Well, I thought I would practice, for the practice, that's for the final. Make sense to anyone? Off to Whole Foods to pick up goodies for the Salade Nicoise au Saumon. Knowing now to only cut the potatoes in half, and don't butcher my tomato, and I should be good. Still pretty though...

My grandma would've killed me if...

She would've if I didn't get a Bolognese sauce correct. That little Italian woman could make some sauce with the best of them. I think I'm finally getting used to this NO recipes in class thing. With some extra searching and time I've learned to look up these recipes for picks and tips BEFORE I get into class. The extra tips are so worth it. A little searching on Google images can do wonders for plating, as well. No more lunch tray plating, pretty center of the plate presentation for me. Loved making fresh pasta in class. It's been so long since I've had it. Memories... Absolutely cannot wait until the KitchenAid fairy comes to my house, and hopefully she brings along her pasta making attachment friend, too!

Calling All Culinary Kids!

Later this fall, I have a friend who is being deployed. After talking with her, I know that mail or care packages always brighten their day. DING! Light bulb went off. I'm a culinary student. I love to bake. I love to feed people. And I love our soldiers. Why don't I gather some other students and start a "Cookies for Soldiers" program. The post office provides all the supplies for packing and shipping, we just need to make the goodies, and pay for them to get there. Come on, we can do this. If anyone is game for this, let me know! I'm doing it with or without you. Preferably, with you! Thanks everyone!

Sexy Chicken

Not sure why the prospect of roasted chicken for homework made me so excited, but it did. I am a chicken eater, any form of chicken, I'll happily eat it. So in class we "trussed" a chicken. I wish I knew of some reason I could do this over and over. Think I've mastered "chicken bondage". At home I did a very similar chicken to the one we prepared in class. Salt, pepper, lemon, garlic, sage, thyme, rosemary, tied it up, and roasted it. Little over an hour later, brushed butter over the skin, let it rest, then carved it up. Yum, yum, yum! Foolproof, simple, and super tasty.

Rice makes me happy.

Week 3 was pretty exciting. The food was amazing (and plentiful). Learned that the ladies work very well together, just too bad we can't stay in this group forever. After enjoying a taste of many different rice dishes we were sent home to make risotto. After some driving around town to find arborio rice, i was on my way. I decided to make a Tomato Basil Risotto. Ended up much creamier than the one we made in class. Yum yum yum.

Almost forgot...

Wow, last week's class was something else. I realize I am no "grill master". I am a steak eater, not really a steak preparer...yet. I'm always up for a challenge, and a girl on a grill, is definitely one of them. Potatoes on the other hand went well. Really though, can a potato taste bad. Not too great with the time management in a kitchen quite yet, but with time that will change. Next week, duh duh duh....rice.

I Might Just Like Eggs After All

For a girl who's not particularly a fan the of the "incredible, edible egg", this week was a little rough. The texture, the smell, it all put me off to them. Well, welcome to Week 1, and you my dear, will be making eggs. Did I mention, there will be a LOT of eggs. Get over every hang up you ever had, grab a pan, and get to cooking. That is what I did. I went in with a dozen eggs, some gruyere (not a lot, but enough), and some chives. After quite a few mistakes, a very lucky (but inadvertently very gassy) dog, and I think I got it. Tada! A french omelet with gruyere and chives. Unlike class, this one is not runny, there is the perfect amount of white pepper and salt (refer to white pepper "incident" on day one of class), and it tasted amazing to boot! Yes, I said an egg was amazing. I might just be an omelet fan. Strange, huh?