I hate the curd. Friday the 11th

Long time no see!

 I'm so behind! Thanksgiving weekend just went past and Ive been so busy I didn't get a chance to write.

 This is for Friday the 11th. On Friday we covered our chocolate sponge cakes with our german buttercream. Now, working at Susies I have iced a lot of cakes. So I thought - Piece of cake! (haha pun intended!) Unfortunately german buttercream is on a whole other level then american buttercream. This amazing tasting german BC and I did not see eye to eye. Its so soft, you have to work quickly. Its the kind of cream that shows up just how inexperienced I am. Bastard. I eventually got it done, I was pissed about what it looked like. I can do so much better - not happy at all.
 When it was time to do the boarder Chef came over to demonstrate. So he did like four little pipes of buttercream around the edge and told me to finish it. Its not hard to tell when I took over. Then we got to make chocolate flowers, that was fun. Chef has these beautiful metal/bronze flowers that you keep in the freezer and you dip them in chocolate and when you pop them off - voila! Those I enjoyed making.

 We also made some pecan pies! mmmmm. Super simple. He usually puts a lot more pecans in it, but since we are selling them for super cheap in the cafeteria we had to be a little cheap with the pecans. Those nuts are expensive! The box we have in the pastry lab is 350$

 I had planned to buy my pie and bring it over to my parents house, but by the time I made it back to the cafeteria to pick it up, it was gone. I'm happy someone bought it, I'm mad it wasn't me.

 I don't remember what else we did that day. I was just so excited to have a long weekend! ohhh wait. lol I do remember something hahaha

 Lemon Curd. I.HATE.Lemon curd. Before we left for the day chef wanted us to have our lemon curd made and in the fridge so we could use it after the long weekend.

 I had everything I needed in my pot and I'm on the stove (well I'm not, my pot is..) and I'm slowly whisking and stirring. Again, I will complain about gas stoves. Holy cripes they get hot fast! So as Im stirring I notice these little black bits floating to the top of my mixture. Crap on a stick! I yell for chef and he tells me to get another pot and transfer quickly because I have scorched it. Of course I have.
 So I run and TRY to find another pot. There are none! So in a haste I grab one that someone was using as a double boiler and dump it. This is an emergency! Screw their double boiler! I grab my strainer and save what I can. I put it back on the heat for a while, then add my butter and lemon. Know what I made? runny lemon soup. I show Chef and he tells me to chuck it and start again. yay! I get to live my lemon curd nightmare again!

 So..again..I grab all my ingredients and head over to the stove. This time I am whisking like a mad lady which is making my liquid go all foamy and frothy. Chef wonders over and stops when he sees what I'm doing and says "why is that foamy?!" As soon as he said that I wanted to cry, because if I messed this up again he was not going to be happy. So my response is "oh my god, I don't know!" Then he tastes it and i get the ice stare and he says "Did you put baking powder in that instead of corn starch?" "I don't know! (group member) got it ready for me.." And as this very second my curd goes from a liquid to a jelly. I don't notice because I'm staring at chef and trying to fight back tears and he says "There it is! Stir Ashley!" - So I do as I'm told. I stir. A little to hard, because a big ass glob spills right over the side of the pan and on to the stove burners and chef yells "CAREFULLY!" haha. Then he rubs his head and says "oh my god, it is friday right?" LOL! Needless to say I eventually got it done. What an ordeal.

 Then we got to go home and enjoy our family for Thanksgiving weekend..and work. I had to work.

So there is Friday!

Pecan pie all boxed up and ready to be sold! 

Success! Lemon curd! please excuse my very red sweaty face ..hot in here!