Lamination Station!!

I've been feeling Un-Savitre like these days. I usually can stay positive and happy about a lot of things, but after Thursday's traumatic experience, I have been ANYTHING but positive and happy. *sigh of disappointment*

We finished off breakfast pastry on Thursday with a practical and written final exam.


I am definitely an advocate of practice makes perfect. I guess I didn't quite understand how we were expected to make a perfectly looking laminated croissant or a normal looking brioche à tête after doing it just a couple of times. I guess some people have the knack for it and some don't (yours truly).

Chef Tim told us that working with dough requires gentle hands....hmmm.....I'm the same girl that jump started her own car....do I seem like a girl with gentle hands? NO!!! I'm no Martha Stewart....I'm more Bob Vila!...hence the reason why I would rather manually roll out dough than use the silly sheeter!
This gosh darn thing would do nothing but eat up my dough, spit it out, then laugh at me! I kid you not!....It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! :o)

What laminated dough SHOULD look like!

Well, I thought I'd make up for it on the written final seeing that I studied my brains out...but NO...that wasn't the case either. How was I supposed to know what the French word for puff pastry is?...our book says mille-feuille...but Wikipedia says pâte feuilletée. Which one is it?!?!?! Too bad that wasn't the only question I answered incorrectly...now I'm wondering if I spelled my name correctly on the test. *frowns*

Anyways, I have been having a lot of personal issues with the happenings in school...but thank goodness I have this three day weekend to recuperate and regroup...

sometimes you're better off not knowing the answer to the ever so popular question..."WHY?"

As for breakfast pastries....I guess I won't be opening up a bed and breakfast anytime soon...but thank goodness for an upcoming weekend class with Ciril Hitz that may make me rethink how I truly feel about breakfast pastries. *cracks a grin*


All in all, Chef Tim will be missed. He's taught me lots, not only about bread but also about one's own character..."By seeing the seed of failure in every succes, we remain humble. By seeing the seed of success in every failure we remain hopeful."-unknown

I must continue to remind myself "Savitre, don't be so hard on yourself...you're in school to learn....no one expects anything more from you than trying your best...so go get 'em tiger" *cheeky grin*

After class, I had a little pow wow at my house. It was a potluck dinner and night of games.

Thank you Renee for providing the source of entertainment...and CONGRATS on getting the job at the French Pavillion in Epcot...I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer at the party so that I could beat you at Cranium!! *winks*

I attempted to make my famous papaya salad...only I had never seen an orange mushy gushy papaya before. Everyone here told me that that was the papaya they know it to be...but I've only made it with green ones...so it went from a papaya salad to papaya salsa. Oh well, still yummers! :o)


Elena, being the sweet heart that she is, made us a huge helping of lasagna and tasty garlic bread...I kinda sorta observed her making it and she did it in about 30 minutes....watch out Rachel Ray!!! :o)



It was super delicious and looked so easy to make....I MUST steal the recipe from her!!! *evil laugh*


Reggie brought us some hot wings, Kiku brought a tray of assorted cookies, Lorenzo with his ice cream and a bouqet of tulips, and John and Samantha with their cute little rice krispy treats with M&Ms on top (how did they know that M&Ms were my favorite)?

Mmmm...Mmm! I have not had a feast like this since I left Chicago....I feel like I could go into hibernation now and not eat for the next 5 months that I am here.....or as Justin would say...run it off! *wink wink* :o) (Thinking about you on your 20K!!!!)

After an excruciatingly painful day of breakfast pastry practical and final exam, this was DEFINITELY the way to end the day and kick start a three day weekend! *smile of content*

Farmers and Fire Dancers

ALAS! I get to finally chill out and catch up on blogging. Hmmm..I think this just means that I need to find more ME time! *looks at watch*

Well, I've been wanting to tell you about my weekend my Sweet Darling Lollipoo was here and I haven't had the chance....so NOW's my chance. YIPPIE!

*begins to ponder* It's been awhile but if my memory serves me right, it began on a clear blue day.... we went to a farmers' market up in Winter Park with Renee (my fellow classmate) and her boyfriend.
This was also my first time riding in a convertible!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Anyways, shall we take a look at some of the goodies that were at the farmer's market?

Did Savitre leave empty handed?

SHE SURE DIDN'T!!! :o)

Later that evening, we made it out to the Polynesian for some Hawaiian grub'n entertainment.

It was a three course meal:

Beginning with mixed greens with mango-poppy seed dressing, pineapple-coconut bread, and sweet golden pineapple.

For the main course we were offered a bottomless tray of bbq pork ribs, roasted chicken, polynesian rice (my favorite), and seasonal vegetables. There was SOOOOO much food, we never made it to ordering a second helping. *sigh*And for dessert following a production of dimming lights and a parade of servers carrying out a plastic smoking volcano, we had Kilauea Volcano Delight!

I think I would've enjoyed it more had I not been suffering from gluttony after the main course. *chuckles*What did we wash it all down with?
A Tropical Pina Colada and Pele's Fire Punch (with souvenir hand-carved Monkey Coconut) :o)
This romantic evening ended with a stroll along Disney's Polynesian Resort's sandy beach while watching the "Wishes" fireworks.

Aahhh....makes me happy *big smile* revisiting that weekend. I just can't wait for the return of my Hawaiian Prince. Hunny, I LAVA YOU!!! :o)

Breakfast Pastries

Oh where does the time go?

It's been such a busy week or so and so much has happened....I just might have to break up this post into two separate ones (as to not bore anyone to sleep).

Speaking of sleep, it's 11pm right now and I should be going to bed but I find it meditative to blog...so that's what I'm going to do! *go ahead try and stop me!* :o)

WARNING: You may gain 10-15 lbs just from reading this post!

In school we've graduated from bread baking to breakfast pastries!!!! All that studying for the final exam paid off because I rocked it, but I will need to work on my baguette technique...didn't do so hot on that...but still passed nonetheless. YAY ME! :o)

As for breakfast pastries...hmmmm....all I've ever known breakfast to be was a nice cold bowl of cereal or warm bowl of oatmeal, but my choices now are LIMITLESS!! It's just toooo exciting *refraining from bouncing off the walls* :o)

Chef Tim has kept us busy in the kitchen making scones, donuts, bagels, brioches (swiss, pumpkin, and cherry almond), cinnamon rolls, and sticky buns....need I say more????

OKAY, I will!....we've also made gibassiers, panettones, muffins (blueberry and corn), pumpkin bread, and tyrolean chocolate cake. The best part of it all is that we're ONLY four days into it!!!! What else could we possibly put on the menu??!?!?

Does anyone know someone that can lipo-suck all this butter out of my system? *laughs*

No Dunkin Donuts here...just the REAL thing!! :o)

Mystery of The Pannetone

(typical bread of Milan usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy)

Based on these fanciful folk etymologies, where do YOU think the name panettone came from?

1. 15th century legend from Milan credits the invention to the nobleman falconer Ughetto Atellani, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. To win her over, the nobleman disguised himself as a baker and invented a rich bread to which he added flour and yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins and candied lemon and orange peel.
   The duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro Sforza (1452-1508), agreed to the marriage, which was held in the presence of Leonardo da Vinci, and encouraged the launch of the new cake-like bread: Pan de Toni (or Toni's bread).



2. the cake was invented in the court of the Sforzas, with the following story:
   It was Christmas and the court cook had no dessert to offer. So the guests were given a sweet bread baked by a mere kitchen boy, called Toni, which won general praise. Rather than steal the praise for himself, the cook congratulated his assistant and named it after him.



3. the word derives from the Milanese, "pan del ton," meaning "bread of luxury."
   

Time to get my beauty sleep...but I promise the next blog will be less fattening for you...I can't wait to tell you about my weekend with my Snuggly Boo :o)

Mother's Day (er...Weekend!)

My mom just left to return to the Windy City and Lil Oakie :o)

I didn't think I'd be sad, but it's hard to get used to people visiting and then leaving.

Fortunately for me, my bugaboo (aka my boyfriend, the only "bug" I like) will be here on Wednesday. I have tons o'fun things planned! *jumps for joy*

Though, my mom and I had a very nice relaxing weekend...after 2 long weeks of school.

She got to enjoy the bread that we've been making in school. It was so cute to see her enjoy my challah and coffee every morning (and sometimes at night). :o)

Around town, I got to show her: Notter, Celebration, Downtown Disney, Downtown, and of course, my little area of Kissimmee.

I was excited to show her my school, my chocolate showpiece, where I sit in class, Chef Ewald, and Colette Peters. *tee hee* It felt like parent teacher conference all over again.

Anyways, it was really nice to see Colette here in Orlando...a friendly familiar face away from home. She told me that she showed people my crooked pot and mouse cake to many people and they were impressed. She even said that my cake has given her an inspiration for her next cake idea...WHAT?!?!? Lil 'ol me has given Colette inspiration??? Now that's TOP PROPS! *blushes* She's definitely the coolest!

Colette and Chef Ewald then recommended my mom and I go eat at Hu Hot. It's a Mongolian Grill styled restaurant. The food did not disappoint! Still, my favorite create your own stir fry place is Stir Crazy. I am sTiR cRaZy KRAZY!!! :o)

We also had a nice brunch at Hue.

The crispy oysters were yummers but the rest was okay.

It was interesting to see what downtown was like....ummm...i guess if that's what they call downtown : no skyscrapers, no "L", no roads congested with cabbies, no crowded sidewalks, no Magnificent Mile, no beautiful skyline! *look of disappointment* Nonetheless, I definitely want to go back and explore some more. missing the beautiful Chicago skyline

Because we've been having temperatures averaging 95 degrees fahrenheit, my mom was perfectly content with staying in my place with the AC.

Speaking of HOT weather...I have found it to be quite discouraging to go run outside (that AND all the buggies). I've waited until the sun goes to bed but the temperature is still in the high 80s. So, I think my next plan is to look into a local gym and sign up for a month by month membership *frown*.

Curse the weather!!!...in Chicago it's too cold, in Orlando it's too gosh darn hot! Gee...I guess the treadmill companies will never go out of business!

I did however go to a Gold's Gym last week and I was in awe by the cardio cinema...run in the dark while watching a movie on a cinema sized screen??...what's next?...treadmills with your own slushie machine? *giggles*

Anyways, although I haven't been diligent about running, today I went ahead and signed up for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K....*shrieks* What's scarier?...the ride or me running without sufficient training!!!!...Eeek!!