Back from break and back at it. Yesterday was the first day of essentially our last course. These next 28 days will wrap up my classroom time at Cordon Bleu- no more tedious commute, no more stupid uniform, no more wretchedly early mornings. Hallelujah- the countdown to liberation begins. Now, I wont be quite through with my schooling just yet (in August, Ill begin my externship) but at least Ill be done with the more formal parts of my education.

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Summer break is so close. So. Damn. Close. All I can think about is the things Ill do and the places Ill go with my copious amounts of free time. Granted, I may very well just end up binge drinking on my back porch for most of it - but still, I like to pretend that maybe, just maybe Ill motivate myself to take on an adventure or two. The coming of Summer break not only signifies a change in season, it also marks the end of my Baking & Pastry course. Hallefuckinglujah- I have done grown weary of all these baked goods. No more sugar please.

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7 weeks left- 7 measly weeks…and then its just about over ‘n done with. School (the classroom portion anyway) will be finished and from there I happily move on to my externship. The grande externship is the final step, the end qualification before graduation and it requires that I bust my ass working in a restaurant (of my choice) full time for 6 weeks. 

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I dont hate cake…well, not usually. Today, however, I loathed it. When did cake become such a wretched pain in the ass to make? I mean seriously- it was rough. Seems as though homemade cake and schoolmade cake are only barely related (distant cousins at best). One would think they’re both “cake” right? Well, yes, yes they are but they live in contrasting worlds, hang with wildly different crowds, belong in separate social classes.

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Come to find out Im no good at making pie crust. Its pretty straightforward, the dough not terribly difficult to put together but I think it may be a bit too fussy for my taste. All this “keep it cold” nonsense is just tedious you know? You touch it too much- the butter gets warm. You chat with your neighbor- the butter gets warm. You look at it wrong for too long- the butter gets fucking warm. Its ridiculous.

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The last 5 days summed up: copious amounts of foul truck stop coffee, endless awe inducing scenery (worthy of many quick breaks on the gravel shoulders of the interstate), a few guilt inducing demoralizing fast food pit stops (confession- I love a Dairy Queen blizzard), an immeasurable amount of hours spent in long soulful chats, an abundance of country radio played too loud, scads of new folks, a few old friends and…maybe the best part- plenty of hot weather. I took a roadtrip.

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Yep. So Im back at it. Had a break, took Cheriepicked down, did a remodel and now here it is once again- all bright and shiny and new (and ad free!). The site has been purged of excessive bullshit and now it/we return wholly rejuvenated. Where to begin? Seems like I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Culinary Foundations 3 wrapped up about a week and a half back. In that class there was more of the same (sauces, cooking methods, plate presentation etc.) but…how do I say this? Bigger, faster and more of it.

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Its done. Its over. The last three days of testing have sped past in a frenzied blur but alas, here I am, finally and fully stress free. I’m exactly where I’ve looked forward to being all week long- on my back porch with the sun warming my skin & a cold beer in hand. Finals are behind me at this point…waaaay behind me. Not a damn care in the world besides the present temperature of my beer and the sunburn I may be acquiring on my cheeks.

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The week of review is at long last drawing to a close. I want to be thrilled that its Friday, that a lazy weekend is splayed out before me- but unfortunately, I cant. Three ghastly days of Finals start on Monday and I’m already preoccupied with the details of those damn tests. We’ve tornado-ed through recipes all this week in preparation and yet, I still feel unprepared. How is that possible? I know these dishes- I have them down.

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Up for review on this fine Thursday-Chicken Fricassee &Sauteed Chicken with Pan Sauce. While both my dishes turned out really well, there were a couple issues that cut my plates short of perfect. First, I almost overcooked my poultry in thesaute- almost. A wonderful example of poor multi tasking really- I was busy working on the Fricassee and ended up a couple minutes late on getting the chicken saute off the heat. Smart.

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