It’s been awhile since I have written, so sorry. Life has been crazy and school is winding down. I can’t believe school is almost done with. If I pass my final, I will have completed Le Grande Diplome! It’s taken alittle longer then I hoped, but I am almost done. The feeling is amazing. My sister pointed out, the other night, that I have been wanting this since I was young, I mean like since I was 11 or 12 years old.

Anyways, the weather here reminds me of college at Syracuse. The weather has been constantly changing, from hot to cold and back again. I’ve had more rain here in Ottawa than in London. But the weather has finally settled down. The leaves have fallen from the bare trees and help usher in the winter weather. It’s great. It almost makes me miss the weather in Syracuse, but not enough!

Two weeks ago, I went to New York City to spend time with my aunt Laurie. We got our African visa’s! It’s official! I’m going to Africa. I got the plane ticket and got the visa. The weekend was great, very relaxing. I cooked and spent time in Barnes and Noble, a GREAT place. Then it was back to reality – school.

Halloween, I got to work in the restaurant for the last time. I HAD A BLAST! The chefs were so nice. I peeled vegetables and did the grunt work. But this time I got to talked with the chefs. We were all peeling carrots and just talking. I was trying to educate them about the USA and they were trying to teach me about Canada. It’s so weird that we are so close, but we know next to nothing about each other.

Last Friday, I got my black box list for my final exam. The black box is just like the white box – a list of 20 ingredients with 4 ingredients (chicken livers, salmon fillet, duck legs and squid) we must use. We must make an appetizer and a main dish out of the 20 ingredients, for two. I spent the weekend trying to figure out a menu. I had lots of help, so thank you EVERYONE!!! My menu:

APPETIZER: spinach and salmon tartar stack with calamari and a beurre blanc sauce.
The spinach will be sautéed with garlic. There will also be another sauce, a red pepper coulis to bring color to the plate.

MAIN: duck two ways. Duck legs braised in apples with an apple Gastrique ( a sweet and sour sauce) duck roulade stuffed with chicken livers, mushrooms and leeks with a mushroom pan gravy.
There will be two vegetables, sautéed asparagus with shallots and a butternut squash puree.

I have two and half hours to prepare the appetizer and another 45 minutes afterwards to present my main dish. It’s gonna be kick ass – I just need to present on time!!!

This past week I had my last class and my last practical. It was fun. My last practical was so much fun! Chef Armando taught us how to carve in vegetables – we carved roses in turnips and beets. I made a fish out of half a butternut squash and made some other cool things. It was so much fun! I took pictures, but I can’t post them yet. I left my cables at home in Alabama, so ya’ll will have to wait.

Thursday and Friday I volunteered for Club des Amis. I worked with another student and chef Armando to put on a lunch. We made shrimp wrapped in a fillet of sole with sautéed vegetables and a beurre blanc sauce for our appetizer. Then for the main, beef tenderloin topped with bleu cheese with a peppercorn sauce, sautéed celeriac and vegetables. It was ok. This week has been a great last week in culinary school!!

This weekend I am going to take it easy and come up with a game plan for my final on Tuesday! Then there will be a couple of days of waiting to see if I pass my final, but the time will fly by since my parents are coming up for graduation. I just hope it’s worthwhile for them to come, meaning I hope I graduate. There have been students who have failed. I hope I’m not one of them. But the dream is almost complete! Think of me on Tuesday and send good thoughts! I’ll report back soon!

The past week has been...well repetitive. My program is just about over, less than a month left. Whose excited?? ME!!! Tuesday I went to a lecture given by a local professor at the University of Ottawa. It was all about hospitality law. It was informative, but most of it I have already had in college. But I got to ask a few questions and just listened to him talk.

On Thursday, I went in early to help Chef Marc, my main chef. He was cooking lunch for a group of ladies, with a few men thrown in there too. I was his assistant for a few hours. It was fun. We made quiche with mushrooms and cheese, coq au vin and creme brulee. It was fun. Then I had a workshop with my class for about 5 hours.

On saturday I went on a school field trip to a local brewery. We took a yellow school bus to the Draft Horse Brewery. We went in and began drinking beer - I mean testing the five beers. They were good. We had a tour of the brewery - a small room - which took about 10 minutes of him talking. Then we went back to drink more beer. Then we had a tour of the restaurant and went back to drinking. We got back to school - probably all alittle buzzed, but it was a good trip.

The week was good. Another week done, a few more to go and then I am finished! I can't wait. The upcoming week is busy and also a four day weekend! I'm going to New York City to spend some time with my aunt and get my African visa. So I will have more to report soon.

Turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes oh my! Here in Canada, the Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving early. Monday, the 8th, was thanksgiving here in Canada. The people I am staying with invited me to eat dinner with them, but then took back the invitation. They didn’t have enough room at the table. Marnie, the woman who runs the B and B, felt so bad. I told her not to worry about it. I just laughed. I know tons of people who would have done that at home! But they brought me a plate of food. It was good. Now I can’t wait to cook the thanksgiving feast at home and eat it with all my family! (since last year I missed it.)

Tuesday, I had demo at noon. Then alittle break between demo and practical I went to the grocery store and did other things, anything to make sure I didn’t fall asleep! At 7pm I had practical. We were making a fancy French egg dish and surprise chicken consommé. The fancy egg dish was poached eggs in red wine with toast and a yummy sauce. It was so good! The surprise chicken consommé was chicken consommé with diced chicken and celery with puff pastry on top – all cooked in the oven. It was pretty good too. I made consommé in about 2 hours and it was perfect! Even made my own chicken stock!!! The chef said I did good, but then again, the critique never really changes.

Wednesday was different. Instead of seafood we made venison in a salted/dough crust. I had demo at noon and then the practical straight after. The chef in demo broke down a whole side of the deer. It was so cool. However there was no way we would be able to do that. And that sucked! The dish was pretty easy, but he said I cooked my meat to well done. He cooked his extremely rare. I didn’t want it that way – oh well, to each it’s own. We also took a class picture. How lame. We took the picture outside, with the school in the back round. The photographer actually arranged us, the girls sitting in the front and the boys stood according to height. It was pretty goofy. I’m not getting a picture, not because it was lame, but because we have to pay for it, 20 dollars! It’s a rip off! In Paris, they gave it to us, built into the tuition. In Australia and London, there was no picture.

Thursday was the best day! I got to work in the restaurant again! I spent the day in a local coffee shop doing work. Then at 3 pm I went to the school and get ready for my shift. 3:30 on the dot I was up in the restaurant! I got to work the viande station, meat and fish. I worked directly with the chef of the station, this time. The other time, I was working entremetier and I was pawned off to the viande station, but I didn’t care. I got to do things!
I spent the first hour or so with duck. I didn’t mind. I was taking the silver off of the duck fillets to make duck confit – duck pieces are slowly cooked in their own fat and it turns out this most fantastic meat. The chef de partie I think felt bad making me do that, so he let me play with him. I got to cook – sauté onions and make canapés with him. I had a blast. He taught me about his sauces – telling me and showing me things as he did it. He was trying to teach and involve me. He let me help.
It’s been such a long time since I have worked for the public, helping to turn something out for people, other then the chef we cook for in practical. I forget the feeling of being in the kitchen. It’s a rush, something I can’t really describe. Butterflies return to my stomach, my palms get sweaty, my forehead and nose develop sweat beads, knots form like the ones you get before a first date, but I am focused and ready to work. The intensity, the pressure, the heat – I love the feeling. Pain, hunger, thirst, everything goes away except for the food, the passion for the food. I finally remember why I love this. The excitement on the line – it’s like home.
We all know that I have been unhappy the past year or so. I can contribute that to many obstacles that have been in my way, but it wasn’t until I was leaving the 3 star, 5 diamond restaurant at Le Cordon Bleu, that I felt I have really made the right choice. The passion for my cooking/baking came back alive. And I am so thankful for it. Come my graduation, November 16th 2007, I will keep learning but by experience, not by constant book learning. I will be in the field and working in kitchens and helping to prepare food for the public. And I can’t wait! It’s gonna be one hell of a ride, so hold on!

Friday was our practice for the final and our midterm. We had two hours to prepare our appetizer and 2 ½ hours to prepare our main course. We had come up with our own recipes out of a list of ingredients we were given. We had four ingredients we had to use. When making our menus we had no idea we had only 2 ½ hours to cook. But somehow it got done. My appetizer was Pistachio Crushed Paupiettes of Snapper with Scampi Mousseline, Asparagus Spears with Creamy Leeks and Red Pepper Coulis. My main course was Poultry Two Ways: Seared Duck Breast and Potato Puree with Orange Sauce and Roasted Cornish Hens with Vegetable Risotto. I was alittle late with the appetizer, but I got it done!
After everyone turned in their dishes and cleaned up, the chef graded our dish in front of everyone! I got good reviews. My appetizer was too big, but good flavors. My main dish, the duck was too rare and I served too much hen. Otherwise, it was good. My risotto was cooked perfectly! I thought it was good. It needed alittle more color, but good flavors. My dishes were completely different. He like that I served the two meats together, the duo! The guys like my appetizer dish – I let them eat it. They liked the Mousseline. Not bad for the first time making the dishes! They just need to be tweaked alittle more. This week was great!

I forgot to tell ya'll, last Friday, I got interviewed by an Asian magazine from Toronto after Friday's Club des Amis. It was fantastic! The school wants me to write down what I said so they can have it. It's very exciting. I hope they send me a copy! That would be cool.

Anyways, this past week has been good. Monday we made scallops and a endive tatin. My tatin came out perfectly! The tatin was sauteed endive, goat cheese and puff pastry on top. You bake it in the oven and then you flip it out onto the plate. It was so good and I don't even like endive.

Tuesday was another seafood dish with scallops and swordfish. I'm getting kinda sick of seafood, but at least I am getting practice in it. Today's practical was about spices. So I played around with a combination of spices - cumin, cardamom, nutmeg and such. I love the smells. It reminds me of home and Fall. Every Fall, Mom puts a pot on the stove filled with oranges, cinnamon and cloves. The smell rings in the Fall and it is the best smell.

On Wednesday I got to go into the 5 diamond restaurant, Signature. I was there to observe the chefs in action. I arrived by 3:30 and left by 6:30. I arrived and was thrown into the mix. I did prep work, grunt work. I peeled beets, peeled onions, diced mushrooms, died leeks and whatever else they wanted me to do. It was good experience to watch them and just see the restaurant in action. The chefs were so nice. I had fun, even doing the grunt work.

Thursday was a seafood workshop. It was long and boring. The chef made us present our food by 7:30. We began our workshop at 3:30. That is 5 hours to make three dishes. A few of us had nothing to do for about an hour, except to just wait until we could cook to present our food. Luckily, the chef let us present by 7! So we were out by about 9. Long day. It was ok.

This weekend has been ok. I have developed a stye in my right eye, so I have been trying to fix that. Hopefully it will be ok in time for my practical tomorrow at 7. It hurts so much! But I think it is better. Today, Monday, is the Canadian Thanksgiving Day. The family asked me to join them for dinner. It was so sweet. And I must say, I welcomed the invitation. I was craving real home cooked food! Unfortunately there was not enough room at the table, but they brought me a plate of food. It was so sweet. And I cannot thank them enough! What do you know, I will have two thanksgiving meals to make up for last year!

Well this week at school is going to be good. Friday is a practice of our final. We were given last week a list of ingredients and told to make a menu for an appetizer and an main dish. There were four ingredients that we had to use and other ingredients we could choose to use. I think I came up with a good menu. I'll let you know soon. Wish me luck! talk to ya'll later!

I have been on the run, constantly. Everyday I been at school for many many hours, but it has all been worth it. Monday school began at noon, lasting until about 10. I had a practical and then a workshop. The workshop was interesting. We used fish and quail for a main and appetizer with only a few vegetables. I did a seared fish with leeks fondue and a balsamic reduction. Them a stuffed quail with peas, carrots and shallots with a julienne ginger fruit salad and roasted pepper with a sauce. It was an ok workshop. I just wasn't into it. Oh well, no one really was.

The next day was a slow day, with only a practical. I made a yummy pumpkin soup inside of a pumpkin. And then veal sweetbreads with puff pastry, an assortment of autumn vegetables and a nice sauce. It was good, minus the sweetbreads!

Wednesday, I woke up early to go to the superior patisserie class at 8:15 to see chocolate! The chef showed the class the assembly of a show piece. It was pretty cool to watch. I enjoyed it.
Then I had a demo and a few hours later a practical. I made two dishes with fish and vegetables. One dish had roasted fish with vegetables skewers. The other dish had roasted fish with layers of vegetables. It was great! It even tasted pretty good.

Thursday was the first day of Club Des Amis. We were at school by 7:15AM!! That part was not fun, but the day was great. Prep work began by 8 and we were off. The chef had picked my appetizer of butternut squash ravioli with a sauce and pistachios. I was so excited! The chef picked Andre's main dish of Florentine quail with sweet potatoes and a mix of mushrooms with onions. It was a great meal. For dessert, on Thursday there was an apple meringue with apple ice cream and hazelnuts. It was fantastic. For Friday, the dessert was a spicy chocolate molten cake with pumpkin ice cream. Everything was good.
Service went so fast. It began at 12:30 and lasted only for about an hour. We only served 6 people, two tables of 3. My dish got great reviews. I served it in a huge bowl dish. For Thursday I reduced chicken stock in sage butter then added cream and reduced it even more, whisking in butter at the last minute. The ravioli was huge, with sauce around it, then crushed pistachios, a drizzle of pistachio oil, micro greens and a sprig of chervil to decorate. It was gorgeous. Hopefully I will have a picture soon.
After service we went upstairs to meet our guests and say thank you. The head of the school was eating lunch with two other people. She could only say good things about the appetizer. She loved our meal. Everything was perfect! She loved the ravioli! I was so happy!!! Then we stayed around for a bit longer to eat and to devour the ice cream! We were out of there by about 3:30. It was a good, long day!

Little did I know that Friday was going to be even longer! We were at school by 7:30AM! Things were great! Prep work was easy, since most of the work was done yesterday. We all did our work and had time to do nothing. Service began by about 12:30 and we were done by about 1:30 or so. We went to meet out guests again and we were out by 2. I changed my dish alittle. It was still a huge ravioli, but it had a beurre blanc sauce and all the decorations were the same. Except I added a black pepper foam to the top - SO COOL!!! Service was great!
I had an hour and a half to waste before the next class at 3:30 - workshop. So I went to get food with a friend. Then we all hung around with people in the lounge and waited for class to begin. The workshop went well. I made half a chicken - seared and then braised in the oven - served with vegetables and a potato gratin on the side. For the app, I made seared scallops with wild rice and beet slices with a beurre blanc sauce. It looked great!
The chef is hard for me too read. It's hard for me to take what he gives me and improve on it. I like to cook simply and keep it simple. I don't want to change the food by being so intricate. I think simplicity is perfect, just make sure it tastes great, which it always does! I think the chef wants me to be more intricate on my dishes, almost over the top. So I checked out some books and I am doing research this week - hopefully it will improve my dishes. Right now, no one is failing, but no one has great grades. It is extremely hard to get a good grade - a 4/5. So hard. I want to pass, I want to do good. I guess I will have to study. We will see.
This weekend I am just lounging and doing some work. Next week is alittle easy going. All classes begin at 12 or after!!! WOO-HOO

This past week has been easy. It’s been great. Only three days of actually going to school and two days off, PLUS the weekend! Pure bliss.

The seminar on Monday was boring, but I got through it.

Tuesday was spent in demo and then a practical a few hours later. The practical was turkey roulade – filled with eggplant, tomato and basil. It was pretty good. I got a good review from the chef. The sauce however…not so good. I have to work on the sauces – jus (natural juice) and a real sauce. The consistencies, I never really get them right. Oh well, I still have the chance to improve on them.

Thursday was spent in another workshop. This time I was more prepared! I rocked it, well almost. Escargot salad. It kind of freaks me out looking at a snail and knowing what it is and I am about to eat it. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it. I remember my first time eating escargot. It was with my father at Chez Fon Fon. He and I went out to dinner and he wanted me to try them. So I said ok. I’m willing to try anything, well almost, at least once. So he ordered them and I ate one. It was covered in a garlicky, parsley butter with some buttered toast. I ate it and it burst with butter in my mouth. All you can taste is butter, which is not a bad taste. It helps mask the escargot and the thought that you are eating snails, an animal you find in your garden.
You probably should know that snails or escargot can be from the garden. Before you eat them, the people preparing them take weeks cleaning them before actually giving them to consumers. It’s sort of like eating mussels or clams. People feed mussels cornmeal and salted water to clean them before consumption.
My second dish was all vegetables. I was in the process of plating, when I messed it all up! I forgot to grease the ramekin so the eggplant would not come out! It made a huge mess and I did not try to fix it.

The weekend was spent doing errands and just hanging out. I went to the park and read and wrote to enjoy the sun. It’s been extremely sunny here with light breezes. It’s been perfect weather. The cool temperatures I was experiencing earlier have now vanished. It is definitely not as hot as in Alabama, but you can work up a sweat and it will still be there. Hopefully the fall temperatures will be coming soon…I do miss the cold weather from the north. But I don’t know if I miss the constant pouring of snow. We will wait and see.

Wednesday was my day off. I was actually busy. I got ahead on my school work - cost out my menu. I went into the school to get a few item prices and do a bit of calculations. I was just about done. Now all I had to do was draw a few pictures and assemble my recipes and everything else together! I AM NOT A SLACKER...well anymore. I was ahead of the game.

Thursday was my first workshop. I had no idea what a workshop was, until after the class. Let me explain. Workshop is a time for the students to "play" with unusual ingredients. This is the time for us to "make mistakes" and to learn from the. I was told to make mistakes. That way I would learn. Well it makes sense. There is also an ingredients list in the back of the binder! No idea.
We had 5 hours to make an appetizer and a main dish. I had no idea what to do. So I began to turn some vegetables - giving a vegetable a barrel like shape, with 5 to 8 sides. My appetizer dish was a cold endive salad with sauteed calamari. My entree was a piece of pork seared and finish in the oven with turned carrots and potatoes and sauteed broccoli rabe with squash and onion. It was ok. It definitely was not my finest dish, but yeah.
So now I know. The next workshop I will look at the ingredient list and come prepared. I will think ahead of time and be prepared. I welcome the next workshop with open arms...which is this thursday, the 20th!

Friday was about salad, lobster salad. It went ok. We had a new chef. He first few words were "Welcome to Superior". Did he ever mean it! I need to be more prepared and actually think alittle more about plating. I am really going to try. I want to do well. The lobster was great though!

The weekend was spent in bed. I didn't feel so good, so I just tried to sleep and eat lots of saltines.

Today is my sister's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZY-Q!!!!
Today was easy. We had class at noon. It was a seminar. It felt like it lasted for hours, but it was only 2 and 1/2 hours. The chef was given items from the pantry and his task was to make something out of it. A few items he had: peanut butter, cheese whiz, coconut milk, ranch dressing, fresh vegetables, Duncan Hines cake mix, curry paste, canned pears, canned chick peas and a few others things. He made about three dishes. I tried a few, but I don't like coconut or curry paste. Yeah. I did try them, but not so good.

This week is easy going. Only two days of work, two classes each day. It's gonna be easy. I hope. I'll keep ya'll updated!

If culinary school is anything like the real world, then the odds to men and women chefs are not good for women and we still have a LONG way to go. In my practical there are only 2 girls and I am one of them. The other 6 people are boys. Crazy. I hope I prove myself in the kitchen.
Tuesday was about fish. There was a demonstration at noon, a perfect time! It was long and kind of boring, but we got good food after the two and half hours of watching the chef cook. Then there was a break of three hours. I went home to eat lunch and chill out for a bit, taking a little nap. Then back to school by 6:40 to change out and gt ready for my practical...my time to cook.
I was not in the mood to cook fish, much less monkfish! I really just don't like monkfish. When I was in Paris, we had to cook monkfish and it was just gross. The fish it self is not nice looking, pretty ugly and slimy and just not good. You can't do anything to make it taste better, at least, I haven't had anything yet to make me like it! While in Paris, we made a lot of fish dishes. Or maybe, scaling, skinning and filleting fish a few times makes it seem like we did it a lot of times. Regardless, I think I only want to cook fish at home that has been made ready for me or wait until I am with my uncle Randall at his house to go the whole nine yards! But yesterday was about fish. Monkfish.
The practical was long. I served a great pot au feu. The chef said "bon". I hope that means good in his eyes. The other dish of sauteed monkfish was not good. Oh well. In my restaurant I won't be serving monkfish in ANY form. The dish on monday was fish and with the same fish and he said I did great, well "bon". I take that as great.
Today is my day off. I've done work for my Club De Amis. My menu is looking good. I went to talk to a chef today, but he gave me some other ideas. I might rethink my menu, but as now, here it is:
App - pumpkin ravioli with sage butter and roasted pumpkin seeds
Main - Venison accented with gremolata butter with side salad, sauteed green beans and sesame seed tuile.
I think I might need a little more to the dish, but I don't really care. I think the chef wants me to add a sauce, but the gremolata butter I think will do just so. I might rethink it, but I think I am just gonna take a chance. I won't be horribly upset if the chef does not pick my menu....but it would be cool!
Well I better get going and do some work. Lots of costing out to do. By the way, Chef kim, if you are reading this....THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME HOW TO COST THINGS OUT! I actually know what I am doing! It's amazing.

Hello faithful readers,
The week has finally come to an end. I got my first taste in the kitchens and it was interesting. Friday I had my first practical, at 7pm. It lasted about two and a half hours. There are 7 of us, including me. There is supposed to be 8, but the girl never showed up. So I am the only girl my group, B, out of the 7 students. This could be good and this could be bad. I don't know yet.
I was early to class and walked into the kitchen. In the other schools the students got there atleast 15 minutes early to set up their stations. Things work differently here then the other schools. You wait for the chefs to allow you to come in. So you sit and wait for the practicals and for the demos. Good thing to know.
We were in the production kitchen....where the chefs come to assemble their mise en place for demos. So the 7 of us went into the kitchen and began to unload. I felt so weird and actually alittle nervous. I of course picked the smallest space to work on, only a cutting board could fit! But I made it work.
I felt alittle lost. I had no idea where anything was or what to do. Do we use garbage bowls? Do we unpack our knives and utensils and just leave them on the table? So I light my stove or will the chef do it? What the hell am I doing here and why are there no girls?! So I freaked out for a half second, or maybe a little longer, and then pulled myself together. I bugged the guy beside me to ask all the questions, like where are the cutting boards, where are the plates, and where is the fridge? I felt so stupid for asking him these questions, but I never got a tour of the kitchen, so I couldn't feel that bad.
The practical was all about cold dishes- salmon tartar, cucumber with cream cheese and crab, shrimp tempera, stuffed cherry tomatoes, chicken sate, and beef carpaccio (which we ran out of). It took me while to find my groove. The whole idea of mise en place (gathering all your ingredients for the dish together) completely slipped my mind. I did the best I could, so I worked one recipe at a time. And it worked! I was not the first nor the last to present my dish to the chef! That has to say something about me, right? The chef I did good. My sauce was good and my presentation was good too. He was very nice and told me if I needed anything, help with recipes or presentation to come find him. He was very nice and very helpful!
Then it was time for clean up and soon we could go after it. The kitchen is very quite when we were working. No one was really talking except for the occasional questions, which would have been asking something. People are very focused on their tasks, cutting a brunoise (very find dice of vegs) or assembling their plate. It was very different from what I was used to. In Paris, my group was very talkative and we sang alot - Oh Happy Day....In Australia, there was just so much noise from the chefs talking to one another or dishes being dropped for some smart ass joking around. Maybe it all has to do with what cycle I was in at the time. In Australia I did basic so people were just getting to know one another. There were three classes and the classes were all together, in one large kitchen. In Paris, I was in intermediate. People were tired of cooking and the constant repetition of filleting fish and making concasse! We needed something to break up the silence. And in Ottawa, you have to be focused. This is the last step. This is what the chefs really look at when making recommendations. Or maybe, it was just the first day of cooking in a group. Give it time and I am sure the kitchen will become loud and crazy!
I think this school is going to be the best. Definitely more challenging and it will test me, I LOVE THAT! Welcome to superior cuisine 2007. Stay tuned.

CANADA ROCKS!

Orientation was on Tuesday, the 4th. It was long and very informative. It began at 10am and it lasted until about 2:30pm. It was talk after talk, and then a tour of the school, pictures and the basic students got their uniforms and knife kits. I had to run home to get dressed in uniform and rush back to school in time for my superior orientation at 3:30pm. This orientation was short, only 30 minutes, short and sweet!

Wednesday, class began at noon. It was a seminar about Club Des Amis. This is a membership through the school. Superior students put on a lunch in the 3 star, 5 diamond Signature restaurant. We have about a week and a half to find recipes, cost them out for 25 people and then write out the procedure and such. It’s gonna be great!
Each group consists of three cuisine students and two patisserie students. We each assemble a package of the main and appetizer dish, while the patisserie students assemble a package with two desserts. The chef will then determine which recipes go together and thus our menu is born for the lunch date, on Thursday and Friday. It’s gonna be interesting. No Le Cordon Bleu school has a restaurant at their school. The restaurant is the most unique thing to the Ottawa school.

Thursday was our first demonstration. It went well. Our first lesson was about fish. It was about sushi! Fantastic! There are seven recipes that the chef made. For our practical we will be making five of the dishes. My practical, the time I get to make the dishes, will be tomorrow on Friday. I can’t wait to see who is in my practical. There aren’t many of us in superior. So it won’t be crowed in the kitchen for once!!!

I think this school is going to be great. I think I am going to actually learn something and walk away with something other than just the diploma. This whole experience is going to be different and great. Superior is all about creativeness. You have learned the basics and you have the knowledge to apply skills to the dishes. In superior, you get to play and show the chefs who you are. You get to come out of your shell and develop your own style of cooking. Hopefully I will not be disappointing and show great skill and depth of knowledge of all that is culinary! I will come into my own and begin to define who I am as a chef.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA
SUPERIOR CUISINE

ALMOST...THE WHITE HAT IS ALMOST IN MY HAND!

Well, the feat to get to the last step of my degree has proven to be a little difficult, almost more difficult than applying to college! The effort I have put forth to gain admission to Le Cordon Bleu Australia, Paris, London and Ottawa has proven Herculean. But without fail, I have conquered the admission process and I am now about to enter the final step in Le Grande Diploma at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa!

After spending 2 months trying to find housing in the picturesque town of Ottawa, I finally settled on a quaint B and B located less than ½ a mile from school. I am situated between two parks and the river is just a couple blocks from me. I can’t wait to get out and explore. The B and B, Avalon, is actually the cheapest place I could find. Shocking, isn’t it! Ottawa is a growing college and sight seeing town, not to mention the capital of Canada. There are three college/universities in this town alone. There are lots of places to lease, but no short term leasing. Thus, I settled on the B and B. Hopefully my experience here will be better than it was in London. I really hope so. If not, I look at it this way…it is only 10 weeks out of my life. What’s the worst that can happen?

I got into Ottawa around 7:30, a minor delay out of Chicago. I went through customs and immigration, the easiest yet! Got a taxi and got to my B and B, a quick easy ride from the airport. I meet the couple who own the B and B, very nice young couple. Marnie is a sweet woman who is nervous about having a guest staying so long – but she is going to do fine. My room is very nice and it is so much bigger than the London room! But than again, it’s not hard to beat that! The people here are very accommodating and so sweet. It’s gonna be great! I think this last cycle is going to the ONE that is the best!

I have walked a little around the neighborhood today and it seems like a real college town mixed with ethnicity. Like any other town the city is in a grid system. So it is easy to get around and not get lost. There are two main streets, Laurier and Rideau, (well what I think are the main streets) that run parallel. These are the main streets that everything is on. It’s fantastic. On Laurier there are bars and restaurants, the quintessential college town; it reminds me a lot of Auburn. On Rideau there are lots of ethnic restaurants, Indian, Thai, Lebanese, even Korean! I can’t wait to eat at each of these places. I ate Indian last night and it was good!

This is my first time to Canada….well if you don’t count Niagara Falls, which I don’t. So I am really excited and I can’t wait. Hopefully I will have time to exploring outside of Ottawa, if I’m lucky. I’ve heard of wonderful places all around the country, just beautiful places. I am coming at the best time of the year – just in time for fall. I will see the change of summer into fall. See the trees loose change colors and slowly loose their leaves. When I was little, I thought that if I picked all the leaves off all the trees then snow would come. So I would go out into my yard and pulled the leaves off the trees. Disappointed every morning, I would wake to no snow, with the exception of the snow blizzard in 1996 and again in 1998? I’ve had my share of the cold though; going to school to Syracuse, New York has awakened my perception of what a cold winter is. I have trudged through freshly snow laid tracks of those who walked before me at 8 am. I have worn scarves covering my nose, so my nose hairs would not freeze. I’ve experienced a harsh winter, two times too many. But I am excited to be in cooler weather and perhaps have the possibility of seeing a snowflake or two once again, anything would be better than the 100+F weather we Alabamians have experienced this summer!

HELLLLOOOOOO EVERYONE.

I am so sorry for not writing in such a long time. Time has really flown by. Let me try to catch everyone up with me. This will unfortunately be the last entry for about 3 months. My stay in London is rapidly coming to an end as I have finally finished Superior Patisserie on the 8th of June. But I have decided to take some time off to regroup and take a much needed break for some R and R. Then in September, I will attend Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa to finish my Le Grande Diploma in superior cuisine and finally I will get the white hat!!! But I am getting ahead of myself.

These past few weeks have been exciting. My last full week of classes were for the tea party. We made numerous types of pastries and made tray after tray of overflowing sweets. It was nice. It got a little chaotic when we were all trying to assemble the trays of sweets, but in the end it was well worth it. We had one day of prep which lasted about 6 hours and the following day to put finishing touches on and set-up the room.

I was finally done with superior patisserie classes! I was so happy. I had about a week until my mother and her friend, Charlotte, came over. So I decided to sleep and just relax, doing whatever I wanted.

Finally, June 1st, mom and Charlotte came. We were on the go, sight seeing everything London had to offer. We went to Hampton Court, saw museums, went on tours and saw Portobello Road (it wasn't like Bednobs and Broomsticks), to name a few. We even went on a boat ride on the River Thames. It has been a wonderful time.

On Wednesday, 6th of June, I had to go back to school to do my final. Mom and Charlotte went on another tour to Stonehenge and some other places. My final started at 9:45 and ended at 3:45. I had 6 hours to cook - well, one hour of cold prep (I was not able to use any heat) and 5 hours to cook. I did it.

I finished on time and I was pleased with my products. We then stayed to clean up and get a debriefing from the chefs. I did not get home until about 6 and I was tired. It was a good long day, but now I am finally finished!

The next day I took it easy. I had to return to school to get a run down on my products. Chef Pascal said I did well. I got good marks and I should be proud of my outcome. There were about 40 of us and only 2 failed. That is the lowest amount yet. I didn't get an 89%, as I hoped, but I did well enough to pass and to graduate. So I was happy. No more LCB London.

On Friday, 8th of June, we got all gussied up and went to the Four Seasons Hotel in Hyde Park for the graduation ceremony. We had canapes and champagne for an hour, then a three course meal before the actual ceremony started. I sat at table 11 with two kids from my group D and chef Pascal. It was a lovely lunch. We had wines and coffee and little sweets at the end. Then the ceremony began...Le Grande Diplomas were called first, then superior, intermediate and basic. It was great. I have a full diploma for completing the superior course and metal to show for it. I am so happy to be finished. Next step....the white hat and to complete Le Grande Diploma.

The next couple of days were filled with sight seeing and on Sunday a proper English afternoon tea at Brown's Hotel. It was lovely! I highly recommend people doing this in London. Tomorrow we will go see Kensington Palace and gardens and just it easy....soaking up as much as London as possible. Tomorrow will be our last full day and then I AM GOING HOME!!!

This 3 month stay has been interesting. I've learned a lot in superior patisserie. I really enjoyed it when I was in the kitchen. I will not miss my house mother here, her constant nagging and complaining about life has reached the top. Since mom and Charlotte are here, they have been able to cover me, so I don't have to sit and listen. That has been nice. Anyways...it is time to say good-bye for awhile. But I'll be back in September to report on my final 3 month journey into becoming a chef.

One more week of classes, then finals, then graduation, then DONE.

This past week has been our last week with sugar playing. I had my last go with my sugar show piece and received good reviews from the chef. I just have to fix a few things and I should be ok. Everyone is getting nervous because our final is coming up soon. People are asking last minute questions and practicing a lot - at home and at school. One of the chefs, Chef Julie, opened the school to some students on saturday to practice. I didn't go. I'm not going to practice - which might be bad, but I don't really care. I need to make one thing from my final, because I have never made it....but then I think I will be ok (knock on wood).

My final consists of 5 items. A sugar show piece, with 5 or 6 pieces, all attached. The piece will be the colors of red, because that is my favorite color. It is rather abstract, but I think it looks pretty cool. I just hope it goes well for my final. The second item is sable holandais. This is a cookie, almost like shortbread. It is two different flavors - cocoa and cardamom - wrapped in roasted walnuts. I am going to make a checkerboard or a swirl with the to flavors. The third item is chocolate truffles flavored with Grand Marnier and coated with both white and dark chocolate. The fourth item is bread, brioche a tete. I just have to make sure I don't kill the yeast and hopefully I won't. The last item is the creative part of the final - the plates dessert. We have to have a main item, two sauces and something crunchy - like a cookie or tuile. We may also have an ice cream or a sorbet and one sauce, instead of the to sauce rule. I am choosing for two sauces.

We have 25 ingredients to use. We have to use 20 of the 25 ingredients. Each ingredient we use after the 20, we will receive extra points. I plan on using all 25. My final is the last final of the superior patisserie groups. This is bad. The judges, our three patisserie chefs, will be sick of raspberry compote and bavarian cream - because this is what most are making. Bad luck for me. Oh well, I will impress them nonetheless.

On Wednesday, I got to see friends from home: the Cannon Family, minus two. It was a blast. I met them at an Indian restaurant called Zaika. It was so good. I admit, I am not a huge fan of Indian food, but I am always willing to try. This place was a cross of Indian food with western items now. It was very good. We had great food, great wines and great conversation. I met a cousin from France and she was so nice, very full of life. Our dinner stretched on for hours, but I loved every minute of it. It felt like home - finally being around people I liked and could get along with. There was no complaining or annoying people whining about this or that. It was a great break.

On Thursday, we finished with pastillage - a type of sugar, using powered sugar. I made a lighthouse. I thought it would turn out very bad, but I was wrong. It just needed some color and some more imagination. I thought of the lighthouse on Kangaroo Island in Australia. It was beautiful and I wanted to try to recreate it.

On wednesday we had our 5 hour sugar assessment. We had to make a rose, a ribbon, a fruit and a sugar piece. I took my time and finished on time. The chef said I did very well on my fruit, a pear; my ribbon and my rose. I decided to the colors of the rose and the ribbon in the colors of Auburn - because I knew the colors went together. A little tribute to those who go to AU and to those who support! I was proud of my work. Hopefully I got a good grade. There was only one who did not finish on time.

Well...that was my life, of last week. We have a tea party this week. I hope it will be fun. Then on Friday, all our paper work is due....so right now I am trying to finish it all. I am just trying to figure out a name for my plated dessert and how to write a description. Any ideas? I am open. I guess I better get back to work. I'll let ya'll know about the tea party.

Hello Everyone!
I am sorry to report that there is nothing new happening in my life. We have continued to work with sugar. Last week we made fruit shapes. Actually that might be unfair, shapes is a better term. Blown sugar is very hard to do. We first made circles...which I could actually do. Then the chef showed us how to make fruit shapes - a pear and an apple. It looks easy, but trust me, it ain't! I made circles, but the resemble of fruit was not very apparent. I tried. Not many of us could do it. Oh well. I would show you pictures, but I did not take any. They were just too horrible....spheres, I mastered!

This week we have two demonstrations about cake making and decorating. The cake making is not so interesting, but the decorating is so cool. I stayed three more hours after the demo ended to help and watch the chef make all kinds of flowers out of gum paste. It was so cool. She made roses and jasmine and leaves, oh my. It was really cool to watch, making flowers and a gazebo.

Wednesday is our five hour sugar assessment. We have 5 hours to make a sugar show piece, an apple or pear, pull a rose with leaves and pull a ribbon. I hope my hands can make it through 5 hours of handling hot sugar!

Tomorrow I will be seeing familiar faces from home, the Cannon Family. I can't wait! We are going to go out to dinner and it will be a nice release from the everyday routine. I'll report back after my sugar assessment, hopefully with pictures!

Pictures from LCB London. Sorry they are not straight. I have not figured out how to do that yet.

To the left: The chocolate piece with my patisserie group - New York themed

Below: The chocolate box with chocolate goodness inside.










To the left: The chocolate windmill made for the chocolate assessment with chocolate truffles.


Below: The sugar piece that I might do for the final assessment in June












Below: the first sugar show piece I did

My first sugar flowers - roses to the right

The one thing I looked most forward too in superior patisserie was the thought of playing with sugar. Sugar that is heated to untouchable temperatures and then pulled, blown or poured. It is an amazing thing to watch. For years I have been captivated with the food challenges on the Food Network channel, channel 55 at home. The channel is usually left on at home, even by my mother who does not cook, but loves to watch it. Let's face it, the Food Network knows what they are doing, even if their show personalities annoy the hell out of you!

This week we have learned about sugar. It is so cool. On Wednesday was my first go at pulled sugar. We made roses. The sugar is hot in your hands, but you just breath through the pain and continue working with it. You make about 15 petals. First pulling the petal shape then flicking the wrist to break the sugar from the mass, then reshape it in your hand giving it depth and movement. Then to assemble the rose, you use a blow torch to heat the petal ends and attach to the 'bulb' of the rose - a tightly rolled petal. It was the coolest thing to do.

The next day, we tried again with the sugar flowers. This time the sugar was not as painful. It was not as hot - I guess the hands get used to it after awhile. We also had our first go at poured sugar - for sugar show pieces. It as pretty cool as well. The sugar is heated again to ungodly temperatures and poured onto a silpat mat - a grease proof mat. There it cools down to the shapes you have outlines with shapes. You can add color and shine. You can cut the semi - set sugar with a knife, pipe the sugar and the possibilities can go on and on. That same day we had a demonstration about sugar. We learned techniques. It was a great demo.

Today we did another type of sugar - pastillage. I don't like this stuff. We have to come up with a drawing. I could not think of anything, until I was rolling it out - a light house from Australia popped into my head - my muse. We made the pastillage - combinations of lemon juice, gelatin and powered sugar. Then we rolled it out and made our shapes. The pastillage has to dry for a few days. Then you can assemble the pieces and paint color. I have a week or so to come up with a back round - hopefully I can make it look good.

We will be continuing working with sugar for the next two weeks. And the final week is the Afternoon Tea Party. It should be fun, but I have no idea what we are doing. The sugar work will be a blast. I just hope I don't get tired of it like chocolate. Stay tuned.

Last week was spent plating desserts. This was helpful since our final assessment in June includes plated desserts. We played with sauces and decorating plates. We began by dividing the recipes into groups. Each group of 2 made two dishes. I made this chocolate thing, chocolate mousse, wrapped in a tempered chocolate bow. It was not that much fun in making. I was also reminded that I hate tempering chocolate.

The plus side of plating desserts was playing with sugar. We made sugar decorations. It was so cool. We piped it, made sugar cages to hold ice cream and sorbets and I made angel hair. We also had a go in making chocolate cigarettes with tempered chocolate - it did not work out so well.

The second day, Thursday, we plated our desserts and began our assessment for the third module. I also got another go with the chocolate cigarettes - it worked out perfectly! I was thrilled. We played with more sugar. I love it.

The last day, Friday, was spent plating our final, bavarian cream with fresh raspberry compote. It was a relaxing day. More sugar and chocolate playing. We even got out early.

The weekend was spent in trying to finalize my final. I think I am almost there. I just need to test a few theories, but I think I am ok with it. My plated dessert is going to be cool.
cocoa jaconde (cake like) wrapped around strawberry bavarian cream with fromage frais
fresh raspberry compote
lemon anglaise
sugar, chocolate and vanilla tuile (cookie like) decorations.
It's going to be awesome! I can't wait to do it and be done with it all. June 6th is coming up.

A friend from home is coming to London with her parents, so that will be a nice break in the middle of May. Then my mother and her friend are coming at the beginning of June. There are many things to look forward to. I am not sure what we are doing this week, but I think we are putting on a tea party. It will be interesting to find out tomorrow at school. Until next time, cheers

Streets close, police escorts, police with dogs and police on horses, follow massive crowds through the streets of London to the pitch. This happens when there is a game. People of all ages join in a crowd and begins chanting their team's chant. Then they begin to walk as one to the pitch to watch the game and get drunk on alcohol. I got to witness this event this afternoon. It was pretty cool. I was amazed at the man power they dispatch for this kind of game, almost every week. They have police escorts to the pitch and away.

My house mother was nervous, but that is expected. She is nervous and frets over everything. It is actually alittle annoying. She dwells over things far more than I could. She is a constant worry wart. Oh well.

I only went to school twice this week. It was a module in bread. It was ok. We never made any bread by ourselves, except for the brioche, which is also on our final. We made the bread three times. We made bread as a group and then shaped it by ourselves. I like the shaping part. We made loaves, braided breads, filled breads of both savory and sweet, and so much more. In making bread, you can let out stress and anger, when you knock the bread down.

The bread module was good. The next thing we move on to is plated desserts, or so I am told. This will be helpful for my final assessment.

I have decided to quit the program after graduating with the diploma from patisserie. This is for personal reasons. I will graduate with a diploma in patisserie, basic and intermediate certificates in cuisine and the dux award for patisserie from Australia. If I choose, I can come back to any Le Cordon Bleu school within two years and finish Le Grande Diploma. There is always that option. I haven't been to the school in Ottawa...For right now, I am content with this.

The weather here in London is changing, as the seasons is around us. Spring is settling in nicely and I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my face as I walk to the train station. Soon it will be spring in full swing. London is a great place. I can't wait for the summer. I just wish I had more dresses and skirts to dress in!

cheers

I AM DONE WITH CHOCOLATE UNTIL MY FINAL IN JUNE!!!!!!!!!!

Superior patisserie is what I thought culinary school should be like. Tons of time dedicated to one aspect in the pastry field, then moving on to another aspect of the culinary field. This is how it should be. (Plus, in the beginning people should learn the basics. I guess we did that in Basic, but intermediate was kind of a waste, it you ask me. And if you didn't ask me, tough.)

The chocolate module ended on friday. We completed our huge class masterpiece and it was amazing! Then on thursday and friday we had our assessment. On the first day we tempered chocolate, cut out pieces for a windmill and made molded chocolates. On friday, we tempered chocolate, assembled the windmill and unmolded our molded chocolates. It went ok.

We also had a new chef who came in to grade us. His name is chef Pascal. He is from France originally. He seems great. He did not teach us, only watched and took notes. Then he played with chocolate while we did our assembly of a windmill. I have been told he is quite and is true. But I am sure I will be taught by him soon.

Our next module, I over heard was bread. This is only for a week with two times going to school for about 6 hours each. We are making tons of different types of bread - baguettes, savory and sweet breads and a curry bread - interesting. I love making bread. I just wonder if we will be making it by hand or using a machine.

We got our papers for the final, in June. We have to make 5 different things. A brioche a tete - a bigger size of a regular brioche and they gave us the recipe; molded chocolates - truffles - again, they gave us the recipe; a type of cookie called sable holandaise - two flavors molded together in a pattern, cut and baked - again, they gave us a recipe; a sugar piece and finally two identical plated desserts. They did not give us the recipes for the last two. We have total of 25 ingredients and we get bonus points if we use them all, if we don't, we get points taken off. I have managed to use everything except a few items, so I am trying to rethink my plated dessert. I have alittle over a month to decide what I want to do, draw up a time line, recipes and gather information before I have turn in my proposal of my final, by May 25th at 5pm. So I have been busy working on that.

Other then that, nothing is really going on. The two girls that were staying at the house left on thursday. I have the house to myself again. But this bliss will only last for alittle bit. In a week or so another person is coming from Austria for alittle bit. Things are going...3 weeks have passed. Well I better get going, I'll be writing more later, ta

Another week of school have come and gone. This was the second week of chocolate. It went fast. Wednesday was the worst, I was at school for the whole freaking day, from 9 in the morning until 8 at night, with a 30 minute lunch break. We have had two lectures about flour and plated desserts. They did not last long, thank god. We were in and out in about 30 minutes to an hour. It was awesome.
the rest of class time was spent doing chocolate, so much tempering, huge bowls of white and dark chocolate. The smell of chocolate at such an early time is not good for the stomach. One of the ways to check the temperature of chocolate is by touching the chocolate to the bottom lip of your mouth. This is one of the spots on your body that can determine temperature. I would not taste chocolate at 9 in the morning, so I went for another method of checking temperature, touching the front part of your pinky into the massive bowl of chocolate. I like to think it works much better!
So one day we worked on airplanes. It was OK. I was getting tired so I did not put in a lot of effort, but I was the one only one to give my plane a call number - B52. I also painted the plane in dark chocolate and a blueish color. It looked cute. By the time I got home the plane has crashed. The wings had fallen, I guess when I was in the metro, I must have hit something. Oh well. I did not get a good picture.
The rest of the week was spent working together, the whole class. We are making a huge class centerpiece. It is themed after New York City! It is going to look awesome. Everyone has a task and in a few days we are going to put on the final touches and assemble the whole piece. The center of the piece is Ms. Liberty's torch. The highest point is the flame with fingers and the hand that holds it. A little farther down will be a plate that holds part of the Empire State building in 3D and street signs of 5th avenue, Madison and so on. On the opposite side, farther down will be the trees from the park and of course an apple since New York is called 'the big apple'. Again, going farther down and on the opposite side will be foods that goes hand in hand with New York - pizza, pretzels and hot dogs. At the base will be the New York sky line and the words of New York. The words are going to be in white chocolate and then sprayed with the colors of the flag and maybe a few stars added. It is going to look awesome. If I can figure out a way to put the picture of the centerpiece on my blog I will. I hope it is going to be awesome!!
School is school and that is what I am trying to focus on. I am assembling a list of places I want to go - it is a long list - but I think during my break will be the best time to go see all these things, on a pass. The pass will allow me to pay one price and then have my run of national treasures to go see. So if anyone wants to come over....please do! I hope everyone is doing well. Take care

Once again, the end of a week had come to classes. It is a blessing; it means I can sleep and recuperate from waking up at 7:30 every morning. This past week, the first week of class, has been a nice introduction the life of London and how the London LCB runs. People are nice and low key. There is not competition between one another. The students in my group, Group D, show up about 10 minutes early to class, if not 15 minutes. It is just like France, students going up early to get the good spot or steal the equipment. But it is not like that here. People just show up early to get there early. Students take out their knives, scales and other equipment they own. There is plenty of bowls, pots and pan for everyone, since there are only 8 students in Group D. It is a relief. There is not running around like chickens with their heads cut off. If there is running around, it is controlled running around - people just hurrying to get things done. I like not being in a competition to see who finishes first or who out does another.

The past two days were filled with making assortments of chocolate filled truffles. There were many different kinds of truffles - raspberry, soft caramel, orange marzipan, banana, liquor, cherries, and so many more. It was busy, but we all finished on time. We all good reviews and markings from the chef, Chef Julie. She will be my chef for the next two weeks while we work on chocolates. We filled our chocolate boxes we finished on the first day of classes and took the rest of the truffles home, along with out chocolate box.

I brought mine home to my house mother, Mrs. Mary Leen. She loved it and was in awe that I did something like it. It was pretty cool to see what I had created. The two Austria girls staying with her, came down for dinner and liked the box too, but they likes the truffles even more! Chocolate is the way to any woman's heart - remember that boys! It was s good end to the first week of classes. I was happy with my chocolate box.

Other news from London, well nothing really. The weather has been weird, cold one day and hot the other. It has been raining and nasty out, but then beautiful sunny sunshine will fall on you. I was talking with chef and she told me to save all my tourist seeing for April - it would nice and pleasant out by then. I might take her word on that. That way, I can try to get into some kind of routine with sleep and school. I was thinking about getting a job. My best bet would be getting a job in a hotel. I might try. Who knows really.

Oh, exciting news...mom wrote me to tell me I received my certificates from Australia. I did not fail cuisine after all! Now, I just have to wait for the certificates from Paris for cuisine and patisserie. Hopefully soon they will arrive!

I think life in London is going to be good. Graduation from superior patisserie is on June 8th. Anyone want to come? I found out on Friday that last term they graduated a girl who scored the highest in many years on her final. She scored an 89% on her final. That does not do much for my confidence, but it does a world for my competitive streak inside me. I want to beat that and try to do better. So now I have something to strieve for. The only problem is, I have no idea what out final is going to be. And that makes me nervous. But now, I have something to strieve for - a 90% on my final assessment!

Well....I know you are all just dying to know about my first day of school here in London. You're gonna have to wait just a bit longer, unless you scroll down. In my description from the last blog, I forgot to tell you about my neighborhood. There are old facades that run down the whole road. It is very sweet looking. My neighborhood is filled with all kinds of ethnic foods, not your typical English fare. You walk down the street and smell meats roasting or fat frying from the regular fast food chains. The smells are not as great as walking the streets of Paris, but at least I am able to walk through the neighborhood. It is great to walk around and actually understand people; it makes it so much easier to eavesdrop on them. I think this city could grow on me. I might even have to give the Indian food another go - curry is not my most favorite thing to eat. There are of course fast food chains, mainly McDonald's and a KFC and some other chains that are local to Britain, I think. There are few bakeries that can bring anyone off the streets by the sweet smells that drift out of them - fresh baked breads and sweets, YUM. Then there are Chinese restaurants, Lebanese, Indian, Caribbean and lots more. The possibilities are endless!

Now, on to the first day of school. My first class was at 9 this morning. It was on the third floor, with the head of the patisserie chefs. Her name is Chef Julie, I think, but she is fantastic. She made me feel at home at once. She introduced herself and showed me around the tiny kitchen. About half way into the class, other people began to introduce themselves.

We jumped right into the lesson - tempering chocolate to make a chocolate box. We paired off and began tempering dark and white chocolate. It was fun and I learned a new method - using an ice bath. We then began to make our chocolate pieces. We worked from 9 until 12, then it was time to break for an hour for lunch. I went out with four other girls to lunch, just up the road. One of the girls works there, there are only girls in my class - 8 of us. It does not seem that anyone is competitive, so I am my own worst enemy, great. Lunch was great - just talking and them asking me questions about the schools and what not. It was pleasant. Then back to the kitchen. We assembled the pieces and decorated them. Don't worry, I am taking pictures of everything I do this time! I will have slide show later on, at the end of the term for everyone!

Tomorrow we work on filling the chocolate box with different kinds of filled chocolates. I don't know what they will be quite yet, I have not looked over the massive notebook with the lesson plans. That will be tonight and also trying to decipher my wacky schedule. I will not be going to school everyday, thank god, but when I am there for school I am really there all day. I think this is going to be good, hopefully the best yet (save the best for last).

I will be working on 5 different modules: restaurant style desserts, afternoon tea (Mrs, the tea room might just come true), boulangerie (which I will not be assessed on), chocolate and decorative sugar work. These are not in order of how we will be doing the schedule. Superior is graded differently than basic and intermediate, the final counts for a lot more.

The set-up of the school is the same as Paris. There are three levels and a basement for changing. There are 5 kitchens and two demo rooms. The changing rooms are not hooked to a bathroom, those are on different floors. The outside of the building, Paris is better. Paris just looks the part. Well it is only the first day. I will have more to write on as the week progresses. I am glad that I transferred. It helps in knowing what the chefs are saying. I am a little nervous, but hopefully it will fade away as time goes on. The knots and nervousness never really went away in Paris. Well, Cheers.

Who has seen Love Actually? Most of you, right? Well in the beginning Hugh Grant starts off with going to Heathrow Airport to see people who love each other. They are hugging one another and being happy, they miss each other from long absences. When I arrived in Heathrow, I thought I would be able to witness all the love, the hugs and the kisses, but then I remembered, I was coming in with the domestic flights. So sad.

After three months in Paris, I was done with intermediate cuisine and patisserie and on my way home for five days of relaxation and just being in the comforts of my own house. Well, I got to relax, but I was sick. I ran errands and slept as much as I could. My birthday, 23 years old now, was spent with family. It was perfect. The following day I was boarding a plane and going abroad once more to finish my culinary diploma.

My flights were easy. (Note to self, fly on the weekdays, NO ONE flys then, so you are able to have whole rows to yourself!) I tried to sleep on the long flight, but it was hard. I arrived at the Manchester airport and had to go through customs. It was alittle hard, but my bear is still with me! I forgot to print all the documents that tells the customs agents that I am enrolled in school and my housing information. The customs agent was very nice and let me go, just in time. I just made my flight to Heathrow. I went to collect my bags and find a pay phone to call the housing agency. I had a car waiting for me!

I was driven to my house for the next 3 months. I meet my 'house mom'. She is probably in her 60's. She is from Ireland originally and has lived here in London for the past 30 years. She likes to talk, which might cause a problem, but oh well. She likes to cook and she cooks alot of food for dinner! I will not go hungry while I am here. Her food is good. Nothing beats a home cooked meal! She loves tea. She loves watching English soaps - Days is much better Charles!

My room is small. Very small. It is about three twin beds put together. There is a bed, a closet, a chest of drawers, a little bedside table and chair. And yes mom, all my stuff fits. The bed is so comfortable. I love it. Mrs. Mary, the house mother, has never seen anyone sleep as much as I can. She has woken me up twice. I think she finally understands that I like to sleep. It is going to be fine. The house to close to a train station, about a 10 minute walk. I am happy.

I went to orientation on Friday. It was ok. The whole trip, from house to school, takes me about 30 minutes. A 10 minute walk to the train station, a 10 minute train ride and then another 10 or 15 minutes walk to get to school. It isn't bad....just like Paris, except I get to take the train. I am at a good stop, so the train is not too crowded. The walk is nice too. Just pray for not alot of rain while I am here!!

The school is ok. It is better then Australia. It is it's own school. I think in terms of look, the Paris school takes the cake. Orientation goes to London. It was very informative. I was taken for a tour, but it wasn't anything to write home about. I will get a better idea of it when school begins, then I will write more. The school is four stories high. There are 5 kitchens, I think. The set up is like Paris. The patisserie kitchens, 2 of them, have marble tops. The cuisine kitchens do not. I will write more about the school when I get to explore it more.

Bad news: I will be here for 6 months, well 5 1/2 months. They had no room for me in the superior cuisine course. So I have to stay here longer to finish it out. It sucks, but it will be worth it in the long run. I might try to get a part time job, so I can stay busy. I am going to talk with the chefs on Wednesday. I will only be going to school a few days out of the week, not everyday like I was accustomed to. This has it's ups and downs, but whatever. I'll deal with it. Hopefully I will be able to get a job...that will keep me busy. I'll let you know.

Well, this is the only news I have for ya'll. I'll write more when school begins. Until then...take care.

I AM FINISHED!!! Monday was my patisserie final and Tuesday was my cuisine final. They went ok. I could have done better, but my nerves got the best of me. Oh well. That's life I guess. For patisserie I made a passion fruit and raspberry tart. We also had a technical point, writing OPERA and doing a boarder on cardboard. It is harder than it seems. I need to work on my writing skills. For cuisine I made beef, celery flan and turned potatoes. The technical aspect in cuisine was making a Bearnaise sauce (thank you Aunt Karen).
The finals went alright, I should have done better. I think the nerves were just too much. The crust on my tart should have been straighter. That would allow my surface to be smoother and look a little prettier. Oh well. In cuisine, the beef was a touch over done....I was busy working on the Bearnaise sauce. Stupid! I should have known better, oh well. That's life.

After the cuisine final I went out with a friend, Beka. She is fro Houston, Texas. She is awesome. She took me to one her favorite restaurants on the Champs-Elysees. It was so cool. The rooms were old and palace like, lavishly decorated, like in the times of kings and queens ruled, just smaller. It was rich in colors of green and yellows and the smells from the kitchen rose. It was fantastic! We got to the restaurant by 7:30 or so and did not leave until 10:15. We talked and ate. I got a glass of champagne to celebrate being done. It was fantastic. Then for dinner a black truffle omelet stuffed with tomatoes, ham, cheese, mushrooms and fine herbs. It was SO good. For dessert, four mini macaroons that we shared and a coffee. It was the best time. The macaroons were amazing! Crusty surface and a smooth middle of luscious yumminess! We got vanilla, raspberry, dark chocolate and violet-blackberry, which was so yummy! We sat and just talked about life and school.

After dinner I took a cab back home. But I did not go home right away. I decided to walk around the river Seine and take in the beauty that is Paris. (I was careful mom) It never ceases to amaze me the look of the Effiel Tower. I will never grow old of looking at it. It was bright and lit up on my way to dinner, sparkling. Tonight, it was quite and lit. The spotlight at the top of the tower was rotating going into the distance. It is soothing and just beautiful to look at. You stand by it and you feel so small. It is just unbelievable. I said good-bye to Paris.

One more thing. I finally got my grades for patisserie in basic from Australia. I was awarded the Dux award. This means I was first overall all the patisserie students. How cool is that? I got a book of desserts from LCB. It is very exciting. I just need to receive my certificate for basic cuisine. Hopefully I will get it soon!

Well one more chapter closed in this culinary journey. The next section will begin and end in London. I am 2/3rds done and I can taste the freedom. In superior patisserie I will be playing with pulled sugar and chocolate show pieces. I CANNOT WAIT! Cuisine, well hopefully I will get in for the cycle starting March 23rd....that would be a great birthday present. Well, until superior starts....au revoir

This is for Nicole.

Nicole, LCB is awesome! I am so glad that you were able to get some insight to Le Grande Diploma. But one word of advice, if you plan to come to Paris, I hope you know french. Superior cuisine and patisserie are taught only in french. If you know it, good. If you plan to take french lessons and take Le Grande Diploma, you need alot of coffee and a lot of stamina; it takes alot out of you.
About housing.....when you are accepted into any program within LCB, they send you info about everything, especially Paris. Paris is wonderful with all the information they give to you. It is very helpful. I went through one of the agencies that was in their booklet of housing. It did not take long, except looking at the apartments on-line. There are many flats and apartments, you just have to be willing to look.
I hope this helps you. If you have anymore questions, please contact me. I would love to help you in anyway! Just leave your e-mail in the comment section and I won't publish it. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask
Laura

This week has been filled with, well, the ending of intermediate cuisine and patisserie. I have not been able to sleep very well this past week. My only guess to why is because of finals approaching. On Tuesday, I had my first written exam in patisserie. It went ok. It was 8 pages long, but nothing too serious, except the last page with half a recipe missing. We were supposed to memorize 8 different recipes and then fill in the blank on the test with quantities, ingredients and the names of each part of the cake or macaroon or whatever. I did not memorize the recipes. I learned bits and pieces of each. But all in all the test went smoothly. We will have to wait and see about the grade.
Wednesday was my last practical ever in Paris, for both cuisine and patisserie. Unfortunately I missed my last cuisine practical. I wanted to sleep, so I did. Plus we were doing fish and I did not want to smell of fish all day. So I slept and went to school by 12 for my 12:30 class, a demonstration in patisserie. We were making croquembouche: little choux puffs filled with delicious patisserie cream, dipped in caramel and stalked high. It was fantastic. This demo was for us to watch the chef assemble the masterpiece. He made two. We also got to watch him play with sugar. He made three different colors of sugar and then began to pull it.
Pulled sugar is a mixture of sugar, water and glucose which is cooked to 170 degrees Celsius, or around there. Then it is colored and poured out onto a silmat. It is then worked into itself, by turning the sides into the middle and kneading it. This is to prevent the sugar from forming lumps. Finally, when it has cooled a touch, the chef begins to takes pieces and made things out of it. Chef made a ribbon of three colors, a red/yellow rose and petals. It was so cool to watch the chef pull sugar. The whole room went quiet. The room is never quiet. It makes you stop breathing just watching. I want to do this!
My croquembouche is ok. It needs alittle help, but it is my first one. I will have pictures up later. The students in Paris had made a base for a cake in basic using this method of choux puffs, patisserie cream and caramel. So they had a head start. But it was a great last class.
Today, Thursday, and tomorrow are the last demonstrations. Today's last demo in cuisine was fantastic. The food was excellent and everyone was happy, even chef. Tomorrow, I have my cuisine written exam, patisserie demo and then the student party later that night. Le Cordon Bleu rents out a pub for all the students. Just about everyone comes. There is free food and free drinks from 10 until 2. That is 4 hours of complete debauchery. And since we are chefs, or wanna-be chefs, alcohol runs in our blood and it is of course a given that everyone will get drunk. It should be interesting.
The rest of the weekend I shall be studying and hanging out with some friends, a final good-bye. The friends that I have made here are sad that I am leaving. But they understand. Hopefully we will keep in touch. Next week is my final time in Paris. Two cooking practicals for finals and then I am on a plane back to the states. Hopefully I will not miss this plane like I did in Australia, knock on wood. Well, I should go and study, take care all
Laura

I woke up today with a sore back, right at the base of my neck. I finally realized why when I left school this afternoon….making bread. On Thursday, my patisserie group got to make bread, the real French bread: baguettes and sandwich bread. It was so cool. Making bread makes me happy.

My class is so much fun. It started off, like most every class (cuisine and patisserie), with a song, the whole class (who knows English) begins to sing “O Happy Days”. (It usually only 6 of us, but it is still fun.)That’s right, the same song in Sister Act II. The chefs think it is funny and it puts everyone in a good mood. So why not do it. So we sing, weigh out ingredients and began making bread. We kneaded the bread for at least 30 minutes, by hand. We bring the dough over our heads and slap it on to counter and repeat. It kind of tires you out, but the final outcome is perfect. We made two different breads. The first was the traditional French baguette that you can buy for less than a euro in most bakeries. Mine was perfect, according to the chef, pointed end and everything. The second type of bread we made was sandwich bread. It was different; we cooked it in molds with covers on it. This prevented the dough from rising too much over the mold. When it was done, I turned out a perfectly square white sandwich bread. It was all very yummy. I dined on a great sandwich from my freshly baked bread.

I think one of the most exciting things about going to culinary school in France is learning how to make French bread. I know my father was excited to know I would be learning how to make the French baguette. He loves bread. We always have a baguette with dinner. Plus, bread serves as a utensil at times. You can use bread to mop up sauces and juices, use it to scoop up salad and with the leftover from dinner, in the morning make French toast!
I learned, but I still have a lot more to learn about bread baking. It all has to do with the flour. In France, they use type 55 flour. In America, we use bread flour. These two flours are very different in gluten, what gives the bread elasticity. The chef said that a great baker would be able to make great bread anywhere anytime. Hopefully, one day I will be able to do that, even using the bread flour from America. Just give it time. Bread baking is an art form, one I hope to learn more about.

It is the end of another week, almost. That means I am another week closer in coming home. Finals begin on Tuesday, with written exams. Than on March 12th, the final in practicals begin. That is when I will actually be cooking. No one really knows what to study or what to expect. Oh well. I have to buckle down this weekend and study study study. Anyone have any tips in memorizing numbers? Let me know.

As of Monday, I am in London LCB! This is good news. Right now I am only in superior patisserie, but I have high hopes that I will get into superior cuisine. I am very excited. And yes, Herndon, you need to look into finding a plane ticket to London now, not Paris.
If anyone knows of anyone that knows of a place in London…pass it on my way!

School is slowly coming to an end. You would think school would be winding down, but it is just the opposite. School is picking up, with lots of practicals and demos and just being busy. Next week is my last full week of classes, and then I have a week of classes, final demos and written exams. The last class, in cuisine and patisserie, is a demonstration that the chefs will put on for us, but we will not be preparing them. Kind of sucks, but I guess it is a perk for us.

In two weeks I have the written exams for cuisine and patisserie, so I have been trying to study for them. It is a little hard. In cuisine, I have to memorize 10 different recipes, ingredients and quantities, plus the different regions in France and what makes that region so profound. For patisserie, I have to memorize 8 different recipes, ingredients and quantities. On top of memorizing recipes, I have to memorize culinary terms and procedures. I hope they have a review like they did for us in Australia.

There was not a lot of exciting events this week. There was one exciting day at school. On Tuesday, as you know or maybe you didn’t, it was Mardi Gras. The French celebrate it in style! I came to school around 11 and they had a small buffet set up for the students. They were serving a bubbly cider, baked goods associated with Mardi Gras and one of the chefs was making fresh hot waffles serving them with delicious toppings. It was a feast and it was so good! People where acting kind of silly, but I think they were just excited. It was a nice break from the sandwiches we usually eat everyday.

This is just an update....

I am in LCB London. It is not official yet, but it will be as soon as I send in some paper work and sign a few things. I begin March 23rd 2007 until June. I only got into superior patisserie, not superior cuisine. I am on the waiting list, second on the waiting list. There is still time for me to get in, but there is no guarantee. So please keep your fingers crossed and think good thoughts so I can get in.
The worst case scenario is I am in London for 6 months instead of the three originally intended. I will still receive le Grande Diploma, so that is good news. If I have to stay for 6 months, then I can go travel England, maybe go see my cousin in Germany and even come back to see friends here in Paris. The possibilities are endless. What is 3 more months to a life long dream?

I will be coming home for a couple of days in March. I will arrive back in the States March 14th until March 20th. I then will travel to London to finish out my program and receive Le Grande Diploma. If anyone is at home during this time I would love to see you. I will be writing more at the end of the week. Until then...a bientot!

What’s that saying? When in Rome, do as the Romans do? Well in Paris, you do as the Parisians do. Drink, eat and enjoy it. In what profession allows you to drink before noon? Food. We have been given wine and more wine in demos and in practical a few times.

The past two weeks have been busy and it is only going to get busier. Last week we were given our midterm grades. I am doing well. I am above average for both patisserie and cuisine, but just barely. Our midterms are given for each group we are in; I am in group A. Group A is the best group there is and I am not being conceded. Group A and group B are the best groups to be in and have the highest group averages. Groups A and B in basic had the top 5 in the class for both patisserie and cuisine and I got put in the better. The over all class average is lower than the group averages, so I know I am doing better then most students.
The grading is out of 5., for patisserie I have a 3.78/5. The group average for A is 3.75/5. I have to do better, I can do better. For cuisine my average is 4.05/5. The group average is 4.01/5. Isn’t it weird that the area I am in interested in is worse then the area I don’t really like? Maybe I should rethink the area I want to go in. Or perhaps this just means that I need to concentrate in patisserie to do better.

Unfortunately this is the only news I have to report. What a dull life I lead. I have just a month left for intermediate cycle. Next week is hell week. We were supposed to have the international buffet on Friday, but they cancelled it. They did not get enough entries to put on the buffet. So I do not have to go to school on Friday. But because of this, this means that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I have three classes each day. My schedule is long and hard with demos and then practical right after another. My week starts at 8:30 and ends at 6:30. Tuesday I have class at 12:30, but I don’t get to leave school until 10. Then the next day I am back at school by 8 until 6 or so.

There is still no word on London. I am trying to find out if all the students have responded and paid up for the next level. If all the students have paid, that means I will be staying here in Paris. But if some students have not responded then I still have a chance to transfer….that is what I want.

To Sybil and Bill:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a wonderful night on the town, in Paris. It was my first time to eat a delicious meal and share it with friends from back home.

This week was actually busy. A couple from home, Bill and Sybil Sylvester, also next door neighbors to my mother's house, came to Paris to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They invited me to dinner on Tuesday to a great restaurant, L` Atelier de Joel Robuchon. I met them there at 6:30. We enjoyed a delightful glass of champagne and looked over the menu. Poor Bill was in the middle of the two women gabbing the whole night. We all decided on the same thing, the tasting menu, with a red and white wine to accompany the respectful courses.
The night was wonderful. The food was unbelievable. The people superb. The set-up of the restaurant is a mix of Hot n Hot from back home. It is an open kitchen with a frame, if that makes sense. Imagine a wide open space; with tables and storage underneath. Then on top of the tables are huge opened window frames. In the "window panes" are large glass jars filled with thinly sliced and curled zucchini and orange peel; or a rectangular glass container holding stuff tomatoes or little mushrooms. The sight is so cool to see. It is dark what seemed to be wood and red linings to some of the furniture, my favorite color, so I loved it.
This place is so popular. There is a long line of people who wait to be let in at 6:30. The restaurant only takes reservations at 6:30 then it is everyone for themselves. I think they are always busy. I can see why. The food was unbelievable, 9 different courses. We started off with an amuse bouche, which really teased the taste buds, foie gras mousse and a light sprinkle of truffles went every so nicely with our champagne. It was served in a shooter glass with a little foam on top. It was so good, melt in your mouth good. Then the meal began. Scallops served raw and sliced very thin, a langoustine ravioli, a deep fried cod quenelle which was my favorite, water chestnut soup with foie gras and sea bass simply prepared. The seafood courses were all amazing and went perfect with the white wine.
The main dish was either lamb chops or sweetbreads. While I try to be adventurous, I opted for the lamb chops, as did Bill and Sybil. It was so good, little tiny chops and mashed potatoes. It was yummy! Then we ate a mixture of fruits in their own syrup with a dollop of basil sorbet (so good!) and finally dessert, chocolate sensation. It was exactly that. It had chocolate mousse, silver balls that were crunchy that were throughout the layers of chocolate and sorbet. It was amazing. Dinner was, well there are no words to describe it. If you ever get the chance to come to Paris, go eat there!
So Bill and Sybil, thank you so much for a wonderful meal. I had a great time.

As I said, this week was busy. Class was class, cooking and watching really boring demos. Cuisine was alright, but nothing too exciting. In patisserie this week we tempered chocolate, milk and dark. It was fun. I love working with chocolate. I have to try to work cleanly and come out of the practicals still in a white uniform. This is very hard for me, but I am improving. The students here have never tempered chocolate, so I was the first one to do it, without the chef looking over us. The chef told me it was superior! YAH ME. But I wish we got to do something different, since I had already tempered chocolate and done some of the treats. Oh well.

Friday was the student dinner. Our class is so big, they had to split us into two groups. I got to go to the better restaurant, Cafe Minotti. It is a wonderful Italian restaurant. The chef is a close friend to one of the chefs at school. The school rented out the whole place. Tables were pushed together in the three different rooms and we all met at the restaurant by 8. I sat with some kids who were in my group, A, and a french woman who I did not know. I was told the last student dinner, basic, they ate good food and drank way too much. Well the intermediate student dinner, we ate great food and people drank too much wine.
We were given an amuse bouche of a room temperature broccoli shooter. It was yummy. Then we ate thinly sliced tuna that was seared and served on a circle of puff pastry and a tomato compote. The next course was a shrimp risotto which was so good, it just needed a little salt and some cheese. The main course was a slice of veal with a balsamic reduction, gnocchi and a little wedge of cabbage. Then a cheese course of Gorgonzola and two slices of pears and finally the dessert of chocolate mousse, a crunchy middle and nuts on top of a chocolate glaze that surrounded the entire chocolaty mass. It was phenomenal! The dinner was served with red and white wines and we were given plenty of it. I drank espresso to finish the meal and enjoyed every last drop. Daddy, this is a meal you would have loved!
We finished the meal around 11 or so. People were drunk off of all the wine they drank and happy from all the food they just consumed. I left with a few other people to find a taxi a few blocks away. People were still there drinking and contemplating going out. I went home to find my bed and catch up on sleep.

This week was fun. I enjoyed myself. The meals I ate were unbelievable and I hope to eat like that again, very soon. It is Sunday, so I have prepare for another week of lame demo classes and cooking. Monday, I get to cook with pigs blood as a thickening agent for a sauce. I tried it in demo. I don't believe I will be taking this dish home with me. Well, stay tuned for more adventures....au revoir and a bientot.