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Below you will find a wide assortment of pictures bringing you through the last few months of my life in brief. I hope you enjoy the snapshot and notice the absence of tonight's pictures. I will get them off the camera tomorrow. I spent hours this evening making a braise of shortribs which is tender and flavorful. I also spent some time trying out the new ramekins I got for xmas. I made some chocolate souffles with creme anglaise. They didnt turn out quite as nice as I would have liked (though they tasted awesome!) so I will endeavor to make the perfect souffle over the next couple months. Bacon souffle harli? Maple creme anglaise? Ill shuttle my ramekins up there next visit.
Pictures to follow soon. |
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Nubbers has a cute nose. I miss that cat.
If you are going to come hard you better be prepared to bring it and I guess amber wasn't. This is what goes down in the meat locker.
Andrew and I were pretty suave.
And now what you have all been waiting for. If you've never seen a wild Napicus spp. Nape (Napicus nape) here you go. This is the one and only NAPE! |
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Jan. 14th, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
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This is the end of the mushroom hunt with out intrepid explorers out near...our secret spot...up off the 101 North. We didn't find many mushrooms but had a great time wandering around the moss covered woods and picking at things.
I found out we had a plum tree in the yard when a storm knocked a branch off and katie said "a branch fell off the plum tree." I replied "You mean the apple tree or the pear tree. We have two trees in the yard and those are them." Turns out we had a HUGE plum tree behind the garage that I had never seen all my time living in the house. We picked a ton of plums and then we made a 2 gallon batch of "sour plumme jamme" which was canned and actually went very fast amongst friends, parents and landlords...argh!
Joe is doing what he often does and paying the price for it. As I recall he wasn't very happy about this experience. |
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This first picture is me displaying the mighty 15 pound or something I can't remember pound NY Strip Loin which was subsequently butchered into massive steaks. Joe and I hovered around 18 ounces while the rest of the house went for 12-13 oz steaks.
Our German potato salad with assorted beverages to get us in the mood to eat large steaks and enjoy a warm Humboldt summer.
Finally this is myself Trimming up the strip oh so very lightly to still leave a thick and juicy fat cap on for the grill. |
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No one reads this journal anymore, but that probably largely has to do with the frequency I post. Well I relocated down to San Diego in September and this is just a tony snapshot of the basil I tore out of the garden and made into pesto. I forgot to take pictures of the gardens this season but there was 5 foot tall basil plants growing out of control much of the season. |
| » I'm BAAAACk...again |
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Just wanted to send a qucik message out to let you all know that I've just posted a rather lengthly description in the FooD Nyah Nyah community of a recent dinner we had up here in Humboldt. I hope you enjoy it :)
Apr. 16th, 2006 @ 11:47 am
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| » I deliver the hits that give the kids with the spectacles fantastical fits |
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It happens to be Wednesday morning and if I keep putting off my getting around it just may become Wednesday afternoon before I get ready for class. Last Thursday we had a group meeting and met with our chef for St. Andrew's. After the meeting I was elected group leader so now IM IN CHARGE. Well not really, but I do get a fancy little gold pin to wear.
Friday we had a double graduation (AOS AND BPS) and I worked both of em. Went to work on Saturday and plaed a game of Final Fantasy 1. Then I went to work on Sunday and played some more. Ive gotten really far. Ive got two of the orbs relit and have the slab so Im well on my way to getting the third one. I guess Ill just have to wait until this saturday at work.
Monday we had a down day, which was nice, especially since we got to play some disc golf. The course is over 35 miles away and is nice, but no morley field. We also ended up with ten people going which was kind of insane. I felt like that part in the martial arts movie when the ninjas are first training and starting to get good and you just see shot after shot of them all throwing stars or shooting arrows and they all hit the target. Well that's what it was like when we got near the basket. The sound of chains was no longer all that sweet after 18 holes. And there was no waiting for others to throw so more than likely there would be some guy standing right in front of the basket when you were trying to put. Or if not some guy, then some 4-5 guys. I managed to do well actually and pulled off mostly bogeys and several pars. This was pretty good considering that some of the holes are 650ft away (yds maybe, I dont know). I know that one crazy hole ten at morley when they change it is only 492 so you can imagine the scope of thise course.
Tuesday, that was yesterday. I started in the restaurants. Im in St. Andrew's cafe on the pizza station with erik. We have two people on the pizza station and I was looking at the sales mix for last week. If Im not mistaken, we sold 8 pizzas TOTAL last week. It could have been 8% of the sales mix (ill have to check today), but even then, with ~60 covers that would still only be maybe 5 pizzas a night. SO we had a ton of leftover chicken for us to use on the pizzas and since we do a pizza of the day every day, we decided to do a hot wing sauce with roquefort cheese and bunoised celery. It's gonna be delicious. Well, back to my rambling point. Yesterday was our first day, although today is really our first day of ala carte service since yesterday we had a banquet. We did alot of standing around yesterday because we have 15 people. THe banquet was for 80 people, but they were an hour and a half late and when they were seated there were only 35 of them. So we start today. Im having fun, but hearing the horror stories of the guys over in Caterina (the restaurant where Im going to be in 6 more days) Im cringing. These guys went to class at 12:30 in the afternoon and got out at 1am. They were all dead and were just yelled at by chef for over ten hours. The chef is a little guy who drives 2 hours from the bronx every day and drives 2 hours home every day. Im not too excited.
SO far Im here in st. andy's for seven days, then seven days back of the house in Caterina. After that I do three weeks front of the house caterina. Post those, I go into the big time restaurants (Escoffier room) and do three weeks front and three weeks back of the house. Then I graduate. So for all those who I havent enthusiastically told, I graduate Dec 2nd and will be done with my culinary schooling. MY GPA keeps getting it's job done and Im retooling my resume. I just need to rewrite my purpose and cover letter specific for restaurant 301, but I have the entire resume redone besides that.
By the way, has anyone every listened to some of MC Frontalot's music when I send you links and post about him? www.frontalot.com So check him out if you havent because he has just released his First album entitles "Nerdcore Rising." It's a great album, and if I think he sacraficed a little bit of flow on a few songs to make it easier for people to understand him, who am I? Still a very good album and Im glad I have it. You guys can't really argue with it only being 12 dollars. Go, buy an album, listen to some music and support the Front. This is how the guy buys his food and all, well listen to his first single posted on the site "Charity case"
Gotta go get ready for class. Hope everything goes well today.
PEACE
Phillip
"Frontalot Needs Food Badly"
Sep. 14th, 2005 @ 08:52 am
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| » NerdCore Hip Hop, other rappers want to be |
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Hey Ya'll, thought you'd want to hear the good news such as MC Frontalot is releasing his first album 'Nerdcore Rising' This month. PAX is this weekend in WA and when the Front returns to NY, he will be sending his fronting via mail to me post haste. Check out the Front at www.frontalot.com where you can download ALL of his songs and read all of his (sometimes) highly intelligent lyrics. If you are interested in purchasing Front stickers, the new CD or T-shirts, please visit
http://www.frontalot.com/store.html. They have a new "girlie T" which looks pretty nice, which I vote amanda is forced to wear although others are free to purchase Front T-Shirts as I have done in the past. Well, that's enough out of me about MC Frontalot for now, but check this ish out and enjoy then get into the Front ASAP.
I'm on Stage (banquet and catering) right now. Ive got two days left of table service and the first five days were a mixture of difficulties and much easier times than I imagined. It's hard to hold a billion plates, flatware and food in your left hand (especially if your left hand is about as useful as a dying fish). It is also much easier to setup a dining room for table service than I imagined. I mean I can wander around and make sure that table settings look identical for hours and set out a fork where one is missing forever. It's not a big deal. Ive had no table service experience prior to this, but it seems to be working well. Im just being nice to the kids and catering to their every need. Also I use the words Sir and Maam quite a bit.
That's it, Im done for the evening.
PEACE
Aug. 27th, 2005 @ 10:04 pm
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| » Terminus |
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Wines is over and I can't say that I don't wish it still went on. There is so much that we failed to cover in these three weeks, and to be honest with you, Im not going to be too happy about going to class and not being able to try eleven wines Ive never had before in my life that day.
The good news is that I passed wines and even better, I got a 97% in the class. See what hard work and determination do for you? Well anyway, off to celebrate, but I thought I'd let my friends know how I did (those of you who care how I did in my wines class) and I lookd forward to popping a bottle of inexpensive portuguese or Spanish wine with my friends as I sit down to lunch in my new home up north (providing I get the job). Plans are in the works to retool my resume with my extern and wines experience, gather some reccomendations and send them all on up to Restaurant 301 in Eureka California.
Hope everyone's week was less stressful than mine, with an equally blissful outcome.
Aug. 19th, 2005 @ 04:54 pm
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| » On a Wednesday afternoon |
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Hello everybody!
I'm out early from my wines class as all we did today was take out Italy/Spain/Portugal test, go over it and then review a bit for the final.
I managed a 29/30 on this test, giving me a delightful little 98.5% in the class before the final (35%), the paper (10%) and the teacher option points (5%) So there is room for me to fall, but the final is only 70 questions, multiple choice and it's open book. The first three tests were closed book and I missed three questions total. Im feeling pretty good now, and not nearly as bad about missing one question as I was about the two on the previous test.
Tomorrow we don't have class and just eat lunch in Saint Andrew's cafe here on campus. Then we write a paper about the lunch, the wines and our preferred wines given the option of choosing anything. I guess why we chose them will have a great affect on how he grades us. Here's the menu we are going to have for lunch tomorrow, in case anyone want's to know:
Toast: Brut, Glenora, Finger Lakes, NY non-vintage
Gazpacho with crabmeat
-Moscofilero, Boutari, Mantinia, Greece 2004
-Rosado, "Faustino V," Faustino-Martinez, Rioja, Spain 2003
Grilled Pork Loin, summer bean medley, demi-glace and cous cous
-Rully, premier cru, Leflaive, Cote Chalonnaise, Burgundy, France 2002
-Grenache, "Clos de Gilroy," Bonny Doon, CA 2002
Fresh Berries, Dark chocolate and vanilla gelato
-Reisling kabinett, Erdener-Treppehen, Dr. Loosen, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany 2003
-Brachetto D'Acqui, "Rosa Regale," Banfi, Peidmont, Italy 2003
Rolls and Butter
Coffee and Tea
So between now and Friday at 1:30 when I can find out my final grade in the class I will be STUDYING, STUDYING a bit more, worrying, and STUDYING. Oh yeah, I guess I should write the paper that is ten percent of my grade. Well, hope you all enjoy the look and the update. Ill post again Friday afternoon for sure.
Aug. 17th, 2005 @ 01:51 pm
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| » Gir, why is there bacon in this soap? |
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I MADE IT MYSELF!
Hey people, just wanted a quick update to let you all know how I did on my second test on France on Friday. I ended up getting a 28/30 on it, which Im still angry about, but the professor isnt budging and everyone else tells me Im being a big baby...but this is important to me.
12. WHich would be the best pairing for a dry gewurztraminer?
a. Stilton cheese
b. Rib eye Steak
c. Smoked Salmon
d. lazagna
24. In which region is the negociant most important?
a. Alsace
b.Loire
c. Burgundy
d. All of the above
So those were the two questions I ended up getting wrong, so boo hoo. I just needed another outlet to vent because my friends up here arent being very sympathetic, expecialy since many people failed :(
Anyway, gotta finish getting ready and get out to the wines study session for today. We go over Spain and Portugal today and then we have our test on Italy, SPain and Portugal tomorrow, then a lunch in St. Andrew's restaurant on thursday and then write a paper about the food pairings and finally we have our paper due and our final which covers EVERYTHING on friday. Im working to keep up the grades and hopefully Ill get a HIGH A and then I can revise my resume with that and my extern information and then I can send it out with a nice cover letter to the peeps up at restaurant 301 in Eureka. THEN we'll hopefully figure out my future in more concrete terms. (and I can play disc golf in the redwoods :P)
up up down down left right left right B A select start...tear em apart
Aug. 16th, 2005 @ 07:44 am
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| » Always the INFP, never the bride |
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INFP - the Healer
You scored 0% I to E, 21% N to S, 14% F to T, and 68% J to P! |
You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than
observant, you are more feeling based than thinking based, and you
prefer to go with the flow rather than having a plan. Your type can
best be summarized by the word "Healer", which belongs to the larger
group of idealists. You have a capacity for caring that is deeper than
most. You strive for unity, are fascinated by the battles between good
and evil, and can be something of an idealist. Only 1% of the
population shares your type.
As a romantic partner, you are usually supprtive and nuturing, however,
you have a high need for individuality. Harmony is extremely important
to you as you are very affected by conflict and tension, which also
makes you resist confronting your partner directly about problems. When
you get angry, you usually blame yourself, rather than your partner.
You can also be stubborn and unyielding when you feel you are being
criticized or mistreated. You feel the most appreciated when your
partner listens to you carefully. You need to be understood. You need
to hear your partner express their feelings, the more often, the
better.
Your group summary: idealists (NF)
Your type summary: INFP
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Aug. 14th, 2005 @ 04:35 pm
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| » SURG Proposal |
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So I'm reading this website by a CS major from MIT. (Monzy.com) and it has kept my interest for several hours so far. (Oh yeah, real updates coming someday :) ) And He mentioned something about a SURG (special undergraduate research grant) and he made sortof a madlib wherein you put three nouns and a body part and out comes your proposal for a grant. Here's mine for fun, not that you care, but I thought Id put it out here anyway :)
3-D Transient cinnamonaldehyde Modeling of diet Pepsi on Silanized Glass
Of the five parameters studied, the diet Pepsi geometry was the only parameter that could significantly increase the size of the SCR.
Underivatized glass is hydrophilic and negatively charged; EDA-derivatized glass is hydrophilic and positively-charged; 13F-derivatized glass is hydrophobic and uncharged. We examined and compared the attachment, proliferation, and morphology of cinnamonaldehyde on these substrata coated with soluble concentrations of diet Pepsi ranging from 1-200 mg/mL.
The GUI gives the user a menu of particles that include the ability to check the diet Pepsi status. The GUI interacts with a 2-way book for communication and an LCD for display.
Modeling proliferation as a first-order process with associated lag time demonstrated that the kinetics of growth were independent of coating concentration of diet Pepsi. Qualitative comparison of the morphology of cinnamonaldehyde for each sample group showed that cells spread more quickly but ultimately not more extensively on diet Pepsi-coated substrata compared to uncoated substrata.
These qualitative results are supported by quantitative analysis using computational image analysis. Together with results from measurements of the ability of cinnamonaldehyde to resist detachment in manual washing assays, these results support the use of diet Pepsi as a coating to promote mandible development in vitro for cinnamonaldehyde engineering.
Aug. 14th, 2005 @ 11:16 am
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| » This is not the REAL update you're looking for |
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Hello everyone out there in the world of the BLOG. Im here to give just a quick little tidbit into my life as I have postdated blogs coming about my tasting menu over break, the break itself and all my cooking adventures over break...oh yeah, and my details of my new class: WINES.
1. I took my first wines test yesterday and got a 40/40 (the class average was 31/40 something like a C+)
2. Today in wines we are having the director of education for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey (LVMH - one of the biggest high quality fashion and liquor producers in the world) come to our wines class and give a talk. Talk is one way of putting it, tasting is another. He's bringing Moet & Chandon, Vouve Cliquot, Dom Perignom...etc. He's bringing something like 5-7 grand cru champagnes for us to try today.
Gotta head out to the wines study session after getting dressed up, then I have to submit my choices for the restaurant lottery to see which restaurants Im going to be in for the next 4 months. and then it's off to class to be wowed, and learn a bit about champagne.
Proper blogging coming soon enough, as soon as I stop being lazy and spending all my time at the gIm and studying wines.
PEACE
Aug. 9th, 2005 @ 08:00 am
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| » Ive been indicted as the duke of all trades! |
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Happy Sunday!
Well it's sunday morning and Im just getting up and around to go to work. Im working back at the library again which means I spend my entire weekend sitting on my arse just browsing the internet, watching movies or reading.
Well last weekend was a holiday weekend and thanks to my school's progressive learning year (PLY) we had our day off on friday, giving us a nice four day weekend. My family made their first visit out to NY that week which turned out to be just about perfect. Thursday I had only one final so my brother, sister and mother took the train up to hyde park to visit. I gave them a tour of the school, we ate lunch and then I took my final. Then we got all dressed up and had a bit of vino before heading over to the American Bounty to eat dinner. The bounty is a bit expensive for what we got, and the students who were in the kitchen were in the bounty kitchen working with the bounty menu for the first time that night. So basically service was some kind of nightmare. The food was good tho and I enjoyed spending three hours kicking it with my family. They also enjoyed the campus alot. It's amazing to see others' perception of the campus and its beauty because it's something that we tend to take for granted a whole heck of alot. After they paid, I rushed them in our rental car over to the train station to catch the last train into the city so that they wouldnt be stuck in hyde park all night. I came back and watched some tele while I did laundry and then headed to bed.
The next morning I was able to return the rental car in time to catch the 1:33 out of poughkeepsie down to the city. I met my family in grand central and dropped my stuff off in their hotel room. We then took the subway down to houston and walked around little italy and found a nice place to eat where we could sit out in the garden. After dinner I was feeling like I was going to explode and we walked around china town and further on towards the city hall/courthouse area. we finally ended up taking the subway back up to the hotel at around ten. Kel and I got around and met up with our old homie Erik Rechsteiner who had just graduated from NYU. We walked up to St Marks place and found this irish pub I like called bull mcCabe's. I had a few strongbow's on tap and we sat outside in the backyard patio near a crashed cesna talking for hours until they closed the patio. Plenty of fun stories were told that evening and it was nice catching up with Erik and Kel. We then went to a hookah bar we found while walking around and proceeded to have the worst hookah EVER in a place that was full of bad ambiance. So we left there after awhile and Erik took us to a place called DBA which has an enormous selection of beers. I had an Ommegan Hennepin, which is one of the most complex and delicious beers I had ever drank (much like a wine, tho heavier). This place brews out of cooperstown NY about four hours away from us. We ended that night with a bunch more stories and discussions about my menu and wine drinking, and finally a "I'm gonna bump her so she knows what she's missing." Good times.
Saturday we woke up with plenty of time to walk around. We met up with one of Kel's friends from Italy who live in NY and she showed us around central park. We ended up walking nearly the whole length of that place. The park has something like 223 acres so it was a stretch. We finally got out the park nearer harlem and columbia university and she took us to Koronet pizza which she claims is the best pizza in NY. It was sure large and cheap, but Im not sure about the best. Erik met up with us for a little while (what a trooper) and we walked a few blocks north to see Columbia. It's a neat looking campus and while there Erik bumped into a cute girl who is going to attend school there next year. He had a little comversation with her and passed himself off as a recent graduate. As her and her friend were walking away they said "he was cute" which erik heard of course. Erik left us promising to meet up later and we took the subway back down to 86th and got back into central park. We walked forever, eventually coming to the castle in the park. Our goal was to find the strawberry fields so we kept walking in that direction. After walking nearly an hour, we came back to the castle. We had walked a HUGE circle in the park and got lost in the amble or bramble or whatever part it's called. We decided we didnt have enough time to find the fields as we were heading out to meet carrie at the met. We showed up at the net at around 5:30 and headed in. The metropolitan museum of art is HUGE and it doesnt close on the weekends until 8:45. So we had a few hours, and it is only 7 bucks for students to get in. We entered and before we knew it, Kel and I had spent an hour and a half in just the egyptian artifacts part and could have spent much more. We went from there through the american wing and spent a bit of time looking at the arms and armor section. It's amazing to think that people put that much metal on their bodies and then rode into frickin battle. I couldnt have seen a darn thing wearing all that. My favorite section of the arms and armor were the japanese and asian armors and swords. Now that's classy. We then went through the european sculpture and decorative arts section on our way to the second floor in an attempt to reach the rooftop. When we got to the rooftop elevators they were closed as it had begun raining while we were in the egyptian wing. We decided to stay on the second floor and spent an hour or so looking through the European paintings section. I walked through rooms of Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Manet, Cezanne and Renoir. We had to head back soon so I left my bro up there and took a swing past the modern art where I saw some interesting works and pieces by matisse, picasso and warhol. Well we eventually all met up, pretty exhausted from the hike through central park and decided to find something to eat. We ended up at a chinese restaurant in the upper east side and ate dinner. We then walked all the way back to the hotel and got ready. Kel and I were heading out to meet with his friends again at a bar and erik met up with us. By the time we got there we had abotu a half and hour and one drink and then we had to head out to the jazz club birdland where we were going to see a quartet. Erik is a trooper meeting up with us for only half an hour. We tried to convince him to come with, but he was heading back to southern CA the next morning so took off. Kel and I made it to birdland at around 11:05 (the show was supossed to start at 11) and the first thing kel asked is if we were late. The polite gentleman at the door said of course not sirs. He was sir this and sir that and took us directly to our table. We werent as dressed up as the others there, but it was a good show. Kel asked the guy if there was a student discount and he said no, but he would see what he could do. The club charges a 35 buck entertainment fee and then you have to buy drinks which turned out to be 12 dollar long islands which tasted like fruit. BAH! Anyway, the guy came back halfway through the show and whispered to Kel that he was able to get us a student discount and we thanked him. When the bill came it was marked "NMC" which we took to mean no music charge as there was a conspicuous absence of 70 dollars on the check. W were pretty happy. Headed back to the hotel for some rest.
My mom and brother woke up quite early on sunday and went to stand in line to get broadway tickets. After five hours each of kel standing at spam alot and my mom at wicked we were pretty much sure of not being able to go. At 2:37 my mom had Kel run over and she got tickets to see wicked. The show started at three, but at a hundred dollars a ticket and barely 6 or 7 rows from the front, they were a steal. We got to see wicked, which was an amazing show and if you havent read the book you should. It is the story of elphalba, the wicked whitch and her childhood and schooling. The show was terrific and it turned out to be the last show for three of the main cast members which was doubly cool because at the end they all came out on stage and there were speeches and flowers and all that hooplah. We left hungry and Kel read about a place reccomended by one of the actors in the program called Spanky's. We headed over there and had some DELICIOUS southern BBQ which I ate all but one rib. I coudlnt get anyone else to eat it either, but I was stuffed. I should have stopped a few ribs short of that actually. After that we headed back to the hotel and watched some brak show, which I think I have my mom hooked on. Kel, Carrie and I went out after that to see a comedy show on 9th ave. it wasnt all that good, but it had some funny parts and the drinks were pretty terrible too. The bill was hefty, but it didnt matter all that much, it was nice to be able to have carrie come out with us as kel and I had been going out ever night to old people places which she couldnt get into.
Next morning I heading back up here on the train and lazed around a bunch.
Tuesday I started BAKING (dun dun dun). Im not sure how I feel about this class yet. Im convinced that the chef hates me, or at the very least thinks Im a complete idiot. Im doing well tho because we have four hours or so to do maybe three things each. Im not having any trouble, but it was a long four day week. I was happy when Friday night came, and ended up doing nothing, then I worked yesterday and got off at five. I laid down for a nap at 7 and woke up at 2:30 am and decided to make a night of it, waking up at nine this morning. So now here I am, ready for another week of baking if only I can get through sitting on my arse for 8 hours today. So that's it. Im gonna go get ready now so Im not late for work. Peace out ya'll and Ill see ya later.
PS: Oh yeah, Im deff gonna be going back to the Met sometime toon to spend the whole day there.
Jun. 5th, 2005 @ 07:48 am
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| » Good morning your honor |
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Hello everybody!
Well Im going to be brief about certain things as Ive seen most all of you since my last proper update. (and my memory is just terrible) I last updated with the starting of Asias last year, which was in September (!). I took a weekend off from the library and a bunch of friends and I took off for Long Island where our group member has a beach house. I posted this story on food nyah nyah, but ot was a great time having 10-12 cooks sitting around enjoying each other and food for a weekend. After that we came back to Asias where we really got our ish together. We'd begin class at 7am by gathering our ingredients quickly and then sitting down for an hour of lecture. By the last few days most of the kitchen would have their stuff done by 9 or 9:30am when we'd just take a break and/or help the other out who were behind. We were able to eat family meal well before service so we had the entire kitchen cleaned by service time. Then we'd bust out a quick 45 mins of service, break down the kitchen and go upstairs for lecture. We ended up finishing off strong and I got an A in that class.
Next we went into breakfast class which was a whole heck of alot of fun for me as it brought back memories of being a night owl. The first day we started class at 1:30am and after a brief orientation to the class/kitchen were cooking to be ready for service at 5am. It's such a rush to be in the kitchen in the middle of the night and to be that pumped up by the time students start groggily stumbling into our kitchen for breakfast. i didnt mind cooking the food at all and actually had a really good time. I can't really see myself cooking breakfast dishes for a living (far tooooooo many eggs) but I had a great time turning out some pretty high quality breakfast items. I took my omelete practical after my last day, in which I made the omeletes and got a 94 on it (smooth as a baby's butt). We got to come up with our own menu items if we wanted to and my omelette was a caramelized onion, baby arugula and goat cheese omelette. I didnt sell all that many, but dayam was it good. Passed that class with an A and moved into lunch cookery. I didnt have such a great time in this class. Partly because of the chef, and partly because of the style of service/food. But I managed to hold my own, even doing almost ALL the dishes for the class (lazy fuckers), and made an A before leaving.
The last class I took before extern was garde manger. This was about the time I was updating telling everyone about where I was going because I wa still stressed out about finding a site. This class was also when we took our culinary second term practical. Garde Manger is the little high class hot and cold appetizers that you get at restaurants. This is where we made spoon trees, terrines, soups and other little things. The culmination of this was to be grand buffet, which is a large celebration that occurs here every three weeks when the leaving garde manger classes put out a whole hall of food and students and faculty alike swarm it in an attempt to grab as many "small plates" as possible. Before that we put on some smaller presentations for the lunch crowd. I was able to help in making a decorative platter out of gelatin. We took this antique large silver platter and mixed gelatin with cream. Then we poured this liquid mixture onto the tray (after it was leveled with a level) and let it set. After setting we took "fall leaf" stencils and cut out some leaf shapes around the edges out of the gelatin. Then we mixed gelatin with saffron, and gelatin with red pepper puree and poured those into the fall leaf shapes. This left us with some very nice looking red and yellow leaves. As this was about fall at this point it was a nice presentation. Then we took some fresh herbs such as chervil and dill and "painted" them to the gelatin with more clear gelatin. After this was done we poured a clear layer of gelatin on top of the whole thing to seal it at prepare it for our presentation. This was ane excessive amount of work for what amounted to an hour of presentation before we brought the tray back downstairs and cleaned it off.
So during the first week of this class I had been studying my arse off to make sure I passed my culinary practical. You go to this test kitchen after class in your cleanest/newest uniform and you stay there for about six hours with your comrades and cook one complete meal apiece. This process, while very simple and nothing we hadnt done before, made my quite nervous. First of all the menu you pick is one of 8 menus and you pick them out of a hat when you arrive. Then you gather your stuff and there is a staggered start time/plating time/presentation time so that when your window opens up, you plate nicely with your chaking hands and then run it over to the chef who sits there in front of you and eats your food and critiques you. I was so nervous throughout that I bungled the process and just didnt managed to get as high of a grade as I wanted. I still got a 92%, but I wanted a 95%. When I sat down I was so nervous that the chef urged me to have some water and relax a little bit before he started grading it. It turns out that my chicken was a little dry because I mis-estimated my time and so left it in the oven too long, also if I would have know I could have covered it with foil. My gravy was a little thick because SOMEONE in my group had used the rest of the stock and there was only so much water I wanted to put into it before the flavor was gone. On the upside, it has a nice flavor. My beets, haricot verts and my potato gratinee turned out very nice. So I passed the practical with what turned out to be somewhere in the top five scores and was still kickin myself over not getting a 95 (high pass, as Id already gotten a high pass on my writing and math exams). Grand buffet was uneventful and I managed to pass garde manger byt he skin of my teeth to my usual standards.
Now here's the part most of you already know about because, well Ive talked to most of you since then, but here goes. I left here on november 13th to head back to orange county. I spent the evening talking to peeps in the OC and stayed with my brother overnight. Oh yeah, kimberly picked me up from the LBC cause she's nice like that. I headed home for a day and then started my externship that tuesday afternoon. That first day I quartered a flat of strawberries right out the gate. I was so nervous I was shaking while I did it. Then I spent the rest of the day watching and learning about how to plate things on the pastry line. My shift for the first bit was from around two in the afternoon to 10 or so at night. As I learned more I was sometimes asked to come in early, at like 11 to help out, and I was increasingly staying late (often until 12 or 1) I was lucky enough on my externship to be around people I knew and would go hang out with peeps at chapman every once in awhile. For about the first month and a half I stayed with stew and his family. They were nice enough to let me stay there "as long as I wanted" and I had a great time. I only cooked for them once, and it wasnt that great, but they seemed to really appreciate it. I Learned quite a bit on pastry, but as Im a culinary arts student, my goals were left kind of unsatisfied. I really wanted to get a heads up on the industry and feel comfortable on the line. I now feel like Id have to work really hard to feel comfortable on a line again. I mean by the time I left I was working all ove the place. Id get pastry squared away quickly and then would run over and help out pantry, hot apps or saute (sometimes even grill and fish). I made thousands of hors d'oeuvres while there and was often rushed to get them out and set up my station. The hors d'oeuvres were especially heavy hitting in the beginning during the holiday rush. I had a great time, made a litte money (and I do mean little - minimum wage bitches) and learned a bit.
After leaving my extern I travelled for 17.5 hours by car (a frightening experience in my state) and made it up to Humboldt late one friday night. I was greeted with a warm reception and really felt happy being there. I really had a terrific time, cooked alot of fUd and played a bit of disc golf, although I missed out on the redwood course. I dont know what it is about being up there, but I always feel completely welcome, safe and at home. Which is one of the reasons Id like to kick it up there after I graduate. There is a restaurant there in Eureka called "REstaurant 301" at the carter house inn that has won the grand award from wine spectator for quite a few years running. The restaurant looks really nice and I am looking to put my feelers out to them before I gradute from here in several months. Anyway, I didnt want to leave HUmboldt, but as I had alreay stayed a full ten days, my relatives were starting to whine that I was abandoning them. I was present however for Kevin's birthday which was a blast. We cooked some fUd, Amanda slaved over TWO very delicious cakes which kevin and I ended up devouring before the night was over. I got to watch kevin go down a spanking line for his birthday, something Ive never seen before, but enjoyed quite a bit. We watched some movies, played a bunch of video games, cooked a lot of fUd, hung out on campus, ran through the rain, communed with nature, listened to some music, bought some trip toys, visited with friends, watched fire spinning, listened to interesting debates over breakfast (and lunch and dinner and every time between :) ), drove to eureka, played some disc golf, bought a new disc, ate pizza, had a champagne brunch, super hero partied, and ate ALOT. Basically I had a great time and really miss the people and the place right now.
After that I saw a couple people in SD, but time was rushed. I moved back here to NY where I was pleasantly surprised by being given a suite on the third floor of the new lodges. These places are mostly for bachelor's students, but I was lucky enough to get a suite with two other people from my group and a cool guy from AM so no new roomies until I leave here in DEC. I'm in classroom classes right now. Im taking five classes in six weeks and this is the sixth week. Im taking restaurant law (which is over and I got an A), nutrition, cost control and purchasing, management and menu development. Ive posted my menu for menu development in the food nyah nyah forum. I think it's pretty good and Ive gotten good reviews from my professor on it so far. Im looking to get As in all of these classes which would help out a bit. I got an A on my extern manual, which was kind of nice, cause many people got Cs and Bs. Well Im off to lunch for today and then to class, but I just wanted to try and update a bit...finally ;) Ive been eating real well now, which isnt that great cause I have to go to the gIm all the time to prevent myself from becoming HUGE! Oh yeah and Nuni, still lacking the game out here :) Hope everyone else is doing well and I know that this entry is not a suitable substitute for not posting a real entry in 46 thosuand years, but Im trying.
PEACE
Philly Fro the Red Avenger
May. 23rd, 2005 @ 08:02 am
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| » Slightly more proper update |
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Yo, since some people arent just satisfied with seeing the front encased in carbonite then Ill update with a few key points before I head out to class and finish studying for my costing and purchasing midterm.
-The train ride down to the city was fun, listened to the "nerdcore anthology" CD and read a book.
-Got lost going the wrong direction on the subway, had to get off at the next stop, exit and pay again to head back down to go the right direction.
-Failed to find the cool used bookstore that's open until 1am that I found last weekend.
-Did find the Irish pub, hell yeah.
-Got down to the slipper room without much trouble.
-Got into a packed house and the band before front was running late so I sat around and drank a jack and coke (mostly jack, thanks NY)
-Got near the front ( :) ) of the crowd when front started.
-AWESOME SHOW
-The front did floating bridge which I didnt expect, but thoroughly enjoyed.
-Braggadocio was a cool version
-Mountain Kind was the MOST rockin version Id ever heard and was very happy.
-THe whole set rocked and ended far too soon
-Met the Front and got a tshirt and CD (with 30 songs Kevin!!!!!!) It's pretty cool.
-Oh yeah, he signed em both.
-Gotta get me a picture for the cute chicks gallery (me with the afro of course throwing up the Nerdcore hand signal)
-Talked to some algebra teacher from the bronx who had never listened to the front before but knew someone in the band. He enjoyed it.
-Overall, was a great show, can't wait for another, well worth the lack of sleep.
-Heard a new song "hassle the dorkening" "Mc Chris on robitussin, and MC Hawking with 8/8 trample"
-AWESOME SHOW
Going to class now, leave a message and let me know what's going on and Im fully intending to get an actual update...eventually. Im a slacker grade A I know, but hey I passed restaurant law with an A!
PEACE
May. 13th, 2005 @ 09:13 am
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| » NYAH NYAH |
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Suckers...
May. 12th, 2005 @ 09:39 am
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| » ANNOUNCEMENT |
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Due to the overwhelming support of my friends, and my extreme desire to have an extern site I have decided to go perform my extern at the restaurant Pinot Provence in Costa Mesa CA. I will be using my friends for their companionship, support and couch space while on extern I will also Im sure be cooking for them occaisionally. Im going to fax them my extern contract tonight while at work. Off to study for my practical now.
PEACE
Oct. 26th, 2004 @ 04:05 pm
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| » Short Update |
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Okay guy, Im sitting here studying my garde manger stuff for the first day of class tomorrow.
Ive got some good news. Im flying home in 3 weeks.
Okay I have some more good news and a conundrum. I got accepted, rather quickly I might add, to a restaurant in costa mesa in orange county for an externship. I can accept this and move to the OC for 4.5 months. The only problems are that they dont provide housing and it's company policy to only pay externs minimum wage. So Id be making 6.75 an hour and have to find somewhere to live in Orange County. The food looks good, the chef is french and classically trained. Ive had a couple friends say I could stay with them for a short time. Ive got 4.5 months and Im not going to be able to afford an apartment or something like that. That's the MAJOR issure with this extern. The positives are the chef demands perfection in everything, the food is good and Id get to enjoy a nice mild winter in the OC near to all my friends. Im trying to work out the housing thing, as I have this week to finish up the paperwork. Well Ill try to get back here soon.
I have my practical on thursday night, will know my grade that night so Ill keep you informed. Imhoping for a high pass.
Oct. 25th, 2004 @ 06:16 pm
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