End of First Week

I wanted to write every day but by the time I get home, I am having to start studying and do the written work. Since this is a nine month program, it is very intense and we cover a lot of ground work real fast. I can forget my house right now. My daughter has a list of chores to do when she gets home, so I won't have to do everything when I get home. My family is helping out, so I believe I will get a rhythm going in a couple of weeks, and be able to accomplish more and not feel so frazzled. I have already had a couple of test. I think I aced them. They give us bonus questions, love that. Could always use the extra points.

This week we made light stocks and dark stocks. We use veal bones and baked them to make our dark stocks. We reduced them the next day. We are practicing our chopping techniques. I am also learning French terms, mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots) and bouquet garni (black peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, parsley) roux (equal parts fat to equal parts flour) etc. I will have to learn and write something like 50 more by Tuesday.

We have already made clear soups, cream soups, chowders and bisque. I always wondered why seafood bisque are so expensive in restaurants, now I know why. They are so labor intensive to get them to the right consistency. I messed up on one step of my shrimp bisque yesterday and my wonderful chef instructor showed me how to rescue it and it turned out wonderful. It was light, creamy and you could taste the layers. The recipe called for brandy and white wine. It was on the burner and I poured the brandy, and it flamed up and about singed my eyebrows. He let me make the mistake first and then taught us how you should take the pan off and away from the burner to add your alcohol. I guess I was the guinea pig for that lesson. He was standing there helping me when it happened.

I am so grateful we have such a wonderful teacher for our first class. The only thing about that is, I may not be happy with the next chef teacher we have. I am sure some I will like and others I will have to tolerate. It is all about the learning process anyway.

I will have to admit the first 3 days were overwhelming to me. I was wondering if I had made a mistake in going through with this, but I am happy and exhausted and learning something new everyday. I get a buzz out of knowing that this time next week, I am going to know so much more than I do right now. I haven't felt like that in a long time. I love my family and am happy to take care of them and be here for my daughter but she is 15 now and can take on more responsibilities. It will only make her more mature, I believe. Kudos to my husband for being so supportive. I love him even more for it. Of course, he gets to eat whatever food I bring home from our classes. Quite yummy stuff if I do say so myself.

As I write this, my daughter is downstairs with another music student, playing a duet that they are practicing for solo and ensemble. The sound is floating upstairs, it is a very nice piece of music. I am talking about french cuisine and listening to some very fine music . At this moment, right now, I feel cultured and refined. I think I will bask in this for a moment... Ah Ah Ah........

Well, back to reality, I have dishes in the sink and the laundry is not going to fold itself. Study, Study, Study .... I am a student... tee hee.