EPISODE 2

I drove to Charleston yesterday, (and back, in the same day ... argh), to register for fall quarter.

I get to the Financial Aid Station, and give the gal all my paperwork. She totaled me up, and said for the year, I would owe $1800, after loans and scholarships. (Out of $23,000). I said, "Okay, I don't want to have to get another Sallie Mae loan, The other kids told me they got their balances financed at the school."

Gal: "Yes, we can do that." And she attacks the calculator with zeal.

"You have a $248 credit from your last Sallie Mae loan, which knocks your total down that much, making your payments $189 a month, plus a $55 registration fee, so your total payment TODAY will be $219."

"TODAY?!?!?!?!?!@#$%#$%#$%$%$%@#!@#"

"Yes, Today".

"Um, er, well, you see, I have about $12 for gas money back home......"

"Well, we can hook you up with the Sallie Mae people and......."

I cut her off "No, I don't want to do that. since I haven't worked in a year, my credit has gone in the pooper, and my mom had to co-sign for me for summer. I don't want to ask that of her again. And I have drained my poor boyfriend whose work has been erratic at best........"

"Well, we have to have the money before you can start."

"So, I could come in early Monday before school starts and get it squared away?"

"Sure".

So, I go out to the courtyard and start pondering my options. The only viable one I could think of would be asking the ex-husband for it, but the very idea just puckered my, well, you get the idea. So, I sat there, and had a vision of a large toilet, and all my hopes and dreams flushing down in a counter clockwise swirl. I thought to go to the registrars office to see if I took a quarter off, what would happen to my Advanced Standing status.

I couldn't imagine not spending the next 6 months sitting there in that courtyard with Jules, Trevor, Andy and Jason, and Becca, and Scott and Jeremy ...

Then it hit me. The overage from the summer Sallie Mae loan!!!

I went back to the FA gal, and said, "Hey, that $248 dollars is from a loan I procured, therefore, it is MY money, right?"

"Yes".

"Well, then, I can apply it to anything at school I want to, right?"

"Well, yes, and I see where you are going with this. You want to use that to apply to your first payment today. We CAN do that, but we really frown on it. The payment today is considered a show of your commitment."

"Kim, I just made it thru Advanced Standing Summer. 50 hours of classes a week. Now, in the fall, I still haven't found a job, and will be living in the back of Trevor's van. If that doesn't prove my commitment, I certainly don't think a lousy $219 would do the job".

So, agreeing, she went and talked to head FA dude, got it approved, and set me up with accounting.

I'm in.

But why [she] just give me that option to begin with? She was okay about sending me back to Atlanta, crying the whole way, over $219. They were prepared to loose $23,000 over a measly $219. When I walked away from her desk, and went to the courtyard, I coulda kept walking, and never come back, and the school would have lost 23,000 in tuition, because she didn't suggest that, even seeing my desperation. Jeez. Okay, now my rant is over, I saw on the board, a post called New Rant, I assume AB has posted. Gonna check that out now. Then, time to pack!!

Hey gang,

I'm home for a couple of days. I begged some momeu from the ex-husband, and got a cute little one bedroom just around the corner from the ghetto, but it is only $395 a month, so hopefully, it will be within my budget, IF I can find a job ... LOL.

Fall quarter started Monday, and boy oh boy, were we Advanced Standing people spoiled over the summer ...

There are people crawling all over the school!!! ARGH!

This summer, there were only the 40 of us in Advanced Standing, a class of Advanced Standing Baking people, (6 or 7 of them), and a small group of HRMs (Hotel Restaurant Management people) and another small class of freshmen trying to get ahead on their academics by going summer quarter. All in all, less than 75 people in the school, and we all knew each other.

Now, strangers have out numbered our small close-knit group. We stand around outside in the courtyard saying "Make these people go away!!!" LOL

My first class is Classical French Cuisine. I have Chef Nogle once again, the one I had for my last summer class, Stocks and Sauces.

Some of you may remember I said he had a bad rep around the school for being a hard a**, but when I went to him with my confusion on espagnole sauce he offered me special help. Nuttin but a teddy bear.

There are only 4 of us Advanced Standing people in the class, and the rest is GP. (General Population.) Chef hasn't yet learned the names of the regular kids, so he uses me all the time for example.

Chef: "Who left this sauce here without stirring it?"
  Kid: "Me, sir, sorry."
Chef: "Paris, What's the fifth trait of a good Sauier?"
   Me: "That would be CONSTANT VIGILANCE, Chef, Sir."
Chef: "That is correct, Paris. You go talk to our Saucier for today, and explain
          how constant vigilance helps us to avoid burning and wasting food, alright
          Paris?"
   Me: "Yes sir, Chef, Sir!"

Then later, with me as Chefs Steward for the day, he and I were cleaning out the cooler, and he handed me a bowl of cut up carrots, and a bowl of tomato parts.

Now, keep in mind, we make consommé EVERY day. And both the carrots and tomatoes can be used in the "raft" that clarifies the consommé.

So, I said to him, "Chef, what's the third trait of a good Saucier?!?!?!"
Chef: "Paris, that would be 'A good Saucier NEVER throws anything away'."
   Me: "Then why are you instructing me to throw away perfectly good carrots and
         tomato product that could be used for the next class in consommé, Chef,
         Sir?"
Chef: "Good call Paris, but throw them away anyway."

Okay Chef, whatever. But I could see him smiling, knowing he had taught me something, and that I was thinking, and most importantly that I wasn't afraid of him like the other kids are. They would have just thrown it away without question.

Mike, one of the other AS students and I are the only two who answer questions he asks in lecture, and I am constantly bringing up things I have seen, or read about, asking him why this and that, and he likes it.

I made my second B of summer quarter in his stocks class, but he explained it to me, that it was because of my quizzes and final exam scores. I said, "yeah, I am not on your wave length, on the way you ask questions, and what you want for the answer, so an 86 is about what I expected."

But really, he asks vague questions, and is very strict on the answers. One quiz we had last quarter, was how to make a certain sauce. There were only 4 questions on the quiz, and he took off 10 points on one of them, because I said the sauce contained mire poix, not BROWNED mire poix ... rgh.

Anyway, things progress well. I hate this new schedule where we only go for four days a week. When I get a job, I am sure I will like it, having more time to work, but now I am thinking how much sooner we would be done with classes, if we went the full five days, like we did in summer.

Well, time to pack up some more stuff to take back to my cute little ghetto apartment.

Talk to you all soon,
H.

Hey all!

I finally got set up in my little ghetto apartment, and got a phone line, so I can pop in here regularly again.

Monday is the last day of Classical French Cuisine, and the day of my practical exam, as well as the written final. ARGH.

We only go to school mon-thur, so tomorrow I am going out to look for a job, and not coming home till I have one.

Except for my scores in class today this has been an exceptionally good luck day for me, Hopefully the luck will extend into tomorrow ... LOL.

time for some good eats.

In reply to: Re: The International Order of the Ghetto Apartment posted by BigCrab on 10:58:06 9/20/2002 from 199.173.225.2:

My apartment is actually very nice, all things considered, but that is once I am inside the door. I have a nice size kitchen, with a practically new Kenmore fridge and range, the water works, the toilet flushes, and I have an unbelievable amount of closet space. Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough stuff to occupy the closets, you know how girls feel about closets!! LOL The color of the carpet even jives with what little stuff I brought.

But its once I walk outside that the ghetto factor kicks in. My little 99 Toyota Corolla is the nicest car in the whole place, except a nice SUV across the street, which of course, gives me a nice feeling of paranoia every evening when I go to bed.

Life's little pleasures--getting up in the morning, and the car is still there, with all four tires intact.

And need I mention the youths selling crack about 40 feet from my door ...

There is a sign on the managers door stating that cash will no longer be accepted for rent that money orders are to be used ... denoting that either there is a lot of CASH made around here, (you know, crack sales) or I am living among the class of people who haven't yet moved up to the adult status of having a bank account ...The kind of people who go cash their paychecks at the liquor store, and pay a percentage, instead of putting the money in the bank, and getting paid for it. you know what I am talking about.

Hey Lawyers, isn't that illegal to not accept cash? just wondering.)

Grocery Stores, and even convenience stores that stock food items with HUGE signs "We Accept Food Stamps" ...

And amount of rent speaks volumes as well. You can find an apartment for $550 -$600 all over the area, but my rent is $395.

To answer BigCrab, and LS10 at once, about French, and what I might have to share, I cant really talk about it right now, its too painful ...

You all know how you have that recurring nightmare, where either--

1. the giant cabbage has chased you into the blocked off alley, or
2. the man who broke into your home has discovered you behind the louvered closet door, and is about to open the door, and you are watching him thru the slats, AND THEN
   
   Your adrenaline wakes you up????

Well, Chef Nogles class is like that scary feeling right before you wake up, when you are in the heat of the scariness, but you can't wake up, there is no escape.

I have that pit-of-the-stomach feeling for six hours each day.

He will decide to change a recipe, and not tell you until he passes your table, and you are at that stage of the recipe.

And it feels like each move you make is a test.

For example, on my

  Me: - "Chef, I cleaned my tenderloin, shall I save the chain and fat for sausage?"
Chef: - "No Paris, toss it."
  Me: - "But Chef, the third trait of a good Saucier is that you never throw anything away."
Chef: "Toss it, Paris."

BUT----had I not asked him, and just tossed it, he would have FOR SURE called me out on it, and asked why I was throwing away perfectly good meat that could be used for sausage.

You get the picture? Every moment of each class day is like that.

And we aren't really learning anything. If you remember in Continental Cuisine, I complained that
we weren't learning, that we were just used for pack mules, to produce food for the Dining Room class to have real food to serve? Same thing here but we are doing it for the Advanced Dining Room class.

I will say, tho, that once you get used to it, that

But, BigCrab, this is my first experience with Classical French, but with the way Chef Nogle changes everything at his whim, I am not sure what I am really cooking, Classical French, or Classical Nogle ...

AND - with the Brigade System, your scope is so limited--you prepare one thing, then, either go in the dining room to be a guinea pig for the dining room class, or get a station assignment to stay in the kitchen ... you don't see much of the big picture, unfortunately. Its a good system for running a kitchen, but not a good way to learn.

Nuff about CFC. I need to forget it till Sunday afternoon when I study for both my written and practical finals.

(Dear Lord, please don't let Chef Nogle stumble into this message board ... LOL)

H.

Okay, the walls are thin enough here in the ghetto, that I can hear both connected apartments phones ringing, now I can smell chocolate. Someone here in the ghetto, at almost 12:30am is baking. I assume it is munchie inspired Martha White packaged brownie mix, but anyway, its giving me a sugar Jones.

I checked the entire apartment, luggage, kitchen, backpack, and all I came up with was 4 pez in a Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser in the bottom of my purse ...

I am home from the last day of Classical French. I made an 89 on my practical final exam. No grade yet on the written, but I opted for the multiple choice instead of essay, since Chef and I don't seem to see eye to eye on the written word, and I feel pretty good about it.

I'm surprised I made an 89 on the practical--Chef and I had a little go-round, and he even called me a smart alec ... LOL.

In the Brigade System, at time of plate up for service, each station person is supposed to stay AT their station, and have their mise en place for everything including plates, at their station. About an hour before plate up, I turned on the oven at my station, as I was doing an au gratin dish. I was down to the wire on my timing, since I had pasta, I didn't want to have to hold it, but wanted to go straight into the sauce.

Well, guess what? That's right. The oven at my station didn't work. So the one next to me did, and I looked over my shoulder ... Chef was no where to be seen. I popped one sheet pan of my gratins in the oven next to me. Safe. whew.

But it was so close to plate up, I popped the second sheet pan of my gratins in the salamander (broiler) that IS at my station.

I check over my shoulder again, looking for Chef, then check the ones in the other oven, and of course Chef walks in, and sees me both peeking in an oven not at my station, and sees the other dishes in the salamander.

"Paris, why are you working at the Saucier station when you are Cuisinier?? And why in the name of God do you have those dishes in the salamander, they are supposed to be in the oven."

I explained my non-working oven dilemma, letting him know that my concern was to have the product ready on time for service, and was doing whatever means necessary, since that was the only objective of what we were doing.

"Kind of a smart alec today, aren't we Paris??"

"Well Chef, I'm just trying to answer your questions, and trying to put out a good product, and get a good grade too."

Then he smiled, and said "Alright Paris, finish your product."

THEN ... I have never ever seen Chef go to the dish area, okay? Now, I am always the person who yells "Hot pan in the sink." when I see someone put one in there without properly yelling the warning.
But, I put a hot one in there without the warning, seeing that no one was anywhere near the dish sink, and probably wouldn't be for quite a while as we were plating up.

Of course, Chef, for some who-knows-why reason goes over to the sink and picks up that hot pan, and burns his hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He could see what was in it, and knew it was mine ...

So, you see, its a miracle I got an 89 ... LOL

Anyway, time to go look for a job again. Rent is coming due very soon, and I have $3 left, and a quarter tank of gas. (not counting the $0.67 in the checking account ... LOL).

The nightmare is over, and tomorrow starts the promise of a good class - Advanced Patisserie. (Making tasteless little desserts with funny looking sugar creations balanced on top of them.)

Happy Monday afternoon!!!
H

Okay, tomorrow is day 5 of 9 in Advanced Patisserie. On Day 7, Chef will reveal to us (in Iron Chef fashion) the theme of our practical final exam. One of my buds from the last class clued me in to the fact that Chef almost ALWAYS assigns ice cream for the practical.

AND...

Several people have told me that along with being a Master Chocolatier, and Master Baker—loving chocolate, she is also a coffee freak.

So, butt-kisser that I am, I want to make a coffee ice cream, for which I am sure I can find a recipe somewhere, but I haven't been able to drink coffee for many years, coz it hurts my tummy. So, I need some ideas of some flavors to work with the coffee ice cream.

Some flavored cake or soft cookie to set the ice cream on, a sauce for it, some kind of complementary flavored wafer to top it with, just need to know what flavors work well with coffee ... its been a while.

The plates have to have the following components.
1. Main Ingredient (ice cream)
2. Sauce
3. Garnish
4. Crunch component

Any ideas? It's been so long since I drank coffee, I am out of the loop. All I can think of is vanilla and hazelnut as accompanying flavors.

HELP!

H.

Okay, its not as bad as Classical French Cuisine was, but it's right up there! LOL

Our Chef is one of only three women in the US to make it to Master Baker. (Same as Master Chef, but skilled in the Baked Arts.) But ... she is really full of herself. But, on the other hand, she is close to my age, and I think she likes me okay. You wouldn't imagine how much it helps, whether or not the instructor likes you.

Jason Tucker from my group over the summer, had Patisserie his first fall class, and had this Chef. (Chef Burnett) Got all A's on his daily quizzes, made a 15 (that's a 100 in regular world) on his practical, made an A on his final exam, but made an 82 in the class, coz Chef didn't like him. she and he had a little scrap one day, she sent him out of class, and seems she was just looking for something, you know? So you know what it was? In his research paper, he had four parenthetical citations and forgot to put a page number beside the source. So she gave him a 60 on the otherwise great paper. He went and talked to her about it, and wanted to know why a 60 for such a small thing, and how that 60 brought down all his A's to a total of 82 points for the class. She wouldn't explain, just said, "because I say so."

Sooooo ... that is what she is like. But, like I said, I think she likes me.

We group up in the class, for the duration of the class (9 days), and the four of us from Advanced Standing, of course, made a group. But, two of our members have since dropped the class, for missing a second day, so now it is down to just me and Timmons.

Timmons is very creative, I just stand back and let him do our plate design each day, but, dang, the guy has no sense of urgency. I just emailed mbmusgrove and ranted about Timmons and his slow ways, so hopefully I got it off my chest, but I do want to give you at least one illustration, to explain my stress.

We have to come up with our design, after lecture and quiz. Then, start cooking everything, making sauces, gather our mise en place (which Chef Burnett says is really mis en plas ...

Wanna know why we are late? Coz Timmons can't work efficiently. God knows he's my buddy, but he is
sloth-ish, and doesn't know how to move. For example, when he is working on a plate, and needs to do something to the side of the plate opposite him, he will walk all the way around to the other side of the table instead of simply turning the plate!

One more incident ... Chef requires that anything that goes in the fridge to be in a portion bag, not a ramekin, not a bowl, not a hotel pan, but a portion bag, labeled.

Today, we were making bread pudding.
Separating eggs.
Use yolks, save whites.

As I separated them, I put the whites in a portion bag, yolks in a bowl to be used.

Timmons "Uh, Holly, I wouldn't put the whites in a bag. You should get a bowl."

Me, finally fed up, "Timmons, the whites are going to end up in a bag shortly here. Why would I dirty up a bowl with them, only to pour them from the bowl into the bag, and then have to wash the bowl? Work Smart, not Hard, Timmons."

Timmons "We have to put them in a bag?"

Me - "Yes, Timmons, everything has to be in a portion bag, labeled. The fact that this is Day 6 of class, and you don't know that, just proves who has been doing all the grunt work in our group ..."

AAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone, tell me again, why am I doing this?!?!??!

LOL
More on class later, when I get over my Timmons Rant.

In reply to: Holly's practical posted by LeeNC on 15:00:45 10/5/2002 from 68.115.171.233:

LOL

The practical is this coming Tuesday ... (shiver ...)

I had some bad news about the practical—We don't get to make the ice cream of our choice, individually, we are going to make one batch as a group, and then flavor it as we choose, individually.

I don't think vanilla ice cream with some coffee flavor added in at the last minute would be very good, so I have decided to take one of your ideas, and make a coffee syrup reduction, make it very thick, almost like a jelly, and swirl it into the ice cream in pretty ribbons, after it is frozen.

I am not going to let Timmons bully me into making something that I don't have an idea already in my head for.

Either chocolate, or vanilla, both of which would take the coffee ribbons nicely.

Here is my idea ... (so far). We have to demonstrate piping skills in the practical, as well a design, creativity, and use of all the four components. So, I'm gonna pipe chocolate into a symmetrical 6 point star onto the plate.

Fill it with something very light colored. (I thought about sabayon, but am afraid that will be too yellow for my plan) Perhaps just lightly beaten heavy cream with sugar added.

Then, in the center of the cream star, place a molded chocolate cup, shape to be determined later.

Vanilla w/ coffee swirl ice cream in the center of the cup.

Then, one of those cooked sugar lacy things, colored pink, cut into a triangle (to mimic the points of the star) and leaned up against the chocolate cup,, or else cut big enough to cover the cup, so you can see the white of the ice cream thru the lacy pink sugar. (But to do that, I couldn't have the ice cream heaping in the cup, coz it would melt the lacy sugar thingee ... more thought required on that.)

Then, finally, another requirement from Chef Burnett is that there be one small whipped cream rosette on every dessert plate, so I will plop that against the chocolate cup, and have three maraschino cherries that I have half-dipped in chocolate, placed in the rosette.

I still need to check to see if the sugar lacy thingee can cover the requirement of "Crunch Component". Seems I remember her saying the crunch component had to have flour in it somewhere ...

Anyway, what do you all think? Anyplace for improvement? I'm kinda going for a Neapolitan (brown, pink and white) Art Deco look.

If I do end up having to have something with flour in it, and end up making a tuile of some kind, any ideas of where to put it, or if I should flavor it?

Thanks so much for all your help guys!! 8-)
H.

Okay, For all those of you interested in my horrid financial situation, (especially for those wonderful ones of you that made the tote board meter rise on the save Holly telethon ... LOL) I have good news.

Last week I went to one of the culinary temp agencies in town. I had hesitated doing that thinking they wouldn't give me enough work to pay the bills, and kept looking for a permanent gig bartending or waitressing somewhere that I could make some hard fast cash.

After two or three people telling me that this one particular place Culi-Services, had an unbelievable client base, and would work anyone to death if they so wished, I finally went to see them.

They are very selective, and have a pretty in-depth screening process, as to protect their reputation with their clients, they don't want to hire anyone who would make them look bad.

So, I had to go to the police department and get a background check, (thanks to those of you, and you know who you are, I had the money for gas to get there, and the cash to pay for the background check!) Then, had to prepare a resume, page of references, both professional and personal, and provide them with two letters of recommendation. Luckily, I could use the ones that got me in the Advanced Standing program at school.

Well, to make a short story even longer, (I'm good at that huh? LOL) I finally got an appointment for an interview today, and the guy was very impressed with me, and loved my letters of recommendation, and said, that its not entirely official till he calls all my references, But he gave me a tuxedo shirt and bow tie, and said he had a server gig at CHARLESTON PLACE next Saturday night, if I was available!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO! Course, the rent will already be 12 days overdue then, but who cares!! I have a job!!!! (hopefully ... LOL. my references should be great, I used the two people who wrote my letters, no problem, except with getting in touch with Chef. he is now a regional manager type guy, and not in his office very often. anyway ...)

They should be able to keep me quite busy. I had to circle whatever jobs I was qualified and wanted to be placed in, I circled--
server
bartender
prep-pantry
dishwasher
hostess
cashier
retail sales. (?? culinary staffing? whatever, Ill do it.)

He said they pay between 9 to 10 dollars an hour, depending on the job, and up to 12 or 13 dollars an hour for private gigs. Heck, they even pay you $8.50 an hour to do a dishwasher gig!! And of course, working a job where you get tips, that is just whipped cream on top of the $9 per hour! (ps, for those of you in different areas of the country, and different costs of living, standard dishwasher pay is around minimum wage to maybe $6.50 an hour. Servers get $2.15 and hour, plus tips, and bartenders get anywhere from that $2.15 to $6 or $7 per hour, plus tips.)

So, if they can keep me near 40 hours a week, with $9 an hour, plus whatever tips I can snag along the way, (every server job wont include tips ... like a banquet gig ...) I should be able to keep my head barely above water. It will be tough to start with, since I am two months behind on the car payment, but, with a job now, it will work out.

Thanks to everyone for both your tangible gifts, and for your thoughts and concerns. Without a doubt, there is NO WAY I could have gotten this far in this program without Steve, his dad, and all of you guys.

I love each and every one of you!!!!

H.

Only Hardcore fans of my cooking school tales need proceed further, this turned out to be very looooooooong.

Today, I was one of the two Chefs of the Day which means, basically, you do grunt work for the Chef. We come in and get ovens turned on, and dish sinks filled and ready to go, then monitor sanitation procedures during production (reminding the clods to wear gloves when they are touching things going onto plates.) We fill out and retrieve the requisition for the items needed for the days production, then supervise clean up, then do a check list right before class is over.

Okay, easy enough. But, you do all that along with your production as well. This morning, we had to finish off the strudel that we started Thursday, and of course, Timmons had to do an elaborate plate design that took us too long, but for once, we got to the finish line a couple of minutes early.

So, then, we take a quick break, and come back in class, and start our ice creams for our practicals tomorrow. Today was spent prepping for our practical.

I got out the scales, got it calibrated (no easy task, we use those old fashioned two sided ones; one side holds your scoop thingee that you pour into, the other side holds a pie pan of beans, to equal it out ... arh). So, anyway, I am getting the mis en place for our shared French vanilla ice cream, so I can get it cooked, and into the freezer for us BOTH. Timmons kept taking off my calibrated items, to measure wine and water to poach in, which really DIDN'T have to be so accurate, and leaving me standing there, watching him, waiting to go on with the ice cream measurements.

He just cant understand that once I calibrate the scale, even with the big scoop container on it, all he has to do is put his other container in the scoop, see how much it weighs, and add that to the amount he is measuring. He takes everything off, and recalibrates with a new set of beans with each item he weighs! argh.

So ... I talked to Chef about my idea, and she thought that the best way to get coffee flavored swirls into my vanilla would be with chocolate ganache and coffee flavored paste. We usually have some in the fridge, she says. So, I get the ice cream going, and start tempering chocolate to make my chocolate square molds, and go look for ganache ... guess what? Right, no ganache. So, I turn down heat on the chocolate on the stove I am tempering, and start on the ganache, because that is the first needed thing, since it has to go in the ice cream after it comes out of the ice cream freezer, and before going to storage freezer.

Meanwhile, my chocolate for the molds get heated too high to temper. In the garbage. Midway of making the ganache, Chef says that production time is over, and all production must cease. WAAAAAAAA!!!!

So, I went to her, and said, "Chef, I have to have the ganache for the ice cream, which I just put in the freezer, I need the ganache in 5 minutes. I have the cream and butter ALMOST to scalding, and my chocolate measured, it will only be two more minutes ... please?!?!?!" She looked at me, and I could see in her eyes, she was thinking, Oh, this poor gal is at a table with Timmons, she needs all the help she can get. So she said "Okay Paris, finish the ganache."

WOOOHOO! You gotta know what a hard nose this woman is to know what a coup that was.

So, everyone else is pretty much finished, and Chef bellowed out "Everyone but Holly, who has special permission, because she talked to me, STOP PRODUCTION NOW!!!! And Start Cleaning!!!

But guess what? Timmons kept working. Uh oh. Chef pointed him out specifically, and yelled at him to stop production AT ONCE.

Then, we aren't allowed to have backpacks in the labs, or non-J&W-issued knife rolls, we must carry the bulky knife cases they issue us ... Well, Timmons had his backpack, and a contraband knife roll ... she saw it, (took her 8 days to notice) and yelled out "Who's yellow backpack is that over there? Get it out of here NOW!"

Timmons went to get it, at which time she saw the knife roll. She asked if he had been bringing them both in for all 8 days ... I didn't hear his response, but she was marking furiously in her book, and Timmons got his stuff, and kept walking!

Chef asked me, 10 minutes later, where Timmons was, I said I hadn't even missed him, but he never came back.

All in all, I would say Timmons had a worse day than me, but still it was very stressful.

I did earn brownie points at the very end of class, (which ran 25 minutes over ...) when I was doing the HACCP sanitation check-off sheet. We can't do the end of the day plate critique until the HACCP sheet is finished. There was a bad mess on the floor, and it was something caramelized, I couldn't get it up, so I came over to plate critique, and Chef asked if I was done, I said, "No, there is something bad on the floor, that is going to require a lot more time. Let's just do plate critique so everyone can get out of here, and I will clean it up after we finish."

So, she thanked me, and did platexr thing, Timmons had thought about the plate design over the weekend, and decided that our pear strudel needed Concord grapes as a garnish, and bought some to bring in. During plate critique, she said our design was great, she loved this and that, but we are to never bring food in from the outside. All food must come from the store room, from our approved vendors. I understand this, but she is telling me, since I am now the only representative of our table, since Timmons split ... argh.

Okay, that is enough whining. I am going to get my plan down for tomorrow, so things will run a little more smoothly. And study for the written final. She practically hand fed us the questions, all I have to do is go back over my notes, and make more notes. Oh, and type a journal about being Chef of the day. Not much to do tonight ... LOL.

Oh bother ...

Three minutes and counting till I must leave for school. It is taking every ounce of will I have to force myself out of the door.

Wish me luck everyone. I have a giant screaming buttload of things to do to pull off my practical today, with the "Timmons Holdup" factor of yesterday.

Okay, here I go ...

I will report in after school. here I go ...

I'm leaving ...
Yep, here I go ...
LOL
Thank you, that is all.
H.

OMG!!! After Chef scolded Timmons yesterday, he blew off class today!!! He has missed a day already, so that means he is dropped from the class, and has to repeat it!!! The horror of it is, that Chef Burnett is the only Chef who teaches this, so he will have her AGAIN, next time he takes it!!!

She asked me where he was today, as if she thinks all Advanced Standing students all live in the same house away from school, and know each others business ... LOL. I told her I had no idea, but just taking a guess, from Timmons personality, I think he was humiliated from her scolding, and didn't want to show his face here today, even knowing he would have to repeat the class, by not showing.

Anyway ... After the written final, which btw, had 50 questions, one of which was a math problem that alone, counted 20 points, AND which I got wrong about 1/2 way thru it ... argh, we had to leave the lab when we were thru, while others finished. BJ and I were outside, about 30 feet from the door, watching a couple of the others standing by the door, and when they went in, we headed toward the door, and because we were 8 seconds behind them, she marked us late. 1 point out of 15 already counted off.

She divided the tables up, even marked the center with masking tape, and if we layed a knife down, and the tip of it went 1/4 inch over the tape, 1 point off.

Oh, and NO TALKING allowed.

We had 2 and 1/2 hours to finish our show plate. Sounds like a lot of time, but, here is my mis en place list ...

Her evaluation?

Score?

All classes go on the 15 point system for practicals, and I have never made lover than a 13.5, and of course, that was in the famed Chef Nogles class, Classical French.

I will be lucky, if after all the Timmons induced hold ups, and the flubs of today, if I made a B in this class----ARGH!!!

Anyway, it is over. Garde Manger next. looking very forward to this class. Paté, little vegetable sculptures, ice sculptures, all good.

I don't know how I am going to get away from being in a group with Timmons, as we AS people stick together, but I am not going thru that again. Besides Timmons and me, there are two other AS people in class, and one of them I really like, and want in my group, but somehow we are going to have to group up without Timmons. Even if I have to just be honest with him.

So, I just tried to download the pictures I made of my plate today, and the software wont take it from the camera. I might do a "calling all geeks" post, to cry for help. Enough whining for one week. Hopefully Garde Manger will be soooo much better, and I will have happy posts!!

Thank you, that is all.
H.

In reply to: Here I go posted by Holly on 6:27:52 10/8/2002 from 152.163.189.171:

Take a deep breath. You may need a change of medication.

Don't take every evaluation so seriously. Its the *degree* that's important. Its not going to make even a whimpering little buttplop of difference whether you have excellent grades or just good ones. Anybody trying as hard as you are is going to get at least good grades.

-------------------------------------------------

Posted by Holly on 14:01:04 10/8/2002 from 205.188.209.8:

In reply to: Have you considered decaf? posted by BigCrab on 10:33:23 10/8/2002 from 199.173.224.20:

(btw, I don't even drink coffee, it hurts my belly).

But about the grades, I know you are right. A potential employer wouldn't know, or possibly even care if my GPA was 3.6 instead of a 4.0.

But, I just have so much to prove, on so many levels, ya know?

1. Being 42 years old with all these kids, I have to be able to keep up, and would like to excel over them, because of my age, and supposed wisdom.
2. My children. I have a daughter who is a sr. in high school, who will be starting college in a year, (an has dyslexia), for whom I have to be a role model. My son just became a sophomore this fall, like me, and was #1 in his freshman class last year. Almost 9000 kids on campus, and he was the top freshman. English Honors Society, 4.0 gpa, so many scholarships that is is basically getting paid to go to school, he's the favorite of all his instructors, and gets used as an example for other students and classes--- I hate to think of it as a competition with him, but its hard to not do as well as you son!!!
3.  Being in Advanced Standing. The teachers in the fall who don't know us yet, ask at beginning of class who is Advanced Standing, and they remember us, and expect more from us. We are special ... LOL. The rest of the school and faculty call us The Ten Week Wonders, coz we did our whole freshman year in 10 weeks this summer. Most importantly on this issue, I heard from one of the gals in the registrars office who has worked there for 17 years, that she overheard some of the Chefs in the faculty lounge saying that without a doubt, this summers Advanced Standing students were by far the best ever. That's a lot to live up to.

But the worse thing of all is, knowing that I am probably one of the top three in my group of 20 right now, (the same group of people stay together for all classes each quarter), then making an 81 in Classical French, JUST because of the instructor.

I understand that is just the way it is, and I accept it, but it doesn't keep me from stressing myself into a bellyache.

French Classical lab was just like Continental, and American but just because of the difference in lecture styles, test structures, and personality of the chefs, I made a 93 in both Cont. and American, but only an 81 in French because of Chef Nogles temperament and lecture style.

There just shouldn't be that much of a difference in my grades from class to class. I am an A student, as demonstrated for the most part of the summer, and I am capable of making all As, with proper instruction, and without a teacher who will ... oh, never mind, that can come under my next post about the practical today ... LOL.

Oh I sooooo love this class, and this Chef. His name is Chef Kacala, pronounced with a soft

He lectures well, gives plenty of info, and we get a lot of breaks. (today, anyway.)

As with the better chefs, like Pearson from Meat Cutting, an Stybe from Continental, and Hawk from Dining Room, he gives a lot of "business" with the class lecture. In other words, he didn't just drone on about pate and hor d'oeurves, he told us about the various jobs that we could have, being strong in Garde Manger, about pitfalls of catering and how to avoid them, Even about how the big ice blocks are made, and how much they cost.

And we jump right in tomorrow and do an ice carving!!! I can hardly contain myself, I am giddy with excitement!

If you remember, there are only four of us Advanced Standing people in our class. Me, Timmons, Mike Bradley, and Adam. At the first break, I asked Mike if he wanted to be my partner. He said, to avoid Timmons asking him he jumped right on Adam, coz they were sitting close.

So, I ended up with one of the GPs. (General Population, as opposed to AS's - Advanced Standing.) This guys name is Adam too, and he knows what I went thru with Timmons in Patisserie, and agreed with me, that a simple design would be best, this being our first time doing it. Better to go simple, and turn out a better product, than to try something elaborate, and mess it up.

Then, after break, there being an odd number of people in class, Timmons of course was the odd man out, after seeing me in Patisserie with him, no one wanted to partner with him ... LOL. (awwww), so he asked Mike and Adam if he could be with them. One person was absent today, so Chef will probably break up the threesome, and put Timmons with the new guy.

Best of all ... you all remember how in some of the lab classes, we worked in conjunction with the Dining Room class, and both classes got to eat? Garde Manger class gets to go eat too!!! woooohoooo!

Bad thing, tho, just for tomorrow, the ice needs a tempering period, so he "would like" us to be there at 6:30, instead of 7, so we can start carving sooner. ARGH!!! It takes all I have to get there by 7!!

Anyway, this is definitely where I make up for the few Bs, with another A. I can tell already that Chef likes me. He is, I would guess, mid to late 50s, and asked me at break, what, at my age, (he phrased it nicely tho), made me want to come to culinary school, and we talked for a few minutes.

So, I will be posting happily, for at least a couple of weeks. LOL

Thank you, that is all.
H.

Okay gang, I have been procrastinating this post.

After passing up many $7 an hour jobs, that wouldn't have come near paying the bills, I got my eviction notice from the resident manager of the ghetto apartment.

Being 3 months late on the car payment, and owing $190 a month to the school, with no prospects of a viable job, I have decided to sit out the rest of this quarter from school. I completed 2 of 5 classes for the quarter, leaving me only three classes to make up.

I have Plan B, which is to do my co-op during the winter quarter, instead of scheduled spring quarter, and stay here in Atlanta for that, while I work at the same time.

If that works, I would go back Spring quarter, do my academics, and double up with the three missed Lab classes, coming home on the weekends to work, and still graduate with my classmates in May.

That failing, I have Plan C, which would have me graduating in the fall. Not too far behind. I will miss my classmates tho.

Either way, I will graduate with my Culinary Degree, and move on to a better life.

Thanks for all the moral, and monetary support from everyone. You are great people, and I feel I have let you down, tho I will eventually make you proud. Perhaps I can keep you all entertained from the job I hope to get soon. The F&B business is as entertaining as school is. (Kitchen Confidential ...)

Raising a glass of water, following the Nyquil, to you all, and thanking you ... Here's to the future,
H.