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.