During class yesterday, I cooked bacon, for almost an hour. Nothing but bacon. And despite the long, hot shower I took last night, and this morning before work, I still smell like bacon. It’s in my hair, my skin. Bacon. I’m wondering if bathing in tomato juice will help…or perhaps that will just make me smell like a BLT.

I can only imagine hav... Read More

Chef showed us a video in class yesterday that followed the 10-day testing phase of becoming a certified Master Chef through ACF. It was interesting to watch - scary, intense and fascinating. The statistics were astounding; I didn’t write them down, but remember the ratio of executive chefs who have tested and failed was high, and the list of CMCs was male domin... Read More

I am finally moved into my new apartment in Denver. I left a little over a week ago from Michigan to drive out here to Colorado and into a newly remodeled apartment. Even though I rented a trailer, I still had to pack my entire Rav4 completely full with my belongings. I was finally moving out, and for good. I was actually taking everything (well with the exception... Read More

I’ve been reading through comments to the Chef2Chef blogs from the past year – not only to me, but also to the other bloggers here.

We get a lot of support as we make our way through culinary school and figure out our career goals, but also get a lot of flack for not always knowing where we’re headed with school and career.

For me, the... Read More

It is almost at the end of the fall trimester here at Johnson and Wales, and I can’t believe how fast the past three months have been going! Taking online classes is so different and a bit difficult for me. I just try to keep a positive attitude that the more difficult the class is, the more I will retain in the end. Well, let’s at least hope that’... Read More

Finally. Eleven weeks into the semester. We did something I’ve never done before in my life. We scaled and filleted a whole fish. I was on cloud nine, ten and eleven.

The menu:
Potato and Leek Soup (pureed soup, thickening method)
Salmon en Papillote with vegetables julienne and couscous (parchment technique, filleting, knif... Read More

I was in the grocery store earlier this week, buying the usual things, and also on the lookout for fall recipe inspiration; I wanted to take some Halloween/fall photos of gourmet caramel apples, and experiment with my new candy thermometer a little bit. Next to the apples I found the most beautiful petite pears - no larger than my thumb. I pictured them drenched in ... Read More

At the end of the last block of classes, after we had finished Basic and Classical Cakes, my group of baking and pastry students took our 2nd Term Practical Exam, of which we had been terrified for many months. This is the test that evaluates the baking and pastry students’ competence at the basics: pate a choux, pastry cream, tempering chocolate, sponge cake, I... Read More

I can’t even remember what we made in class last week - it was that uneventful. And this week, we made appetizers. Strike that. We didn’t make, but rather, rushed through appetizers. What a mess.

What I do remember is that I did not learn anything new between last week and this week, except how to turn on the gas grill, which disappoints me.

... Read More

I can’t believe that it’s almost Halloween.  Just today the neighbors set up about 8 carved pumpkins on the front door step.  The Halloween costume stores are littered about town and Target’s Halloween area is slowly become sparse.  I love Halloween, passing out candy to the kids and dressing u... Read More