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