Eclairs!

After tomorrow, I only have two weeks left in this block. That is so crazy to think about. I think time is going to fly. There is so much information we must know that is given in such a short period of time. With all of this information, there is always something to read, or a quiz to take, or a paper to write, presentation to give, or a final to ace. It is so fast-paced, and I am beginning to understand why there is such a dramatic dropout percentage here. This is not for everyone, and I just hope I can keep focused, keep making the grade, and keep my eye on the ultimate goal.

I woke at a decent hour this morning. (Everyone should be so impressed/proud of me.) I did a little reading, and I stopped by the hospitality office to ask them about being a tour guide on campus. (That may sound lame but it is awesome, really.) I quickly ordered a California burger at K16 before voting for our Group Leader at 1:30. (Jon was elected our Group Leader, whose responsibilities are just as the title sounds.) The culinary students that entered the CIA with me are in meat/fish this block. They have blood stains all over their whites, and some smell of fish. Wouldn't you know that I, the baker, got blood hamburger juice on my whites while eating lunch? Seriously? I was so mad.

Class began promptly at 2:00, and Ms. Migoya lectured on recycling, thermometers, and Baker's Math. Baker's Math is the opposite, really, of what we learned in Culinary Math (go figure), as far as ratios are concerned. Bakers are concerned more with formulas than with the recipes themselves. So, it is important to be able to take 100 pounds of flour and be able to make bread according to given percents for the flour and other ingredients. We worked many different examples and different ways of doing similar problems. I think I will be okay with this...

After lecture, the class met in front of the bakeshops to tour each of the bakeshops/classes we will soon take over the next year. My mom keeps telling how hard everything will be, but I just did not believe her until today. It is intense. Our first kitchen class (in six weeks in Block E) is breads. For the most part, this class is responsible for baking all of the bread for the restaurants on campus, and the class starts at 2. Wowsers. After talking to Chef Adams, who teaches breads and claims that "bread chose her," we talked to Chef Hayman. I do not even know what to say about him. I am scared already. He did not even let us walk through his bakeshop, which is the Baking Techniques kitchen. From there, we went to Pastry Techniques, and we were given an eclair to sample. So, so, so good. In Basic and Classical Cakes, we bake cake, period. The Chef only allows cakes that she could sell to leave the bakeshop. The last two days in this kitchen are devoted to a practical exam, where we must produce three products to standard (which are high) and present them in six hours. Freaking out. The last class before extern is Individual and Production Pastry, where we will be asked to make something, with no instruction or recipe, as it is expected to be known from previous kitchens. By the end of this tour, I wanted to pass out from standing for so long. (I better get used to it.) I also needed water!

We only had about forty-five minutes left in class by the time we made it back to our room. Ms. Migoya lectured about scales. Balance Beam, Digital, etc. We were also issued our own digital scale that we will use for the remainder of our time here. She handed us a quiz, which is due tomorrow, and reminded us about the homework, which is also due tomorrow. Busy, busy, busy.

I met Danielle in front of Farq at about 6. We were going to go to the kitchens downstairs for dinner, but when I saw the Vegetable Lo Mein at Cuisines of Asia, I was sold. (The Hot and Sour Soup was pretty great, too.) It was simple but just what I needed. Danielle and I talked for a bit, before Nate (Michigan) joined us. Then, it was time to drag myself back to my room. Now, time to relax and maybe do a little work.

I must say that I am having a hard time getting back into the blog routine after three weeks of not blogging. Work with me, people!

EAT MY WORDS

Haley (pronounced "Holly" today, even with my name printed on my CHEF COAT)