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!