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!