Fondant Madness

Birthdays...is there really anything more fun than celebrating birthdays with friends and family? In my short year of making cakes on a professional level I have realized that, while there is fun in making the cake, the reaction and joy that the cake brings is the real fun. It makes me feel like I have added a little bit of magic and surprise to someones day. I decided that my gift to my friend Shay for her birthday would be a cake made to look like a gift. I bought all the ingredients for a double layer Devils Food cake with chocolate and honey butter cream frosting. I told myself that I had 5 hours to finish the cake from start to finish...and at 8:00pm I was off! I whipped up those cakes and got them into the oven as quickly as I could, next came mixing up the buttercream frosting, and finally I got to start the decorations. First came the pink fondant that I rolled out and cut strips to make the ribbon that would act as the bow on top of the gift. After that I laid them over rolled up computer paper sheets to get the shape. I then dove into my moms 5 jars of cookie cutters to find just the right flowers for the 'wrapping paper'. Thankfully I found what I was looking for after only 2 jars. With powdered sugar in my hair and chocolate dribbles on my feet from making the ganache in the buttercream, I pulled the cakes out of the oven to let cool. I then assembled the cake and decorated it as quickly as I could, because the fondant was drying very quickly. I was so proud of the end result I emailed a picture of it to just about everyone. I could not wait for the reveal of the cake the next day...I felt like an anxious kid on Christmas Eve night waiting for Santa. The cake was a success and most importantly I made it in 4 hours...hopefully a good sign that this hobby could actually become a side career. At midnight I headed off to bed with a very calming sense of accomplishment. Shay loved the cake which made the whole process special. It wasn't just a cake, it was a symbol of celebration for a very special friend.

boy meets girl

Weddings, weddings, weddings...faced with the task of making desserts for a bridal shower, that are more impressive than Sprinkles cupcakes. Not always an easy task as I am a loyal and devoted fan of this designer cupcake, but I got my creative juices flowing. Mrs. Dixon and I decided on small bunt cakes...chic and very trendy. As I got to thinking about the bunt cakes I felt that they needed just a little something special and this is what I came up with...



I made little wedding dresses out of white rolling fondant, painted it with edible pearl powder, and finished them off with little edible pearls. I made them a day before and let them dry overnight. Thanks again to the Dixon family for being my biggest fans!

Dr. Pepper dreaming...

Having had a few months out of the foodie blog-o-sphere, I am ready to come back with vengeance. The holiday season is almost upon us and with the onset of cooler weather finally setting in, I can almost smell the pumpkin pie and peppermint bark in the air. However, lets not get ahead of ourselves…after all Halloween candy and trickery-treats deserve their moment under the cool harvest moon as well.

The Celtic culture found hope in Groundhog Day; the appearance of that one groundhog gives hope to the end of harsh winters and the onset of sweet spring. In a foodie’s world, the spotting of the first pumpkin is like seeing that groundhog. It means the end of hot sticky days of summer and melting fondant are over, thus the real creativity begins.

I have recently been inspired by the idea of homecoming, particularly homecoming in the deep south. Homecoming isn’t just about catching up with old friends; it’s the mums, the parade, the school spirit, the perfect answer to the question “what have you been up to?” (the most haunting question for any recent graduate), and of course the crème de la crème: the football game. Now at my almamater there is an almost sickly obsession with Dr. Pepper; to the point where every Wednesday afternoon there were free Dr. Pepper floats in the student union building. A tradition that we Bears are extremely proud to call our own. I recently have been re-introduced to the Dr. Pepper cake…yes, yes; if we can deep fry Dr. Pepper you better believe someone put it in a cake. Before you knock this slightly odd confection, I will say as a lover of sweets and a pastry chef that the cake is light and chocolaty with hints of cinnamon. The chocolate/Dr. Pepper butter cream frosting is, well, positively mouthwatering. Here is my favorite recipe…



Cake…
1 cup butter
1 cup Dr. Pepper (this is no time to use diet)
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cup flour
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

-heat the butter, Dr. Pepper, and cocoa powder together until the butter melts and you have a lusciously chocolaty mixture
-cream together eggs, sugar, buttermilk, baking soda, and chocolate mixture
-finally add the cinnamon, vanilla, and flour
-makes two round cakes (9x12), bake at 350 degrees F, and bake fro about 25 minutes

Dr. Pepper Frosting…
½ cup butter
½ cup Dr. Pepper
6 tbsp cocoa powder
Confectioner’s sugar (just add enough to get the constancy you want ~2 cups)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

-heat the butter, cocoa powder, Dr. Pepper, and blend well
-stir in the other ingredients
*you could also blend in a block of cream cheese to make it into a cream cheese frosting
-decorate with nuts on top or on the sides

To my fellow foodie’s I will tell you to always live life filled with sweet notes rich in tradition and history.

Where do you like to shop and eat? London calling...

Disclaimer: The beauty of London is that on almost any street you walk down there will inevitably be a boutique or restaurant you didn’t realize you couldn’t live without. These are just a few of my personal suggestions of places I enjoy.


Le Entrocote-on Maryelbone Lane
(tell the taxi driver the north end; the closest tube stop is Bond Street)
Ok, so, there are 3 of these restaurants in the world (London, Barcelona, and Paris) and they only serve one thing: steak, fries, covered in a secret sauce that will change your life it is so good! The story goes that these two sisters had a big argument about the restaurant and how to run it, so they split up. Their father made up this secret steak sauce and told it to his daughters on his deathbed...the two sisters are the only ones who know the recipe. In a nut-shell that is the story behind the restaurant, according to a friend of mine. There is usually a line and it is a little bit pricier, but if you want a night out with great food go there...trust me its worth it. For 4 of us it was about 35 each Euro for dinner including 1 bottle of red wine and you get two helpings of steak and fries. This is one of my favorites by far in London.

*La Fromagerie-www.lafromagerie.co.uk
A very cute cheese and bread shop, and it is worth a stop in. Great place for a snack if you are anywhere near Oxford Street and they also have tastings parties. According to our cheese connoisseur at Le Cordon Bleu it is one of the best cheese shops in Europe. Hard as it is to believe this guy actually has a degree in food history specializing in cheese, so he knows his cheese.

*Books for Cooks
www.booksforcooks.com
(4 Blenheim Crescent, Notting Hill London W11 1NN)
Just off Portobello Road, this bookshop has hundreds of cookbooks. In the back they have a cafe that only serves one thing everyday: a home-made soup, fresh baked bread, and about 5 different cakes all of which comes from the cookbooks sold in the store. They stop serving lunch at 2pm, but if you are going to Portobello Road it is a great lunch or great coffee break. Books for Cooks is also very affordable.

Royal China Club
www.royal.chinagroup.co.uk
(40-42 Baker St. London W1U 7AJ)
If you are looking for VERY authentic Chinese food this is the place to go. You can eat a lot for a very good price. I have always had great service and the food is fresh. It is also a great place to try something a little different. The pork buns are my favorite.

Tomoe
62 Marylebone Ln. London W1U 2PB
www.tome-london.co.uk
If you go here you absolutely must get the "black cod dish" it will blow your mind!

The Kensington Creperie
2 Exhibition Road South Kensington London SW7 2HF
www.kensingtoncreperie.com
In the highly coveted area of South Kensington this local cafe fills up fast, but the wait is usually not too long (15 min tops). My friends and I would go there every Sunday. This is a wonderful brunch place and is only about a 1-2 min walk from the Victoria and Albert Monument, Hyde Park, and all of the major museums. I would recommend getting one sweet crepe and one savory crepe...they are big and great to share!

Caldesi (tuscan restaurant and cookery school)
15-17 Marylebone Lane London W1U 2NE)
www.caldesi.com
Café Caldesi has a casual dining room downstairs and a fancy dining room upstairs. The food is very fresh and authentic. It is a very fun place to take an Italian cooking class and meet people from all over the world. This also happens to be just behind Le Cordon Bleu!

The Fat Duck
If you can get a reservation here then you should definitely go, but when I was in London they had a 6 month waiting list...it is delicious.

The St. James Restaurant at Fortnum and Mason
www.fortnumandmason.com
A great place for high tea...it is a bit pricy. If you go around a mealtime it is more than enough food to be a meal and then some. Also, they do not tell you this, but if you want more of anything just ask because re-fills of tea and food is free. Great atmosphere!

The Golden Hind
73 Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2PN, United Kingdom
The best fish, chips, and mushy peas in London...it is an absolute must if you go to London. The restaurant has been there forever and is practically and institution. Keep and eye out because many famous Londoners tend to eat there. They also have a great Greek salad.

La Duree
http://www.laduree.fr/public_en/maisons/londres_accueil.htm
French Macaroons...if I could eat these every day I would. These are my personal favorite.

The Orangerie
http://www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonpalace/cafesandrestaurants.aspx
In Hyde Park this place is wonderful for breakfast or High Tea...it is located just behind Kensington Palace. They converted the Kensington Palace green house into a cafe with little orange trees on every table. It’s really cute and very good...it is also close to the Princess Diana memorial. I would recommend coming here for breakfast or high tea.

Beach Blanket Babylon
http://www.beachblanket.co.uk/home.html
Ok don't let the name scare you...this is one of the coolest restaurants in the city as far as atmosphere goes. It is located in Notting Hill and was the official restaurant for London Fashion Week. I would HIGHLY recommend this place, even if it is just for dessert or cocktails. As a side note, make sure to find your own taxi from the restaurant. When I was there, there happen to be some men trying to get us to use their ‘taxi’ service. Something to be careful of anywhere in the city, make sure to only take the iconic black taxis.

Brick Lane Market
I personally have not been here yet, but all of my friends are obsessed with it. Brick Lane apparently has the best Indian curries in the city...all of the restaurant owners will try to get you to come into their establishment, so walk around a little bit to find the best price on dinner.

The Muffin Man
12 Wright’s Lane London W8 6TA, UK
In South Kensington just off Kensington High Street, I would go get a Banana Toffee muffin. It’s also a great place to grab some tea or coffee in the afternoon

Hummingbird Cupcakes
http://hummingbirdbakery.com
The main one is on Portobello road...if you go on a Saturday try the chocolate beetroot cupcake. There is always a long line on Saturday, but it is worth the wait!

HIX
http://www.hixsoho.co.uk
Located in Soho it is the hottest bar and restaurant in the city, it is the place to see and be seen (or it was in March of 2010). I have only had a drink there, but the food is suppose to be great.

Comptoir
http://www.lecomptoir.co.uk/
Great Lebanese food! The atmosphere is fun and vibrant. On my way home from school I would get a Pomegranate Lemonade every night. They also have really neat straw beach bags lining the walls. I know that doesn’t seem unique, but you absolutely must see it in person.

The Lanesborough Hotel
http://www.lanesborough.com/?PS=EAME_aa_Starwood_NWE-1435_Google%20US_lanesborough.com_04/23/10#culinary_experience/afternoon_tea
To be honest this is one of the most fabulous places I have ever been in my life. They have great high tea, a gorgeous garden room for breakfast, a traditional English bar, and a great new restaurant for afternoon and evening. It is directly behind Buckingham Palace and would be a great place to grab breakfast before going to see the changing of the guards.

Fun Shops:
Portobello Road:
Things to look out for: micro-mosaic broaches- they are absolutely beautiful and made in Italy in the 1920's; cashmere wraps and scarfs-on Portobello Road you actually get an amazing deal with very high quality

Fortnum and Mason-Things to look out for: picnic baskets, they happen to be famous for their iconic picnic baskets

Walking down St. Christopher's St.: this little oasis is just off of Oxford Street near Bond Street tube station...here are my directions just as you pass H&M you will see a small opening just wide enough for 1 or 2 people to get through, that is the entrance to a very cute little street with great cafes and shops...there is also a clock on Oxford street just in front of the entrance that says "St. Christopher's" on it; from St. Christopher's St. I would walk down Thayer Street, they have great little boutiques and it is the road that connects Oxford Street to Maryelbone High Street

Harrods-its just neat to go in and look at everything
Lulu Guinnes: a famous London based designer, has great clutches and handbags

Jo Malone: great place to get a facial or massage

The Branch: jewelry carved from wood

Shout Out to my Class!

This week my original class in London had their superior cuisine event. Everything looked beautiful and I am so proud of them! Congrats you guys! Lots of love from Texas!

All I can think is to keep adding powdered sugar!

I am very blessed to have my family and friends constantly supporting me in this venture I have chosen to take on in my post-grad years. My dear friend Shay has a work event that she is putting on and being a great believer in me, she asked me to make the dessert. I decided that catering is how I am going to use my culinary skill for now and that I am going to limit that scope to only friends and family until I get more experience and can decide on a name. Trying to seem like a trained professional I sent her an email with different options. I decided to have her over for a tasting of two cakes: 1. orange chocolate cake, which is completely decadent and rich 2. peach and pecan cake with homemade dulce de leche buttercream frosting, need I say more...it is delicious. Shay, and just about everyone else who came over that week, fell in love with the peach and pecan cake...I mean who wouldn't right? So off I went to make 40 cupcakes for the event that was occurring in 24 hours. I think it is important to make things fresh...dry cake is disgusting! That night I stayed up watching old I Love Lucy reruns and made 50 cupcakes. I decided that I could make the frosting in the morning and let the cupcakes cool overnight. I woke up early the next morning to start making the dulce de leche for the buttercream, which isn't hard at all it just has to cook on the stove for about an hour and then fully cool before you can use it. By noon the dulce de leche had cooled and the butter was just soft enough to use. I got out my Kitchen Aid mixer and went to town with butter, dulce de leche, powered sugar, and some vanilla, and praying the entire time that the buttercream wouldn't split causing me to start all over. T-2 hours before delivery and the frosting is not holding, thus not enabling me to pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes. I yell for my mom and all we can think is to add as much powdered sugar as possible to the frosting without harming the taste. Cup after cup of powered sugar and it is still not holding...T-1 hour and 30min! I calm myself down and think about my options...the refrigerator is my last chance to get it to hold! I throw the frosting into the refrigerator for 30min. It is holding much better now, but still not quite the firmness I needed to feel completely confident that the frosting would not melt. T-1 hour at this point and I just needed to go for it. I piped 6 cupcakes at a time and kept the frosting in the refrigerator in between groupings. The frosting is holding! The cupcakes look beautiful and they are safely in the freezer to let them firm up. I kept one cupcake out to make sure it would hold at room temperature and sure enough it did. I whisked over to Shay's parents house to drop off the cupcakes...what a rush of accomplishment! I felt like I was on Food Network Cupcake War's! With frosting in my hair, I had successfully finished my first event. Thank you Shay for putting your faith in me!

Summer Dinner

Mom called and she does not have time to make dinner...which means that is up to me! Being home for the summer has made cooking a lovely luxury for me. I figure that now, when I have the opportunity to cook,

I should pull out all the stops. I am a trained chef after all. On the menu tonight is a salad of Heirloom tomatoes and red onion with salt, pepper, and olive oil. The infamous rack of lamb dish during which I so brutally burned my hand while cooking at school in London and red wine risotto with peas. I may have gone a little crazy at Whole Foods, but the end result was worth it. Everything looked beautiful and we ended up eating off of that meal for the next few days.

Can she really cook?

The answer to that question will be in the hands of the friends and family who have gotten to eat a few of my dishes. The French macaroon cookie and the creme brulee seem to be the dishes of choice thus far in showing off my new found skill set. My first dish at home was steak with peppercorn sauce along side perfectly piped herb potatoes. A sweet ending to the meal was a cold lemon souffle with my newly learned fanciful touches. Next the pressure was on for me to re-create the Lemon Sole dish I had as my final exam. With an inevitable need for a dinner party to occur in the near future looming over my head, I felt the need to have a "soft opening" shall we say. So I had just a few close friends over for dinner. On the menu...chicken with a mushroom cream-sauce, deep fried mashed potatoes, and of course vanilla bean creme brulee. The vanilla bean creme brulee definitely was the show stopper of the evening. I must say that it was quite different cooking in a kitchen where someone wasn't yelling at me with an accent and that I really had all the time I needed. I think that my friends and family will be reaping the rewards of my cooking labors...and of course I am loving every minute! As my neighbor in London, Sam would say "Sarah lets just face it...you just want to throw fabulous dinner parties!".

A closing to a wonderful adventure...

Well everyone I finished and am now a chef! Last week we had our practical finals, which were so intense, and this week we had our written exams. For our practical we had to memorize a bunch of recipes and right before we entered the kitchen we drew a number out of a hat to a corresponding recipe. You have a set amount of time to finish your dish, if you go over time you basically fail automatically. Needless to say it was very stressful. For cuisine I made Lemon Sole..even filleted my own fish! For pastry I made the Lemon Tart. Both test went well and I am very happy that they are over. I have been through countless recipes and can create almost anything from scratch...down to the butter.
We all went out to celebrate at Nobu on Tuesday night. Nobu is a very famous Japanese restaurant and we had an incredible 6 course meal.
We have graduation of Friday and then I have one last week in London. I am very sad to be leaving and will miss all of the people I have become very close friends with over the last few months. Then I will be headed off to Spain (if British Airways doesn't go on strike) to see Naomi for a week. Back to London for one more night...then its homeward bound.
London has opened my eyes to many things, especially macaroon cookies that I am now obsessed with! Most importantly I have learned that with every bend in the road and every leap of faith comes new friends, adventures, and life experiences that cannot be surpassed. This has been a incredible journey and learning experience. I know that cooking will always be a part of my life and this has made me even more passionate then I was before. Thank you to all my friends and family for supporting me in this wonderful adventure!

Sweetbreads...need I say more...

Well family and friends I am sorry to say that last week we entered the world of sweetbreads. For those of you who are wondering why I would be sad about that, sweetbread is not bread that is sweet...sweetbreads are liver, kidney, brains, and other organs that in my opinion should not be consumed. To be quite honest it takes a ridiculous amount of preparation and they don't really taste all that good. The famous liver and onions was the dish I had to cook, I did try it...but "ewh gross!". I think that will be my first and last time to try sweetbreads. Thankfully we have moved onto shellfish. Pastry has been fun, we are baking lots of cakes and we have gotten to do some chocolate work, like ribbons and curls.
Shellfish was an interesting venture...as Julia Child would say, "you must confront the animal...no fear" and boy was she right. I entered the demonstration kitchen and the bowl on the counter was making noise and moving. Yes, you guess it...just like jello...ITS ALIVE! To all those who are thinking about attempting to make something with crab, well word to the wise, let your butcher do the work. Many cuts from the shell and little meat to show for the effort, I decided that should I ever open a restaurant crab will not be on the menu.
Last weekend Melissa and I went to Paris and we had a blast. I will say though, whoever thinks Paris is warmer than London is very much mistaken. Paris was FREEZING!!!! We arrived on Saturday morning and left Sunday night. We did everything; Notre Dame, Sacred Heart Church, La Duree (famous for their macaroon cookies), Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and last but not least segway tour! A segway is like a big scooter that you can just ride around on the sidewalks. We had so much fun! We went early Sunday morning, so there were not a ton of people out and about yet. When we got to the Louvre we were able to just ride around all the gardens and glass pyramids, so fun. Around 5 on Sunday we decided to head to the train station; little did we know that we were in for one last adventure. We get to Paris Nord station and there is a super long line to get through security. Well we wait in line for about 30 min and the line did not move and inch. One of the station managers moves the line outside of the train station (yes into the freezing cold) and told us to wait. Of course its France, so no one tells you what is going on. Thankfully there was a very nice couple in front of us, who told us that their had been a security threat and that all the trains were delayed. Three hours of waiting in line later we finally got through security. Needless to say we missed our train (and the 3 after ours). Finally around midnight we got back to London. Word to the wise, don't leave a bag on the train...it will cause major delays and there will be many unhappy people. Melissa and I did have a wonderful time, and we got a great story out of it!
Naomi came into town on Thursday night and I was so excited to see her! Well very early Friday morning I get food poisoning. Ironically, I had just learned about how to prevent food poisoning the day before in class. So sadly Naomi had to go out on her own most of the weekend, while I was sick. I obviously did not go to class on Friday. Come to find out later that day there were about 7 people missing from my class and we all had the same thing. We are not completely sure what it was that we all ate, but we are together like 10-12 hours a day, so it could have been anything. I have two practical exams tomorrow and I am hoping I can just stand up long enough to get through them. I only have about 2 weeks left of school and that is so crazy to me.

So many options for titles...

So many things have happened in the past week it is almost impossible to choose a title for this blog. At the beginning of the week we learned how to make different soups, including crab bisque. Well as many of you I am sure can imagine we used the giant king crab. The crab was most definitely alive and everyone freaked out when it had to go into the boiling water...a priceless moment in demonstration class. It reminded me so much of the scene in Julie and Julia when Julie has to put the lobster in the boiling water and freaks out. Definitely a defining culinary school moment.
Pastry this week definitely became more challenging. We made Madeline's, lemon cake, pistachio cake (which is amazing), chocolate hazelnut cake, and marzipan decorations. For the madeline cookies we had to grease our pans with butter and apparently I put at little too much butter to the point where they were sticking to the molds. You also have to turn them out when they are hot and just out of the oven, otherwise it will be impossible to get them out. Well after my head pastry chef was literally banging the tray of the cookies onto the marble countertops to try to get them out we resorted to using a knife and spoon to get my 16 madeline cookies out of the molds. It was pretty humorous having two of us smacking my hot trays against the countertop over and over. After that fiasco they were a little too dense, but whatever everyone at the dorm ate them in like 5 seconds...so they must not have been that bad. The next day was chocolate cake which turned out wonderfully...minus the fact that I looked like I had been attacked by chocolate and cocoa powder at the end of the day on Friday.

For the past two weeks I have noticed at night there is an animal that gives off a very high pitch screaming sound every few minutes all night long. I never really figured it out, because I just assumed it was someones super annoying dog. Well come to find out in the courtyard behind where I live is a female fox. In case you were wondering, yes, it is mating season...and yes, they sound like a girl screaming when they make their "call". I decided to google it and here is what I found..."Q:I live quite close to london and therefore have quite a lot of foxes where I live. It's quite often that I am kept up all night with the sound of them making a horrendous screaming noise which really freaks me out as it sounds so similar to a childs scream!"
A"The scream is a contact call, used by one fox to locate another. It is used particularly often by a vixen calling for a mate during the breeding season, so you may hear it more often in late winter or early spring. The foxes you hear aren't fighting or in pain, so don't worry." If it continues for another week I think that fox better watch its back, because our dorm is getting quite irritated.
My cousin Melissa came into town on Thursday and we have been very busy doing various London things. On Friday night we went to a very famous restaurant next to my school that only serves steak and french fries with their secret sauce. We all knew it must be good because there is seriously a line out the door every single night for hours. Don't worry it was AMAZING! I will most definitely be going there again. On Saturday we did Portobello Market, Covent Garden, and the London Eye. At Covent Garden Tube stop we were warned on the tube that the lifts were not working and that we should just stay on and get off one tube stop up. Well we decided that we would go ahead and get off at Covent Garden and take the stairs. At the base of the stairs it said "emergency stairs, this staircase has 193 steps"...we thought it would be fine, but let me tell you that 193 stairs is about 9 flights and our legs were burning all 193 spiraling steps. Next time we will listen to the tube conductor.
Chinese New Year was on Sunday, so one of my friends from school took about 5 of us out for legitimate dim sum. We had all the traditional dishes served on Chinese New Year. She ordered for all of us and we ate SO well! I tried lots of new foods...including chicken feet, which I must say I still have not made up my mind about. Then we went off to China town where we saw dragon dancers and tons of Chinese lanterns strung across all the streets. On our way back we decided to walk through Harrods for about and hour. I have my big roast chicken test on Tuesday, so everyone pray that it goes well.

I heart the butcher!

My puff pastry turned out wonderfully, I know many of you were concerned! Haha! I guess the third time really is the charm when it comes to making pastry dough. I walked through Hyde Park last week on my way to class and I got to see some of the Royal Horsemen (I do not know their official title) training their horses in the park. It was really cool.

Well in cuisine we have ventured into the wonderful and frightening world of meat from large animals. Last week I walked into the demo room and there was a rather large mass wrapped up in paper sitting on the counter...it was a lamb (dont worry not with the head or fur). We learned how to make rack of lamb and how to essentially butcher a lamb. I have mixed feelings about the process. During our practical we had to "French bone" the ribs...this is when I learned to appreciate my butcher SO much more! It is actually really hard and takes quite a while to do. The practical test on rack of lamb was not my best, because I burned my hand pretty bad on a pot. I wont go into detail, but lets just say that my hand blistered up quite quickly and I was almost in tears. For those of you who know me, know that for me to almost cry means I thought I was going to die it hurt so bad! After that I still had 6 hours of school left and a test on a pear pastry..which is delish. My classmates were so wonderful and helped me though the practical since I only had my left hand to use the entire time.
Saturday was great, I met some friends from school at an amazing Asian restaurant. After lunch we did a little shopping and just hung out. Sunday I went to my friend Jasmines flat, we have gotten to be good friends, and we cooked away for about 6 hours. It was so nice to be in someones home and to get to practice a bunch of things that will be on our midterm.
I did not have to start until later in the afternoon today, so I was able to do a little sightseeing and exploring for a few hours. We learned how to cook different cuts of beef in class and we made a roast for our practical test...it was my dinner and a tasty one. Sadly I forgot to bring home a knife and fork...so as barbaric as it was, I just ate it with my hands!

Are you in love? Because this is salty...

Today we made puff pastry from scratch and crepes. My friend Allison made some crepes that apparently were very salty. The chef asked her if she was in love, because apparently women in love over salt their food. It was pretty funny. For me today was not the best. My first attempt at puff pastry was a fail, because I used the wrong flour. Attempt number two I ended up not adding enough water and the dough completely crumbled when I tried to fold in the butter block (literally a block) into it. Finally on attempt number 3, I got it right. My crepes were coming along quite well and was my saving grace for the day...I had them perfectly plated with my citrus sauce. I turned around to grab something off the stove and apparently the saran wrap had rolled off the shelf behind me, hit my crepe plate and off the counter it fell. My crepes obviously ruined and the plate shattered into about 100 pieces. Thankfully I did have one crepe left over, so I ended up presenting that one. It definitely was not my best one, but it had good flavor. I didn't dare ask my grade for the day haha! After 7 hours of class I grabbed an afternoon snack with my friend before heading back to my dorm. It was a nice way to unwind from the craziness of the day. I am getting excited, because my cousin Melissa is coming to visit me in a few weeks and my college roommate Naomi is coming for a few days. I cant wait to see them!

"You smell like Christmas dinner!"

Earlier this week I had to roast a chicken, make mashed potatoes, broccoli, and all the trimmings. It really wasn't too hard, which was nice. Well I had been in a hot kitchen with 10 other people making the same thing I was...obviously I smelled like chicken dinner. I got on the tube around 7:30 on Tuesday and it was quite crowded. There was a young business man standing next to me and about 5 seconds into our trip he said "well you just smell like Christmas dinner!"...haha awesome, just what I wanted to hear. Needless to say two showers and two days later I still smell like garlic.
Yesterday was quiche day and fruit tart day! Yum! It was really fun and I learned how to make the crust from scratch...which I have never made before. My teacher had just come from the school in Paris and did not speak English very well. Thankfully the guy I happened to be next to that day has his degree in French, so he translated for me. The chef was so nice, I just had no idea what he was saying half the time. Well this quiche has enough butter to clog all the arteries in your body and the filling had straight up heavy cream. I decided it would not be a good idea to take this home with me. I always see a few homeless people in the tube on my way home. Of course the one day I want to get rid of something they are not there. At my tube stop I finally saw one and gave him the quiche. He was very grateful. He did ask me if it would still be good in an hour because that is when he got off...sweet, I just gave my quiche to a professional beggar. Oh well, maybe I impacted him through my quiche Lorraine!
Only had one class today and we learned about puff pastry, crepes, and brioche. I am thinking it will also not be a good idea for me to take that home tomorrow. After class my friend Jasmine, Carmen, and I went to a little cafe/specialty cheese shop...I don't know why, but cheese keeps appearing in my blog. Anyways, it is SO cute and they have all kinds of crazy things like candied lilac blooms. After that we went to a few specialty kitchen stores to get a few more things we needed. I got to talk with some friends on skype tonight and that was really fun. More to come!

Blowtorches are dangerous...

Boiled Chicken...well apparently in England the whole chickens have not been completely cleaned (inside and out). Let me tell you it was fun to smell an unclean raw chicken at 9 in the morning. We had to blowtorch the remaining feathers and skin off before we could cook our chickens. The girl next to me caught a paper towel on fire when she was using the blowtorch...thankfully we put it out before the chef saw what had happened. We are still laughing about it.
Creme Brulee...is there really anything better than that?? Answer: No, there isn't. I learned to make Creme Caramel, Creme Brulee, Creme Anglaise, fruit coulis (which sounds fancy, but its just fruit and sugar cooked down), and Tuile biscuits. Pastry has be so much fun, because you get to be so creative with your plating. Tuile biscuit cookies have been a lot of fun to make, because you can decorate them anyway you want. When they are hot you can twist them and stretch them into really cool things. For example, if you make a leaf shaped cookie you can twist it when it is warm and it looks really realistic. I turned mine into butterfly wings and put them on either side of my Creme Caramel...the chef liked it so much he is going to use it for himself next time! We had to use our blowtorches to finish the Creme brulee...we were a little hesitant...nothing caught on fire this time thankfully.
Yesterday I went to see Legally Blonde the Musical. The theater was very small, but the show was great! There was a group sitting in front of us, who were friends with the girl who plays Vivian in the show. We were all very disappointed when they did not invite us to go to the cast party with them.
After about 12 days of absolutely NO sunshine, we finally have a sunny day! I am off to picnic in Hyde Park and soak up some rays that will hopefully last me until the next sunny day.

You can get a degree in cheese...

Today we had a 3 hour cheese lecture. It was actually incredibly interesting. The man who came to talk to us has his degree in the history of cheese and apparently there are only a handful of people who have that degree in the world. He is one of 3 in all of Great Britain. He travels and gives lectures on cheese to all the most luxurious restaurants and hotels in the world, the Savoy and the Ritz to name a few.
Fun facts to know and tell….did you know that the original confectionaries started from cheese makers. We tried a type of cheese today, which is made in the Netherlands, and I kid you not tasted like caramel and cheese. It looked exactly like a caramel candy. It sounds gross, but it was just more different than gross. Guess how Nestle started?...yup cheese, or at least that is what the cheese expert told us. We were able to try some of the best cheeses from all over the world. We were able to taste some homemade Buffalo Mozzarella from Italy. Apparently there are only a few people in Italy who still can make it the old fashion way. They take the whey in their hands and dunk them in boiling hot water to make the mozzarella. Everyone in my class was squirming when the cheese expert was explaining the process. It is the best I have ever had…it sets a whole different standard for me now.
I also had my test on artichokes and turned carrots…have you ever tried to hand cut turned carrots?! It is really hard. Oh well even though my chef said that I “had the whole family of carrots” because they were all different sizes after I finished cutting them, they tasted pretty good.
Tomorrow is my test on stocks and boiled whole chicken. Just to give you a preview…I have to use a blowtorch to get off the extra feathers on the chicken.

You want me to do what?!

I forgot to add on my last post that during my fruit salad lesson we also learned how to make little sugar sculptures...which really ended up looking like little squiggles of sugar. It was so much fun. The only catch to it is that you have to get the sugar boiling and it has to be a particular temperature and consistency. Apparently the only way you can know what stage the sugar is at is by sticking your fingers in the boiling sugar. So yes, we had to soak our hands in freezing ice water (you know to make sure we could not feel our fingers) and then stick them into the boiling sugar. When our chef first mentioned it, I thought she was crazy. It was very daunting at first, but you honestly get used to it. After a few times, it actually was really fun and one of my favorite lessons.
Last night a group of about 5 of us from the dorm decided to go hangout at a little piano bar around the corner and we were going to meet up with one of our group members friends. When we got there we were just introducing ourselves and saying what countries we were all from. There was one girl from Texas. She had brought two of her friends who were studying abroad. I asked them where they were from and they said that they were from California, but went to Baylor. I just about fell off my chair in shock! What are the odds that I would meet them at a random neighborhood pub. It was really fun chatting with them and I think we may go see a show together next weekend.
Sunday Sam (my fashion school friend) and I decided to brave Oxford Street to catch some of the sales in the afternoon. Let me just say that we were not the only ones who had this idea. After a few hours of snowy London and very crowded stores, we decided to call it quits and come back to the dorm.

"yes chef, sorry chef, thank you chef"

The title of this entry just about says it all. During all of my classes we respond with "yes chef", "sorry chef", or "thank you chef". I have been going for 3 days and cooking 9 hours each day, and yes even Saturday. I have been having so much fun. Vinaigrettes, mayonnaise (making it makes me never want to eat it again), pastry creams, meringue cookies, and the most expensive fruit salad known to man kind. We started pastry class on Wednesday and I am getting to work with some incredible ingredients. I learned how to cut a papaya and other exotic fruits that I have never even heard of before. I also learned how to turn half of an apple into a swan...thats right a swan! We made a fruit salad, which sounds super easy, but no. We had to make a simple syrup infused with some of the yummiest spices you will ever smell and cut the fruits in very specific ways...it took us almost 2 hours to make our fruit salads if that gives you any idea. We were able to be a little creative with our plating and that was so much fun. The pastry chef is so nice and she is very talented.
Thursday was my test on vinaigrettes and a few salads, the head chef said "oh wow thats actually quite good". I am taking that as a good thing, but every chef I have keeps saying the same thing to me. I am not sure if I should take that comment as I am doing a good job, or that their expectations were low and I happened exceeded them haha! I did not get home until 10:30 that night, so all I had for dinner was my fruit salad from class. We also learned how to make cocktail sauce and different mayonnaise's, along with the salads we have to put them on. It is funny sometimes you just don't think about how much labor goes into making mayonnaise, its actually quite a science...you also realize how bad it is for you after you make it.
Friday was a pastry filled day. I loved every minute of it! I learned how to make different varieties of pastry cream, which is basically heaven mixed with butter. That has been my most challenging task yet. Measuring the milk, getting it to the perfect temperature, add the sugar at the perfect time, making sure the butter is just the right consistency, and on it goes. We also started to learn how to pipe shapes. We made meringue cookies and piped them out making hearts, shells, and other little squiggles. After we baked them, we got to decorate them, dip them in chocolate, and put the fresh 'creme mousseline' (Kirsch flavored pastry cream) in-between two of the meringues. The danger with those things is that I brought them home...and they are the perfect size to pop in your mouth. I think I did my personal best during this exam, because once again the chef said "oh wow that is actually quite good". Didn't get home until late last night as well, so I had a granola bar for dinner...ironic that I am training in culinary school and I cant even make myself dinner. Friday night I also got to try to do laundry for the first time and that was an adventure. I cant believe I didn't ruin anything. The washer and dryer are in the basement and there are mouse traps in basically every corner downstairs. London is a big city and I know that those little critters can be a problem, but I was on 'high alert' when I was down there. Every sound I heard I thought was a mouse running at me.
Saturday we had a health and safety seminar all day. It was actually pretty interesting. Hopefully I passed the test this afternoon, so I can get my health and safety license. London is under a blanket of snow, which is very rare apparently. I walked through part of Hyde Park this afternoon on my way back to my dorm and everything looks like a fairy tale. All the beautiful buildings are covered with a dusting of snow. A few people I have met in the dorms and I are going to go take pictures of it tomorrow. About to go out with some friends from the dorm, more to come tomorrow.
PS...my julianne carrots are still too thick

There are many ways to cut vegetables...

Well I had my first official day of class. I did not have class until 4, so I got my cooking pants shortened and got some other things for my room. So I get to school and I get changed into my cooking uniform...I wish I could post pictures, but I am not allowed to put them on the internet. I will show them to you all when I get home. I look pretty funny in my uniform, but I am not going to lie it does make me feel a little bit more like I know what I am doing! Everyone in my classes are SO nice and helpful. The program is extremely intense. Basically I have a sit down observation/take notes class and then I have a hands on class in which I am graded on what we learned in the observation class. Today we learned how to cut vegetables in different ways and segment an orange with no skin. It sounds super simple, but it was actually kind of hard. Apparently my julienne carrots where not as thin as they should be :(. About half of my class has quite a bit of prior experience in the restaurant business, but there other half is in the same boat as me. I was the last one to leave the kitchen today, but I was not the last one to finish my dishes. It took me a while to clean up my mess. I have definitely learned that if I ever open a kitchen the first person I hire will be to clean up after me! We have them in our classes and they are called the porters. They are extremely helpful when you are rushing around the kitchen trying to finish a dish. I finished school at 9 and then headed back to the dorm. Thankfully there are many little cafe's open late, so I was able to pick up some dinner. Finally I got home at 10...I think there will be a lot of late nights. I am having a great time and I know that I am learning so much. Get excited for some fun dinner parties when I get home! Only one class tomorrow, but Thursday and Friday I have 3 (which equals 9 hours). More to come!

Wait whats your name?

Today was my first day of class and the jet lag finally hit. I woke up at all kinds of crazy times and was wide awake from 1:30am-6am. By 7:30 I was off and ready to brave the very cold streets of London. It is an experience just riding the tube in the morning. You stand next to all kinds of people (all whom look incredibly chic) ready to go to work dressed in: suits, scrubs, and various uniforms. I actually found the school, which for me is an accomplishment in itself. I got there a little early, so I stopped to grab some breakfast at a cafe around the corner from the school...or as the lady at the front desk told me to "stop off and get a coffee". I ordered a fruit cup and some tea. To be honest I was expecting a little fruit cup like the kind you get at McAlisters or Jasons, but no no I was able to pick the fresh fruit I wanted to be hand cut and it was served with home-made greek yogurt...yum! It makes you remember the special touches that family owned restaurants have and the relationships they are able to have with their customers. The owners seemed to know everyones name as different customers came and went throughout the morning.
Everyone was waiting outside the school door entrance on the sidewalk, until the school opened. I met some really amazing people from all over the world. The principal said there are 51 countries being represented at the school. We started out getting our uniforms, towels, knife set (which is SUPER heavy), welcoming packets, and binders full of recipes. We had a welcome from the principal of the school, who is very nice and helpful. We then tried on our uniforms, which I will need to get altered, and our lockers. We then broke out into our groups and met our mentor, who will be teaching many of our classes. My mentor is French and has a very thick accent. He seems strict, but has a good sense of humor and knows what he is talking about. I feel like I will be learning a lot, but it is going to be quite intense. My class consists of students from Russia, Costa Rica, Germany, England, France, a country in the Middle East, and Zambia. It is quite the variety considering there are only a few people in my group and It took me a while to get everyones names. I felt bad, but I found myself saying "wait what is your name again?" many times throughout the day. All the names are so different and some of them I could not even try to pronounce. There are many different accents going on in that school. Thankfully speech path has helped me be able to listen carefully and be able to make out what everyone is saying. We were also given our schedules and none of my days are the same. Some classes I have early in the morning and then some start at 7 in the evening. Every day will be different for the most part. As most first days are it was overwhelming, but very exciting.
I finished off my day trying to find a specialty shoe shop to buy my "cooking shoes". I did end up finding it and although I did have many other things to do, I was exhausted! I called it quits for the day.

What do you mean there is no shower???

Well family and friends my life has been a whirlwind these past few weeks, but I finally got to London. Flights went great and I had no problems traveling, so thank you for all of your prayers. I slept on the plane for maybe 2 hours, so I was quite tiered from traveling once I arrived. I got into London around 10am and decided not to brave the London train system and took taxi to my dorm...it was well worth the money!

The dorm is in a beautiful part of town and looks exactly how London should...quaint. My room was not ready until 4:00pm, so I found the closest grocery store/pharmacy, which is just down the street from my dorm. I spent the rest of the time waiting/sleeping in the lobby for about 5 hours. I met another American staying in the dorm, he is from New Jersey and going to the Fashion Institute for school. We were in the same boat waiting for our rooms, so we chatted a bit. Everyone is very friendly and from all over the world. Not too many people are here yet, as the dorm does not officially open until January 9. So finally I got to my room and it is small but perfect for what I need here. The bathrooms are in the hallway and there is one right next to my room. Well after I unpacked I took a peak at the bathroom and there was only a tub, no shower. I just laughed and thought "this should be interesting in the morning". After exploring a bit I did find a tiny closet that they had put a shower in, and boy was I relieved! To finish off the day I just finished unpacking and went to bed.

I did end up sleeping until about 6:30am, so that was a blessing. I feel like it wont take me too long to get adjusted to the time change. I got ready, which felt a lot like living in Collins freshman year of college and I ate some breakfast, which was actually very good. Then I decided to try attacking the London transit system. The school I am going to is not exactly close to where I am living. After about an hour of searching for routes and looking at the tube schedule online, I just decided to go ahead and figure it out as I went along. About 30 min of tube rides and 20 minutes of walking around trying to find this tiny street, I decided to hale a taxi. Fortunately I was in the right area, but had gotten off one tube stop too far. Its a good thing I took a taxi because the school is down a tiny little road off a main road and it looks like an alley...I never would have found it. Once you get down it, you realize that there are tons of houses and cute little restaurants. Tomorrow morning should be interesting as it looks like I will have about a 40min commute in the mornings and I am not entirely sure where I am going. At least now I have a visual and general idea of where to go.

London is still decorated for the holidays and looks exactly how you think it would. There are lights hung above the streets, strung from one house across the street to the other. Big lit decorations are hung high above the streets making every corner look magical. Tomorrow is my first day of class, so I am getting very nervous and excited. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!