Say GoodBye To The Nice Guys !

With my nutrition class coming to end I am mentally preparing myself for what's to come. I have my practical behind me, where I kindly started a little stove fire (it was a planned for my "firey green beans") and have my group presentation today on Mediterranean Foods. I have found this class to be a bright and pleasant surprise, although a lot of work. All of the Chefs Instructors I have had thus far have been the "Nice Guys" on campus, not to say that the others aren't, they just tend to lean more towards the "Hell's Kitchen" train of thought. With only 9 days per class, THE PRESSURE IS ON! It's hard to absorb, let alone "master" all the techniques they throw my way. My next class is "Fundamentals" where we have to master different eggs dishes and knife cuts. I know what you are all thinking, whats so hard about eggs, well all I can say is I have heard its hard ! I am going to start practicing NOW !!

Here are some pics of dishes from my Nutrition class (Top to Bottom: Grilled Portobello Sandwich with Wasabi Mayo, Grilled Chicken w/ Calypso Rice and grilled Veg, Greek Salad, and Israeli Couscous)

Pie on The Porch !!!

A few weeks ago, I entered a pie contest. Now, let me just put this into perspective for you, although most of my friends know I love to bake, I have NEVER made a pie and, in fact I am not much of a PIE fan. I thought it would not only be something fun to do with my mom but, it would introduce me into the world of "food competitions". The main rule of the contest was that you had to use Local Florida Ingredients. So we started brainstorming and came up with "Lula's Key Lime Mango with Guava Whip Cream"(Mmmmmm). Honestly, The first pie I made was DISGUSTING but after tweaking the recipe the third and final pie was DELICIOUS ! I didn't end up winning, and actually all the pies that won didn't include Florida Ingredients, but I'm not bitter about it (well maybe a little). Here are some pics of MY award winning pie (award winning in my mind). Let me know what you think :)

A Quick Little Catch Up !

So it has kind of been a while since I have visited my "blog" ... I have been in school for about a month now, and am LOVING it. I have just started a real "Cooking" Class so it made me think that I should get back to my blog and jot down my journey. I am going to back up a little since, this was suppose to capture my experiences from the beginning. My first class was a Beverage class, it was a great way to transition me back into school and into the culinary world. It made me realize how much I LOOOOVED wine and really want to make that a part of my career. Next class was Meatcutting, and although I do love meat, I don't particularly care cutting dead animal carcasses apart, or how they say in the Biz - fabricate. Nonetheless I got through the class, and learned a few tricks along the way. Now, I am in Nutrition and have had two days of cooking. This is what I have been waiting for, yet I find myself being intimidated, not by my Chef Instructors but more from my peers (who, ugggh, are 19 and 20). Here are some of the dishes from class, Baked Salmon with Moroccan Charmoula, Grilled Vegetables and Greek Shrimp - YUMMMMM !!!