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)