Ho-kay! Updatings!
It's been a looong time since I've written anything, I've just been busy~ (gomenasai!)
Sante has started doing brunch on Sundays... it's been variably busy. Sometimes 20 people, sometimes close to 70. The food, as always, is INCREDIBLE. For the past two weeks for family meal I've had eggs benedict... mmmmmm.... and I took my family out to brunch two weeks ago so that they could try it, and had the beef tenderloin tips with a poached egg and home fries. *Collapse* the beef was buttery and tender and just (really really)^infinity good.
My dessert didn't get into the JWU Nat'l High School Chef of the Year competition finals, but one of my classmates did and he WON THE ENTIRE COMPETITION! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! He's getting a full ride to any of the campuses, for 4 years. O_O. He totally deserves it though, his dessert kicks butt and he practiced a LOT.
I've gotten substantial scholarships from JWU myself, but there's still a bit to pay. I'll make it manage. I AM NOT living at home, I refuse. At least for the first year. I need my freedom, if only briefly. Depending on my financial situation over the next few years, I might be able to maintain living in a dorm or in the right-next-to-campus apartments which are actually cheaper than the dorms. The drawback is no meal plan if I do that, but I'll figure everything out when I arrange a meeting with my financial planner. The key is for ME to make the final decisions and not have my parents choose. It's time they let me make my own decisions about my money. I will research options and make the most logical and practical choice. That's just how I roll... my sushi... or tuile-cigars... riiiight.
At any rate, we're having another Gold Feathers at school to feature the culinary team/ advanced Culinary students. There's 7 or 8 of us, so if we can work it out so that we have two four-course meal options with everybody working on a dish, that'd be tops. Hopefully we can have Luis and Asha on desserts, as that's their forte. I would like to do a good beef dish. Or fish. If I can do Asian food, then I'll be very very happy. I have a stepped-up "spaghetti and meatballs" dish that would be really good if I could get the flavors right on the bean thread vermicelli.
Passover is approaching! We're having anywhere from 5 to 8 people total for Seder dinner, so mom and I will be making a substantial amount of food. I won a bet at work and won some fresh chicken stock, but mom won't let me use it. Alas. I'll have to use it for making sauces! On the Passover note though, my grandpa is visiting and he had bought the 5-pound box of matzo that Manischewitz is selling for their 120-year anniversary... we're getting 2 boxes. The only issue is that I bought a box this week. This means LOTS of matzo bry. Woohoo! I'll eat that for breakfast any day!
After that, I have the competition results on Wednesday from States. If we go to nationals that will KICK ASS! Let's hope I have a functional jaw by then. I would be devastated if I could not compete because I was getting my jaw fixed. Aaaah the waiting!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Snow Day
Snow in the South gets pretty interesting. The roads didn't ice at all and there was all of 5 (maybe less) inches of snow on the ground and school got canceled. Snow days at work, however, are a whole different ballgame.
Saturday, it snowed again for a few hours. We didn't have any reservations until 6:30, and we were all finished setting up our stations by about 4:00. So... once there was enough snow on the cars out back, the kitchen staff went to the tiny parking lot out back in our chef coats and aprons (who needs a jacket, hat, or gloves or any of that mess?) and threw snowballs at each other for 10 or 15 minutes or so!! I think that's the most fun I've had in a while. It was quite a sight, seeing my boss and my coworker running around in chef coats and white aprons and chef pants lobbing snowballs and ducking behind cars for cover. I even tripped once and fell on my bum >.> but it was fun. In the end we brought one tiny snowball in and got the dishwasher/prep cook with it! At the end of the shift, after we had all eaten family meal and I was about to walk out the door, Chef grabs my shoulder like he's going to say something important and all of a sudden WHAM! I get a snowball to the back of the neck. Needless to say, I ran him down, got the Maitre D' to pin him, and got him back. As an extra bonus, the Maitre D' had to walk me to my car b/c of some security issues that got Chef worried about any of us walking to our cars alone, and then he made a huge snowmass out of what was on top of the other chef's car and I think he got Chef back for me. Goooood times.
Best of all, I'm barely sick anymore so I can actually enjoy this! I got food poisoning Sunday so I was DEATHLY ill Monday; my school's mid-term exams started Tuesday but I was feeling wickedly congested throughout the entire day; Wednesday the same effects but lessened: there was a battle of sinuses as my body kept switching between a stuffed nose and a congested throat; Thursday no school, but I walked two miles to the grocery in 3-inch heel boots because I had no vehicle and the buses weren't running my street at that hour and my mom INSISTED that I wear boots and not my work shoes... fortunately I didn't have to go in to work that day as the congestion battle was still in full swing; Friday I only had one exam and my congestion was mostly faded and work was pretty good; and then yesterday (Saturday) was just awesome.
I'm having issues co-ordinating a food plan for a CON (Unitarian Universalist High School Religious Ed. convention of win) as there's some conflict of leadership between myself/the other co-leaders of the group and some members of other groups who want to muscle into our group even though we would be very well prepared and have everything covered that we needed to if they left us alone. Plus, my plan for a vegan/vegetarian weekend was shot down... It wasn't going to be entirely veg-friendly in my original plan, but I wasn't able to make that message clear when explaining it to the class b/c I kept getting interrupted. Alas. These bums will not get the benefit of the incredible black-bean patties that I got to make at work. Only those who sign up to help with food-prep will, so nyah. *shudder* One of the meals is SANDWICHES. Ugh. I can't bring myself to stoop to the level of cold-cut platters if I'm in charge of food... but that's a whole different beast that I'm going to stop ranting about now. I'm going to take the advice of my dad and make a Facebook group for this CON so that we can get some effective planning done before the CON happens. And it happens in 2 weeks. So we need to get everything together.
On another extremely awesome note, my culinary team won regionals so now we're headed to State competition in March along with two of our teams plus a team from a different school competing for cash in a competition THREE DAYS BEFORE STATES.
Saturday, it snowed again for a few hours. We didn't have any reservations until 6:30, and we were all finished setting up our stations by about 4:00. So... once there was enough snow on the cars out back, the kitchen staff went to the tiny parking lot out back in our chef coats and aprons (who needs a jacket, hat, or gloves or any of that mess?) and threw snowballs at each other for 10 or 15 minutes or so!! I think that's the most fun I've had in a while. It was quite a sight, seeing my boss and my coworker running around in chef coats and white aprons and chef pants lobbing snowballs and ducking behind cars for cover. I even tripped once and fell on my bum >.> but it was fun. In the end we brought one tiny snowball in and got the dishwasher/prep cook with it! At the end of the shift, after we had all eaten family meal and I was about to walk out the door, Chef grabs my shoulder like he's going to say something important and all of a sudden WHAM! I get a snowball to the back of the neck. Needless to say, I ran him down, got the Maitre D' to pin him, and got him back. As an extra bonus, the Maitre D' had to walk me to my car b/c of some security issues that got Chef worried about any of us walking to our cars alone, and then he made a huge snowmass out of what was on top of the other chef's car and I think he got Chef back for me. Goooood times.
Best of all, I'm barely sick anymore so I can actually enjoy this! I got food poisoning Sunday so I was DEATHLY ill Monday; my school's mid-term exams started Tuesday but I was feeling wickedly congested throughout the entire day; Wednesday the same effects but lessened: there was a battle of sinuses as my body kept switching between a stuffed nose and a congested throat; Thursday no school, but I walked two miles to the grocery in 3-inch heel boots because I had no vehicle and the buses weren't running my street at that hour and my mom INSISTED that I wear boots and not my work shoes... fortunately I didn't have to go in to work that day as the congestion battle was still in full swing; Friday I only had one exam and my congestion was mostly faded and work was pretty good; and then yesterday (Saturday) was just awesome.
I'm having issues co-ordinating a food plan for a CON (Unitarian Universalist High School Religious Ed. convention of win) as there's some conflict of leadership between myself/the other co-leaders of the group and some members of other groups who want to muscle into our group even though we would be very well prepared and have everything covered that we needed to if they left us alone. Plus, my plan for a vegan/vegetarian weekend was shot down... It wasn't going to be entirely veg-friendly in my original plan, but I wasn't able to make that message clear when explaining it to the class b/c I kept getting interrupted. Alas. These bums will not get the benefit of the incredible black-bean patties that I got to make at work. Only those who sign up to help with food-prep will, so nyah. *shudder* One of the meals is SANDWICHES. Ugh. I can't bring myself to stoop to the level of cold-cut platters if I'm in charge of food... but that's a whole different beast that I'm going to stop ranting about now. I'm going to take the advice of my dad and make a Facebook group for this CON so that we can get some effective planning done before the CON happens. And it happens in 2 weeks. So we need to get everything together.
On another extremely awesome note, my culinary team won regionals so now we're headed to State competition in March along with two of our teams plus a team from a different school competing for cash in a competition THREE DAYS BEFORE STATES.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
POSTIFY
So... I think I've lost the camera temporarily. I know that it is either in my room or in the main room, in its bag. Therefore, no food photos. However, I just did a massive amount of baking for the Thanksgiving holiday and I'm about to do some more for Christmas. I think I did about 12 pies or so... pumpkin, apple, apple-cranberry, and pecan. They were quite tasty... at least the ones I had were. I also got good reviews from the people who ordered them. I currently have 6 or 7 pies to make for Christmas, so it'll be interesting to see how I can mesh that with work and school, considering that I don't have any long weekends to make the pies or prep at all. *sigh* I'll make it work.
^_^ Wheee I have a date with Captain Obvious coming up soon~~ It's going to be much fun! I think I'll make another batch of chocolates to take with us.
End of Semester is slowly creeping upon me... woohoo, halfway through the year!
Work is the incredible-- the only negative is that i have less time to spend with C. Obvious.
^_^ Wheee I have a date with Captain Obvious coming up soon~~ It's going to be much fun! I think I'll make another batch of chocolates to take with us.
End of Semester is slowly creeping upon me... woohoo, halfway through the year!
Work is the incredible-- the only negative is that i have less time to spend with C. Obvious.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Hehehe
So... I didn't post... woops. Job has kept me quite busy. And school. But now I'm officially a college student! Yay! I start next September at Charlotte's JWU. Ye-ah!
The biggest expenditure (besides tuition) is going to be getting a bunch of "business casual" clothing for my classes. They don't let you in the building unless you're wearing it. Uwww.
I'm doing a massively awesome pastry goodness sale from now until New Year's... Pies, cookies, cakes, AND (this is the most important part)....
WHATNOT!
Woohoo.
Yay to anyone who actually reads this.
Pictures eventually, when i find the camera.
EDIT: I've made the school Culinary Team! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
The biggest expenditure (besides tuition) is going to be getting a bunch of "business casual" clothing for my classes. They don't let you in the building unless you're wearing it. Uwww.
I'm doing a massively awesome pastry goodness sale from now until New Year's... Pies, cookies, cakes, AND (this is the most important part)....
WHATNOT!
Woohoo.
Yay to anyone who actually reads this.
Pictures eventually, when i find the camera.
EDIT: I've made the school Culinary Team! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Hisashiburi desu, ne....
Wow, it's been quite some time since my last post. I have no new pictures to post, as I've been very VERY busy. My new part-time job is quite fun, but it has very long hours, so I've been somewhat attempting to balance that, school, and my teaching job along with some down time, sleep, food, and homework. I'm lucky, I have a study hall in which I can get work done! Now, I just need to bring things to DO in it... my classes that are book- and homework- heavy are on the other days.
I have it very well at my job-- we all get 'family meal' at the end of the shift, which is usually a version of one of the specials or whatever we were serving that night, and it's always incredible! I haven't been able to work out in about a 3 weeks, though, so I think I'll just see if I can get veggies and/or meat and not the potatoes or rice. Whatever I don't eat, I usually box up and take to school with me the next day, so that works out nicely for me.
The biggest things I need to do are to remember to take a multivitamin in the mornings, cut back on coffee (I drink a cup in the morning as part of my Stewart routine, see earlier post), get better time-management, and find some way of making myself work out. I have mini-dumbbells at home, that shouldn't be so hard... I'm just exhausted when I get home, so the motivation isn't there. Ugh. Oh well, I need to get over that and just do it, ne?
Current goal(s): Make the school culinary team/ become Chapter Vice President of FCCLA.
I have it very well at my job-- we all get 'family meal' at the end of the shift, which is usually a version of one of the specials or whatever we were serving that night, and it's always incredible! I haven't been able to work out in about a 3 weeks, though, so I think I'll just see if I can get veggies and/or meat and not the potatoes or rice. Whatever I don't eat, I usually box up and take to school with me the next day, so that works out nicely for me.
The biggest things I need to do are to remember to take a multivitamin in the mornings, cut back on coffee (I drink a cup in the morning as part of my Stewart routine, see earlier post), get better time-management, and find some way of making myself work out. I have mini-dumbbells at home, that shouldn't be so hard... I'm just exhausted when I get home, so the motivation isn't there. Ugh. Oh well, I need to get over that and just do it, ne?
Current goal(s): Make the school culinary team/ become Chapter Vice President of FCCLA.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
POW BIFF WHAM!
Curry chicken!! YAY! Served over egg noodles with a roux with awesome spices. Simple salad-- spinach, radish, scallion, and a little lime juice. I made biscuit-scone things from a recipe I found that was really simple and used the flour I had dredged the chicken in as half of the biscuit flour. Garnished with slivered almonds. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! It had great flavors, I'm going to try and introduce it at the school restaurant.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
UPDATE!
Here are the promised pictures!
Mom went to a party up in NJ over the weekend, so Dad and I decided to throw her a "see ya later" dinner. Grilled flat-iron steak with steamed green beans and garlic-pepper mashed potatoes. I used a mix of Russet and New potatoes. I LOVE using red (New) potatoes, the skins are soooo pretty!
While mom is away, the chefs like to play!
Spring rolls, adapted from a nifty Johnson and Wales recipe book that was complementary with the Career Explorations program in Culinary Arts. I had NONE of the ingredients needed except for the rice wrappers, carrot, and rice vermicelli (aka Glass Noodles). Their version calls for shrimp... we used sautéed pork and apple. They called for lettuce... we used spinach! Curry powder made the whole thing just beyond-description excellent!
The sauce is a pomegranate reduction. I overdid the lime a bit, so it was more bitter than I would have liked. Next time, I'll juice the lime instead of putting in pieces.
Mmm, dinner rolls...
These dinner rolls were OUT OF THIS WORLD. My bread machine is awesome... set it to "dough" and in 1 h 30 you have any of a various list of doughs. These tasted like they came out of a restaurant.. oh wait, they did! My kitchen, that is! A little butter and jam and you had a perfect egg accompaniment for breakfast.
Shrimp, version 1!
Bacon-wrapped shrimp on basil, mozzarella, and pork scallopine. This one was my dad's creation. It was Saturday's dinner, along with the biscuits and spring rolls.
The non-photographed dessert was a chocolate whip with cream puffs. I mentally thwack myself on the forehead for forgetting to photograph it, it was a work of incredible tastiness.
TONIGHT'S MEAL!
Shrimp version 2!
This time, we added a little bit of bleu cheese and served it over chicken! I took action and added a dash of chili powder as well, just to kick it up a bit. Served over spinach and a (sadly pre-made but WHAT A DEAL; my grandfather would be proud) pickled shrimp salad consisting of baby shrimp, peppers, and onion all pickled very nicely. Also came with a roll.
Now that we know how incredible THAT was, we're thinking of trying beef next time in a surf-and-turf idea. I have a feeling that that is going to take it to the next level entirely!
Dessert: a trio of mousses.
I worked on this one for a while, but it was well worth the effort. Lemon and orange mousse and a chocolate "mousse". The chocolate is more of a whip, because it has no gelatin. I'm working on that... I think I'll just try a version of the dark chocolate mousse I made back in July next time. The lemon mousse idea was from a Johnson and Wales Open House back in May or June. I played around with it to make the orange one. It was all very good fun. And now I have breakfast! Woohoo!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK BLOOD!
I lie, that's the pomegranate reduction. I thought it had a nice arterial-blood shade though. I have some new Halloween tricks now! That and the glass noodles as some sort of squishy brain-mass or something... teehehehe.
And that is how I spent my weekend!
Mom went to a party up in NJ over the weekend, so Dad and I decided to throw her a "see ya later" dinner. Grilled flat-iron steak with steamed green beans and garlic-pepper mashed potatoes. I used a mix of Russet and New potatoes. I LOVE using red (New) potatoes, the skins are soooo pretty!
While mom is away, the chefs like to play!
Spring rolls, adapted from a nifty Johnson and Wales recipe book that was complementary with the Career Explorations program in Culinary Arts. I had NONE of the ingredients needed except for the rice wrappers, carrot, and rice vermicelli (aka Glass Noodles). Their version calls for shrimp... we used sautéed pork and apple. They called for lettuce... we used spinach! Curry powder made the whole thing just beyond-description excellent!
The sauce is a pomegranate reduction. I overdid the lime a bit, so it was more bitter than I would have liked. Next time, I'll juice the lime instead of putting in pieces.
Mmm, dinner rolls...
These dinner rolls were OUT OF THIS WORLD. My bread machine is awesome... set it to "dough" and in 1 h 30 you have any of a various list of doughs. These tasted like they came out of a restaurant.. oh wait, they did! My kitchen, that is! A little butter and jam and you had a perfect egg accompaniment for breakfast.
Shrimp, version 1!
Bacon-wrapped shrimp on basil, mozzarella, and pork scallopine. This one was my dad's creation. It was Saturday's dinner, along with the biscuits and spring rolls.
The non-photographed dessert was a chocolate whip with cream puffs. I mentally thwack myself on the forehead for forgetting to photograph it, it was a work of incredible tastiness.
TONIGHT'S MEAL!
Shrimp version 2!
This time, we added a little bit of bleu cheese and served it over chicken! I took action and added a dash of chili powder as well, just to kick it up a bit. Served over spinach and a (sadly pre-made but WHAT A DEAL; my grandfather would be proud) pickled shrimp salad consisting of baby shrimp, peppers, and onion all pickled very nicely. Also came with a roll.
Now that we know how incredible THAT was, we're thinking of trying beef next time in a surf-and-turf idea. I have a feeling that that is going to take it to the next level entirely!
Dessert: a trio of mousses.
I worked on this one for a while, but it was well worth the effort. Lemon and orange mousse and a chocolate "mousse". The chocolate is more of a whip, because it has no gelatin. I'm working on that... I think I'll just try a version of the dark chocolate mousse I made back in July next time. The lemon mousse idea was from a Johnson and Wales Open House back in May or June. I played around with it to make the orange one. It was all very good fun. And now I have breakfast! Woohoo!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK BLOOD!
I lie, that's the pomegranate reduction. I thought it had a nice arterial-blood shade though. I have some new Halloween tricks now! That and the glass noodles as some sort of squishy brain-mass or something... teehehehe.
And that is how I spent my weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)