"The Time of My Life"

Life has been crazy since I last blogged (and I am even fibbing on the post day of this blog to try and keep a sequence that makes sense). I moved out of my room in New York and said goodbye to winter, snow, and school for a while. I visited Nate in New Orleans. I spent some much needed time in Georgia. I logged some 2000ish+ miles on a plane. I drove some 600 miles in my car. Now, time to settle in to my new life in South Carolina, my five month life here. :) I am so blessed.

Back to the day-by-day synopsis...

Monday, January 17 (Day 9)
*Cassis (Black Currant) Jelly Inserts for Chocolate Cassis Domes dessert
*Chocolate Sponge for Domes
*Piped Chocolate Butterflies

Tuesday, January 18 (Day 10)
*Chocolate Whipped Cream
*Assembled Cassis Domes

Wednesday, January 19 (Day 11)
*Finish Glaze for Chocolate Cassis Domes
*Italian Meringue for two remaining Smores Roulade (from first week) in freezer

Remember these?

Thursday, January 20 (Day 12)
*Grand Buffet
*Final Exam
Below are several pictures of all the desserts we presented on platters for Grand Buffet.

Chocolate Cassis Dome with Chocolate Butterfly

Chocolate Cassis Domes

Several Grand Buffet platters

And more platters...

Are you tired of platter pics?

Of course, I only made the Smores Roulade and Chocolate Cassis Domes.

Tirimisu, Mango Mambo, and Chocolate Tear Drop.

I actually put this platter together. Doesn't it look spectacular?

Friday, January (Day 13)
*Graduation
I was voted Sous Chef for Graduation, which mostly consisted of me assigning each of the seventeen people in my class the job of putting corn syrup on plates; placing the ricotta cheesecake (delish!) on the plate; piping a rosette of whipped cream; saucing the plates; and/or placing a white chocolate, raspberry dusted fan on top of the dessert. I also was supposed to make sure the day went smoothly. It was a rather low key, yet successful day.

After graduation on Friday, I packed my room as quickly as possible. Do you know how hard it is to fit a large amount of junk into two bags, without the possibility of leaving anything behind because you must check-out of a room? Yeah, well, it was annoying, but I made it happen. I will say that I must have looked like an idiot trying to get on and off of the Metro North train from Hyde Park to Harlem with one large rolling suitcase, one small rolling suitcase, one large Vera Bradley bag, one small Vera Bradley bag, and a purse. I made it to Fallon's apartment though, after she, being my best friend, carried my 42 pound (I weighed it the next day at the airport) bag up five flights of stairs. From there, we bundled up, walked, and rode the subway to Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant. From the sweet potato soup to the coconut cake, our meal was fabulous. Thanks, Fizzy, for an amazing, see-you-in-five-months-New-York send-off. I miss you already.

Flying out of NYC at noon as opposed to the usual 6 am was refreshing. I rather enjoyed being able to wake up at a decent hour, shower, and actually look presentable. After I finally was able to get rid of a bag by checking it, my load was much more manageable. I know the fact that I was New Orleans bound to see Nate helped the situation too. I arrived in New Orleans around 3:30 Central Time. I knew I was back South when the taxi guy handed me his GPS to put in Nate's address myself. What a gem, he was! I finally made it to Nate's apartment, to sit, and wait, for hours, while Bourbon House held him hostage (not really). After a little exploration, failed Bourbon House stalking, dinner at Cafe Maspero's, quality St. Charles streetcar time, a few hours on the internet, and a nap, I finally saw Nate around 1 am.

The next few days consisted of, but were not limited to, walking miles and miles (carrying end tables for 3 miles of it), Magazine Street, gelato at the cutest bakery ever (check out Sucre), Juan's (pronounced Hhhhwwwwwwan's) Flying Burrito, a Walmart trip, organizing, moving, Chinese food, a thunderstorm, lots of rain, and dinner at Palace Cafe with his roommate and friends. Dinner at the Palace, the restaurant where Nate is now working, was also an unbelievable culinary experience, including an on-the-house round of shots (with two employees dining with us, Nate and his roommate, you are considered a VIP), off-the-menu appetizers, Bananas Foster, Peter's Punch, andouille-crusted fish, and I could continue. My time in New Orleans was short, but I was happy to spend a little bit of time with the boyfriend before starting my own extern adventure.

After flying from New Orleans to Atlanta, I spent the night with my sister in Winder, before venturing south to Thomasville. On the drive to Thomasville, I stopped in Macon to have lunch with two of my best friends from home, Tyler Rogers and Melissa Lyle. I have not seen these two in months, and it was just what I needed. After moving here, there, and yonder, these two reminded me, by just loving me and caring for me despite the distance and time apart, why Georgia will always, ALWAYS be home to me. I love you two!

Thomasville, Georgia, there's no place greater. I ate, and ate, and ate some more (what's new?) with some great company. I shopped. I spent time with my best friend. I made creme brulee and chocolate souffle (that fell faster than the Leaning Tower). I visited with the patient, my dad, who is recovering nicely from surgery. I relaxed and simply enjoyed no school, no job, no pressure for a few days. I love my life.
Last Saturday, my mom (with Gamma in tow) and I started our drive, separately, to Charleston, by stopping in Statesboro to celebrate my cousin, Kellee's (remember her from the Swan(n) Song?) 26th birthday with my entire family. We drove to Savannah to eat dinner on River Street at the Cotton Exchange (I had a lot of fun, wink, wink) and to sample some chocolate and pralines from River Street Sweets. What a joy it was to have my whole family together for this mini-vacation weekend!

Now, Charleston and my externship. I feel like I live my life on airplanes, and in cars, and out of a suitcase, but, hey, I am 23 and single. What could be better than living life one cupcake, or city, at a time?!

CAROLINA IN MY MIND (THE CAROLINA SOUTH OF THE ONE JAMES TAYLOR SINGS ABOUT)

Hay Reh

*Happy Belated Birthday, Kellee. :) I am so glad I was able to celebrate with you this year and be there for you paaarrrrrrty. :) I love you. :)

A Swan(n) Song.

As most of you know, I have a tight-knit family. I only have one sister. My mom has only one sister, and my aunt and uncle have three daughters. With some easy math, that is two sisters and five girl cousins. Seeing as I was raised in a small community and attended a tiny (in comparison to most schools) private school with my sister and cousins, being raised with my sister and my three cousins, who lived maybe fifteen minutes away, felt more like being raised with four sisters. Luckily, I also have an irreplaceable (and crazy) grandmother, a mom who IS the best in the world, an aunt that is comparable to my mother, and an uncle who is more like a second father (and does an outstanding job of putting up with all these women). In honor of my aunt's family, their last name Swann, and my pate a choux swans filled with diplomat cream that I made today, I decided to write a little story, or song if you will.

Once upon a time in Alabama, there was a little boy swan, named Gerry Swann.
When he grew up, all he could think about was not being a swan(n) but being a tiger (rawr!). His dream came true when he attended Auburn University for college. While there, he met his little sunshine (from Florida, get it?), named Debbie. It was not long until Gerry was a smitten kitten, I mean swan(n), and he asked Debbie to be his mother swan(n) forever.
After a few years, they added a baby swan(n) to their pad, I mean pond. This little swan(n), named Kellee Dale, grew up to love children and pursued her dreams of becoming an elementary teacher. Three years after welcoming Kellee, mother, father, and baby added sister swan(n) to the family; her name was Kristy Leighann. Kristy Swann, being super crafty, artistic, and creative, flew the coupe, following her parent swan(n)s' steps to Auburn University to study architecture, and she will graduate this May. After five long years, mother swan(n) and father swan(n) felt their pond was incomplete and something was missing, and little baby Karen Barrett Swann came along. Baby Karen is not so little anymore, and she will graduate from high school in May. It will be exciting to see her spread her wings and to see where life takes her!
Oh, but little girls, even swan(n)s, grow up, fall in love, and must be a swan(n) no longer. On 06.07.08, almost two and a half years ago, Kellee married Brandon Roberts. She could not bare to drop her swan(n), even though she would forever be a maiden swan(n) (Swann is her maiden name, get it?). Even though, he was never a swan(n), marrying a Swann, makes you love the swan(n)s even more.
Mother and Father swan(n) could not be prouder of the home they've made. Soon, all their babies will leave their sight, but rest-assured, it will only be for a short time. Once a swan(n), always a swan(n), and to them, there is nothing greater to be. So, here's to the future. From two to five to four to six to three, back to two. Life is sweet as a swan(n). And they lived happily ever after...
The swan(n)s are the second coolest family I know. Each member no more special than the other. Each member as irreplaceable to me as the other four. My life would not be as rich without them in it. Thank you, swan(n)s for letting me come visit and be a part of your lavish pond world! And, thank you, for humoring me with this little swan(n) song. I love y'all!

Thursday, January 13 (Day 7)
*Eclairs, made with diplomat cream (pastry cream and whipped cream), instead of the usual pastry cream. We piped a design on these as well, for a little something different. (Part of me feels like I came to culinary school to learn how to make an eclair. Well, I am fairly great at them now.)
*Piped Pate a Choux for Swans.
*Russian Cake.
*Sugared Pistachios.
Friday, January 14 (Day 8)
*Pate a Choux Swans. The pate a choux we made yesterday was cut and refreshed in the oven. Laura and I made diplomat cream and piped this into the swan body. Then, we fit all the elements together and sprinkled them with powdered sugar.
*Russians. Pistachio mousseline (pastry cream, pistachio paste, and butter cream) pearls were piped on the top of one Russian cake, made yesterday. These were allowed to chill before placing another Russian cake on top and garnished with sugared pistachios.
Above: A single Russian piped dessert!
Above: Russians ready for service (ha!).
Above: Attack of the flock of swans!!!

This is my last weekend in New York for a while. I cannot believe that the time has come for me to go on extern, something we talk about a lot and look forward to here at the Culinary from Day One of being on campus. I have so much to do before I can fly out a week from tomorrow. I need to pack. I need to finish my project that is due on Tuesday. I have class. I have grand buffet, and I have to serve at graduation. Phew. I am so excited though and will get everything done, running on pure adrenaline for what is all in store in my near future. And, the fact that it is 3* outside right now, makes me just want to runaway from here ASAP! (Negative degrees?! I have never experienced negative degrees! The thermometer should not even go back 0!)

THIS PEACH IS HEADED SOUTH

Hay Reh

Snow Daze.

What is all this white, powdery, fluffy stuff? The natural colors outside are shades of black, white, and grey. It's depressing, but depressingly beautiful (good, right, Jess?). When I posted pictures last week of the snow that fell on Friday, I had not even seen the sights of the Hudson, which is essentially my backyard. I apologize that y'all have been missing out on experiencing this lovely river in the winter, but here it is!
This weekend was highly anti-climactic. I did take the school shuttle to the mall on Saturday to buy the essentials, Coca-Cola, Cheez-its, and small chocolate chip muffins. I know, I know, where's the Oreos? I already have a stash that should last me another week and a half. I watched a lot of TV on DVD, Gossip Girl (judge me, I don't care). I slept. I did laundry, and changed my sheets. All-in-all, a low key weekend.

Monday, January 10 (Day 5)
*Cut Napoleons.
*Rolled out and blind-baked tart dough for Chocolate Custard Tart and Orange Chiboust.
*Orange Chiboust
Above: my cut Napoleons ready for service. They would have been rather tasty if the puff dough had not been overbaked.

Tuesday, January 11 (Day 6)
*Sprinkled sugar on Orange Chiboust and torched for service.
*Made and baked Chocolate Custard. Sprinkled with powdered sugar in snowflake shape (with a paper stencil my partner, Laura, made) and garnished with a raspberry.
*Tempered Chocolate.
Above: Laura made two different snowflake designs. We tried them both, and we put a blueberry on one and a raspberry on the other.
Above: this is the winning chocolate custard tart creation. Which one do you like better, the blueberry or raspberry snowflake design?
Above: Laura and I were very proud of our dessert of the day. And, this is a picture of me in my whites actually baking, which I know y'all love to see!

Wednesday, January 12
SNOW DAY! Just when I was feeling left out with all the snow in Georgia, the CIA granted us a snow day! Forecasters predicted that today's "blizzard" would dump 6-18 inches in the Hudson Valley. Well, I must say that I am disappointed with this New York snow. Now granted, the snow does almost come to my knees (see below), but there was no wind blowing snow in swirls, like you see in the movies when there's a blizzard. Blizzard, smizzard. It was just snow.

The best sight I saw today was people sledding down the hills on sheet trays. What a multi-purpose use for one of the most important pans in the kitchen, culinary students! I am very proud!
Above: I played in the snow for 0.5 seconds to take this picture for the blog. Success. I did it for y'all!
Above: It was very difficult to walk in the snow with tennis shoes and jeans. I need more winter apparel asap. Now granted, half of my clothes are still in GA, but my boots, etc, might need to make the journey to NY in June!

My friend, Pete, and I ordered Chinese. They just called and are here. I'm starving. After that, seeing as I have already finished the season of Gossip Girl, I should work on a paper that is due Friday and my project that is due Tuesday. 10 more days people! 10 more days!

I WANT TO GO TO THE BEACH! (Good thing I start working on an ISLAND in 2 weeks!)

Hay Reh

*Can you believe that it has been a year since the devastating earthquake in Haiti? Unbelievable.

*Welcome home, Demond the cat. Way to get caught in a trap again and scare my mother to death!

*Congrats, Auburn!

"Stuck Like Glue!"

I almost do not know where to begin. Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year? I hope the holiday season was filled with love, laughter, family, friends, and, of course, sweet treats. And, I hope you celebrated the true meaning of CHRISTmas.

I am back in New York, after driving over 2500 miles in the little, old Acura (which turned 6 on the 23rd of December... yes, I know my car's "birthday") over less than two weeks. My break from school was too short, but I enjoyed time with my family and the boyfriend. I was able to rest and relax, when the family was not demanding I prove to them that I actually attend culinary school. I have two more weeks here, before I begin my externship at Kiawah Island. Can you believe I am almost done with my first "year" of culinary school?

Am I killing you by avoiding what everyone wants to know, if they do not already know? My Christmas break began with me PASSING MY 2ND TERM PRACTICAL. For Nate's sake on our twenty hour car ride to Thomasville, Georgia, I am very thankful I passed. I would say that, for the most part, the practical was a fun, positive experience looking back. I did not take the opportunity to take as many pictures as y'all would probably like, but I did manage to snap a few of my passing pastries (alliteration, Jess?). I guess I should note that you have to pass each of the three items, the butter cream cake, apple strip, and the eclairs, with a certain minimum score, and each score is added together for your final score (which does not really matter). I scored a 14 on my apple strip, the minimum passing score (phew!), and an 81.5 overall. All that really counts is the P circled on the front of your exam score paper!
Above: butter cream cake with tempered (poorly!) chocolate coins, a vanilla sponge for evaluation, and a sample of butter cream.
Above: 12 filled eclairs with pastry cream and coated with chocolate fondant, 12 unfilled eclairs, a sample of pastry cream, and an apple strip made with puff pastry.

Christmas break began around 8 pm on Wednesday, December 22. By around 9, I would say, Nate and I had the car packed, after a tiny argument that I have agreed to forgive and maybe forget about Nate wanting to bring too much stuff, and we were on our way to the G-A (rhyming, Jess?). Twentyish hours later, around 5:30pm on December 23, and we arrived at Friar Tuck Lane. We, of course, stopped to eat (breakfast at CHICKFILA for Nate's first taste of chicken and lunch at Zaxby's, where Nate realized the South would die without fried chicken), switch drivers, gas up the car, etc. Surprisingly, we didn't have too many arguments (yes, Nate and I "argue" a lot :)) about the music. I did, however, learn that Nate does not know how to properly use the cruise control, and he about drove (ha!) me crazy on I85. Nonetheless, we made it safely, to my mother's excitement.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. My mom and sis (along with other key members of my family) had the house decorated to perfection (including my favorite UGA tree). Mom even made some additions to the tree in my room, which is filled with baking ornaments. :) My family welcomed Nate (even though he's a Yankee) and helped him celebrate his first non-white Christmas. Nate cooked a lot. We ate a lot. We opened gifts. We drank a fair amount. It was glorious, but our time in Georgia was short-lived (my only complaint).
Above: What a great picture of the Barrett Family (my mom's side of the family) on Christmas Eve at Gamma's house in Monticello, Florida.
I could not decide between the above picture or this picture...
Nate and I (mostly Nate) can not take a normal picture to save our lives. These two pictures above though do a fairly good job at capturing our relationship.
Above: My dad bought me and Jess these hats for Christmas. We affectionately named them Ziggy (the ZEBRA not striped cow) and Monk.

On Monday, December 27th, we hopped back in the car and drove to Destin, Florida. I made Nate put his foot in the Gulf of Mexico, and he agreed that "my" beach was almost as beautiful, in a different way, as Michigan beaches (though they don't have beaches, just lakes, duh). After spending the night in Destin, we hit the pavement to drive to New Orleans, Louisiana. Nate is three weeks ahead of me in school, and therefore, the break was the start of his externship. Being the sweet Georgia peach that he knows I am, I offered to get him to LA and helped him settle in to his new home. Our time in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities in the entire world, included beignets at Cafe du Monde, muffalettas from the Central Grocery, many trips on the St. Charles street car, barbeque shrimp from Pascal Manale's, walking along the Mississippi River, etc. Nate did not know much about the city and I know a little (mostly about the great places to eat, go figure). We are a match made from scratch. Bahahaha.

Nate will be externing at Bourbon House (see below, recognize this sign for those of you who have visited New Orleans?) on Bourbon Street (shocking). Because I was only spending two nights in NOLA, I wanted to eat at his restaurant before I left. We waited a few minutes for a table and then were seated to one of the single greatest culinary experiences of my life thus far. Our entire meal was compliments of the chef, who even took the time to come out to our table to talk with us. Nate was uber impressed, as was I. My favorite thing about Bourbon House? It is hard to decide between the champagne raw oysters on the half shell with caviar, the bella nuit cocktails (champagne with pomegranate), the duck confit and fois gras salad, the chocolate chip bread pudding, etc., but the Bourbon Milk Punch we ordered with dessert was unbelievably tasty. When I fly back to New Orleans in two weeks, I will sit at the bar and drink these, while waiting for Nate to get off work. :)
On Thursday, Nate's first day of work, I drove all the way back to Thomasville to spend a few quality days (and New Year's 2011) with my mom. I was planning to spend New Year's in New Orleans with Nate, but I am so thankful that I came back to GA. Mommy and me time was just what I needed.

On Sunday, January 2, I drove to Atlanta to meet Katie Weiser (almost Mooney, the bride-to-be) and Katy Capers (MOHzilla) to talk about Katie's wedding. It was wonderful to spend the afternoon with both of my Kat(ie/y)s together. I miss Athens, UGA, and the two of them very much! This is such an exciting time for Katie, and I cannot wait to be a part of it all!

After a night in Athens with the sister, it was time for the endless day of travel back to Hyde Park for me. Doc Chey's Noodle House, creepy Eliot the cat, packing, Law and Order: SVU, Chickfila chicken minis, etc. happened all before Jess drove me to the airport. It was at the airport that I was forced to reconsider my shoe choice of the break of flip flops (I literally wore them the WHOLE break from the time we left the CIA before Christmas to when I landed at LaGuardia), as I braced myself for snow!

Class started on Tuesday. My last class before extern and of 2nd Term is Individual and Production Pastry with Chef Utera. Basically, this is a capstone class, where we produce individual pastries in large scale, or larger scale. For example, we know how to make eclairs. Now, we make eclairs, the same quality and size, for more than 24 people like we have been doing thus far. We focus on one particular subject and each team of two produces a different product based on our subject. I will more focus on the blog on what Team 9, me and Laura (NY), bake! It is only the end of week one, but I am really enjoying this class. I am glad I like the class and Chef Utera, or these last three weeks in New York would drag. :)

Tuesday, January 4 (Day 1)
*Whole Wheat Roulade for Smores Roulade. Our whole wheat roulade was made with honey and cinnamon to taste like graham cracker.

Wednesday, January 5 (Day 2)
*Medium Ganache. We smoothed the chocolate on our whole wheat roulades and rolled each roulade.
*Puff Dough
*Poached Pears in Burgundy and Chamblis (red and white wine)

Thursday, January 6 (Day 3)
*Rolled out our puff dough
*Italian Meringue. With gloves, we smeared the meringue onto the outside of two of our four smores roulades. Then, we torched the outside of the meringue to look like marshmallow. Here is our finished Smores Roulade.
Friday, January 7 (Day 4)
*Fruit Strip. For the fruit strip, we baked our puff dough. We made pastry cream and folded whipped cream into the pastry cream to make a diplomat cream. The diplomat cream was piped onto the puff dough, and fresh fruit was cut and added. I am rather proud of our strips. Below are two of the five we made (they were all different).
*Napolean. For the Napolean, we cut puff into three equal strips about 3.5 inches wide and 14 inches long. Between the layers of baked puff, we put equal amounts of diplomat cream (with gelatin). On the top, we spread fondant and created a feathered pattern with chocolate. We will cut these on Monday, and I will be sure to post a picture then.
On a random funny note, in class today, my chef compared two of our other puff pastries, the apple turnover, a Southern favorite, to the Holiday Inn and an apple dacquois (puff with a lattice design) to the Ritz Carlton. It's a good thing that the Holiday Inn (Express) has been my home-away-from-home for many years now.

Today, it snowed. I was hoping to escape any winter weather , as I am only here for three weeks total, but I guess I do live in the North. It has been falling since last night and is forecasted to keep snowing until tomorrow. I must say, this snow is the most beautiful I have ever seen (but I haven't seen it much). It looks like bits of feathers falling from the sky. It is mostly powder, and even though it sticks, it is still soft and fluffy. Now, granted, I am glad not to have a car up here right now to drive around in this stuff, but, as long as it doesn't affect my flight in two weeks when I try to leave NY, I am enjoying this snow (I fully expect this attitude to change next year).
Above: the view from my window this morning.
Above: The Baking and Pastry "wing" is the building to the right.

Plans this weekend? Watch tv. Sleep. Pack. Work on my project for class. Play in the snow (maybe)?! I do miss Nate (you can vomit if you want), and it is weird to be here without him. However, I am enjoying some much needed "me" time. :)

WINTER WONDERLAND

Haley

*Dad, get well soon! (He just had a knee replacement this week. Ow.)