with Cherry Cream topped with tangerine rum soaked cherries and a chocolate swirl garnish Saturday I attended "Bread Club" and worked on scones and savory pink peppercorn, basil, and lemon biscuits. They were actually quite tastey! The peppercorns created a warm rich flavor. The culinary students were really into them. Also made chocolate chip cookies. It was a laid back kind of baking day. Nice to review older recipes. Next time I'll grind my own grain and bake a loaf. Another student gave me the most awesome triticale and pinenut baguette. Triticale is the stabilized hybrid of wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale). The pinenuts created a gentle nutty flavor that balanced with the grain well. Didn't overpower the flavor of the grain at all. Saturday night I worked on my resume & portfolio. My Saturday nights are pretty homely lately. Sunday Yoga in the morning. Rich joined me to stretch his back out. He was moving patio rock around Saturday. We then drove over to Michael's new comic shop to take photos of Rich's art show. He's displaying his "Friends of Piebald" collection and sold several pieces already! I'll post photos this week. We then mosied over to the "Blue Gardenia" coffee and bakery. Michael told the owners, Christie & Dave, about me and my search for an internship. They plan on growing into a wine & dessert cafe' which is right up my alley. They were younger and very kind and the atmosphere was warm. I hope I didn't show how nervous I was. They are in planning, said I had good timing, and they'd like me to come meet her mom who does all the baking. "Expect a call in early June." We then hit the pub for microbrew which inspired me to brew my next batch of Cider. I used an ale yeast instead of champagne to see what happens. Monday Today is the first day of Laminated dough's class. 3 weeks of puff pastry and danish doughs. Class touched on this 5 weeks ago, but the next 3 weeks we perfect our roll-in doughs as they take an abundance of practice. Chef Peggy is out instructor, she heads sugar pull club. She's a little kooky and tends to ramble. She can be misunderstood as "talking down to you", when she rambles with examples why you should or shouldn't do something. But, I think it's just her way of teaching. Some of the heady students are already upset with how she speaks to them. She's actually really nice. Chef Peter said she openly admits she has a chemical imbalance. I hope everyone can along. |
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5/11/05-Wednesday
11:30pm Today we worked on baked meringues and chocolate mousse. I'm lagging behind a little. I have to figure out where-why I'm slow and fix it. |
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5/10/05-Tuesday
9:30pm Today I glazed my Petit Four with Fondant, a goopy sticky mess. I made an Opera Cake (Sponge cake layered with coffee buttercream and ganache) and My Battenburg Cake ( almond cake layered with apricot jam and topped with marzipan). |
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5/09/05-Monday
9:30pm Today we prepped Jaconde sponge cake, Battenburg (Almond Sponge), ganache, marzipan , and rum sauce mmmm! All in preparation for assembling cakes tomorrow. Tonight I'm planning my Final Practical plan. 5 plated desserts with a "Cherry Tangerine" theme. Chef Steve encouraged us to use unusual flavors. I'm not ready to veer off into herb & spice infusion land, so chose 2 flavors I don't generally taste together. I just know that my Cherry Orange smoothies taste great, why not in desserts too! Dessert
Platter Assignment - Teresa Ulrich |
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5/08/05-Sunday
6:30pm Thursday I started catch up on Wednesday's lesson: Almond macaroons, Madeleines (sponge cookies), and a Jaconde Sponge Roll cake. I stayed for open lab and layered my sponge roll cake with jam and ganche to make a petit four. I have to top it with marzipan and fondant on Monday. So, Thursday after open lab I went home and started making up for the rest of missed time. I had to redo my Tart Tatin (Apple tart), prepared orange rum pastry cream for my banana rum fruit tart, made Tuile batter for the practical, and a savory galette. Friday we had our "timed" practical. We had 2 hours to make Almond Macaroons, Madeleines, and Almond Tuiles rolled cigarette style. I just made the clock. My macaroons weren't baked long enough though, so I was docked. They were also too large, the batter spread. My first "B" on a practical. There was a problem with convection oven staying closed so students cookies could bake. Almond Tuiles take 4 minutes to brown, so the oven doors were opening about every 2 minutes so a student could remove or add there Tuiles to the oven rack. Those who had macaroons or other cookies to bake longer were stunted....hence my macaroons underbaked. I had to pull them from the oven early just to make the clock. If I didn't display them I'd fale. One student didn't make it just because the oven wasn't closed long enough to bake. He's redoing the practical. It's maddening, because macaroon are so damn easy to make! Lesson learned. Use the deck oven. Friday night I iced 3 cakes for Michael and Kamarins wedding. It went well. Buttercream iced cakes coated in large flake coconut, a very no pressure process. The wedding was very casual and laid back and the cake was eaten. Job done! Smiles all around!
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5/04/05-Wednesday1:00pm Yesterday I made Almond Tuiles, which is a batter you can make fortune Cookies with. It's a cookie you can shape while warm out of the oven, used for plated dessert designs. Made some Florentines (Almond, oat, flat sugar cookie), Linzertorte (hazelnut raspberry torte), and Baklava. I'm missing the Macaroon demo today. So sad. Off to bed. |
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5/02/05-Monday
10:00pm I
arrived late for school, realized I forgot to brush my teeth...ew! I
was behind in class the rest of the day. My "Tart Tatin" fell
apart. It's apples that are caramalized then turned over onto puff pastry.
I overcooked my apples. |
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5/01/05-Sunday
9:00pm I almost forgot it was May Day, but I had my hands in the dirt alot this weekend, so I was appreciating the new growth. My pets had a lovely day in the garden too.
Thursday I stayed late in open lab to finish my Key Lime Chiffon mini-pies.
Friday we had a practical on Chocolate Chiffon pie and Blueberry pie. I was docked half a point because my chiffon pie didn't set up as well as it should have. Maybe I needed more gelatin. It set up, but was just a bit too soft. I think I did ok on the written test. Maybe missed one question. Here's a photo of the tarts I made last week. These are the papaya, mint, orange blossom tarts topped with macadamia nuts and melon curls.
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