Simply Magical

So, it's been three jam packed days!!!

Where oh where do I begin? :o)
(no worries, I won't bore you with tons o'writing)

IN THE KITCHEN:

We've been busy little bumble bees baking MORE bread!

To my surprise...I'm actually starting to get the hang of it...but all thanks to our instructor, Chef Tim.

Timothy Kitzman was the Executive Bread Baker at Dewey's Bakery, where he created new varieties of artisan breads daily, in addition to Dewey's Traditional and Stone Mill breads. Prior to joining Dewey's, Tim was a baking instructor at the renowned San Francisco Baking Institute where he taught students throughout the world the fine art of baking. He has also worked and consulted with leading companies including King Arthur Flour Company, Della Fattoria and Hotel Dupont, among others. Tim attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. -Dewey's Bakery

Some have been working hard...

...some have not! *chuckles* (waiting for dough to proof is so boring....I had to find a way to keep myself entertained) :o)

lots of GREAT team work!

beautiful MASTERPIECE!!

(good job Kiku!)

Today we made honey whole wheat, ciabatta, and medium rye bread!

I'm not quite sure why I bothered shopping for food because NOW I have bread to last me for the next 6 months!!! I'm going to look like a dinner roll by the time I return to Chicago.

OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN:

-Delicious dinner on Tuesday night at Kiku's along with Lorenzo (my first home away from home cooked meal)

-Puppy Playtime

-and of course, CELEBRATING MY BDAY!!!

I could not have asked for a better birthday in Orlando.

It started out with yummy cupcakes made by none other than fellow trouble maker, Samantha.

During lunch, I received a bouquet of balloons from my Googly Bear (aka my boyfriend) at school. (sorry for the fuzzy pic...it's the only one I took)

AND flowers in the form of a slice of CAKE!

Flowers AND cake?!?!?!

My hunny boo knows me so well! *missing him*

Then it was time to get ready for DISNEY!!!

I got my makeup done...and others got their eyebrows done???? *laughs hysterically*

After an hour or so of primping up for the bday bash...we FINALLY made it!

This was DEFINITELY a magical (VIP) Disney experience:

• We had two cars that got free ROCK STAR parking (didn't have to take the ferry or tram to the front gate)
  
• EVERYONE entered in for free!
  
• Didn't have to wait in ANY line (without a fast pass-was able to cover 7 rides in 3 hours!!
  
• Fun pin trading experience (everyone had to trade my pins in for Goofy pins...MISSSION ACCOMPLISHED!!)


• Saw fireworks at the Magic Kingdom for the FIRST time (even though I've been there 7 other times)
  
• All in all, it was another Goofy experience with some of the GOOFIEST friends!

I am DEFINITELY blessed to have good people in my life. I am grateful for my Orlando experiences (and it's ONLY been 2 weeks) and the opportunity to have met some of the COOLEST people ever!

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined my birthday away from Chicago to be this MaGiCaL!...DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!!!!! :o)

I've decided that no matter how much I want a low activity profile life...it'll never happen! I'm so sleep deprived *yawns*

I SHOULD have the next three days off...but instead, I'm going to have my hands in CHOCOLATE! TORTUROUS, I KNOW!!! :o)

Tomorrow begins a three day course on Chocolate Showepieces with Vincent Pilon....you have NO idea how excited I am for this!!! More on Vincent tomorow....stay tuned!!! :o)

Gotta Getta Baguette

I just got home from another GORGEOUS night run in Celebration! I would love to tell you how far I run, but I can't seem to figure it out since I can't use MapMyRun to plot my distance because the run is on a walking path and not the streets. Boo!

However, I do have one of those Nike Ipod gizmos, but haven't quite figured out how to calibrate it. It says that I run 8 minute miles, which I KNOW is not true...but yet, somehow I find it a confidence booster *laughs*

Anyways, today I made it a thing to just run to ALL Disney music. I must admit that my favorite is HumuHumuNukuNukuA'Pua from HSM. Yes, I am a HSM fan...as a matter of fact, I'm an everything Disney fan! *sheepish grin*

But...before my run, I made myself a nice bowl of rotini and vodka sauce. It's not just any bowl of pasta...it was accompanied by some delectable baguettes. But what is so special about these beautiful baguettes?

ANSWER: We made them in class today! YES!! Savitre made bread!!!!

TA DA!

I was very excited to hear that we were going to make bread on our 1st day. It was an extremely long process, but patience is a virtue...and SO WORTH IT ALL!!

Here is Reggie measuring out ingredients with Chef Tim. Accuracy is key!

FOCUS EVERYONE!!!
It's no business like dough business! :o)

I wish I could blog out everything we learned today, but you'd be here forever reading. However, one of the coolest and funniest words we learned was POOLISH! *giggles* That word just tickles my insides every time I hear it! :o)

The most exciting (and scary) part was putting the bread in the oven. Of course being the shorty that I am, I had to get the top oven. Anyone have stilts I can borrow? :o)

How was my execution?

A PERFECT 10! *crowd cheers*

That's what I love about my class, they'll clap and cheer at anything! :o)

They always make me smile that way.

I'm not exactly sure what is in store for tomorrow...but I'm abso-too-ta-loot-ly positive it'll be YUMMERS!!! *mini claps*

Celebrate Good Times!!!

YAY!!! *jumps for joy* Savitre just found a new place to go running...thanks to fellow classmate, Lorenzo! I have been going running by my place...on Seven Dwarfs Lane and Princess Way (I had to take a picture of the intersection because no one believes me that it really exists and that I live here), but NOW I can go running in Celebration !! It's such an adorable neighborhood with cute restaurants, lakes to run around, and a block of mansion sized houses!





Yesterday, Lorenzo took me to Celebration to show me around. I absolutely fell in love with the area.


This was also a great opportunity to take lil Molly (Lorenzo's puppy) out and enjoy some fresh Floridian air. It makes me miss my little Oakie in Skokie though. *sniff*


Today we went to The Great American Pie Festival in Celebration! ALL the pies you can eat for just 10 sMaCkArOoS!!! Life seriously just doesn't get any better than this! *does a happy dance*



















TABLES AND TABLES OF PIE, OH MY!!! :o)

It's Not Rocket Science...

...it's Baking Science! :o)

Today is the last day of class for the week! *long exhale*

I don't know why, but I was pretty exhausted all week after class...maybe it's from getting up before the rooster or maybe just crashing and burning after all the sugar rush! :o)

Nonetheless, these past two days have been tremendous fun!

I thought we were going to do bread...but I was wrong (what else is new?) *grin*

Instead, we had 2 days of BAKING SCIENCE with Chef Jim Mullaney.

Chef James was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His culinary training began in the military followed by an accredited Pastry Apprenticeship at a Five-Star property, Certificate of Specialization and Diploma in Food and Beverage Management and never ending continuing education classes around the world. He has appeared on the Food Network several times and also have written several articles for magazines. Chef James' recent culinary position was Executive Pastry Chef at The Cloister Hotel in Georgia.

-Pastry Professionals Association, MN

My first impression of him was a VERY serious professional. Again with being wrong...it didn't take him long to prove that he had jokes. :o)

Everyone was paired up with a partner (and let me tell you...my partner ROCKS!!! Like me, she loves the color pink, loves decorating cakes, owns a pink KitchenAid mixer, and she's a Taurus...her birthday was today...FELIZ CUMPLEANOS ELENA!!!!), and had to make dough with different types of flour. Ooey Gooey Goodness!! *getting giddy just thinking about it*

(sssshhh...don't worry, I'll get you a picture of her...I ALWAYS DO!!! NO ONE excapes my camera!!! *evil laugh*)

Who would've thought that there was more than All Purpose Flour...if it's all purpose, then why not just use that, right? *shrugs*

My partner and I got the CAKE flour...FATE, I tell ya! After we made the dough, we had to wash it to reveal the gluten (the not so pretty looking part of the dough)...well, Elena and I (being the first group) kept washing ours to the point that it nearly disappeared. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was a joke on us...so we stopped washing and I asked him if this was a trick...AND IT WAS!!! Other flour had reminents of gluten...but not ours! Chef Jim, you're such a Jokester! :o) (...and yet he said OUR table were the trouble makers?!?!?!)

We then made some yummy chocolate chip cookies and ate them!!! Boy oh boy, schooling does NOT get better than this! I even got to take some raw cookie dough home to bake. I just can't wait to try out the oven in my Orlando home!

Today, we practiced using our knives. I didn't realize I had knifeaphobia until it was our turn to try! I was doing fine until I had to put the knives away, and as I was putting it away in my kit....yup, you guessed it...I cut myself! *ouch* (it was paper cut size though...so no serious injuries) *phew*

We also made biscuits...and didn't even use Bisquick!!!

Everyone's turned out nicely...but NOT OURS...of course! *laughs* This time, it was not our fault...we were experimenting with baking soda instead of baking powder. See my broken heart when it didn't turn out? :o(

Oh well, at least I got to enjoy all the other good ones. *smile of content*

So, it's been fun finally getting our hands dirty...but the fun didn't start there!

It began when we walked in on Wednesday and got our toolkit! I felt like I was opening up early birthday gifts... Thank you Notter School!

(actually, it was included in the cost of our tuition *laughs*)

We also got the remainder of our uniform. The jackets aren't official yet...the official ones will be embroidered with our names. THEN, I'll be official...grrr...being official takes a long time, eh?

That was my attempt at trying to look serious and do one of those Food Network poses. CLEARLY, I don't know what serious looks like! :o) ...plus that jacket needs to be ironed.

Hmmm...maybe John can iron it out...but with a rolling pin??? *laughs*

So this isn't completely all of our uniform...wait'll you see me in the OVERSIZED chef hat and apron....then you'll really get a kick out of that!

Okay, so it seems like a lot of fun and games at the school...but there are some serious tasks at hand as well...like quizzes (our first one today...which was easy breezy lemon squeezy!) and clean up time!!

Our floors are spotless, thanks to Christina! :o)

Don't get me wrong, in Baker's Percentage, it's still 100% FUN!! :o)

Sanitation Station

I decided to update my blog as I sit here (patiently) waiting for the sun to set. I think it would be LOVELY to go for a sunset run, don't you? Ho hum...it's 7:15..and no sign of sun setting yet. *twiddles thumbs*

Today was a fun day! We got to work in groups and explore the kitchen and find anything that would be hazardous. Our group found LOTS!!!...I think we won! *laughs* Okay, so it really wasn't a competition nor was it a game, but I had tons-o-fun!. :o)

We also got to do a crossword puzzle and wordsearch!!!....now THIS is my kind of schooling!!

We then got to see Gone in 60 Seconds LIVE!!!

Pretty cool, eh?

Unfortunately, I'm not referring to the movie...I'm referring to germs being gone in 60 seconds because you have to wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds.

Here is Fabian doing a live demo of "how to properly wash your hands".

Awww, he looks so happy! :o)

During the second half of our day, we got to witness chocolate tempering! COOLNESS!!






I wanted to just down the whole pot!!! *mouth starts to water* HOLD ME BACK!!!






This was definitely neat because we got to see the making of a chocolate sculpture and airbrushing. Oooooo...how I love airbrush!!!

Before we left class, we received the pants portion of our uniform and an OFFICIAL Notter School of Pastry Arts tee shirt...which I will model for you in tomorrow's blog. Stay tuned! :o)

(I am getting THAT much closer to graduating from JUNIOR CHEF-in-apron)...EXCITING TIMES!!! Also, we begin artisan breads....DOUGHn't ya just love it? *giggly laugh*

Nutrition Basics

Today I made it to school 10 minutes early! YAY ME!!! :o)

Our instructor for today and tomorrow is Fabian.

He's here to teach us about nutrition and sanitation. The A.D.D. in me wanted to play with pots and pans...not sit and listen to lecture. Oh well, patience is a virtue, right? :o)

It was a little hard to hear him in our classroom because of the refrigerators running, but when I could hear him....he's a pretty funny guy. I really like funny people! I think it's going to be weird getting to know a teacher just to find out that someone new is teaching the next day. Hmmm....I guess I must learn to embrace change.

Today we covered nutrition. I can't believe how unhealthy I eat! YIKES!! *shivers*

We also had to work in groups and create a food pyramid for different types of people (runners, elders, and teenagers).

My group had to work on "elders"...hmm...do you think Fabian was trying to say something to our group? *laughs* I am the third oldest in the class, and the other two that are older were in my group...the rest of the students are just out of college or high school. It's all good...my Asianess helps me fit in with most groups. *smiles* Speaking of...have ya checked out my countdown?!?!...Yup, in about 8 days it'll be my birthday!! *singing* "for she's a jolly good fellow..."

Anyways, as I was saying, we had to work in groups and our pyramid was THE BEST (of course that is not a biased opinion or anything)!!! *tries not to laugh* Actually, it's because we had a graphic designer in our group!

Check out the artistic drawings! :o)

The second half of class, Chef Ewald Notter did a quick sugar demonstration. I can't wait to get my hands on sugar and isomalt. He made it look so easy, even though I KNOW it is not! :o)


Scared the crepes out of us when it popped! :o)

Although I survived my first day of school, it was a very emotional morning. Today my Hunny Boo left to go back to the Windy City...leaving me here all alone. I was trying to be strong, knowing that he'll be back soon to visit, but when we had to depart...it was the hardest thing in the world. I tried to hold back tears, but failed miserably. *sob*

Good news though, I decided not to spend anymore of that negative energy crying...instead, when I got home, I went for a nice brisk 3 mile run. It was 74 degrees and drizzling very lightly...it was PERFECT! I couldn't ask for better weather on my first time running since...since...gee....I don't even have any idea since when. So Hip Hip...HOORAY!!!

Well, gots to go now, because I already have homework on my first day. Homework topic: L'Escoffier . *giggles*....I'm going to love learning French and the metric system! :o)