Christmas and Cake!

Season's Greetings! I feel like I must begin this post by saying that. It's the most wonderful time of the year, but when you live where it actually snows and go to PASTRY school, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Add a weekend in NYC, known for its Christmas spectacular-ness, and you have the perfect recipe (get it?) for Christmas spirit. (I have not been able to decorate for Christmas personally, go out and see Christmas lights, and I am not in Georgia yet, with my family. Therefore, it doesn't completely feel like the holidays for me yet, but that will all come soon enough.)

Snowy Roth (I woke up to this one morning.)

Monday, December 6 (Day 1)
*Piping Gel for Homework
*Grease Cream (Butter Cream minus butter and sugar plus shortening and powdered sugar)
Each day for homework, we must pipe either "Happy Birthday," "Happy Anniversary," or "Congratulations" (certain days for each) and do a border on a 10 inch cake circle; pipe pearls, rosettes, shells, and reverse shells with grease cream; and make a marzipan rose. See below for examples.





Tuesday, December 7 (Day 2)
*Temper chocolate, with the Seeding method and Tabling method

Wednesday, December 8 (Day 3)
*Vanilla Sponge
*Frangipane
*Simple Syrup
*Hazelnut Cake (just the cake, no assembly)

Thursday, December 9 (Day 4)
*Practical Cake (one vanilla sponge, butter cream, vanilla simple syrup, raspberry jam, tempered chocolate coins)

Friday, December 10 (Day 5)
*Cheesecake (New York style, duh!)
*Carrot Cake (just the cake, no assembly)
*Chocolate Sponge (more practice for our practical exam)

My friend, Katy (remember her... I mention her all the time... she lives in Boston... blah, blah, blah :)), took the earliest bus from Boston to spend the day with me in the big City. Our day included, but was not limited to, the tree at Rockefeller Plaza (twice), shopping on Fifth Avenue (There is something I found at Tiffany's if you still need a gift idea for me... :)), eating Pizza, walking through and around Macy's, Caramel Brulee and Gingerbread lattes at Starbucks (and catching up with our other bff, Katie), Columbus Circle and the star lights display, Bouchon Bakery, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, etc. It was the perfect day with the perfect company, and the weather was not too cold either. Thanks, Katy, for sharing in another first, Christmas in the City.

Katy and I in front of THE Tree in Rockefeller Center (on our second trip of the day to see it in its sparkly glory).

Monday, December 13 (Day 6)
*Hazelnut Cake (hazelnut cake, Frangelico simple syrup, praline mousseline, chocolate butter cream)
*Mocha Cake (chocolate sponge, coffee simple syrup, coffee butter cream, lace piping, chocolate cigarettes)

Mocha Cake (intense coffee flavor, hints the name)

Hazelnut Cake (Chocolate Butter Cream is HARD to work with; it melts and creates drama for Haley. My Florentines could be more centered too on top of the cake.)

Tuesday, December 14 (Day 7)
*Jaconde
*Ladyfingers
*Hazelnut Florentines (for garnish for Hazelnut Cake made on Day 6)

Wednesday, December 15 (Day 8)
HAPPY NATIONAL CUPCAKE DAY. (Really, I was in Cake Class on National Cupcake Day?)
*Puff Pastry
*Vanilla Sauce
*Charlotte Russe Cake (ladyfingers, chocolate sponge, simple syrup, Bavarian cream, chocolate shavings)
*Opera Cake (Jaconde, pate a glace, ganache, coffee butter cream, trablit simple syrup)

Charlotte Russe Cake (It is already cut into ten pieces, which is why there are lines between the ladyfingers.)

Thursday, December 16 (Day 9)
*Pithivier (puff pastry, frangipane, puff pastry)
*Vanilla Sponge

Pithivier (I did not have the opportunity to take a picture before it was sliced but there was a beautiful sunflower pattern on the top.)

Friday, December 17 (Day 10)
*Black Forest Cake
*Carrot Cake

Black Forest Cake (lots of Brandy and Kirsch in this cake= alcohol flavor... just what we "Germans" like)

I loved making this Carrot Cake. It was very fun, and I think it is my best cake to date, in this class and maybe ever?!

Monday, December 20 (Day 11) IN THE FUTURE :)
*Ganache for Opera Torte (finish Opera)
*Practice for Practical (students' choice)
*Final Exam
This is technically the LAST day for Basic and Classical Cakes. The last two days of the block are devoted to our Practical Exam.

Tuesday, December 21
Practical Exam Day 1

Wednesday, December 22
Practical Exam Day 2
Evaluation

I have bored you enough with my day-by-day synopsis and many pictures. I shall call it a night, a Friday night, that is. I will be sure to update everyone on my practical exam days and results. And, Georgia, I will see you in six-ish days.

COOKIES FOR SANTA? OR CAKE FOR SANTA? OR CARROT CAKE FOR BOTH SANTA AND THE REINDEER? OH THE DECISIONS A PASTRY CHEF MUST MAKE THIS TIME OF YEAR.

Cheerful Hay Reh

*Happy Belated Birthday, Catherine Nikkel. See you soon, 24 year old. Wowsers. :)

"Food is Life. Create and SAVOR Yours."

I know that I am super cool (and corny)... two blogs in a row with a play on words for the title. (You would consider that a play on words, right?) Get it? Savor like savory?

Thursday, December 2 (Day 13)
*Savory Prep Day
*Apple Strip (practice for our 2nd Term Practical, which is happening in THREE weeks. Insert freaking out and heavy breathing here.)
Basically, I grated cheese, rolled out puff pastry, rolled the cheese on the puff, cut the puff into strips, and twisted them. With the apple strip, there are strict guidelines that must be followed to pass this portion of the practical. (For example, the strip must be 20 inches x 5 inches or points are deducted.) I only have 6 hours collectively for my practical, and this stupid strip takes forever. I was glad to practice though, even if it does prove to be tedious and stressful.

Friday, December 3 (Day 14)
*Baked Savory Items (Cheese Straws. See below.)
*Final exam (I think I did well!!)
(FYI, I also found out on Friday that I scored a 95 on both of my tarts, my lemon meringue and alsation apple. Go me.)
Because putting sheet trays in the oven, setting the timer, and taking the straws out of the oven when finished baking does not take much time, Chef Temme asked me and Christie to make 7x the recipe for Devil's Food Icing (or Frosting). 7x!!!!!! (He apparently needed it for a Continuing Education class on Saturday.) It proved to be an adventure. When Chef saw what was in the mixer when we finished, he did not think it was enough and asked us to make the 7x recipe AGAIN. Needless to say, our whites were not white by the end of the day. We had cocoa all over our faces and icing was EVERYWHERE in the kitchen by the end of it. Oops. (See Christie below at the end of the second batch. I will miss you, partner.)
Robert recently graduated from the AOS Baking Program and will began the Bachelor's this week. Throughout our block, he was coming in and out of our bakeshop to make a gingerbread display for downstairs of Roth, on the main floor. With a wedding at Farq on Saturday, he was asked to move it for the weekend. Here is the finished display below. Isn't it fantastic? I just had to take a picture. (If you look to the right, you can see a cord. This plugs into a power source, and the stain glass sugar lights up.)
Another angle.
In our free time before finishing Cookies class on Friday and forever, I drew a "flow chart" (aka diagram) of where I will be and my travel plans over the next several months. You may not understand it, but it is blog worthy, I promise. It is a masterpiece in disguise. I will be BUSY.
The plan for Saturday was for me to go visit my friend, Derek, from Pennsylvania. We met over three years ago when we did Summer Staff at Saranac Village, a Young Life camp in Saranac Lake, NY. We were going to hang out and watch football (a mutual passion of ours). I was going to be able to check PA off my list of states that I have visited (see below). Well, I can check PA off, but I did not make it to visiting Derek. It started snowing, and I got scared. I did not want to get stuck on I84 by myself in the snow in the NORTH, and I did not want to have to drive back through snow or worse get stuck in PA when I have to be in class on Monday. Therefore, I turned around. So, this is all I got... a picture from the car (it wasn't snowing yet obvi) of the PA state sign. (I did get to spend a few hours at the fabulous outlets at Woodbury Commons before heading back to the CIA, however. A SMALL cancellation to seeing an old friend that I have not seen in over two years! :()
Tomorrow, I start Basic and Classical Cakes, an 11 day class. The 12th and 13th days are devoted to our 2nd Term Practical, as I mentioned above. Yes, I must pass my practical on the last two days before Christmas vacation. Thank you, CIA, for awesome timing.

Speaking of awesome timing, I found out this morning at 12 that I was getting a new roommate between 1 and 4. (Nikki moved out for her externship in New Orleans. I will miss you, Nikki!) It is fine, but I also thought this was worth mentioning on the blog. Only six weeks, and I will be moving out. Craziness.

PIECE OF CAKE? COMING RIGHT UP.

Hay Reh

*Congratulations to my dear friend, Dan Duncan, and the lovely Allison on their engagement. MoCiddle (and Wyldlife in general, Allison) for LIFE. Love you, guys!

*SEC representing in the National Championship. Congrats, Kristy and Swann Family, specifically.

PRACTICALly Scrumptious.

Can you believe it? A blog... in the middle of the week... only three days after my last post.

This is my last week of Cookies, Tarts, and Mignardises. On Monday, we continued with tarts. Tuesday and Wednesday (today) were devoted to our testing practicals, cookies and then tarts. Tomorrow and Friday, we will focus on bite-sized savory items. Also, on Friday, Chef Temme will administer our final. Can you believe I am almost done with another block... two more blocks to go before my first year (out of two) at the CIA is over and I am off to extern.

Monday, November 29 (Day 10)
*Key Lime Tart
Chef Temme assigned Teams 1 and 2 this tart. I need to work on my meringue piping, which should make the tart look more appealing than above.

I have now made it in the baking and pastry world. I CAN PIPE WORDS!!!
Tuesday, November 30 (Day 11)
Cookie Practical Day
*Chocolate Macaroons
*Chocolate Shortbread
For our practical, every one in the class randomly chose two cookies that we made over this block. There were ten different possible combinations to randomly draw from the pile. I was okay with my pick, except that macaroons are very temperamental (and annoying). I scored a 93 and 94 on my cookies, respectively. Happy Dance, Haley!

Wednesday, December 1 (Day 12) Can you believe it is already DECEMBER?
Tart Practical
*Lemon Meringue Tart
*Alsation Apple Tart
Every one, all nineteen of us, made the same two tarts; we had no choice. The Lemon Meringue was easy. (I was a little unhappy with my meringue, but it is serveable and better than my key lime tart above, right?!) The Alsation Apple is a pain in the rear, however. You have to peel, core, and slice the apples, and then you have to spend a good amount of time making it look as pretty as it does above. :) I will not even mention the fact that the dough is puff pastry and all that that entails to make, which we made on Monday. I guess the only reward for the Apple is that it tastes scrumptious and looks great!

SNOW IN THE FORECAST? WOOF!

Hay Reh

75th Post in Honor of the 84th.

This is my 75th blog post, and I do not have much to report except that I attended the 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Thursday. I had an excellent spot, and the company (Fallon, Nate, Kanye West, Gladys Knight, Jessica Simpson, Santa) was unbeatable. Below are some highlights of the parade. (I had to narrow down my over 100 pictures to just a few. So, when I say highlights, I mean a few snapshots from the day. These photos are not in any sort of order, but ENJOY!)

I just have to start out by saying that "I'm sorry, Kanye, but Joan Rivers had a better float than you." Okay, bad joke!? You get the point. Here's Mr. West himself, and Joan Rivers below. (Wowsers, look at that face!!)

I was a little excited when this was the first thing we saw of the parade, the University of Southern Mississippi Marching Band. (My grandmother and mom attended Southern Miss.) I screamed, "yay, y'all" to them as they "joined the parade."
This is where we stood for the parade, after running a mile through Central Park and losing Nate for a good twenty minutes. The parade begins at 77th and Central Park West. We saw the very beginning of the parade, heard the announcer read a blurb about what was coming next, and watched them "join the parade," as the announcer said.
Cute little Smurfy, Smurf, Smurf. Smurfs are usually three apples tall, but this one was a few more apples tall than that!
This is not the best picture of the Pillsbury Doughboy, but this was my favorite balloon. (Y'all should not be surprised... it's the baker in me?!)
Oh, hey, Spidey. This was Nate's favorite balloon. I like how the strings make him look like he is actually "webbing" and saving the world.
Oh, hey, Buzz Lightyear, from the Toy Story series. This was Fallon's favorite balloon.
This is for the K Swanns, Kellee, Kristy, and Karen. It's Dora, blowing y'all a kiss!
I wanted to take a picture of the parade drums. I did not even notice, until I put the pictures on my computer, the AU Drumline guy. This drummer is a member of the Macy's All Star Parade, with members from all 50 states. Hmm. Auburn representative?
This is Virginia, from "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!" I took this in honor of my mother, whose real name is Virginia (sorry to tell the world, Mom, your given name you hate), but I think about my Mizzom every time Virginia is mentioned, referring to the name, of course.
And the man of the hour (or three hours), SANTA. Seeing him (and Mrs. Claus) IN the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade made me think of my favorite holiday movie, Miracle on 34th Street. Santa, my hero. Come visit me in Thomasville. (I've been practically perfect AGAIN this year.) Your annual note, cookies, and carrots for the reindeer will be waiting as usual. :)
I believe, Macy's, I believe. Thank you for a wonderful parade and a check on my bucket list to experience this parade in person one day!
After the parade, Nate, Fallon, and I went to Whole Foods to shop for our Thanksgiving feast. Remind me to NEVER go food shopping with Nate every again. :) We snacked on cranberry cheese and hard apple cider, while Nate fixed the turkey, mac n cheese, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and arugula and radicchio salad. I contributed by re-heating my chocolate pecan pie. :) We ate while watching football. It was glorious. And then, we watched The Santa Clause (get the "clause" versus "claus?") to end the night. Best. Day. Ever.

On Friday, Nate and I slept in at Fallon's apartment, while she worked. We shopped a bit, and then joined Fallon to watch the Iron Bowl (blah). Nate wanted to go to Barnes and Noble before heading back to Hyde Park; there was a line to enter the store on Fifth, however, because Justin Bieber was there signing his book. Seriously? He is like 12 and has a BOOK? And people want him to sign it, meaning people are buying this book and READING it?!

Yesterday involved watching football and ordering in, Chinese for lunch and Pizza for dinner. Ha. I also did a little Christmas shopping online.

Today, I have done five loads of laundry, cleaned my room, and I am about to buy my plane ticket for January. I think I have been productive. What are your thoughts on my productiveness level? :)

ALL THE WORLD LOVES A PARADE... AND A BLOG ABOUT A PARADE

Haley

*Happy 29th Birthday to my favorite uncle, my Ger. I know that win on Friday was the best gift you received this birthday. :) And don't you worry, I am keeping my hands in my pockets and my mouth closed here in NY. See you in a few weeks. Love!

*Praying for Wyatt and Abby Mitchell.

Smart Cookie!

*NEWSFLASH: I HAVE AN EXTERNSHIP, which is kind of a big deal. I was offered a position in the Baking and Pastry Department at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, about 45 minutes from Charleston, where I will be living between February 1 and June 10, 2011! I AM VERY EXCITED. Come visit me people! "Carolina on My Mind" (even though James Taylor is really talking about North Carolina... nbd).

Cookies, Tarts, and Mignardises class. Where to begin? Cookie class is fun but can be a little tedious. I can scoop cookies for hours and hours. By the third sheet tray, however, I want to be done, with that particular cookie anyway. Each day, each team (Christie is my partner from WA this block) makes one or two new cookies. Once those are finished, we make additional cookies, or fondant petit fours (petit fours translates to "small oven"), or bake off cookies we have frozen, etc. As with breads when we made the bread for most of the restaurants, in this class, we fill cookie orders for the restaurants and other functions on campus. For example, we have been making tons of pie dough for a Continuing Education class on how to make holiday pies. I have learned a lot about bit-sized desserts (which is what a mignardise is), but I am excited to explore more next week about tarts, other desserts, and savory creations.

*All the starred items are products that Team 2, my team, made.

Monday, November 15 (Day 1)
*Peanut Butter Cookies
**Most nights we take cookies home to either evaluate (for homework) or to just enjoy. Check out my homework from the first day below.
**Piping happens every night, just like last block.
Tuesday, November 16 (Day 2)
*Shortbread
*Checkerboard Cookies

Wednesday, November 17 (Day 3)
*French Macaroon (Coffee)
*Coconut Macaroon (see below)
Thursday, November 18 (Day 4)
*Almond (Anise Biscotti)
*Snickerdoodle

Friday, November 19 (Day 5)
*Frangipan (for Petit Fours)
*Pate a Choux (for Eclairs)

Saturday, November 20 (Day 6)
We had class on Saturday to make up for one of the two days we get off for Thanksgiving break. Six days of classes is NOT an ideal week situation for me.
*Petit Fours
*Eclairs

Monday, November 22 (Day 7)
*Pecan Diamonds
*Cake Brownies

Tuesday, November 23 (Day 8)
*Sable Cookies (Sabl-a not sable... it's French!)
*Snickerdoodles

Wednesday, November 24 (Day 9)
*Pecan Pie (or pie/tart of choice to take home for Thanksgiving! See below. I will enjoy this with Nate and Fallon tomorrow.)
My sister came to visit this past weekend, the first weekend of her Thanksgiving week off from teaching. (Go Panthers.) I had class on Saturday, as mentioned, and I did not see her until Sunday. We made up for the lack of time together by packing in a full, chilly Sunday in New York City. Our day began, as usual, with Jessica not answering my calls or my texts. It is a good thing I miss her, or I would have been angry the whole day for her making me literally sit on some front steps in Harlem.

I did not make it to Harlem until about 11:20, but I was starving by this point. Jess and I walked to Dinosaur BBQ on 125th Street, near the Hudson. The BBQ was not the best BBQ I have ever tasted, but the fried green tomatoes were the best fried green tomatoes. Who knew? NYC could beat the South on fried green tomatoes. (I bet the chef in the kitchen is Southern.)

Jess and I enjoyed walking around Rockefeller Center (the tree will be lit next Tuesday) and seeing the Christmas spectacular-ness on Fifth Avenue. We ate dinner with Fallon, Morgan, and Kevin at the Eatery before Morgan, Jess, and I went to see Wintuk, the Cirque du Soleil show about winter. It was whimsical, as I had imagined it would be, and I experienced my first New York snow, tissue paper falling from the sky. (I hope I enjoy the real stuff just as much. :)) Jess and I then said our goodbyes. See you at Christmas, best friend.

Below: The tree getting all pretty-ified. I cannot wait to see it all sparkly and lit up.
Below: Jess and I in front of the star replica. Yes, we know we look like twins. To be fair, she is wearing my boots I gave her, and I bought the jacket first. (Sorry to call you out, Jess, but this is my blog. :))
Tonight, I am headed to the City with Nate to spend Thanksgiving with Fallon. Tomorrow, being Thanksgiving, is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and we fully intend to be one in the crowd to experience possibly our one-and-only Macy's Parade. I am fairly excited about it. Then, our plan is to cook Thanksgiving dinner (this is Nate's job really) at Fallon's apartment. Maybe do a little Black Friday shopping on guess, Friday, and then Nate and I will head back to Hyde Park to enjoy a few days before class begins again on Monday. I will try to blog on these "few days" back in Hyde Park (when I am not watching UGA beat GA Tech, hopefully). This will be a different Thanksgiving holiday weekend for me, but I am looking to the positive of something new (without forgetting the old, however, Mom :):):)).

WELL, HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE "ANISE" AND "SYRUP?"

Thankful Hay Reh

*HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am most thankful for my irreplaceable family and friends. Barrett family, enjoy the Linzertart (pictured on the last post) and the Hudson Valley caramel apple from the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. If I could have fit in Jessica's suitcase instead of these treats, I would be enjoying the day and my stomach would be enjoying the day with you. Though y'all do not believe me, tomorrow I will be a little homesick for our Thanksgiving traditions; I have never spent a Thanksgiving in 23 years away from y'all. Living my dream in New York does not make me miss y'all any less. I am thankful for y'all each and every day but especially tomorrow, from the Big City. Love you, family. (What is the count on how many times I used "y'all" in this paragraph?)

Busy as a Bee-aker.

I know, I know. It has almost been two weeks since I last blogged. "Haley, you blogged almost every day for months and months. What is happening? We are basing our realism that you will blog often on historic facts. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU BAKED TODAY." Well, now, I am literally moving down the hall of bakeshops and diving deeper into the baking world. (My baking practical, which is two days long and I must pass to go on extern, is in ONE MONTH!!!!!) My Dad and Shirley were here for a good amount of time. (Thanks for coming to explore my new home and for treating me and the bf to amazing food.) I have a job now, working as a tour guide on campus. (I am almost done with training. Yay.) Last week, there was a Career Fair on Tuesday, and an Interview Day on Wednesday. (That was crazy exciting, trying to talk to people about externship possibilities.) Last week was the final week of the block. (I know, crazy right? I am done with another class here at the Culinary.) Thanksgiving is right around the corner (meaning I have class this coming Saturday, or for SIX days straight.) And, as a true Georgia peach, I should also mention that it takes quite a bit of energy to survive the cold, and it is not even snowing yet. (My chef a few weeks ago told me to go to the nurse because my lip split so bad that it would not stop bleeding. My lip split again a few days ago for the second time. Nate suggests lotion on my hands also to prevent them from doing the same, splitting and bleeding. The cold and flour are not the ideal combo for my hands.)

Wednesday, November 3 (Day 7)
*Linzertart (with linzerdough from Day 6. See below.)
*Tart shells (from 1,2,3 pie dough from Day 6)
*Six or seven different types of sorbets (Sorbets are made with fruit puree and have no dairy, while sherbets have fruit puree and dairy.)
*Used the ice cream machine to freeze our ice cream (from Day 6)
I picked up Dad and Shirley from the Poughkeepsie train station after class. I drove them to campus for their first glimpse at the CIA. They were both starving (and cold) from a whirlwind of a day, and therefore, I took them to the Hyde Park hot spot, Eveready Diner (featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). The nachos are my new favorite staple there.

Thursday, November 4 (Day 8)
*Roulade
Team 2 made apricot roulade.
*Fruit Tarts (with shells from Day 7. See below.)
I woke up early enough to go pick up Dad and Shirley from the hotel. I gave them a brief tour of the Culinary, before we ate lunch at the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. I scheduled a public tour for the two of them at 4. At around 5:30, I saw them outside my kitchen classroom, my dad waving like a fool (embarrassing... my face turned bright red). Chef Schorner let me take them fresh fruit tarts, and he also called my dad, in his German accent, a "peach." "No, Chef, I am the GA peach; he is the peanut." Chef also commented on Dad's mustache. Awesome.

Dad and Shirley ate at the E Room, the French restaurant on campus. After class, Nate, Dad, Shirley, and I went to the Hyde Park Brewery to sample some local beers. I was bummed to find out, when we got there, that we had missed the start of trivia (League of Nations, anyone?).

Friday, November 5 (Day 9)
*Tempered chocolate coins
*Chocolate Mousse

Saturday, November 6
At around 10 on Saturday, the four musketeers (Nate, Dad, Shirley, and I) headed to the Big (Freezing) City. We checked in to the hotel at Times Square before making reservations at JoJo, one of Jean-Georges restaurants in the City. Our waitress graduated from UGA. Dad was sold from that point forward. The food was amazing, and it was a culinary memory I will never forget. (It was a religious experience for Nate.) The molten chocolate cake that Jean-Georges is known for did not disappoint. Our special dessert that Angelia (our waitress) brought us on the house of passion fruit sorbet in a dried meringue shell was the hit, however.

We had to walk off our meal, because naturally our next reservation was in less than three hours, and we explored the outskirts of Central Park and the Plaza Hotel. We walked down Fifth Avenue, stopped to watch the skaters at the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, and made our way to Zengo, our dinner spot. Besides the edamame almost killing me (spicy), my sushi, Dad's fish, and Nate's ceviche were unbelievable. Unfortunately for Zengo, we compared it to our lunch at JoJo, but all-in-all, it was an excellent dinner choice.
From dinner, we walked to the hotel to grab our tickets to West Side Story. It was Shirley and Nate's first official Broadway show, at the theater literally in the middle of Times Square. I do love a good show!

From the show, we walked back to the hotel. Nate and I said our goodbyes to Dad and Shirley, grabbed some pizza from a random hole-in-the-wall place, and caught the S Train to Grand Central. We had to wait about an hour for our train from GCT to Poughkeepsie, but we did not mind with pizza in hand. The time changed, and instead of getting back to the CIA at 2:30, it was actually, really, 1:30. Love that.

Sunday, November 7
I woke up on Sunday to head back to the City to spend my last day with Dad and Shirley. The NYC Marathon took place on Sunday, and Dad and Shirley were able to see some of the festivities surrounding this 26.2 mile run through New York's five Burroughs. My attempt at finding wool socks and long john's at Macy's failed miserably, but Dad did find a tie for his wedding. And, Macy's is starting to prepare for the parade and the holidays, which was fun to see.The three of us took a taxi to Stanton Social, a restaurant in the Lower East Side. We each ordered two dishes each (Dad ordered three) and shared them. My favorite was the french onion dumplings. The hot donuts and chocolate shots for dessert were not too bad either. :)

We took another cab to Grand Central, said our goodbyes, and I headed back to my home away from home. Thanks for coming to visit, Dad and Shirley. NY is a far cry from Pavo!

Monday, November 8 (Day 10)
*Chocolate Glaze (on chocolate mousse cake from Day 9)
*Pate a choux (eclairs)
*Fondant (for eclairs)
*Swiss Meringue piping

Tuesday, November 9 (Day 11)
*Ladyfingers (using roulade recipe)
*Each team (there are 9) made a "special" ice cream of their choice.
Pete (my partner) and I decided to make caramel apple ice cream, seeing as apples are in season and the Hudson Valley is famous for their apples. (Technically, our "ice cream" was a sherbet, as it had green apple puree and dairy, but caramel apple sherbet sounds weird.) We swirled in the caramel as it came out of the machine. We scooped our ice cream into green apple "shells." (We took the core and inside out of the apples.)
*Chocolate Souffle demo (see below)
Wednesday, November 10 (Day 12)
*Prep for Grand Buffet
Team 2 made Chocolate Cups, to be used as a bowl for ice cream. (One team made three types of frozen souffle. See below for two finished products.)
Thursday, November 11 (Day 13)
*Grand Buffet Day
Team 2 made the fruit tartlets, and we dipped our caramel apple ice cream in apples in caramel. Wowsers... say that fast. (I do not have a picture of the apples right now, but I hopefully will have one soon.)
These (above and below) are our trays for grand buffet. Eclairs, cream puffs, fruit tarts, creme brulee, etc. I wanted to sample each and every thing we made.
Friday, November 12 (Day 14)
*Cookie Day to prepare us for our next block, Cookies class
-Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Team 2!)
-Mudslide Cookies
-Peanut Butter Cookies
-Oatmeal Raisin/Craisin Cookies
Each person in our class took a box of assorted cookies home for the weekend. Mmm.
*Chef Schorner showed us how to pull sugar and do a little sugar work on Friday. Below is the cake he made. (The gold is SUGAR!)
This weekend included Five Guys for dinner and watching Home Alone 2 on Friday night, the Georgia-Auburn game and the Detroit Red Wings game on Saturday, and lots of laundry today. (I still love you, Dawgs. This season has not been pretty though.) Now, I am ready for clean sheets and a little television. (I may be busy but you can NEVER be TOO busy for clean sheets!)

Goodnight all. Cookies, Tarts, and Mignardises class begins tomorrow!!!!

MORE TIME TO BLOG WITH THE BOYFRIEND HAVING NIGHT CLASS? WE SHALL SEE.

Bee-aker Haley

*Happy Belated Birthday to my Gamma (even though I know she will not read this). I am so thankful for you and proud of you for being a survivor each and every day!

*CONGRATULATIONS to Katie Weiser, and her FIANCE, Kevin! My bff is ENGAGED, and I am could not be more excited for them and this new journey. The Lord continues a great plan for these two, indeed!