christmas time

so i actually forgot about this thing!

it's been a crazy couple of weeks

with exams and hanging out with my cul friends

i have finished all exams except one

food and bev management

not really sure how it'll go

but we will see!

i am very pleased with my practical exam marks

baking: 84%

cooking: 82%

good hey?

for my cooking i had to make the following:

cream of mushroom soup

rice pilaf

seared chicken breast topped with

hunter sauce

with a side of

broccoli florrets and

glazed carrots

for my baking i have to make:

pastry dough

pastry cream and

cream anglaise

all which resulted in a beautiful fruit tart!

after my crazy exam filled week

my cul friends and i all decided

to make an amazing gingerbread house

which we would sell and raise money

for our hospitality trip next year

after spending nearly $50 at bulk barn

we were ready to start our adventure!

meeting our experimental lab around 8

we got stuff organized and decided to make lunch for our teachers

this turned into be a big ordeal

and we ended up focusing more on that

than the actual house!

we made pork schnitzel

spaetzle pasta and bruschetta bread

for our chefs, teachers and techs

they all really enjoyed it!

after our big kitchen clean up

we decided to head to the school pub for a beer

it was an awesome time

especially since our chef came out with us!

a few beers and hours later

we ended up at my house

to finally work on the gingerbread house!

and again, after a few beers and hours

our house was finally complete

and looked amazing!

over all it has been an awesome first semester

definitely some ups and downs but those can't be avoided

i am honestly so happy that i chose canadore

people ask me why i chose this program and school

and i tell them i have no idea

but i'm so happy with my choice

and know it was this one for a reason

i have met the most amazing people in my program

and am so thankful to have them in my life

and can't really picture them not there anymore

my final exam is tomorrow

wish me luck

i'm so ready to be home now!

finals

it's ridiculous how first semester is already over

i start my finals on monday and i'm starting to freak out a bit!

tuesday 1- products test

thursday 3- baking test

friday 4- fundamentals test

monday 7- cooking practical + powerpoint presentation

tuesday 8- products exam + food and bev test

thursday 9- baking exam and practical

friday 10- fundamentals exam

monday 14- english exam

wednesday 16- food and bev exam

wish me luck cause it's a lot of stuff

and i really need to buckle down at study!

as for the labs that i have slacked on

monday was a shellfish lab

i woke up feeling pretty nauseous

and i figured that wouldn't mix well with the smell of seafood

so called in sick for that

i was a little disappointed cause it looked pretty exciting

tuesday was our fish lab

i was fortunate enough

to be able to be filled in on something i missed monday

this something was an oyster shooter!

it was not that tasty

people normally just swallow it whole

but i chewed that flubber up!

all it really tasted like was salt

i think it would have been a bit better with some lemon!

our lab sucked that day a lot

all of our fish was under cooked

therefore resulting in a bad mark

i was really disappointed but there's nothing you can do

just a learning curve i suppose

we did make salmon [grilled and poached]

red snapper, sole and a couple others

they would have tasted delicious

if cooked properly!

thursday was baking

and i had to work with a new partner

which was a strange thing

because i have only worked with steve

it was a nice change though

and jeremy and i owned!

we made baba au rum,

chocolate genoise and meringue

oh boy did everything taste good

and we did well also

an 85

my highest mark in baking so far

steve may be replaced!

today was our breakfast lab

i learned how to make the perfect fried egg

no brown at all

and it only took me 2 tries!

tips: cure pan with salt and oil

oil pan, don't butter

crack egg in bowl first, then pour in

use low heat

it's actually not that hard to do!

i did struggle with the omelet though

i only took 2 tries but didn't know how to do it!

my scrambles were done well the first time

wet and not rubbery!

overall i ate a lot of eggs today

and am pretty dang sick of them!

we also rocked some eggs benedict

with some hollandaise to top them off

and a quiche that didn't taste super good!

it was just me and steve in our group today

and it got to be a hand full at the end

trying to finish stuff up and plate it all

for just the 2 of us, we did a good job

our mark for the day was an 88

ps follow up for a couple weeks ago baking lab

where we made custards; creme brulee

creme anglaise and creme caramel

steve and i came out with an 82

distracted

apparently i've been really busy

or just distracted and forgetful

i haven't written about 2 weeks of cooking

i really don't remember that far back

so i'm just going to do a quick re-cap

last week was our second week with meat

we moved onto veal and pork

neither of which i like very much

but we did decent with an 85 and 88

for baking we made some incredible breads

foccacia, french sticks and soft rolls

they all tasted delicious but are definitely tricky to make

you have to work the dough gradually so the yeast starts to work

monday and tuesday of this week

we were onto poultry

our first day we learned out to de-bone a duck and chicken

it was kinda nasty at first, but i got used to it after

we made a roast chicken and tikka masala

both turned out really well and we got the best mark in the class

finally steve and i were at the top after always falling short by 1 mark!

second day we made duck dumpling, stuffed chicken breasts

a vietnamese chicken stir fry and grilled chicken breasts

it was a kinda unorganized day because i was with a different group

and at the end chef gave us a specific presenting time

so we were put on the clock to finish things up

today is baking and we are making custards

so cream caramel, cream brulee and one other

i will let you know how things turn out

last night i went out with a group from my program

it was such an awesome time, we always talked about going out

but someone would be busy or it'd be too late to actually go

we decided we needed to do this more

to get away from the school setting and just have fun

long time no type

so i guess it’s been awhile since anything has been said
i don’t even really remember the week now!

Monday and Tuesday were cooking labs
They were the first two to involve meat
I’m not a bit meat fan, so it was kinda gross

Monday we started off with;
Lamb chops, a roast, beef stroganoff,
A couple of steaks and Yorkshire puddings
I had never tried lamb before
But it didn’t taste too bad, not something i would order though
Our mark for the day was an 84

Tuesday was the second part of our lamb and beef
We made a lamb stew and a beef one
A striploin steak and something i don’t remember!
Everything went very well that day
We ended up with an 88

Thursday for our baking lab
We were making pastries again
It’s starting to get a little old
But everything still looks really good
We made a fresh fruit tart
And a pear frangipane tart
Steve and i finally received an 81 from chef
I was pretty dang happy with that

This weekend was sarah’s commencement
And her dad come up to get her
So i decided to come down for a visit too
Whenever i’m home, i always fill my weekends too full
It was overall a good weekend but no homework was done!

influenza pandemic

so it has been a crazy week here

soo many people are sick it's ridiculous

the hospital has stopped writing notes

for students who have exams/tests

they are just exempt because it's so hectic

my housemate has a few people in her program

with confirmed H1N1 cases

luckily [for me] she's at a different campus

there hasn't been anything big here yet

so monday morning

we all arrive at our early 745 time

suit up and wait for the door to be opened

when it is opened we find we have no class

chef is super sick and won't be in for either days

tuesday we had chef cynthia for our lab

she's a nice and crazy person but it felt very disorganized

i don't know whether it was because i was sick

but i just had no idea what to do next!

that was a pasta and starches lab

so we made pasta from scratch

it was a pretty cool thing to do

rolling the pasta through

and watching it come out as fettuccine!

people say that cynthia marks hard

but we got an 85 and that seems pretty high

so we were very happy with it

thursday was our normal baking lab

last lab, which was before midterm, we made pastry dough

this week we whipped it out and made some sweet things

there were open faced fresh fruit tarts

turnovers, pinwheels, volevants, cheese sticks ect.

chef said our pastry turned out very well

it puffed up and showed all it's layers

he gave us a good mark of 78%

i brought a box of pastry home

and a bag of cheese sticks

i got a couple pastries and one cheese stick

and the rest was eaten by friends!

pastry is such a cool thing to make

how you have to fold it and let it sit so many times

creating a total of 144 layers!

when it's ready to be used

you cut it into quarters and can freeze them

for multiple time use

once the pastry is made

there's so many super easy desserts to make from it

done done done

so i guess it's been awhile since i last wrote

so there's gunna be some catching up!

i don't even know where to start...

monday and tuesday are cooking labs

and this week we made sauces

so bechamel, veloute, mornay,

tomato, hunter, supreme,

bernaise ect...

both days we did pretty dang good

89 and 85 which i'm happy with

there were some written tests

and midterms throughout the week

that i was not very happy with

but that just tells me i need to study more

thursday was our baking practical

i was pretty dang nervous for it

i didn't remember the procedures

and i was quite sure i screwed everything up

my final product i thought looked pretty good

but chef only gave me a 74%

i guess this tells me that i meant for cooking!

so midterms are over which is a relief

but i don't expect the work will lighten up at all

there will still be at least one test a week if not more

and multiple projects for classes

i received my midterm marks

and they were all over the place

i am happy with some

but definitely need to work on others

the grades also tell me i'm meant for cooking

and not baking or theory really!

here comes me learning curve...

midterms

so now that it's after thanksgiving

it's midterm time!

not a super fun thing

but i spose it has to be done!

on the tuesday right when i got back

i had a practical for cooking

it was at 730 so that was killer!

i had to make a veggie soup,

julienne some carrots,

turn potatoes and 50% cook them

and bread mushrooms

during the whole thing

i wasn't very confident in my work

i knew my juliennes were more like alumettes

my cuts for the soup didn't seem very uniform

and chef commented on the sizes of my potatoes

apparently everything went quite well

i succeeded with an 84%

baking was a pretty decent class

we used our skills in making

applie pie and an open faced apple tart

both of them turned out very nice

which pleased me and steve

but chef thought the tart was over cooked

so we only received a 78%

we weren't very pleased with it

but that's still a decent grade!

a couple more midterms to go

and then it's bad to class!

happy thanksgiving

not a whole lot exciting for this blog

just an update of my recent labs

on tuesday we had another soup lab

this time we made specialty soups so;

shrimp bisque, french onion,

vichyssoise, clam chowder

and hot & sour thai chicken

all of these actually turned out very well!

chef thought the thai one was a little salty

and shelly thought the french onion was salty

but overall we got 88% which we are very pleased with!

tonight was our baking lab

it was not a stressful class

with only 3 recipes to complete

there was scones aka tea biscuits

muffins and apple fritters

steve and i spiced up our muffins a bit

by adding some rum and raisins

we thought everything turned out well

but chef said they were slightly overcooked

and not as soft as they could have been

we still received 79% which is decent

but not what we were hoping for this time

tomorrow is 3hr theory which i'm not looking forward to

but then i get to head home and see my family!

and eat home cooked food that i will looove!

happy thanksgiving friends :)

anything but clothes

so apparently i suck at blogging

but it is a lot different being at school

i don't always have exciting things to say

it's usually about things i've learned in school

or crazy weekends, like this past one!

friday night was the abc party

anything but clothes...

so kels and i decided to make

garbage bag dresses and they looked awesome!

some people were pretty dang sketchy though

there were a lot of guys wearing almost nothing!

over all it was a very fun night

back tracking to thursday

this is my baking night and it went very well!

i worked with steve who is an awesome partner

and we owned at making choux pastry and pastry cream

we made delicious swans, eclairs and profiterols

though we thought we got in the 80s chef gave us a 79

today in cooking we actually started to make practical things

so we started our soup labs

we made; pureed carrot soup, cream of mushroom

beef consomme and veggie soup

overall it was a job well done with a 78

our beef consomme tasted very good but a bit more grease could have been removed

our mushroom soup was good but needed more seasoning

our cream of carrot had great taste bur was cold [oops]

and our veggie soup also had great taste but the veg was undercooked

i was the chef du partie today so i feel like i could have stepped up a bit more

i knew that the veg wasn't cooked all the way but didn't say anything

i don't like mushroom soup so don't know what is tastes like

i was surprised that the carrot soup was cold, it was on the stove the whole time

and the consomme seemed pretty degreased to me, chef's just picky!

tomorrow we're starting specialty soups so;

clam chowder, french onion soup

some chicken thai stuff, shrimp bisque

and one other that i can't remember

i feel like these ones are going to be trickier

so i'm going to have to step up my game

and voice what i think of each one

because i really want to do well on these ones

the tuesday after thanksgiving we have our practical exam

this consists of julienne carrots, turned potatoes, breaded mushrooms

and a liter of veggie soup, nothing too tricky

the only thing that worries me

is that i have to do this all on my own!

i will definitely be practicing at home this weekend!

i'm pumped for this weekend

it's weird being away from home

cause it doesn't even feel like it

minus the fact of not seeing my parents constantly!

i will no longer take home cook meals for granted

i am so excited for a turkey dinner and pumpkin pie!

can i get a big oh yeah for blackouts?

OOOH YEAH!

so this past weekend was a complete adventure

starting on saturday afternoon

it all began when our power went off for a split second

and when it came back on all our smoke alarms were going off

we tried turning them off and going for a walk to see if they stopped

sadly it didn't work and nothing was quiet!

kels, her friend andrew and i decided to go out for dinner

we hit up swiss chalet and enjoyed every bit of it

especially the pumpkin pie!

when coming back to the school it looked abnormally dark

turned out all the power was out and would be for another 4ish hours

this 4 hours turned into over 12!

we had a very quiet and uneventful night on saturday

this was because all the RA's asked us to stay inside

sunday around noon the townhouses finally got power

but the school was still black which meant no internet

sadly all the power was back later on that night

which meant we had school on monday

monday was another brutal day

but went pretty quick like normal

monday we made a whole bunch of stock!

beef, chicken, vegetable and fish

they weren't very hard things to make

but took sometime because they had to get a lot of flavour

the bones were freakin sick and the fish smelt soo bad!

we did a pretty decent job though, chef gave us 83%

the rest of the day was pretty dang brutal

i avoided falling asleep so many times

tim's was a definite necessity

today when my alarm went off

i wanted to kill somebody!

i was super upset that it was a tuesday

and i had to wake up super early

today in the lab we made roux

i don't expect anyone to know what it is

it's melted butter and flour

which is then a thickening agent for the 4 mother sauces

we also made beurre garnie

which is uncooked roux so unmelted butter

there was also glace de viand

onion pique and starch slurry

search them if you're interested

but they're really not that interesting!

our house is super freezing right now

i tried to turn on the heat this morning

but obviously it's not working!

AND

i apparently left my room window wide open this morning

so when i went in tonight i froze my butt off

my laptop was so cold it wouldn't work very well

i think that'd my update for now

have a sanitation and safety test to study for

and a resume to write!

julienne, brunoise

sorry it has taken me ages to write again

i'm at school, i'm so busy with homework.. not

i just got through the worst days of the week

they are only horrible because they're 10hour days!

the morning is now going quicker

because we've actually started to cook, well sort of

yesterday we learned all our cuts

it was quite a painful morning!

i got a nice blister on my finger

and actually bruised it!

we had about 5kg of carrots to cut

so by the end of it, my hands were a nice shade of orange!

today we learned another cut

it's called turning

this makes the food more decorative

so we turned potatoes

and they end up in a 2" barrel type shape

not too hard to do, they just have to be even!

we also learned how to bread things

so we ended up deep frying zucchini and mushrooms

baking on thursday

we get to make 3 kinds of cookies

i am definitely excited to bring those home!

the weekend was an average hang out time

though, nathan, katie halls and sarah p came to visit

i didn't see them a whole lot

but it was awesome they came!

we also finally got a tv!

we only have 3 channels but one is global

so that makes it all better

we had a few people over last night

and we watched the premier of house

intense man!

shinerama, shine-shine-erama

so now that the craziness of frosh is over

it's time to actually start school!

this weekend was a good one!

saturday we had a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis

it's called shinerama and it's a province wide thing

you do car washes or shoe shining!

it was a great day all around

and in total we made around $22 000!

at night there was a tight and bright dance

you wore your fluorescent shinerama shirt

and then something tight!

it was such a party and a nice late night!

people looked aweome in their outfits

sunday was the last day of frosh

in the afternoon we had muddy olympics

this was pretty much like messy games

except pretty freakin gross!

first game was a mud pit

second was catching condoms filled with...

who even knows!

then there was condiments twister

this was twister, with ketchup relish and mustard

all over the board to make it very difficult!

the last was some sort of trivia

you stood in a pool

filled with water, beans, alphagetties and other dirty things

they would ask you a question and if you got it wrong

you got a bucket of that dumped on you!

i was covered in mud and ketchup and relis and mustard

that was all i could smell walking home

and waiting outside for the shower!

it was an awesome time though

that night was the biggest party night

it was referred to as 901

this is when the frosh leaders contracts were up

they were able to drink/do drugs whatever with the froshlings

so this ment for a very intense party!

they all pounded back as many drinks as they could

and partied the night away!

as for the actual school part now!

i had my 2 extremely long days

and they killed me!

sitting in a hot kitchen

on uncomfy stools

in our crazy uniforms

for 6 hours

was not a fun thing!

i almost passed out a couple times

in the afternoon classes

when we were in normal classes

and clothes

it was still extremely hard to stay awake!

i'm sure all of this will change

once we start cooking

and keeping fully busy

for the full 6hrs

but the mornings are still pretty brutal

i'm scared i will have to resort to coffee!

today i have communications

aka english

and we get test results back

to see if we get exempt from an hour of class

i suuure hope i don't have to go

it would make things so much easier!

if you have any questions or whatever

email me!

i love hearing from people!