It’s easier to write when your sweet hubby places this decicious Espresso Macchiato in front of you!
It’s no surprise, but weeks 9 and 10 were full of many fun experiences and tasty dishes. There were at least two days that I declared, “this is my favorite dish we’ve made,” only to be trumped by a dish two days later- “ok you guys, I lied, THIS is my favorite dish we’ve made so far!” I can hardly wait to find the time at home to make these dishes.
Braised Pork w/ Poblano Cream Sauce- declared one of my favs!
Burmese Coconut Chicken Soup- the soup of my dreams
The highlights of the past two weeks include: a fun cake workshop with Chef Robin, Turkish Savory Pastries with Chef Nick Malgieri, a lovely savory flan, pasta making and tasty treats from our Pro Pastry friends!
Chocolate Blackout Cake
High Ratio White Cake w/ Italian Meringue Buttercream
Chef Nick Malgieri
Kuzu ve sebze pide (boat shaped pie w/ lamb and veggie filling)
Savory Butternut Squash Flan w/ Mushrooms, Lardon, Pumpkin Seeds and Micro-greens- a very impressive 1st course for Fall
Semolina dough to make these pasta shapes
Tasty treats from Pro Pastry!
Pro Pastry had some extra ice cream to share with us- my favs were Mango Chili Sorbet and Earl Grey
The lowlights: really only one of them, Exam #2. A fast paced, three course meal delivered at specific times- a skill that every professional cook needs to be able to do. I am happy to say that unlike my first exam, there were no tears this time. (In case you’re just joining us, exam #1 included my house alarm going off during my exam, many phone call interruptions to figure it all out, and left me sitting in the corner of my couch with family members delivering me wine for the remainder of the evening. I passed just fine, but the added stress was more than I could take.) Exam #2 was a different story. Although I was just as nervous, taking an exam at week #10 was very different than week #5. More experience, more organized, more confidence, no phone in my back pocket! = better performance overall. I’ll take it.
One of the fun parts of being a culinary student at San Francisco Cooking School is that you get a chance to participate in their Curiosity Crawl. It’s basically a scavenger hunt around the Bay Area eating, seeing or finding food items or food-related items. Our school’s pastry Chef Nicole read somewhere, “Burnout is the absence of curiosity.” This makes so much sense! Visiting chefs and our instructor chefs often tell us the key to staying fresh and engaged is to continue learning all the time. #staycurious
Today, my family took advantage of the extra hour we were gifted and drove up to the very impressive Marin Farmer’s Market- fun finds included duck eggs and local honey. Then we headed to the city to check off some of the items on the list. Highlights included dumplings at Wing Lee Dim Sum with steamed BBQ pork buns as big as your entire hand and delicious Salted Caramel Ice Cream from Bi-rite Ice Cream. What a fun day!
Pork and Shrimp dumplings
This week begins week 11. I hear that we have a guest chef with a cheese tasting on the schedule. I’ll put my cheese pants on and be sure to pass along any good info I learn!
Cheers,
Christina
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