First grade: 100!

Nothing interesting, really, happened yesterday. Therefore, I did not blog about it. I slept and studied. You would not want to read about that.

Today, I woke at 3:30 am, I mean 9:30, to the sounds of people, I mean birds. I wanted to review my notes for Product Knowledge before the test at 11:30. Fortunately or unfortunately, Chef Mattel lectured more about lettuce, salad greens, and cooking greens for about an hour and a half before we took our exam. Lettuce, for example iceberg and romaine, salad greens, such as arugula and endive, and cooking greens, mustard greens and spinach, differ based on their flavor profiles. The salad greens are the most bitter, or alkaline, a characteristic of plants meant to defend themselves (hence why most people do not like bitter). We were able to try many, many of these different leafy vegetables (and there are a lot). My new favorite is Swiss Chard; sauteed, it is delicious. I feel like I am cheating on the Collard Greens, but, no worries, they are in the cabbage family, a whole separate category of veggies. We took the test, which I felt went okay, and then we were dismissed for the day.

I went downstairs to check my mail, one of my favorite parts of the day (hint, hint), and I had three packages and one letter. I feel loved, guys, and I appreciate it. Seriously, with technology these days, sending letters has become a lost art, and I think that this fact is sad, very sad. There is something so personal and meaningful about the simple art of writing a letter (or sending a package), putting a stamp on it, and either putting it in the mailbox (the little red flag is fun enough, as it is) or taking it to the post office. I was telling someone the other day that one of my ideal jobs on campus would be to work in the mail room. Dork alert.

I came back to my room, an empty room (PTL), opened all my goodies, and tried to catch up on some things. By the time 4 rolled around, I walked to the softball field to watch a game, but I ended up chatting with a few friends on the phone (Hi Lauren and Alice) and pretty much missed the game entirely. Time flew and, I had to eventually head to Banquet. Banquet came be annoying, being expected to eat at the same place at the same time for three courses day after day, and with class at 6:30, it came also be stressful. (Why am I complaining, right?) Tonight we had a salad (which my table dissected to determine the leaves in the salad) with bleu cheese (yuck), candied nuts, pancetta, and pears. For an main course, we had pork loin with carrots, spatzle (a with an umlaut, as it is a German dish), and sauerkraut. A Grand Marnier pastry cream in a cookie-like biscuit with strawberries was served for dessert.

I went to math after dinner. I MADE A 100 ON MY TEST. Therefore, I am not quitting culinary school. Twenty percent of my grade down, and I am doing well. We learned about as-purchased amounts (AP), edible portions (EP), and yield percents (Y%) today. Emily, Alex, Jason, and I were Team 4, and as an exercise, we cut and peeled carrots, weighing them before and after to determine AP, EP, and Y%. Our yield percent of 76.72% was the second highest in the class. You would be surprised at the amount of money lost at a large food establishment based on yield percents. The Culinary buys 850 pounds of carrots per week, and if the percent is low (based on poor trimming of the raw material to the edible portion), thousands of dollars can be lost per year on just carrots alone.

Exciting news: my diplomas arrived in the mail at my house in Thomasville. It is official that I have two degrees. I was scared when only ONE came on Saturday. Again, no worries, the other arrived today. Thank you, UGA.

EAT MY WORDS

Haley

*Thank you Mom, Jess, Morgan, and Katy for my sweet mail.

*Jess, please be more patient with my blogging. I need time to write (or type) my brilliance.