It was only two years ago that I was filling out the paper work and sending in a hefty sum of money to Johson and Wales to finalize my enrollment.  It wasn’t long after signing on the dotted line that I received an email with a list of names of current and previous students that I could talk to about attending JWU.  I gained so much information... Read More

We started on cakes this week - high ratio, to be exact - where I was introduced to a new ingredient: Fluid Flex. Fluid Flex resembles the flabby geletin they bring on talk shows to show you how much fat you’re ingesting when you eat a Big Mac. Gross. I'm very thankful for having an allergy to soy, which gives me a valid excuse to not have to eat disgusting crap like Fluid Flex or vegetable... Read More

Yesterday in Hearth Breads and Rolls, each team baked sourdough bread using sour starters that we had been cultivating over the past week. By cultivating I mean feeding them with flour and water every day, almost as if they were pets. My team’s sour was named Mildred (others around the room included King Henry VIII, Elroy, and Gus), and one of my teammates even took Mildred home over the weekend... Read More

It surprises most people to find out that it took several months of attending school at the Culinary Institute of America before I actually stepped foot in a kitchen let alone a bakeshop. In actuality, at least the first three months a baking and pastry student spends at the Culinary is in more traditional classroom settings. It seemed like an eternity before I hit Culinary Skills for Bakers and then... Read More

There were no excuses not to be ready.

Our class had spent more than two months working in the French Culinary Institute's restaurant, L'Ecole. We seared countless duck breasts, finely diced onion and piped countless ladyfingers for a tiramisu dessert.

But the reality? You sometimes question yourself when the pressure is on and you're... Read More

Tuesday night I went to a meeting of the CIA’s Gourmet Society even though I had just emerged from my 6 hour long Hearth Breads and Rolls class and was exhausted. I went because I wanted to see Certified Master Chef Thomas Griffiths demo his “Contemporary Approach to Creating Healthier Cuisine.” I won’t try to hide the fact that, as a baking and pastry student, I am very fond... Read More

The other night Chef put his foot down, and I was so glad.

All semester I've been feeling like a flailing fish, with no direction, no instruction, rushing through recipes to get them finished in time without guidance. And after Chef's proclamation during last week's class of: I don't grade you on your cooking and I rarely check... Read More

It was such an amazing feeling of relief and pride as I walked down the aisle to receive my diploma at graduation.  I was now officially a Certified Pastry Chef (or C.P.C.) and was graduating with my Associates Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.

Hey readers -

It's been a blast writing for the culinary student blog over the past year, but now that I'm a c-school alumni, it's time (as Padma says) to pack my knives and go. I'm not traveling far, though. You can find me answering culinary quandaries on this site's Ask a Chef section. Unsure of what to do with chicory, or even ask what chicory is? I'm your gal.

Before departing the... Read More

Today is the day: My classmates will take our level six final exam at the French Culinary Institute.

The task? We draw a number from a hat that determines the dishes we'll cook under deadline. Then a panel of judges critique us in front of our classmates. We'll either cook a fish and pastry pairing or a meat and appetizer.

If you pass, you receive a diploma declaring you're a chef.

I... Read More