Well, here we go again.
Day 2 finished and I had a much needed day off since then. Ahh...restful day with a great Bell's Brown Ale thrown in for good measure.
Anyhow...day 2 was quite a long day. I got home wednesday night at about midnight, cranked out my recipe cards for fundamentals class and got to sleep at about 130am. 530am rolled around really quickly as it was time for my next day filled with theories and concepts from 8-12, sanitation from 1-5, and fundamentals from 530-1030. And it was a long one, never have I taken so many notes in one day! Considering my time at NMSU I should have, but this time around in school I fully intend to succeed.
There is some interested history concerning the restaurant biz, but I won't bore you with the details except that the reason chefs' coats have such long large cuffs is to be able to use them to handle hot things. This, of course, is ancient tradition, but nonetheless I found it to be a little nugget of amusement buried in the 4 hours of furious writing.
Sanitation seems like it will be an easier class, but I don't know how the instructor ever eats out considering the knowledge she has. We all got to hear about campylobacteria and salmonella regarding the all popular but extremely filthy... chicken. But far more juicy was the story of the server who poured agricultural grade pesticides into the salsa (over a lost love) sending about 40 diners to the ER. Wow-
Fundamentals was an exciting class, minus the surprising foot pain from my "sensible black work shoes", since it was the first opportunity to cook.
We made stock!
Chicken stock, veal stock, vegetable stock and finally shrimp and lobster stock. I learned so much just from watching and listening to the instruction of a seasoned veteran. Not only do I know the "7 steps to successful stock", I can perform them. Not perfectly, but none the less, I have made a pretty darn good chicken stock.
I am sure that many miles down this road I will look back at my first time making stock and laugh at that rookie butchery of a stock and wonder what I was thinking. But life is all about first steps and new journeys, so I say "celebrate this day" and here's to the next opportunity for steps toward culinary greatness.
On a separate topic; my eldest daughter read me a book tonight. It was extremely slow and she needed a bit of guidance, but remember, its all about first steps, and this first step happens to be a leap. Thanks Emma.
Alas, my last thought for this entry will be the lack of running in my "cooking and running" blog. It will come. As you can see, thursdays do not afford an opportunity. Fridays do, but darnit, I'm friggin tired. So hopefully tomorrow I'll get to break out the brand new kicks from Brooks and give them a little test drive.
Peace and love-