Eggs Benedict

It’s been a little while since I updated. Sorry everybody. Life kind of got interrupted by Thanksgiving Break.

The last few days before the break were a little bit of a scramble. I had work to finish before leaving town for five days. It was also the half-way mark for B-Block. Only 2.5 more weeks and we will be in the kitchen! As I have mentioned to most of you before, at the CIA, there is a graduation ceremony every three weeks. So on the day that I was getting ready to go home, there was a graduating class going through the motions of leaving the school. Here, that means lots of food. For the day before graduation, there is The Grand Buffet in Farq Hall. Most every class sets up a table and they basically show off what they have learned how to do. The Skills classes have big roast meats and perfectly cut veggies; Asia’s class has huge sushi platters; Garde Manger has terrines galore and lots of aspics. You get the idea…. Well, we are allowed to exchange a meal swipe for a ticket to Grand Buffet. You go in and eat whatever you want. The only problem is that there is not enough room to seat everybody. Also, The Catering & Banquets kitchen shut down for a few days to prepare for the buffet and graduation meal, so I was free to eat wherever I wanted for dinner. It was a nice change.

I also picked up my uniforms. The jackets are nice and medium weight. They have our names embroidered on them. The pants are actually a lot better than I expected. Mine are kind of big right now, but I’m told that they shrink after washing them a few times. The hats, though, are a little ridiculous. I’m not a big fan of tall paper hats. We even received our Table Service uniforms. We won’t need them until our final semester here, but I guess it’s nice to have them already.

After going home, I was very eager to return to school and finish B-Block. The night of getting back, I got a bunch of homework done and cleaned the room a bit. On Tuesday, I went to Writing in the morning and got a few of my papers back. I’m doing well and Prof. Genee seems to like my writing style. I just need to remember to proof read more…I’m not at Ivy Tech anymore. In Gastronomy that afternoon, we took a quiz and listened to some presentations on Haute Cuisine. The majority of the students at this school completely massacre the French language. Seriously, really simple words like Escoffier and auberge become unrecognizable. I think I might have made an enemy in a boy I who I don’t know while trying to help him pronounce les pièce montées. It’s a good story; you should ask me about it some time…I was denied a cookie.

Wednesday was spent in Math where we got (another) group project. I’m working with Stephanie and Katie, so it should be fine. We have to scale a recipe for taco salad into ridiculously large proportions and then fill out a purchasing order based on product yield and edible portion quantities. Fun, right? In Product Knowledge, we had a lesson on tubers and onions. The best part of that class is always the tasting that we do. How often in life do you get to do side-by-side comparisons of 10 types of potatoes? I learned the following: local varieties of yellow potatoes are the best thing you will ever eat, and fingerlings are delicious with salt and rosemary. Additionally, I will never ever like jicama. It has always and will always taste like crunchy grass.

That evening, I was preparing for my Paul Bocuse project. I was responsible for making up and copying the handout that we were going to use. It ended up being four pages long. So, I went to the library to print and make 40 copies. Things did not go well. Suffice it to say that after two trips back to my room, a trip to the bookstore, a ream of paper, a new toner roll, and a rainstorm later, I finally got the packets made. I even finished my work in time to go see The Blind Side at the movie theatre at the mall. I went with Anthony, Katie, and Anthony’s friend Lydia. It was actually really good. I was surprised at how good of an actress Sandra Bullock is. The bad thing: we didn’t get back to campus until midnight and I had to be awake at 5:00am. Boo.

This morning I had Writing again. We have started having the first 20-30 minutes of class in Farq Hall so that we can eat breakfast while we discuss our readings or edit work, etc. It’s been really pleasant. I have either a chorizo burrito or classic eggs Benedict with bacon and breakfast potatoes. Sometimes I have a raspberry yogurt as well….depending on my mood. I wash it down with a cup of hazelnut coffee and a glass of orange juice. Needless to say, I don’t usually have room for lunch on these days. While in class, I figured out the thesis for the first essay that I have to have done for January. I’m going to compare Jackson’s The Lottery and Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant while discussing how societies that repeatedly face injustices are often desensitized and have a hard time realizing, yet alone overcoming, the problem. I miss going to a school where a 4-page essay is not regarded as “challenging’. Also, we had a grammar lesson on how to use apostrophes. Really? I need to learn how to make words plural and use possessives? Oh well…

I also had the pleasure of giving my Paul Bocuse project today. It actually went really well. I have no problem talking in front of groups as long as I am confident in the information I am presenting. Katie said that we did better than any of the other groups and Prof. Forrest didn’t have much to add on at the end, so I think we will do well. It’s worth 25% of our final grade.

Tomorrow I have my first big Product Knowledge test over salad greens, cooking greens, cabbages, stalk vegetables, flowers, mushrooms, tubers, and onions. I went to the storeroom already today and maybe I will go back right before the quiz for a little refresher. I also have a test in Math tomorrow morning. I’m not as worried about that one. I’ll let you now how those go. Also, this weekend I am planning a trip into NYC for the day on Saturday. The train ride is only 1.5 hours right into Grand Central. I’m going with Katie and we are going to meet up with Andrew Bornstein from Le Moyne. He lives in northern New Jersey, and it will be great to see him again. I’ll keep you all updated on that as well.

Are these posts interesting to all of you? Am I talking too much about mundane details? Are there things that I’m not talking about that you want to know? Let me know. E-mail me or leave a comment here. Let me know how your lives are going too!