No Monkeying Around.

Yesterday was a great day. As we have become more efficient in the Breads bakeshop and extended our class time, Chef Adams has added more dough to the schedule. Bialys, Bagels, Pretzels, Fougasse, Challah, etc. From these additional breads have come new stations in the shop, meaning less people are on the original doughs that have been mixed from day one, which supply each restaurant with bread: lean bread, multigrain, wheat, ciabatta, etc. Yesterday, there were three people assigned to lean dough (with at least six starting out on the first day on this team). If you remember, lean dough is responsible for baguettes and cut rolls, along with loading the oven, running the oven, and ultimately baking the bread on the hearth stone. This is a tough team to have to work. One of the people assigned was absent, and with four people assigned to whole wheat (which it is crazy that more people were assigned to this team than lean), Chef Adams thought it necessary to move one person from wheat to lean. Who was the lucky winner? ME. Even with the craziness, I felt completely in my element and managed to end the day unscathed.

The new dough of the day yesterday was Babka, a sweet dough filled with chocolate and pecans (not pronounced PEE-CANS, you weird Northerners, and I mean that in the nicest way :)), then braided. This dough is then placed in a loaf pan and baked. I cannot even describe this bread to you. I mean, just look at it (and this does not do it justice):
Dinner: Vegetable Jambalaya.

While we were cleaning, a girl from another bakeshop passed out in the hallway. All I heard Chef Adams say was "is she breathing?" It was scary. Yes, we make bread and sugary treats, etc., but we also stand on our feet for hours and hours at a time. Water (and flour) is your friend.

While I was supposed to be on the Whole Wheat team yesterday, today was my first day actually being on the team. When mixing whole wheat, an autolyse method is used. Basically, the dough is allowed to mix without the salt, and when a homogeneous mixture is made, the dough is allowed to rest for 15-45 minutes, before adding the salt. This shortens the mixing time, strengthens the extensibility of the gluten, and allows the flour to absorb more water.

Four people, which is what we had today, is too many people on the Wheat team. While Ashley and Yoon mixed the dough, Christie and I melted butter, made cinnamon sugar, and set mise en place (culinary/ French term for "everything in it's place") for Monkey Bread. Two ounce pieces of sweet dough cut in half. Drenched in melted butter. Placed directly in cinnamon sugar. Twenty two ounces per loaf pan. Heaven on earth. Unfortunately, as a class, we did not complete an evaluation on this bread at the end of the day, as usual with new doughs. These twenty loaves are for Grand Buffet tomorrow. I better be able to try this...

Dinner: Pescata from Cuisines of the Americas (Mexico).

After braiding Challah after dinner, Chef Adams talked to us about the happenings for Grand Buffet tomorrow. Every three weeks, there is an AOS (Associate's) graduation here at the CIA. Every Thursday (once a block) of graduation week, there is a grand buffet in Farq Hall, with tables and tables of amazing food from most of the kitchens on campus. Our class is responsible for the bread table in the back, and from hearing her talk, it is an extensive and impressive table, where we showcase the breads we have learned to make over the past three weeks. Chef Adams, think about it, does this every three weeks... craziness.

In honor of Nate's birthday, we went to Coldstone (a far cry from Marble Slab, but it suffices) for ice cream. I know what you must be thinking. I did not want to make him a cake, because I do not know how to bake a cake to meet CIA culinary standards. And, buying a cake is almost against everything I believe in as a baker. We watched Just Desserts while I finished my PB&C shake.

Look forward to Grand Buffet pictures tomorrow!

FLOUR POWER

Hay Reh

*Happy 24th Birthday, Nathaniel James Herrera-Oshaben (could your name be any longer? Oh wait, it can with your Spanish first name I cannot pronounce...)! No chair breaking this birthday, but you did have ice cream and your present is coming!

Bells and Knots

I guess I should begin this post with Friday. It pains me to have to re-live that day in Breads, but I will do it for the sake of the blog. I got yelled at like three different times in class. If you know me, I like to be the girl who does what she's supposed to, stays out of everyone's way, and doesn't make a fuss. I thought the first time I seriously got yelled at by a chef, that I would crumble and cry and want to die.. and quit culinary school. Well, I am proud to say that I didn't. Of course, I do not want this yelling to become a regular thing, but I do feel better knowing I can survive it. This is a tough school and a tough industry, and you have to be able to survive a lot, to become a better chef.

Along with one other person, I was on Rolls on Friday, which basically meant that I made the extra doughs for the day. On this particular day, that dough was Hot Cross Rolls. The day began with me jamming the 20 quart Hobart mixer. In my defense ("no excuses, chef"), the mixer did not work when I started mixing the sponge (pre-ferment) for the dough. After mixing the dough for literally 15 minutes on second speed (high speed) and allowing the dough to ferment, the chef was not too happy with the way I rested the dough on the bread board or with how I divided it. On top of all of this, I kind of got my feeling's hurt when I asked a group if I could help them (and they basically said no), but I attribute that to the emotional day I was having at that point. You shouldn't worry though, people, I survived the day and am better for it.

After class, I literally grabbed my bags, went to the train station, rode the train to Harlem, walked to Fallon's, talked to Fallon (while watching the end of the SMU-TCU game), and went to sleep all in a three hour time span. Five hours later, Mr. Dial 7 Driver was there to pick me up and take me to the airport. 7 o'clock flight from LGA. Arrived in ATL by 9:30. Phew. And for once, there was actually someone waiting for me in the arrivals lobby.

JCon and I met Rabes, Jeff, Brittany, and Bailey at CHICK-FIL-A. Of course they made me wait outside for like an hour and listen to songs like "Butterfly Kisses" before I could enjoy a #5 8 count with a Coca Cola and Polynesian sauce. It was worth the wait. Then, it was time to drive to Jasper, get "pretty," and head to the wedding.

Congratulations, Jacob and Teena Bain! Teena is my second favorite baker (sorry, Teena, I have to give my mom the number one spot), and I spent an amazing summer baking with her at SharpTop Cove. Besides Jacob and Teena having to leave their reception early for a trip to the emergency room, their day was beautiful and a representation of who they are as individuals and as a couple. Yummy BBQ. Unbelievable Coconut Cake. Awesome Dancing. Irreplaceable Company.
JCon, one of my favorite people in the entire world, and I decided to do a little modeling during the reception. What do you think? H-O-T-T, right?
It was an Intern 08 reunion. Love you, Kristin Trimble. We must do better about staying in touch.
It was an Intern 09 reunion. We can clearly all dance (notice the sweat). Miss you guys.
So, after the wedding, a group of us drove to Canton to Taco Mac to watch the end of the Georgia- Mississippi State game. For those of you who do not know, my mom graduated from Mississippi State, while my sister and I graduated from UGA, of course. It is the house divided to the extreme, seeing as we, as a family, love football. Well, the MSU Bulldogs, with their obnoxious cowbells, won, meaning mom has bragging rights until next year (only, hopefully).

Yesterday involved hanging out with JCon and Kristin. The day included QT and taquitos, Lenox Square Mall, California Pizza Kitchen, driving, and some much needed time with two amazing girls! Fortunately, Kristin, who lives in Tampa, and my flight were scheduled to depart within five minutes of each other, and JCon could drop us off at the same time. We said our goodbyes in the pouring rain.

Arrive at LGA at like 8. Bus to Grand Central. Train to Poughkeepsie. Car to CIA?! Oh wait, no, my car was not accessible to pick me up from the train station because Nate had it towed (out of the kindness of his heart, he wants me to add). I do not want to embarrass him over the world wide web, but you should just know that he is an idiot. Basically, he parked in the chefs' lot (which you can do on the weekend), but he did not move it by the deadline last night. He "fixed" the problem today. Thanks, buddy.

Today was a great day in Breads class. I was on the Rolls team again, with a new partner!!!, and we were responsible for mixing Challah, one of my favorite breads. I know the title suggests that the dough is knotted, but it is really braided, with six strands. Inside to the outside. Outside to the middle. That is all you need to know about braiding Challah.
Christie (my partner) and I even had extra time to help with boiling bagels (they are boiled before baking) and dipping pretzels in a lye solution before baking. Chef baked a pretzel without dipping it in lye, and it was disgusting. A basic lye solution is responsible for the signature pretzel color, crust, and texture. Who knew? Okay, maybe I just did not know...

THERE'S A FUNGUS AMONG US (yeast!)

Hay Reh

Hudson Valley, We have a Problem..

I have two problems in fact. Number one is that I am out of oreos. If you know me at all, you know that this NEVER happens, and if it does, it does not look good for the rest of the world that comes in contact with me as a person. Number two is that I am now dreaming about bread. You think I am kidding, but regretfully, I am not. :)

Wednesday in Breads Class
Team: Lean Dough (including cut rolls)
Lean dough: We marked our last two baguettes that we shaped and scored with a sticker (mine was red, of course). I showed the chef at the end of the day and she remarked that one of my scores, or cuts, on the baguette was perfect, to do them all like that. I thought she was talking about my baguette in general. Sad day. The day was better than my first day on lean.
Additional dough: We made Chocolate Cherry Bread. The bread world is split between those who like this bread and those who do not. When it was baking, it smelled like a brownie, and I was super excited to try it. It was disgusting. It was bitter and tasted nothing like it smelled. I am on team not-a-fan-of-chocolate-cherry-bread. (Chef swapped the downstairs Bakeshop for Culinary Students a chocolate cherry bread for a muffaletta babka. Unbelievable savory bread with cheese and ham and deliciousness. As a class, we got the better end of that swap.)
Fun moment: I was made fun of for saying "holler at me, if you need help." Apparently, they do not say "holler" everywhere...
Dinner: Vegetarian Burrito.

After class, I watched the season premiere of Law and Order: SVU (my fav). There was a scene in Grand Central Station, aka my home away from home, that I visit like every other week. Detective Benson and Stabler have walked where I have walked. :) Then, it was time for the second episode of Top Chef: Just Desserts. My fav is Heather from Atlanta, for sure; she graduated from the CIA with her associate's in Culinary (baller).

Thursday in Breads
Team: Lean
Class went really well today. It was my last day on lean dough, and I finally knew what I was doing. Chef Adams was even impressed with my baguette (pictured above). I think my team appreciated me taking charge of the lean dough. I just really do not like getting yelled at...
Dinner: Mushroom Pasta
This is a bonus picture. Yay. We made these sunflower rolls today (and sunflower loaves), and they are delicious. Be jealous that you cannot sample everything I post. :)

Tomorrow. Breads. NYC. Saturday. Georgia. I am pumped.

SO MUCH BREAD, SO LITTLE TIME

Hay Reh

New Toque.

As promised, here is a picture of some bread we made today. These are knot rolls (not not rolls), and there are three different ways to knot them. Both of these rolls above are figure eight knots, but the other two ways are single knot and double knot. This bread is made from hamburger roll dough, which is an intensely mixed, enriched dough.
These are the same two rolls, but I think this picture is more aesthetically pleasing. The only thing with this picture though is you cannot really see the knots or the bread. Behind these knots is my retired toque. I know, I know, look at me, right? Do you like how I brought the title into my picture?

Today was a big day. I had to retire my first toque (which is that tall chef's hat for all you non-food vocabulary people out there), upon my chef's request. I admit that I am a little overly sentimental in that I felt the need to keep the darn thing. I am sure when I move out of Angell Hall for extern that I will see no use in packing the toque and driving it 1000 miles back to Georgia.

Not only was today a big day, it was a tough day. Though flour in your hair and on your face must be a sign of a productive day in Breads class, the thought of doing it all again tomorrow makes me almost want to cry. I love it, but rolling dough and baking bread is no walk in the park, contrary to what people think when I tell them I go to culinary school. To top it all off, I was on the lean dough team today, and with yesterday being an alternate learning day, only one person on my team had actually made/rolled/baked lean dough in class and worked the hearth. It made for an interesting day to start.

Lean dough is tiring. You have to make the dough for baguettes and cut rolls. (Today, even, we actually did not do the cut rolls, as two of the restaurants on campus were closed.) You have to fold the dough. You have to divide and pre-shape the dough, while involves using the divider to make even rolls and making baguettes by hand. From here, the rolls and baguettes are placed on a couche to rise. They then must be loaded (in a VERY specific way) onto the loader, which is the piece of equipment that drops them directly onto the deck of the hearth oven to bake. After doing this, for our specific dough, as a team we are responsible for loading all the other breads into the oven, basically all the doughs everyone else in the class has been working on all day: whole wheat, wheat walnut, multigrain, ciabatta, etc. Each bread is put on the loader in a different way. Some breads are scored. All breads are misted. Each time we load a bread into the oven, the two people on the loader must yell "loader in motion," to which the whole class responds, "heard." If just me talking about it does not make your head spin, then you should definitely come visit ASAP.

I have determined that I am not the best at scoring, or cutting the bread to allow the dough to expand in the oven. But, I am awesome at throwing flour. There is a special way you have to throw flour on the board (table) or on the dough: flour in hand, palm up, throw flour straight across like dice. We are not supposed to talk much in class, unless we are responding to the chef with "yes, chef," "no, chef," or "no excuses, chef." Laura (NY), however, was so impressed with my skills that she told me, from across the room.

Three people in my class missed class today for some reason, which is extremely odd because most people never miss a class the entire time they are at the CIA. As a class, we still added more dough to the schedule today, but we were down six hands. Therefore, the clock was not as nice to us today. We were dismissed for dinner around 6; by the time we walked to the kitchens, everything was either crowded, closed, or out of food. Emily and I went downstairs to the Meds kitchen for tapas from Spain. I have no clue what I ate at all, except for paella and gazpacho. I enjoy my food more when I actually know what I am eating instead of trying to guess, which I find to not be that exciting of a game.

This weekend. Georgia. Let the countdown begin, but until then, bread...

FLOUR CHILD

Hay Reh

"How's Ya Mama and 'Em?"

Well, apparently, my mother is annoyed and frustrated with me, in a loving way of course. "Are you ever going to blog again?" she asks. "You haven't blogged in like a week, and your last post was a recap of the three days prior." :) I heart my mommy, and I am glad I get to see her in a few weeks. Consider this an early Christmas present, Mizzom...

On Friday, I was on multi-grain bread again. It was the first time in Breads class that I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. I was the only person on my team that had made the dough before, even though I had only made it once, the day before. When Chef Adams asked questions, she directed them to me, and I replied with all the right answers. She had my team scale a new bread, chocolate cherry, and she demoed how to make and fill sweet dough. I did not feel like a fish out of water today; I was productive and did a good job, I think. I ended the week on a positive note.

I just realized that I have been forgetting to mention what I eat for dinner. On Friday, I had shrimp, crawfish, and andouille sausage jambalaya (or was it etouffee?). It was okay. I cannot really say anything great about it or negative.

There was an issue with the cinnamon swirl bread in the oven when we came back from dinner on Friday. Chef Adams had to show us how to actually clean the hearth of cinnamon-sugar goodness. Therefore, the class only had time to sample one dough, the sweet dough, and it was AH-MAZING! I even took a cherry one home for a snack on gameday (aka Saturday).

I did not feel very well on Friday night and just watched Double Jeopardy, keeping things low key.

Saturday was just that, gameday, and I literally sat and watched football (and tortured Nate with football) all day. I watched my team lose a miserably exciting game against the Arkansas Razorbacks. (I still love my dawgs and always will.) After that game, we watched Florida-Tennessee. I was routing for Tennessee, because I HATE Florida. Nate was cheering for Florida, but I think he was just doing it to make me angry. (Because you know, he knows NOTHING about football and could care less.) From there, we changed the channel and watched the "Tiger Bowl," Clemson versus Auburn. I was torn and just cheered for the Tigers?! (I have family who would be mad if I actually mentioned who I actually wanted to win. :)) By the end of overtime in Auburn, Nate asked, "can we please watch something else?" He is learning... slowly... that Saturdays in the Fall are exclusively for watching football. The end.

Yesterday, I went to Rhinebeck (where Chelsea Clinton recently got married) and ate at a restaurant named, Gigi, with Danielle and her friend, Whitney. I ordered the Skizza (flatbread pizza) with arugula pesto, zucchini, and Parmesan cheese, It was so delicious that I only ate half, because Nate stole the leftovers.

I was lazy for most of the rest of Sunday. Watched Frequency. Did laundry. Changed my sheets. Good day.

Most of the students at the CIA did not have class today, with it being a "self study" day. Nate and I went to lunch at Millhouse Panda in Poughkeepsie. I enjoyed watching Nate eat half a hot pepper, determined to prove me wrong that they are really not THAT hot. I thought he was going to die. Haley 392834918387. Nate 2. My only complaint about lunch was that they did not give me a freaking (yes, expletives are necessary here) fortune cookie. What the heck, right?

Then, I drove Nate to play in his playground, aka let him spend some time at Barnes and Noble. He bought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which made things okay. I do not read that much and Nate loves to read. However, he has not read half of the books that I have actually read. My suitcase will be super heavy when I come back from Georgia next weekend, full of books I am forcing him to read.

I have been procrastinating doing nothing productive since approximately 4 this afternoon. I finished half of my homework, but I still need to work on my timeline project that is due tomorrow.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I am on lean dough, which is the dough that requires the most work. I am actually excited, but I know I am going to be exhausted from a productive day in the bakery tomorrow.

BLOGGING? HUH?

Hay Reh

Lean Dough?

Written in the morning before class about yesterday:

Working in the Bakeshops is proving to be much different than how I thought it would be. It is class but it is also baking. Hmm. It makes things slightly tricky, ya know? Yesterday, I was assigned to the Ciabatta team. With it being the second day of class, however, the TA mixed the dough; my job, with the other three people on my team, was to place the dough on couches, which are bread form sheets (the easiest way I can describe them), and scale the Ciabatta dough for the next day, today. We did not bake them (that was the responsibility of the oven/ lean team), and we did not take them out of the oven. I felt like I did absolutely nothing, really, yesterday, but it is all part of us learning each dough and each station in the shop. With twenty students making bread, there has to be some organization.

Here is what I have learned about bread thus far:
*Lean dough is a mixture of flour, water, yeast, and salt, and that is it. Enriched dough includes fats and sugars, etc.
*Ciabatta is Italian for "slipper." It requires a double hydration method of mixing (80% of water in, mix, and then the remaining 20% water), and this dough is very, very wet (a lot of flour must be used to prevent it from sticking). When baked, ciabatta is fourteen inches long, airy, with large holes in the crumb, flat, and has signature striations on the crust. The crust can have a slight coffee odor, as well.
*Baguettes, which are originally from Vienna, should be twenty one inches long. The scoring, or the cuts in the top of the bread, should be from end to end (not across the dough) and there should be 4-5 scores per baguette, as baguette rules are strict in France. They should also be three different colors when baked.

Chef Adams seems very much impressed with our group. We finished so early yesterday that she opened the floor to random questions (not simply about the class or bread) because she had to stall us from going to dinner. I do not know if she is just saying it, but usually on Day Three, she only adds one dough to the schedule. Today she is adding two, hamburger and kaiser. She wanted to give us some encouragement and praise for a job well-done but she hesitates, with not wanting it to go to our heads and affect our work.

Last night, Top Chef Just Desserts premiered on Bravo. Some of the contestants are already on my nerves, but I can tell that I am going to LOVE this show. Maybe one day, I will find the courage to audition for a cooking competition show. My desserts will include Frangelico or nutella, which is a winning combination it itself. Get excited...

Written tonight after class:

I moved to a different dough today, multi-grain. There were, once again, four people on my team, and I was the only new person. Tomorrow, however, these three people rotate off multi-grain, two people will be added, and I will be the only person who has actually mixed this dough. I AM STRESSED, especially since I sort-of, kind-of, not-really, but-I-felt-like-I-did got yelled at today by the chef for not knowing what I was doing. Well, chef, I have never seen some of the demos for this dough or ever worked with it. Cut me some slack.

Overall, I felt the day went well. We added two doughs to the schedule, but we still managed to leave ten minutes early for dinner. Chef Adams said she took a baguette today to dinner with the other baking and pastry chefs to show them our work on Day Three. She thinks we are doing well. Tomorrow, we are adding cinnamon raisin bread and pretzels. How fun! Another day, same dough, but I am glad we spend a little time with each bread. I would not want to just perfect making one bread!

Here are some specifics from the day:
*Pre-ferments are part of a dough that are mixed and allowed to sit overnight. This allows for the fermentation process to occur, adding more flavor to a dough.
*The soaker in multi-grain bread, which is the nuts, seeds, and oats mixed with water, allowed to soak overnight, cannot be added to the dough until after mixing, to ensure that these "sharp edges" do not cut the gluten.
*There are twelve steps in baking bread: scaling, mixing, bulk fermentation, folding, dividing, pre-shaping, bench rest, shaping, final fermentation, scoring, baking, and cooling.
*The three stages of gluten development, based on mixing times, are short, improved, and intense. Multi-grain is an intense dough, mixed until the dough when stretched appears like a bubble gum bubble.
*There are two main reasons why the dough must be mixed on first speed (slow speed) in a spiral mixer (hooks stays in place but rotates while the bowl spins). One, to form a homogeneous mixture, and two, to form a gluten network.
*Folding during fermentation de-gases the dough and introduces oxygen, strengthens the gluten network, equalizes the dough temperature, and moves the food for yeast.

I still feel like my blogs about bread are all over the place and lacking in structure. I find this ironic, because I feel all over the place and confused when I leave this class. I am learning a lot, but there is a lot to know about bread. Phew. Day Four... bring it on.

BREAD AND WATER

Hay Reh

Baker's Dozen

Can you believe I have been here at the CIA for twelve weeks? I took six weeks of class from June 1 to the beginning of July. I went home for three weeks. I started class again on August 3 and I finished Culinary Skills on Friday. It is crazy to think about everything I have done and learned and experienced in such a short period of time. I absolutely love it here, and things can only get better, starting with my first baking class in Bakeshop 6, Hearth Breads and Rolls.

Chef Adams seems rather intense but I think I am going to learn a lot and grow to LOVE her. Today, being Day One of the class, was hectic, with demos and sample rolling and baking, etc. Tomorrow, I will have much more to tell you about the specifics of the class. The chef for the most part, with the help of two other bakers, a teaching assistant and a second year baking student, gave our group the overview of how the shop works, the basics of bread making, etc. The most interesting thing to note about this class is that we are responsible for making bread for the restaurants on campus. It is our first baking class but we work in a production kitchen, feeding customers, even on our first day.

I apologize that I do not have that much to blog about today. Consider this a gift, to make up for all those novels I posted earlier. I have so much floating around in my head from the day. I need to get organized before I tell you the secrets to being a successful bread baker. I am sure by the end of these three weeks, you will be sick of me talking about gluten, and flour, and wheat, and hearth ovens, and rolling, and fermentation, and bread. See, I am going to have so much to blog about... soon. Chef Adams even suggests us taking pictures, and I fully intend on exciting y'all with pictures of bread that you can only eat with your eyes. :)

ROLLING IN DOUGH

Hay Reh

Southern Comfort.

Friday was Day 14, the last day of Culinary Skills. We took our final to start the day (27/30), and then from 2 to 4:20, each team completed their cooking practical. Chef Klug gave each team a piece of paper with a menu written on it. Team Four's Menu:
Sauteed Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Mashed Potatoes
Red Pepper Broccoli
Cauliflower
We scored a perfect 50 on our food. I scored an 89 in the class. That is not bad, but I was a little upset being ONE point away from an A-. So goes life...

Friday-Sunday was spent in BOSTON, MA. One of my bffs in the entire world, Katy Capers, recently moved to Boston for graduate school at Emerson College, to pursue a Master's in Health Communication. You should check out her blog, ThisFrameOfMind. One time, I had a layover at the Boston-Logan Airport, but other than that, I have never been to Massachusetts. Below are a few highlights and pictures (it was hard to narrow down to 5 from 150 pics) from my trip. I also listed some things they were reaffirmed to me or I learned this weekend.

1. If you give me anything with a battery, I will break it. When I was trying to hit the road on Friday, I walked to my car only to find that the battery was completely dead. My new bff, Mr. Poughkeepsie Mechanic Man, saved me in less than thirty minutes and I was on my way. "Ma'am, I would recommend you not turning your battery off for at least an hour." Well, it is a good thing that the drive to Boston is three hours. (Driving with no music because the car resets after being dead will make one... this one, right here... go insane.)
2. Parking in Allston, which is where Katy lives and is about 15-20 minutes from Boston on the T (Subway) Green Line, can be quite entertaining. If you park where it says no parking, with half of your car past the sign in the tow-a-way zone, then you might get a ticket but not towed. (Katy asked the tow truck guy.) Just FYI, we did not get a ticket. Yay.
3. Dunkin Donuts throws their sweet treats away at 11:45 when they close at 12. That makes perfect sense.
4. I am awesome at deflating an air mattress in my sleep.
5. Watching the Georgia Bulldogs lose to South Carolina in the wonderful city of Boston does not make the loss hurt less. (Wow, say that three times fast.) I am still proud to be a DAWG and not a Gamecock or an ACC fan.
6. I love maps. Period.
7. One of my favorite things about Boston is that there are so many schools, each being their own little piece of the city. Boston University. Boston College. Emerson College. Tufts University. Harvard. Katy, hang out at Boston U. and you know... hook me up.
8. Boston Common. Freedom Trail. Faneuil Hall. Quincy Market. Ahts Festival. Charles River. Boston is a big city, without the feel so much of a big city.
9. If you get married in Boston, the thing to do is to take pictures in the Common. We saw four different wedding parties.
10. Y'all is a contraction, spelled this way. The apostrophe goes where the letters are missing. I find I am more annoyed when Southerners misspell y'all than Northerners but still...
11. Upper Crust Pizza is delicious. Speaking of food, I feel obligated, as a Baking and Pastry student, to sample a cupcake from each cupcake shop I find. Magnolia Bakery in NYC, Georgetown Cupcake in DC, and now, Sweet (Harvard Square) in Boston.
12. You feel smarter just walking around Cambridge and Harvard. Harvard squirrels even look intellectual.
Also, when you see a yellow chair and an impromptu photo shoot ensues, you know it is a good day.
Oh, and be a tourist at least one time, and snap a picture rubbing John Harvard's toe for good luck!
13. I am torn between being a Yankees fan and a Red Sox fan. I loved Boston that much.
14. Being three hours away from such a great friend, so far away from our Georgia, is a blessing. Thank you, Katy, for an absolutely fabulous weekend. I cannot wait to get on your nerves by visiting TOO much. :) See you in NY next?!

Tomorrow. Breads. Baking, the reason why I am here.

I AM NOT A TOURIST

Hay Reh

9 years.

I am here in Boston, but I could not let the day pass without acknowledging September 11th. There is a memorial in Boston Common for the people of Boston and Massachusetts who lost their lives on and were affected by that fateful day. I have never felt comfortable taking pictures inside churches or of certain memorials, especially on the anniversary of the day. I live in New York now, and though that does not make me any more American, it does make me more aware of the events surrounding 9.11.

I was in Mrs. Sheftall's Biology class my freshman year of high school at Brookwood School in Thomasville, Georgia, when I first heard. Where were you?

Never forget!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Hay Reh

"Chicken Fried."

Culinary Skills Day 13 (out of 14)!

Knife Skills Practical Test: 9 out of 10. I am happy with my 9, and I am even happier that I probably never have to cut brunoises or juliennes ever again.

Topic: Frying. All I wanted to do today was sing the Zac Brown Band's song, "Chicken Fried." We learned how to pan fry... chicken. Jon on my team was in charge of frying the chicken. He started, according to the chef's demo, by using the mallet to make the chicken even in thickness, for each to cook evenly. The standard breading technique for our six chicken cuts was flour, then egg wash, and finally breadcrumbs. Then, one cup of canola oil was added to the skillet and the chicken was fried to perfection. They were delicious. I also learned today that one tablespoon of oil has about 120ish calories. No wonder I love fried chicken fingers so much.

New: Hush puppies and tartar sauce. I guess it is expected for the Southern girl to know how to fry. Well, I must say that even though I have not grown up doing a lot of frying in da kitchen that it must be in my genes. I made, with Emily's help making the wet mix, the hush puppy batter, using two parts flour and cornmeal to one part milk and buttermilk. There was also a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco added to the recipe. I fried the puppies in one quart of oil until golden awesomeness. I apologize for the humbleness, but my hush puppies were spectacular. And dipped in the homemade tartar sauce, I almost felt like I was at the finest soul food restaurant in the middle of nowhere Alabama.

Additional starch and vegetable: Cauliflower and potatoes gratin. Our team attempted cauliflower, even though we learned how to make it a while back in the course, in case we are asked to make it tomorrow for our food practical. And, you cannot go wrong with potatoes with cheese baked in the oven, ya know?

Tonight, I watched the Mississippi State Bulldogs (my mom's team) almost pull out the upset against the Auburn Tigers (my mom's sister and family's team). I was routing for the underdog (no pun intended... okay, maybe it was). Miss. State has the biggest jumbotron ever at their stadium, just fyi.

Now, I need to study for my Culinary Skills final tomorrow, which is worth 30% of our grade, and prepare for the food practical. I also have my LAST Apple Pie prep. tomorrow at 7. Blah. I am not excited about waking up so early, but I am glad that I will not have to stay and clean after class on a Friday night. It means also that I can hit the road at a decent hour to head to BOSTON (for the first time) to see my bff, Katy.

YOU KNOW I LIKE MY CHICKEN FRIED

Hay Reh

Cheeky Peach.

(You can take the girl out of the Peach State, but you cannot take the Peach State out of the girl. This is a new store called Cheeky Peach in Athens.)

Well, this is another first in Cupcake blogging world. I have not blogged since last Friday... a whole FIVE days. This is finals week, and therefore, I am going to try to give a brief overview of the past several days.

Culinary Skills on Friday:
Topic: Roasting. Roasting is a dry heat cooking method. The best types of meat to use for roasting include moist, tender meats. Most cuts of meat are seared first, to give a brown color, flavor, and texture. We roasted a pork loin. We also made a jus lie sauce from the pan drippings, adding arrowroot starch to thicken it to a nappe consistency.
New starch and vegetable: Potato gratin and ratatouille (chef pronounces it rat-tat-touille). I was in charge of the ratatouille, which is a vegan dish with tomato, onions, eggplant, bell peppers, squash, and zucchini. It was delicious if I do say so myself.
Additional starch and vegetable: green beans and rice pilaf. As always, we were required to make an additional starch and vegetable that we have learned in previous classes.

After class, I came back to the room, showered, packed, and headed to the train station. Of course when I got to the station, there were no direct trains to Grand Central, or Harlem-125th. Therefore, I had to take the train to Croton-Harmon and transfer to another train. In other words, I stopped at virtually every stop between Poughkeepsie and Harlem. I finally made it to Fallon's awesome new apartment around 12:30am, after being scared for a few minutes when my phone died (yes, my new phone).

The car service woke me up around 4:45am to tell me that were waiting outside. A short trip to the airport and an ON TIME flight at 7:00am from LGA, arriving in ATL at 9:30am. What a difference of a trip from the last time I was at LGA. Immediately upon arriving in ATL, I found the nearest Chickfila (literally across from my gate... the Lord was looking down) and ordered a four-count chicken mini. Delicious. I located the car at the airport, that my mom and sis so graciously left for me, shopped a little at Atlantic Station, and drove to the Chattanooga area (after eating at Fazolis and spending a good bit of time at Starbucks... yum Pumpkin Spice Latte).

Meghan Harris became Meghan Dent, and I am so glad that I could be there for her perfect day.
I made it back to Athens around midnight, and I crashed. But by morning, I was ready to spend some time in the city I greatly miss with the people I adore (get it, Jess?). Here are some highlights from my trip to the Peach State:
*Brunch at the Last Resort (mmm... shrimp and grits) to celebrate Dad's birthday
*Shopping at the Loft with my bff Mom and bff Jess
*Last minute shopping at Lenox with Mom, Jess, and KRISTY
*Dinner at Eclipse di Luna on ASHFORD-DUNWOODY ROAD
*Froyo in the VININGS at Yoforia
*Lunch at Doc Chey's in Athens with Mom, Jess, and Greenie
*Froyo at the Yoguri
*Sleeping in my queen bed
*Playing with sweet Cabbit (my sister's cat... I heart cats, okay?!)
(Kristy and I at Yoforia for froyo. Thanks for coming to Atlanta all the way from Auburn, cuzzy.)

Mom drove me to the airport and then she headed back to Thomasville. I had a smooth flight from ATL to Newark. The annoying part about flying back into the NYC area is having to take a train to Manhattan, the subway to Grand Central, and then a twoish hour train ride back to Poughkeepsie. I finally made it to campus around 9:30 after departing from ATL at 4:30ish. No worries, I will see you in three weeks (now two and a half), Georgia.

Culinary Skills on Tuesday (Monday was Labor Day, obviously):
Topic: Braising (and stewing). We braised the shoulder piece of beef, a tough portion of meat. Braising is a combination cooking method of moist heat and dry heat. Simmering large portions of meat for a long period of time with braising or bite-size pieces with stewing allows for the meat to tenderize.
New starch and vegetable: Ginger-glazed carrots and macaroni gratin. Being from the South, naturally I was in charge of the mac-n-cheese. My mom's is better but this one was not so bad. I would call it "upscale" mac-n-cheese.
Additional starch and vegetable: Red pepper broccoli and mashed potatoes.
I also had a five-point quiz yesterday. I scored over a 4, I think.

This morning, I had Apple Pie prep. (Side note: I thought I had it yesterday, and therefore I woke up for it. I was thrilled when I went to the kitchen to find out I did not have it. Back to bed then.) We finished super early today, at around 9:30, and I came back to the room to take a three hour nap. :) Then it was off to class.

Culinary Skills today:
Topic: Poaching. Today, specifically, we deep-poached salmon in a court bouillon, which is an aromatic vegetable stock with an acidic ingredient. To accompany the salmon, we made a warm emulsion sauce, a buerre blanc, with cream, liquid, and butter. I actually made this, and though the emulsion did break after sitting, it turned out fine.
New starch and vegetable: Parsley boiled potatoes and pan-steamed spinach.
Additional starch and vegetable: Risotto and ratatouille. Each team has a cooking practical as a part of our final on Friday. Therefore, Team Four decided to try and duplicate more difficult recipes we have learned over the course. I made the risotto, which took forever, and in the end, I thought it was a little al dente. The chef did not say anything about it, only that the ratatouille may have been cooked a little much.

Tonight, my class went to Bakeshop 6 to meet with Chef Adams, our chef for breads class, which starts on Tuesday. I know I am going to learn a lot from her, but right now, I am way scared. Our whites have to be perfect, number one. I tried to soak and bleach my whites yesterday, and they still are stained; I need to work on perfecting my laundering skills. Also, it is super hot in that kitchen. Drinking lots of water is key, and eating before class is important. I hope our group works well together in an actual bakeshop. We shall see. I am excited nonetheless.

Tomorrow, knife skills test, which is worth ten percent of my final grade. My knives are sharp (thanks, Nate). I am ready to NOT have to cut potatoes into small cubes and long strips everyday anymore. Wish me luck.

MISE EN PLACE

Hay Reh

Dates!

I guess this will be my last post before I fly home to Georgia for the weekend. Have I mentioned how excited I am about going home? I know that it has only been a month. I do love living here, but Dorothy had it right when she said "there's no place like home." Even though it is only for three days, I will take what I can get, but when I get on that plane bound for New York on Monday, I will be almost as excited to be back here as I was to leave.

Yesterday was not too eventful, other than the fact that FOOTBALL SEASON began. Go SEC! Class Nine started with knife skills. I scored a 9. Darn. Yesterday was much like the day before in that we learned one concept, cooked a meal based on that, and made additional dishes to go with the concept, which we have already learned. The main objective was sauteing. Sauteing is a form of dry heat and is French, meaning jump, referring to the splatter from the pan during cooking. Each team took six chicken breasts, evenly sized, and sauteed them in one ounce of oil, in a standard saute pan. The most important thing to consider when sauteing is to begin the cooking process with a hot pan with hot oil. The proper meat for sauteing is naturally tender, moist meat, and if this meat is placed in a cold, warm pan, then it will steam and become tough. After finishing the chicken, we deglazed the saute pan with wine to make a cream sauce with demi glace (that we made the other day) and mushrooms. The chicken with the sauce was unbelievably tasty.

Chef Klug also taught us how to make fresh pasta (one pound of flour to four eggs is the standard ratio). Each team made whole wheat pasta, rolled it out, and cut it into fettuccine or linguine. It was so fun, and making pasta is relatively easy too. Besides the pasta, the chicken with sauce, each team chose one starch and one veg to accompany these two dishes. Team Four chose rice pilaf and broccoli with red pepper flakes. Pete sauteed and made the sauce. I did the pasta. Jon was in charge of broccoli and Emily the rice. When the chef tasted our dishes, he thought the rice was a little sticky, from too much stock, and he thought the garlic and red pepper flakes were sauteed too long (instead of being golden, they were almost burnt.) After tasting, he dismissed us for dinner with our food.

Last night, I worked on homework, while I watched South Carolina kill Southern Miss. What a perfect Thursday night in September! I should have packed, but I did not. Oops.

This morning was bathroom cleaning day on my floor in Angell. The cleaning lady knocked on our day at 7:45ish to clean our bathroom. CIA, are you insane? Why do you need to clean my bathroom at that hour? I just slept as she cleaned, even though that sounds terrible. When she was finished, she quietly left and I slept for a good two to three more hours. (I did not sleep well last night for some reason. I guess the anxiety of getting everything ready today, going to class, and leaving for NYC at like 8:45pm made my stomach hurt. We will just go with the idea of butterflies in my stomach making it hurt though, in excitement for this weekend's shenanigans.)

I packed this morning and finished my homework. Now, I am in the library to print off my assignment, while finishing up this blog of course. Class starts at 1:25ish but I might head to Roth a little early to eat lunch. Today's topic is roasting. How exciting!

The plan tonight is to take a shower (wash that kitchen grossness off), finish packing, head to the train station, and meet Fallon at Harlem-125th to stay with her in her NEW apartment. Then, tomorrow morning, I will take the bus SUPER early to LGA for my flight at 7am. The last time I flew home I posted my flight information, which proved to be helpful and life-saving (for my mother) when my flight was delayed and then re-routed after three hours in the air (when this trip from NYC to ATL should only take an hour and a half.) Here you go, mother:

September 4, 2010
Delta Flight 1547
Departing LGA at 7:00am
Arriving ATL at 9:27am

September 6, 2010
Delta Flight 2242
Departing ATL at 4:15pm
Arriving NWR at 6:38pm

Happy 4th Anniversary of getting my nose pierced and breaking my mother's heart (though I am not celebrating that last one of course). What can I say? I have a thing for dates, even if they are relatively meaningless.

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND!

Hay Reh

*Happy 61st (do not kill me for writing the truth) birthday to my dad. I will see you this weekend!!!!!

"'Cause Earl had to die..."

Just FYI, I could not decide between the title I chose and "Steak and Potatoes." You tell me if I made the right choice. (The things that I think about...)

Today has been a great day. Every day for the most part is a good day here at the CIA, but today was a GREAT day. I am looking forward to so many things in the coming weeks that loving the every day here just makes life that much sweeter.

On a sour note, I fear that Hurricane Earl might possibly affect my travel plans for this weekend. As of right now, a Cat 4 Earl is supposed to graze the North Carolina coast (sweet OBX :() sometime late Thursday/ early Friday and move up the East Coast to Massachusetts by late Friday/ early Saturday. Who has ever heard of a Category 1/2/3/4 storm hitting MA? I bet if I asked people along the East Coast that question, I might be surprised, but granted, it does not happen as often as hurricanes hitting Florida and the Gulf Coast. If you remember the last time I flew home, I did not have the greatest experience, and I just hope I make it safely home to GA on Saturday and am able to fly back to NY on Monday.

Also, random, before we start talking about my day, I have been meaning to mention that I see Chef Lynne Gigliotti from the current season (Season 7) of Top Chef every day. She teaches Garde Manger at night in the kitchen literally across the hall from my kitchen for Culinary Skills. I always see her walking the halls or in and out of the kitchen. Unfortunately, she was told to "pack her knives and go" and was eliminated from the competition, but it still is cool seeing her around. Speaking of Top Chef, Top Chef: Just Desserts premieres on Bravo on Wednesday, September 15. I do not know how I feel about me personally competing in culinary competitions in the future, but it is exciting to know there is a Top Chef now for me. I love the original but I cannot wait for the pastry version!

Let's begin with knife skills (surprise, surprise). We needed tomatoes today for one of our dishes, and therefore, Chef Klug showed us how to cut tomato concasses. Basically, you take the plum tomato, cut out the core, cut an "x" on the other end, blanch, peel, remove the seeds, and cut into chunks. Did you get all of that? For our knife tray, we were required to do the four cuts (brunoise, julienne, batonnet, and small dice) for the potato, slice half an onion, mince half an onion, chop garlic, chop parsley, and cut two tomatoes. I was so excited about my potato cuts. I do not think I will ever be able to cut that perfect ever again. Of course, when I showed the chef my tray, he got out the ruler and measured my batonnets. They were off by 1/6 of an inch. Therefore, I received a 9, instead of a 9.5. I know, I know, my goal was a 9, but now that I have been so close to the 9.5, virtually the highest Chef Klug gives in the class, I am determined now more than ever to get that 9.5 or 10!

Each day we have been given a dinner break between 6 and 6:45 to go to any of the kitchens (such as Asia, Americas, Meds, K19) to eat. Today, that changed. We were still given a break to eat but we ate our own food that we prepared. I am not going to lie; I think tonight's meal was the best I have had at the CIA. I put my sweat and tears (not really) into this meal, and it was really, really good!

Chef Klug, started by giving us a demo on how to make the tomato and mushroom risotto, the red pepper broccoli, and how to grill a strip steak. Our main objective today was to learn how to grill, and the other dishes gave the chef a good idea of how much we have learned thus far in the course. In addition to grilling the steak, making the risotto, and the red pepper broccoli, each team also had to prepare the potatoes we made the other day and a vegetable of our choice. We could either make the green beans with mushrooms and onions, the beets with glaze, or the cauliflower with egg garnish. Team 4 chose the green beans. We split each job. Pete made the risotto. Jon grilled and make the broccoli. Emily was in charge of the green beans. I mashed those potatoes. We were given the entirety of the class after knife skills and the demo, for the most part, to prepare our meal, and we were to be finished for evaluation by the chef at ten minutes until 6. The only critique the chef gave us was that our broccoli was almost overcooked but that it was still serveable. I literally then got to eat my classwork. Gosh, I love this school.

After dinner, it was time to clean, of course. With the job of being an extra, I had to clean the grill pans with a brush and wipe them with paper towels and oil (cheap oil). I helped the sanitation team take the trash out and clean the trash cans after I finished with the grills. Once the cleaning was done, Chef Klug called us over to his desk individually for our midterm evaluation. I am doing fairly well, and I think I may have one of the highest averages in the class. Positive feedback is what I need to confirm that I have what it takes to be here. It can get overwhelming and scary, being at a culinary school, where you are constantly competing with those around you, who have a passion for food just like you do.

I practiced my cuts with two potatoes tonight. Nate thinks that I am the only baker who practices my knife skills. I am daring to "overachieve" here, when really it is me wanting to succeed at the highest level. He criticizes my cuts more than the chef does. I think he wants a little bit of credit for me doing so well. Well, here you go, Nate. (It does help to have friends in Culinary who are ahead of you by three weeks, when you are taking Culinary Skills for Bakers, aka the basics!)

I skyped with mom. I finished my homework. Now off to bed!

As a random disclaimer, by the way, I have no style now. I wear my chef whites all the time. When I do laundry, I wash aprons and chef coats and houndstooth pants and side towels and neckerchiefs. The only normal clothes I wear are my pajamas. So, when I come home, do not judge me if I no longer know how to dress myself. Oh, and Downy Wrinkle Release is my new favorite thing, when you have to look professional and perfectly pressed every day. Ironing is so 1954.

LIFE IS GOOD? NO, LIFE IS SAHWEET.

Hay Reh

*Welcome to the North, Katy Capers! See you in a week and a half!

*Yay for this being my 50th post!