School!

So, my long delayed school post.

So my schedule is this:  I have Culinary for the Hospitality Professional on Monday 12-3 and then Etiquette from 3:15 to 5:15.  Tuesday I start with Production at 6 am, and that goes to 11, then I have pastry techniques from 12 - 3 and then Intro to Pastry Arts from 3:30 to 5:30.  I'm off Wed and Thurs and have Production again on Friday.

So what I actually do in these classes.  In Culinary, I am learning basic culinary techniques.  Basically, I am learning about half of the "intro to culinary" course.  We did a couple of weeks on knife skills (I have a test in 2 weeks) and we have made stock.  Now that we have learned stocks, we will learn sauces.  But that will be a later post.

Etiquette is mostly business etiquette.  How to write a resume, etc.  A class that would've been more useful if I hadn't already had a job and therefore learned how to write a resume out of necessity... But it's not so bad.  Apparently we will do some dining etiquette things and that might be useful.

Production:  So this is a big part of the program and it's awesome.  There is a bakery connected with the school so production is making stuff for the bakery, and it is full scale, really what it is like working in a big bakery.  Production takes up two kitchens and there are about 4 stations in each kitchen.  I don't know what all the stations are yet, as I have only been in the one kitchen.  Each person is at a station for 2 weeks.  So I was on Pantry station for my first 2 weeks, and now I am on my second week on Restaurant Station.
   On Pantry Station you make the big batch recipes of things that other people will need for the recipes in the bakery.  These are things like, chocolate mousse, butter cream icing, pastry cream, sticky bun goo, etc.  This also includes sorbets, ice creams, etc and re spinning these as needed.  It is hard to hate a day that starts with eating ice cream (sampling needed to check that they are still good!)
  Now I am on restaurant station.  This means I plate out things for the dining hall people and prepare the desserts for the Restaurant that night.  This has been fun because I have gotten to do things by myself.  I made a Marscapone Roulade, chocolate mousse bombes, pineapple tarts and frangipan strudel things.
  Next week, I am on bread station.  I am very excited.

In Pastry Techniques, we actually learn how to make things (this doesn't really happen in Production, you just follow the recipe and hope it works).  Class usually goes like this: Chef Andress explains what we are going to make, he then makes it and then we do.  Hands on Learning is cool.  So far we have made pie crusts, pies, tart crusts and tarts (thereby learning how to make pastry cream - yum)

Intro to Pastry Arts is basically baking science.  It's all really interesting!  This class is useful because now i can understand why certain recipes haven't worked in the past and can avoid mistakes in the future.  I can also tell you (or at least, i definitely can by the end of the term) why something went wrong with your recipe and what you should avoid doing!  Just ask me!

That's the basic run down, but ask me questions if you have them!

Beki

SCHOOL!

My orientation is tomorrow!  I am very excited, and kind of nervous.  Classes start Monday.  I will probably be updating this more frequently now that school is starting up.