Turkey Day is Fast Approaching

I can't believe that it is already Thanksgiving. This year has been flying by. The good thing about how quickly this year is going, is how quickly this term is coming to a close. Technically I only have 6 more days of class. Monday and Tuesday this week and then Monday through Thursday next week.

Of course these last few days cannot be easy though. Tomorrow I have a test in my French cuisine class. He usually gives us easy tests, but they cover all of the material from the whole entire term, so I have been working on studying all of that. I also have a paper due by Tuesday night at nine, but I'm trying to get it done by tomorrow night because I am leaving for North Carolina Tuesday night and will not be able to submit it by the due time if I do not get it done by tomorrow night.

After those two things are done, at least for this week, I can enjoy my five day break and Turkey Day. I'm so looking forward to it. Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays and I get to spend it with Adam and his family which makes it even better.

His mom and I are already planning everything that we are going to make and the list keeps growing. As of right now we are making a trifle, pumpkin pie, cornbread, mashed potatoes and of course the big bird. Others are bringing side dishes, but I am sure that we will acquire more things to make by the time I actually get to North Carolina.

It will be so nice to relax for a few days, even with all the cooking I will be doing. Just getting away from the city and not having to think about school will be awesome. Only 48 hours to go!!

A Little Taste of Italy

Today I was head chef in my lunch class. I created an Italian menu with the title of "A Little Taste of Italy". Here is the menu:

Spinach & Fennel Salad

with orange slices and black olives

tossed in an orange olive oil dressing

Homemade Cannelloni

grilled eggplant and ricotta filling

with sauteed broccoli rabe

Italian Cream Cake

with blood orange cream anglaise

Time was tight, but somehow we got everything out on time. SEPTA went on strike at three in the morning, so none of my back of the house staff arrived at school until 9:30am. Note that class starts at 8:30am. I was the only one there at 8:30am. So for the first hour, I started rolling out and cutting pasta into five inch squares for the cannelloni. One hundred and twenty squares later the rest of my staff showed up. By eleven the cannelloni still were not in the oven and I was getting worried. However, somehow between eleven and twelve absolutely everything got finished. I do not know how it happened, but it does not matter. All that matters is that everything got done. We even got to clean up a bit before we plated the appetizer.

Service went really well. My chef instructor trusted me enough to leave the kitchen and go sit down to lunch. Plating all the food went amazingly smoothly. All of my back of the house staff listened to me and did everything I asked. It was a quiet and peaceful kitchen and I absolutely loved it.

Everyone seemed to love the food as well. I know everyone in my class was fighting over the leftovers at the end of service. We had absolutely no food left over and it was great for clean up.

Overall I was super happy with how everything went today. Only thing I wish I had a chance to do was take pictures of the plates. Oh well, maybe next time. I think I am going to have to recreate the whole meal for my family and friends who could not make it to the lunch. Maybe I will have them help me!!

Welcome to November

I cannot believe that it is November already. Where has the time gone? I feel like it was just my birthday yesterday and it was already month ago. Time is just flying by.

This past month I have been super busy with school. Every one of my classes has been hitting me really hard with homework. I'm pretty sure that I wrote five papers last week and studied for three tests. It was absolutely ridiculous. I am so happy that I survived last week. Granted I did break down and cry a few times, but somehow I made it through.

This week, along with my lunch, I have another test and paper due. Tomorrow I will be spending about thirteen hours at school. I have to get there at nine, when the chefs get there to open up all the kitchens, so that I can make four, three layer cakes. The cakes have to be out of the oven not later than noon because at noon I have my French class. Class goes until five and then I have to do a base icing coat on the cakes and make about ten pounds of homemade pasta dough for my cannelloni. And sometime during my day I need to make sure that all of my food for the rest of the dishes for lunch is actually in the building.

I am trying to prepare myself for the long day tomorrow, but as of right now I am not thinking about it. I really should be studying a bit more for my test tomorrow, but I am just so not in the mood. I am also hoping that I do not forget to do anything tomorrow. That would not be good.

Game four of the World Series is on right now and that is about all I can pay attention to right now. Why are sports so addicting???

GO PHILLIES!!!!