Great news... I got into Johnson and Wales University! It's all unofficial until October when I'll be receiving the big "yay-you're-in-here's-what-you-need-to-do" package in the mail, but for now I'll still be doing the happy dance. Glee!
It's been a while since I last posted, but that was because I was getting ready to go to J&W University for their Career Explorations summer program. One weekend, one class, one heck of a time. I applied for the Baking and Pastry program this year, as I had done Culinary Arts last year, and it is a complete understatement to say that it was AWESOME. The chefs/instructors are incredible and I learned more about the effects of butter on pastry than I ever had before! My inner geek was dancing for joy! In the labs, we got to test out what a class might be like. There were five culinary "teams" and three baking and pastry. This year, B&P made cookies and strawberry shortcake. The culinary students had a different palate, depending on their group. Some groups did Italian, some did Mediterranean, and some did Thai. After each group finished cooking, a baking and pastry class would bring up some of what they had made to a culinary group and we would eat the culinary group's food. Thumbs up to the group my group sampled! Your Italian was full of yum and awesome!
We had piles of food left on sheetpans after all was said and done. I absolutely HATE wasting food. I'm sure I got some weird looks, but I took my apron and turned into a carrying case for the food I took-- five strawberry shortcakes, all of my cookies that weren't eaten, and a few of my classmates' cookies. Boo yeah.
We then went to Carowinds as part of the weekend, where we all had these baseball shirts with egg-yolk yellow sleeves and detailing. I must've been really lucky, but I won four stuffed animals at the games! I also conveniently broke my non-existent nails trying to do one of the games. I thwacked my nail against the edge of the protective Plexiglas while rolling golfballs into these holes to make a pig go across a stage. I won, and got a stuffed husky dog doll and a gash in my nail as reward!! It was quite a pretty sight, breaking your nail when you keep your nails extraordinarily short for work... I hung out with my roommates during the Carowinds trek, since one of them was pretty familiar with where everything was, and we had a blast.
The next morning, when we had to leave, I found out after the slideshow of our collective escapades that I had gotten into the University! I have this piece of paper saying so, and I'm going to put it into this little "hehehe go me" book, once I make one. Pictures of everything will be uploaded later.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Gourmet on a budget!
Some of the dishes I've put on here (such as the sushi platter) are dishes that require a considerable amount of cash to do unless you get a very good deal. Most people (myself included) don't have $70 to make one dinner with for four or more people. These next few dishes you can do with .
Here is an awesome chicken dish that tastes like something out of a fancy restaurant, but can come out of anyone's kitchen!
Pomegranate-Ginger Chicken over Lime-Ginger Rice with a Plum and Strawberry Sauce
For this recipe, I used chicken tenders.
The chicken is dredged in flour that has ginger, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Note: don't waste zip-top bags on this-- use plastic grocery bags! You can throw them out when you're done. The chicken is then seared in a skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil (any oil will do, just not peanut) with slices of ginger or powdered ginger to taste (at least 1 t). When the chicken is seared on both sides and you hear your pan making the "gah I need more oil heeeeelp!" popping noises, add 1 c of pomegranate juice. Yes, it will make lots of steam, but that's okay, you're not killing the pan. I like using Pom, it comes in pint-sized bottles and is usually a decent price. At this point, you can add even more ginger if you want, just be careful about it. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover the pan, occasionally turning the chicken.
Rice: Any rice will do. Cook it as you normally would, just put 1/2 t powdered ginger per every cup of uncooked rice in the water before you start cooking. As it cooks, halve a lime and then quarter the halves. Note: if lemons are a better deal, use them instead. If the idea of big pieces of citrus fruit in your rice doesn't appeal to you, add 2 T lemon or lime juice instead. When the rice comes to a boil and you turn off the heat, add four pieces of lime per cup of uncooked rice. Cover it, and let it cook itself.
Plum-Strawberry Sauce: I got this recipe idea from http://madame.lefigaro.fr/cuisine/recettes/164-confiture-de-fraises-tuiles-aux-noix. The recipe is for a strawberry jam with walnut tuile. I switched out the half of the strawberries for two plums that we had in the house. The cost of the fruit shouldn't be too much of an issue because you will only need 1/2 c sliced strawberries and 2 sliced plums. Quick translation of the directions: For my version, you need 1/4 c water, 1/2 c sugar, and the fruits listed above. Add the sugar to the water and boil. When it boils, add the fruit and let it poach for 23 minutes (i turned the heat down to medium for this). Then turn off the heat.
To serve: Put 1/2c to 3/4 c cooked rice into a bowl per person, then place three pieces of chicken on each bowl. To the side of each bowl or in a family serving-thing, put the fruit sauce. You can either put the sauce directly on the chicken or dip the chicken into it. Your choice!!
The drink is as follows: Divide up the unused pomegranate juice from the chicken recipe into glasses for everyone willing to try it, then add enough seltzer water or Sprite or club soda to go to the top of the glass. I didn't particularly like the Sprite flavor, but my mom thought it was pretty tasty. Garnish with a strawberry. I put some mint in there too for added awesomeness because I grow mint and had some on hand.
Now for something completely different!
Quick healthy food!
Yum! This one is about as simple as it can get, but it's great if you only have about 20-30 minutes to make something. Thinly slice enough carrot, celery, and potato for the people you are serving (I used one russet potato, one carrot, and one stick of celery for two people), and dice 1/4 onion for every 2 people you are serving. When steaks are on sale (in this case top round buy one get one free!), grab 1/2 lb per person. Grill the steaks to your preference and let it rest while you do the rest of the cooking. Sautee the carrot, celery, and onion in a pan with a small amount of oil (I used 1 T for the amount I made). Add garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. When the onions become translucent, put the veggies into a bowl for holding. Sautee the potatoes with paprika and garlic for about five minutes, then add 1 c water and simmer for five or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Slice the steak into 1/4 inch strips, and serve!
To serve: put 1/2 c potatoes into the bottom of a bowl, and put the steak and veggies on the table and let each person put what they want on their potatoes.
Short Chef, signing out. Itadakimaaaaasu! (Translations at http://dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/dict ).
Here is an awesome chicken dish that tastes like something out of a fancy restaurant, but can come out of anyone's kitchen!
Pomegranate-Ginger Chicken over Lime-Ginger Rice with a Plum and Strawberry Sauce
For this recipe, I used chicken tenders.
The chicken is dredged in flour that has ginger, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Note: don't waste zip-top bags on this-- use plastic grocery bags! You can throw them out when you're done. The chicken is then seared in a skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil (any oil will do, just not peanut) with slices of ginger or powdered ginger to taste (at least 1 t). When the chicken is seared on both sides and you hear your pan making the "gah I need more oil heeeeelp!" popping noises, add 1 c of pomegranate juice. Yes, it will make lots of steam, but that's okay, you're not killing the pan. I like using Pom, it comes in pint-sized bottles and is usually a decent price. At this point, you can add even more ginger if you want, just be careful about it. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover the pan, occasionally turning the chicken.
Rice: Any rice will do. Cook it as you normally would, just put 1/2 t powdered ginger per every cup of uncooked rice in the water before you start cooking. As it cooks, halve a lime and then quarter the halves. Note: if lemons are a better deal, use them instead. If the idea of big pieces of citrus fruit in your rice doesn't appeal to you, add 2 T lemon or lime juice instead. When the rice comes to a boil and you turn off the heat, add four pieces of lime per cup of uncooked rice. Cover it, and let it cook itself.
Plum-Strawberry Sauce: I got this recipe idea from http://madame.lefigaro.fr/cuisine/recettes/164-confiture-de-fraises-tuiles-aux-noix. The recipe is for a strawberry jam with walnut tuile. I switched out the half of the strawberries for two plums that we had in the house. The cost of the fruit shouldn't be too much of an issue because you will only need 1/2 c sliced strawberries and 2 sliced plums. Quick translation of the directions: For my version, you need 1/4 c water, 1/2 c sugar, and the fruits listed above. Add the sugar to the water and boil. When it boils, add the fruit and let it poach for 23 minutes (i turned the heat down to medium for this). Then turn off the heat.
To serve: Put 1/2c to 3/4 c cooked rice into a bowl per person, then place three pieces of chicken on each bowl. To the side of each bowl or in a family serving-thing, put the fruit sauce. You can either put the sauce directly on the chicken or dip the chicken into it. Your choice!!
The drink is as follows: Divide up the unused pomegranate juice from the chicken recipe into glasses for everyone willing to try it, then add enough seltzer water or Sprite or club soda to go to the top of the glass. I didn't particularly like the Sprite flavor, but my mom thought it was pretty tasty. Garnish with a strawberry. I put some mint in there too for added awesomeness because I grow mint and had some on hand.
Now for something completely different!
Quick healthy food!
Yum! This one is about as simple as it can get, but it's great if you only have about 20-30 minutes to make something. Thinly slice enough carrot, celery, and potato for the people you are serving (I used one russet potato, one carrot, and one stick of celery for two people), and dice 1/4 onion for every 2 people you are serving. When steaks are on sale (in this case top round buy one get one free!), grab 1/2 lb per person. Grill the steaks to your preference and let it rest while you do the rest of the cooking. Sautee the carrot, celery, and onion in a pan with a small amount of oil (I used 1 T for the amount I made). Add garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. When the onions become translucent, put the veggies into a bowl for holding. Sautee the potatoes with paprika and garlic for about five minutes, then add 1 c water and simmer for five or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Slice the steak into 1/4 inch strips, and serve!
To serve: put 1/2 c potatoes into the bottom of a bowl, and put the steak and veggies on the table and let each person put what they want on their potatoes.
Short Chef, signing out. Itadakimaaaaasu! (Translations at http://dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/dict ).
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Well whadd'ya know...
It turns out that we had the stuff to make chocolate-coated mousses all along! I made some last night, and I plan on finishing the batch today. It was LATE when I got started, so I had to store stuff so I could get some sleep.
Here is the finished product:
Here is the finished product:
Friday, July 6, 2007
Finer things in life
Here is a list of some of the little things that make life awesome:
The next time we make it, we're thinking of making it more candy-like and dipping it in chocolate coating. It will be even BETTER.
- A big cup of tea
- A good book
- A good movie (such as Matilda!!)
- Homemade pastry/ confections
- Comfortable clothing
- Hugs
- A few special individuals (family-inclusive) who you can trust and go to for anything
- Your favorite noise level
- Good memories of anything
- Being able to step back and go "whoa, life is pretty neat"
The next time we make it, we're thinking of making it more candy-like and dipping it in chocolate coating. It will be even BETTER.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Breakfast and whatnot
Some people may criticize the French, but I find their food and people (the ones I know, at any rate) to be quite nice. I may be biased because I have French family members and because I speak French almost fluently, but nonetheless...
Breakfast this morning was crêpes. Dad woke me up nice and early at 5:20-ish so that I would be awake and civil enough to make them by 6:30. It worked, we had a nice large batch. Here's a picture of one:
Yum!! Chocolate crepe with fresh whipped cream (called Chantilly cream for those who want to be really fancy and put added stuff in there like brandy or extra powdered sugar) and fresh fruit. In this one we have cherries, but my brother was being picky and a standard Stewart morning-grouch and complained (although he has two volumes: loud and LOUDER, even when it's not even 7:00 a.m. which can be really annoying at times), so he had blueberries in his.
And even though it's about a week late, here are the photos of pie! Pie-nots were consumed before photos could be taken... sadly.
Mmmmm pie. Full of apple-y goodness. For wacky British humor on pies, just see www.weebls-stuff.com. The section labeled Weebl and Bob. The other toons are just as hilarious, although not pie-related.
A side note about Stewart morning grumpiness: This is just applicable to the Stewarts in my family, I know Stewart is a common surname, so don't call up an Inquisition. Here, we may be awake 10 minutes after we get out of bed, but we're not civil. We DO NOT talk unless to say that the coffee is done, that breakfast is ready (if it's being made for more than one person), the dog needs to be walked or given food and water, or the comics are good. An occasional "Good morning" or "Hey" can be heard, but that's about the limit of pleasantries. News goes on, lights go on, newspaper is divided up amongst those who are there, and if all is well with the universe and the morning routine is not disturbed, it only takes about 30-40 minutes to civilize. If morning routine gets disturbed, the person feeling the most out of it usually retreats to a dark spot in the house, i.e. the living room or their own room, and wakes up some other way by vegetating a bit in front of the TV or the computer, respectively. After that whole ordeal, most of us can be very nice people to work with! Good thing it only takes 30 minutes or 15 if on "gah, I need to get out of the door or I'm going to be late" mode. This is why you will always find eggs, coffee, and milk in our house. That and a good loud alarm clock.
Breakfast this morning was crêpes. Dad woke me up nice and early at 5:20-ish so that I would be awake and civil enough to make them by 6:30. It worked, we had a nice large batch. Here's a picture of one:
Yum!! Chocolate crepe with fresh whipped cream (called Chantilly cream for those who want to be really fancy and put added stuff in there like brandy or extra powdered sugar) and fresh fruit. In this one we have cherries, but my brother was being picky and a standard Stewart morning-grouch and complained (although he has two volumes: loud and LOUDER, even when it's not even 7:00 a.m. which can be really annoying at times), so he had blueberries in his.
And even though it's about a week late, here are the photos of pie! Pie-nots were consumed before photos could be taken... sadly.
Mmmmm pie. Full of apple-y goodness. For wacky British humor on pies, just see www.weebls-stuff.com. The section labeled Weebl and Bob. The other toons are just as hilarious, although not pie-related.
A side note about Stewart morning grumpiness: This is just applicable to the Stewarts in my family, I know Stewart is a common surname, so don't call up an Inquisition. Here, we may be awake 10 minutes after we get out of bed, but we're not civil. We DO NOT talk unless to say that the coffee is done, that breakfast is ready (if it's being made for more than one person), the dog needs to be walked or given food and water, or the comics are good. An occasional "Good morning" or "Hey" can be heard, but that's about the limit of pleasantries. News goes on, lights go on, newspaper is divided up amongst those who are there, and if all is well with the universe and the morning routine is not disturbed, it only takes about 30-40 minutes to civilize. If morning routine gets disturbed, the person feeling the most out of it usually retreats to a dark spot in the house, i.e. the living room or their own room, and wakes up some other way by vegetating a bit in front of the TV or the computer, respectively. After that whole ordeal, most of us can be very nice people to work with! Good thing it only takes 30 minutes or 15 if on "gah, I need to get out of the door or I'm going to be late" mode. This is why you will always find eggs, coffee, and milk in our house. That and a good loud alarm clock.
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