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Happy Sunday, friends and family! I have never appreciated my weekends more… getting some rest and relaxation is not just wanted, but absolutely necessary.  People always ask what cooking school is like. Depending on the day I’ve had I use different adjectives to describe it, but the ones I commonly use are: hard, sweaty, exhausting, and challenging as well as satisfying, thrilling, delicious and fun!  If I had one sentence to describe it, I have said a few times that it feels like making Thanksgiving dinner every single day. Yes, that tiring, most days. But tiring and satisfying. Like Thanksgiving dinners are. We always marvel at all the work it takes to put up such a meal, like a Thanksgiving one, but it’s always worth it.  Just like each day at cooking school!

5 weeks down and beginning the 6th week tomorrow.  As a former elementary school teacher, I am well aware of the 6 week marker.  It truly takes a class 6 weeks to gel, to get into a great rhythm. I have to say that my class of 14 is in a great rhythm and is bonding now more than ever.  Last week we had our first exam. It was a combination of a 3 hr. practical exam followed by a 10 question, essay format, written exam. For some of my classmates, this was a chance for them to shine.  And boy did they. The stress of the ticking clock and the vague recipes where the expectation is that you can produce 3 dishes at specific times to be evaluated. It’s about time management, organization, work flow, memorized procedures, and the ability to taste and season correctly.  Some of my classmates absolutely loved this and described it as thrilling and exciting. I cannot wait to go visit them one day in the restaurant that is lucky enough to get their energy and skills in their kitchen.

I’m happy to say I passed the practical just fine, but did not share in the thrill of the stressful environment that some of my classmates did. It didn’t help that at the beginning of the test, while the instructor was giving important information about the test, that my phone in my back pocket was buzzing and my watch was flashing with a phone call.  6 phone calls back to back to let me know that my house alarm had been set off was distracting, to say the least. I tried to ignore the calls just long enough to get the info and then I’d step out to handle the situation that I was pretty sure wasn’t an emergency. My mind went blank and I didn’t hear anything that was said. I burst into tears and wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to gather myself and proceed with my exam, but I did.  It was hard, sweaty, exhausting, and challenging, but I did it. It may not have been my best showing, but under the circumstances it was good enough. Maybe the croutons were cut the incorrect size for the soup garnish, the salad dressing was too salty, and the sauce for the chicken was lumpy, but it still was a meal that most people would consider pretty darn good.

My class really bonded after this exam.  We high fived each other for getting past the dreaded first exam and my tears were met with plenty of supportive hugs. Our group text that evening was a constant stream of how everyone felt and what we were drinking or stuffing our faces with to come down from such a stressful day.  I parked myself in the corner of my comfy couch, my kids proud of their mom for sitting and watching tv, and the wine was delivered to me by my sweet hubby as soon as my glass was less than half full. It was just the evening I needed. I know that the next two exams will be equally stressful, but you can be sure there will be no added stress from any devices on my wrist or in my back pocket!

Now for a little glimpse of the tasty food we made this week.  It was Duck week- so that means breaking down a duck and pretty much using every single part of the duck for some dish.  I have to admit, it wasn’t my favorite food week! But, along with the duck dishes, there was homemade pasta and chocolate souffle with ginger ice cream.  That’s not too shabby!

Cheers!

Christina

Homemade Egg Noodles with plenty of butter

Horseradish Crusted Wild King Salmon w/ Yellow Delta Corn, Cucumber Salad and Green Zebra Tomatoes

Braised Duck Legs w/ Orange, Ginger and Lemongrass

Scallops w/ Almond Vinaigrette

Chocolate Souffle w/ Ginger Ice Gream

Is it the weekend yet?!?  I want to make brunch! Last week was Egg Week and I’m dying to put these new egg skills to good use.  We had a full week of egg dishes, egg based sauces, sweet and savory custards and souffles — and so far it has been a highlight for me.  

Brunch is my favorite meal to prepare, eat, and entertain with.  99% of the time brunch means at least one of the following: 1) It’s likely the weekend or you’re on vacation.  2) You have a casual day ahead with friends or family. 3) You drink delicious adult beverages before noon. 4) You have permission to settle in for a guilt-free afternoon nap.  These are some of my favorite things in life.

Last week there were so many dishes that I’ve always wanted to make and I finally had the chance to learn the right way.  It began with the most delicious Eggs Benedict with lemony hollandaise sauce.

Eggs Benedict with Tomato and Bacon and Hollandaise Sauce

I have only ever made hollandaise sauce once before and it wasn’t very good.  If made incorrectly, it can break and turn into a clumpy, separated mess that nobody wants to eat. It is, however, one of my favorite things to order in a restaurant and I’ve always wanted to perfect it.  I learned so many tricks to making this delicious dish and really it’s pretty simple. The sauce can be (and usually is) made ahead of time and kept warm in a thermos- brilliant! And, have you ever ordered a poached egg in a restaurant? It was likely made hours before and kept in a tub of water and then reheated in hot water just before serving.  You’d never know- I practiced this technique over the weekend and it’s nearly impossible to tell which poached egg was just pulled out of the simmering water and which one was cooked ahead of time and then reheated. Restaurant secrets are fascinating to me.

Other tasty dishes we made include 4 types of savory souffles.  

Salmon Souffle

These were fun to make and even more fun to see just as they emerged from the oven. Never did I think that I’d be among a group of people who get as excited about a dish coming out of the oven as I do.  People who have their cameras ready to catch the rise before the fall, and then quickly whip out their tasting spoons to grab a bite of the puffy, airy dish.  As my Chef instructor says, “Souffles wait for no one.”

And what’s Egg Week without deviled eggs? 7 types to be exact! Even though there were some really creative and interesting flavor combinations, my favorite remains the classic flavors of cornichons and capers; although the Blood Mary version came in a close second for me.

Deviled Eggs- Bay Shrimp and Dill, Classic, and Bloody Mary

There was also Roasted Halibut in a Fig Leaf with Braised Artichoke and Bearnaise Sauce, Sauteed Chicken with Tarragon Sauce, Creme Caramel, and Creme Brulee.

Creme Brulee

Creme Caramel

As yummy as all of those dishes were, there were two welcome additions to lighten things up a bit- a most delicious soup and salad.  The soup was a Sun Gold Tomato Gazpacho that was smooth and creamy (no cream!) and one of the best food things I’ve had in recent memory. I’m not sure if it was just a welcome relief to all the heavier dishes we had or if it was because tomatoes are currently at peak season and little nuggets of tomato candy.  

Sun Gold Tomato Gazpacho

All I know is this recipe from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook has been sitting on my shelf since roughly 2011, and I did not know this recipe existed.  What a great excuse to bust out that cookbook and reminisce about the year that my cooking club did a deep dive on this book and made some pretty incredible, albeit complex and challenging, meals.  Perhaps the dive was not deep enough because I don’t recall this recipe at all!

The other fresh and healthy dish from the week was a Citrus and Shaved Fennel Salad.  This was particularly special to me because it used both navel and blood oranges- my brother and his family have a blood orange orchard and with harvest just around the corner, I was excited to share this dish with them to add to their growing repertoire of blood orange recipes.   This one is a keeper!

Citrus and Fennel Salad

And finally, with all the great recipes that I’ve gotten my hands on, a big part of cooking school is to develop the ability to taste.  I’ve always been pretty good at finding and following recipes. But this is what I went to cooking school for- to know how to season so that all the intended flavors come through. How adding salt or some acid can drastically transform a good dish into an excellent dish.  I’ve learned so much and yet I have so much to learn.

This journey continues to be rewarding, challenging at times, and no doubt the opportunity of a lifetime.  I’m grateful.

Cheers,

Christina

Last week at cooking school was a blast! We started the week with a super fun Taste Workshop by the fabulous Barb Stuckey.  I read her book Taste What You’re Missing over the summer and had no idea our curriculum included a taste workshop with her.  It was a fascinating few hours. We did a test to determine what kind of taster we were.  

Our tasting references and tools

Based on a strip of paper on our tongue, I determined that I am a “hypertaster,” which is one that tastes intensely.  The opposite of this is a “tolerant” taster. Neither of these are better or worse- it just means what may be very very bitter to me (IPA beers and black coffee) isn’t to someone else.  There is a reason why some people prefer red wine over white. Our anatomy (partly how dense our taste buds are on our tongue) and genetics play a huge part in what taste experience we have.  I learned that “bitter is the taste of health.” Those brussels sprouts that our kids don’t want to eat can be bitter. In fact, they have the right amount of bitter to make them healthy. The way to get your kids to eat them even if they don’t like bitter food things? Add salt.  Salt knocks down bitterness. If that doesn’t work, also try adding a squeeze of lemon or balsamic vinegar to add some freshness. Either way- get them to eat those brussels!

We also spent quite a bit of time exploring how our other senses affect the taste of food.  Did you know a noisy room dulls the flavor of your food? My husband and I managed to get out for a date on Friday night and while we enjoyed our time together, the food (which we have previously enjoyed from this restaurant) didn’t seem to meet our expectations.  On this particular night we sat in a part of the restaurant where we’d never sat before and the acoustics were so poor that the noise in the room was literally hurting my ears. I had read this fact months earlier, so I don’t think it was the recent workshop that put this in my head- neither of us enjoyed our food OR drink! Crazy.  Who doesn’t enjoy their cocktail after a long week?!?

Post-workshop lunch: Cream of Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese and Fresh Peach

Speaking of things we enjoy- I’m wondering if anyone craves pizza like I do.  I don’t just like pizza, or love pizza. I crave it- and now I know why. Pizza is an “umami bomb.”  Umami is one of the 5 basic tastes. Umami was discovered from seaweed and is the “taste of time.” Think: salami, dry aged beef, parmesan cheese, etc.  Pizza is full of ingredients that are aged- fermented dough, slow cooked tomato sauce, aged cheese, aged pepperoni, salt and fat. Yum to all of that. It’s good to know my childlike cravings have a reason! It was one of my favorite days in school yet.  

Roasted Brassicas (Cauliflower and Broccoli) with Herb Yogurt & Golden Raisins

Later in the week we worked on cooking vegetables using dry and wet heat methods.  For two days I had an entire lunch of veggies cooked different ways- think Thanksgiving plate sized servings. Braised, roasted, grilled, fried, stewed, etc.  It was absolutely delicious and I could eat that way every single day, so long as there are still Pizza Fridays.

To end the week we did our first Menu Day.  It was our first time with all 14 of us working in teams to make all parts of the meal- appetizer, entree, and dessert.  With plenty of guidance from our Chef instructor, we had to figure out timing, order of tasks, plating, and serving. We’ve all done this at home before, but with 14 commercial burners, 14 cooks, a few ovens, several refrigerators, all new super sharp knife sets and dozens and dozens of pots and pans- you can imagine how hectic it can get! We are still all learning how to work together and it’s always a bit of a dance to accomplish what needs to be done.  Despite the fact that there were several errors by the group (at least 3-4 by me personally!), the meal was ridiculously good and even our instructor complimented us on the final dishes. It was a good way to end the week.

Caponatina with Grilled Bread

Chicken Milanese with Arugula Salad

Compressed Peaches with Cardamom Honey Syrup (Bonus: the leftover syrup came home with me to make a tasty Ginger Cardamom Moscow Mule!)

I spent this past weekend reflecting on my past two weeks in cooking school.  It would actually be easier to never have applied for this program. If my kids were sick, I was always available to stay with them.  If someone needed their laundry done or a friend’s birthday gift purchased last minute, mom to the rescue. But, because of my schooling, everyone in my house is having to not only take care of more tasks, they are helping each other out to make sure everything is getting accomplished- I call this a win for all of us.  I may have later bedtimes and earlier mornings than I’d like, and busier weekends trying to play catch up or get a jump on things; but I am proud that I made the leap to follow a passion that I have. Each day is tiring and challenging, but it’s also rewarding and delicious. I cannot wait to see where these new skills take me!

Today marks week 3 and it’s Egg Week.  My Chef instructor told us on Friday that we’d need to put our “egg pants” on… she wasn’t kidding.  Today was Eggs Benedict with tomato, bacon, and Hollandaise sauce, along with roasted potatoes and a green salad.  All delicious. And then we made Creme Brulee…

Cheers!

Christina

Happy Labor Day, Friends and Family! I cannot think of a better placed 3-day weekend on the calendar than this one.  Kids are back in school, weather is still nice here in CA, and it’s a great day to relax outside or a productive one inside getting ready for the week ahead.

After a lovely day biking on Angel Island yesterday, I’m playing a little catch up and reflecting on last week.  I am happy to say I made it through the first week of cooking school! My feelings were all over the board, but last week went a little something like this:

Monday morning- Where am I going to park? How much traffic will there be? Will I like my instructors? Who are my classmates? What if I’m the oldest or only one with kids?  Will my uniform fit or look dorky? 

Class Photo (missing two people somehow)

Monday afternoon- Parking and traffic was fine.  My instructors are awesome. My classmates are younger AND older than me.  There was a cool mom of 4. My uniform fit just fine and after a few washings will be less crunchy. I learned how to make a French Omelette, something that my kids can do better than me. But, at the end of the day, I felt overwhelmed.  I got in my car, turned off the radio and felt like crying… there was just so much information to take in that I began to doubt my decision of going to school. What did I get myself into? Bedtime 8pm, if I can make it that late.

Tuesday morning- Today is a new day. It cannot be as overwhelming as yesterday and I can do this.  I know where to park. I know how to put on my uniform. I know a few people’s names. My instructors taught me so much yesterday and even made me laugh.  I’ve always wanted to know the best way to roast a chicken and make homemade stock.

Roasted chicken with high heat

Tuesday afternoon- I’m beginning to know my way around the kitchen.  I learned how to dice a carrot (harder than you think!). Rather than my usual lunch at home of almond butter on a banana and standing in the kitchen, I sat down to a simple and delicious meal of roasted chicken, butternut squash and apple soup, salad and warm crusty bread.  And talked to people- adults! I’m tired but it was a good day. 

Wednesday morning- Feeling comfortable with the commute, I take the time to call my sister on the east coast to tell her “thank you” for inspiring me to follow my passion.  Sister went back to school in her early 40s to become a nurse and I know seeing her do that as a mom allowed me to consider such a crazy idea for myself. 

Wednesday afternoon- Highlight of the day was a talk by a guest Chef, Craig Stoll.  He is one of the early deans of the cooking school and chef/owner of the Delphina Group in the Bay Area.  What an honor it was to listen to his experience in the food world and strong work ethic behind his successful restaurants.  He tells his chefs that you “lead by inspiring,” and that’s just he does. Feeling inspired by the talk, I called my mom on the way home to tell her about my week.  I also was sure to tell her how she inspired me- my mom went back to school to get her master’s degree in her 60s and now is a licensed Marriage Family Therapist with her own practice.  Needless to say, I come from a strong group of women in my family and they continue to inspire me each day. I think I’m going to do just fine in cooking school. It’s in my genes.

Hat or bandana? Still trying both out

Thursday morning- Mac and Cheese today.  Now this is going to be fun!

Thursday afternoon- An afternoon walk is not a bad idea.  That Mac was no joke. My partner and I decided to use our new skills of making a bechamel sauce and make Mac and Cheese with smoked cheddar, roasted poblano pepper, scallion and baked with a parmesan panko topping.  

Mac and Cheese with Poblano and Scallion

Comfort food at its best. How did our chef instructor know we all needed a little comfort food this week? 

Friday morning- Earlier start than usual so that the pro culinary (my class) and pro pastry class could have a Granola and Omelette Social.  During my elementary school teaching days, an early Friday morning meant a box of donuts or bagels and that made us all pretty happy. But to begin a Friday morning with the sole purpose of tasting the 10 varieties of granola the pastry class put up all week? What a treat.  It wasn’t all chatting, there was work, too. Our class had to teach them how to make a rolled French Omelette. I was impressed by their first hand at it! This a great group of people and I am excited to go through this journey with them.

Friday afternoon- In true Friday fashion, we got to do a fridge dive and clean it out by making a few things without recipes.  Under some expert guidance of our instructor, my

Results of cleaning out the fridge- I’m inspired to do the same at home!

partner and I made a delicious roasted carrot hummus and another team made a tasty fresh pea, mint and pecorino spread- all enjoyed on some toasted bread (crostini).  

To finish the day, we had a butter tasting, a salt tasting and a peppercorn tasting. Have you ever eaten butter on a spoon?? Our family jokes that my mom likes some bread with her butter, so she would have likely enjoyed this exercise.  I already knew that one of my favorite things about a good quality restaurant is the bread and butter. It’s either memorable or it’s not. Lazy Bear in San Francisco has bread and butter that you cannot easily forget. As for the salt and pepper tasting, let’s just say that if you still have that blue little canister of salt with the lady and umbrella on it, get up and throw it away right now. It’s gross and leaves a chemical taste on your tongue.  I threw ours out over 10 years ago and magically (not) my cooking changed for the better. Diamond Kosher salt is the favorite of chefs, cheap and will change your cooking immediately if you make the switch. And, you will use less salt that you did before. As for the peppercorn tasting, black peppercorn is the most widely used. White pepper is used in foods where the black may stand out like mashed potatoes and white soups. I tried a Szechuan peppercorn and all I can say is it left my mouth feeling a bit tingling and numb with the faint taste of anise (liquorice) flavor.  I was kinda glad it was the end of my day because my tongue had fallen asleep!

What an exhausting and exciting week.. A 3-day weekend is just what the doctor ordered, but I cannot wait to go back on Tuesday!

Cheers,

Christina

This is the “I don’t have time/talent/energy to write a food blog” blog. With that said, here it goes!

Many years ago, before I had kids, I was an elementary school teacher who loved organizing my classroom and planning for 20 or so little people to walk through my classroom door each morning. Clear goals, good intentions and purposeful planning wasn’t a convenience, it was a necessity. Who would want to be caught off-guard with 20 sets of eyes staring at you each day?! I used to love filling my calendar with goals for each day and lessons to match. I began each day with a sense of calm as I posted the daily schedule on the board each morning and wrote down everything that I could possibly plan. And because unexpected events happened throughout the school day, such as a fire drill, last minute assembly, arrival of a new student, etc. I learned to always write in pencil, erasable pen or dry erase marker. Life’s plans shouldn’t be written in permanent ink.

Fast forward five or so years when I was pregnant with our first child. Just like most expecting moms, I began thinking about and planning for those busy days that lay ahead and the possibility of holding a cranky baby while cooking with one free hand. I decided to try one of those meal preparation services, Dream Dinners, I think it was called. These businesses have the great idea of presenting a recipe, with all the ingredients ready and measured out, placed it in a plastic bag or foil container, with a premade label on it such that you could make it and pop it in your freezer for a rainy day. Brilliant! I came home with 4-5 semi-homemade, freezer ready meals with easy-to-follow directions and was so happy when I could pop one of those meals out of the freezer and cook it up like a boss.

I was pretty happy doing that off and on for a few months when I realized it wasn’t the cheapest meal around (diapers were expensive!) nor was it the healthiest with many premade sauces that seemed pretty high in sodium. The one thing that these pre-made dinners provided was a weekly dinner plan… frozen lemon chicken on Monday, pasta bake on Tuesday, leftovers on Wednesday, etc. Yes! Like a set of lesson plans and a daily schedule – just like how I ran my classroom! Being a new mom and now juggling a part-time teaching job, any chance to make life easier, more organized and a little less chaotic was exactly what I needed.

I printed off a basic blank calendar and wrote out my plans for dinner for the entire week using up those premade frozen meals. I continued the calendar long after I ended going to Dream Dinners to prepare our meals. And because you never know how your daily or weekly plans might change, I learned to always use a nice sharp number two pencil.

The meal planning idea became even more important when babies two and three arrived… While I stuck to a meal plan each week, I experimented with planning dinners for the next 2-3 days and as long as 2 weeks ahead of time. I cannot say that either of those was ever really great. Even today, it seems best for me to look at my weekly calendar on a Sunday, see what we had going on that week, then plan dinners accordingly. If my husband was traveling that week, was it really the best time to try that new recipe from Bon Appetit with three toddlers as my taste testers? Probably not! If we had a late afternoon pediatrician appointment where I could probably expect cranky babies wouldn’t it better just to plan for leftovers that night? And if planned out correctly, I might even have time to prep a dish during their morning nap and pop it in the oven after the doctor’s appointment. It was a weekly routine I enjoyed – and I have to believe it made us saner and healthier (not to mention saving a few pennies too!).

As crazy as it sounds, I have over ten years of these meal calendars in a file folder sitting right next to my favorite cookbooks. TEN YEARS! For quite some time, the calendar printed off the Internet was simple and worked perfectly fine. Then one day, I had a little fun using a clip art program and began printing off seasonal calendars that looked cute hanging on the refrigerator or sitting out on a cookbook stand in the kitchen. It wasn’t necessary by any means, but an October calendar with a picture of a big ‘ol pumpkin sure put me in the mood to put butternut squash soup and a fall salad with persimmons, goat cheese and candied pecans on the menu. Yum!

Anyone that has been to my house before is familiar with my posted schedules, chore charts, and calendars. Once a teacher, always a teacher! My meal-planning calendar is no different and is easy to spot in my kitchen. It gets a giggle or two every time someone asks, “Is that a calendar for food? Did you make all that? Do you do that for just dinner? How do you plan that far ahead? WHY do you do that? How many times a week do you go to the grocery store?” All good questions… I frequently giggle with them, show them how many times a month I “meal-planned” leftovers, pizza delivery or a reservation and we all instantly feel better. J

The truth is, I can look back on my many years of meal calendars and so much of our life is evident on those calendars. New babies, new houses, new jobs, birthdays, celebrations, houseguests, illnesses, vacations, etc. I love looking back on previous years to see how food at dinnertime shows what our life looked at that time. New baby in the house? You better believe there were plenty of easy to make meals, freezer ready meals, and thankfully plenty of delicious homemade dinners delivered to us by loving friends and family. New job or celebration? A tasty dinner and dessert to honor the special person that surely took longer than 30 minutes to prepare. Packing to move to a new home? Lots of outdoor grilling, paper plates and pizza delivery. Trying to lose those last 5 pounds before a Hawaiian vacation? Low carb meals! It’s all evident on our calendars and it’s my kind of scrapbooking.

Beyond the fun memories these past meal calendars provide, they are also a great resource of meal ideas when I’m planning out a new week. If I’m tired, have a busy week ahead or don’t feel like trying any new recipes, it’s fun to look at previous calendars for the current month and choose a few meals for the week, throw in a night or two of leftovers and a pizza delivery or date night and I’m done! That’s right, I try to plan for pizza delivery or leftovers so that we don’t have to scramble when everyone’s starving or coming in and out of the house from evening sports, school meetings, etc. Planning for these busy nights, even when it means delivery, has made dinner in our house that much easier.

This blog is lovingly created for my friends and family who over the years have asked for a copy of my meal calendar template, have been curious about what is in my dinner rotation, or just wanted a copy of the recipe from something I’ve made that they have enjoyed. I’m beyond flattered and humbled by the interest and I hope that together we can enjoy sharing those tried and trued recipes, meal planning tips, and all things related to Food, Family and Friends.

Attached is a calendar for the month of August. You can print it out and give it a go. It’s a new month so let’s get planning!