Tarts everywhere!

Happy wednesday!

 Today was our first day baking. It was very hot, very sweaty but so much fun!

 This morning we made short dough. It's a none stretchy no yeast dough. Sort of like shortbread. Chef does a demo up at the front of the class and we have the recipe and measurements in our hands, but Its our job to write down the procedure. We need to memorize it so when we go to make something all we need to have is our ingredient list and we should be able to push it out without looking at the procedure.
 As of right now I feel confident that I could remake everything we made today...But ask me again in the morning lol.
 Chef said "this is a dough you can not overwork and you can't screw it up...no one has screwed it up in 20 years." this is where i started to panic. If someone was going to screw it up, it was probably going to be me. Please god let it not be me.

 But we got our dough made, balled and wrapped up in the blast chiller. Normally this is a dough you would make the day before but we didn't have time yesterday.

 Then we made pastry cream! We measure everything out and Im attempting to read my chicken scratch notes about what steps I should do next...a little more difficult then it should of been. I got my milk and sugar in the pot. My sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks and milk mixed up in my bowl. Then comes the fun part...working.over.an.open.flame. Now for anyone who knows me knows how clumbsy I am. This is the first time I'm making pastry cream. This is the first time I'm working on spider burners with an open flame in my face. Disaster and death will be coming my way.

 I get my milk on and boiling then I need to temper some milk in to my egg mixture.. time to grab the pot of screaming hot milk! TIP: Metal pot that has a metal handle that has been sitting on an open flame GETS HOT! no shit eh? well its safe to say I burnt my poor fingers. But I have boiling milk no time to worry about a burn! So I wave the pain off and grab the damn thing again! I blame the people working beside me who were asking me questions - distraction. Take three...use apron to lift pot and try to not catch my apron on fire. SUCCESS! I get some hot cream in to my egg mixture..its been tempered. thank god. Now to add the whole egg mixture in to my hot pot of cream and whisk my life away. No lumps...no lumps...whisk!...frig that handle is still hot...whisk!whisk!..no lumps..I got this. Turned out pretty good :)

 So the whole class gets their creams in to the blast chiller to cool down and now its time to roll out the dough. yippie!

 We cut it in to four and start kneading it to soften it up. Mine keeps crumbling apart...i screwed it up! I knew it! "CHEF!!..help.me." So he came over and started kneading it and said "no, it's perfect just keep kneading it." I just chalk it up to having virgin pastry hands. He said because the dough has such a  high butter content when its cold it crumbles but if you overwork it it gets to soft. Practice. I need practice.

 I eventually get it rolled out in to my tart pan and my nice classmates help me when i forgot a step and chef was to busy helping others. I eventually got it all done and prayed to the pastry gods that mine wouldn't be the worst lol. I don't need to be the best right now, but i am NOT going to be the worst that's for damn sure.

 Then break finally came. Thank jesus. I have pit stains my hair is a mess and I discovered that my jacket is covered in my foundation. While i was sweating I was wiping my face on my arm and shoulders and didn't even think about my make up. Note to self: no more make up in the kitchen. I just cant make it work.

 We get back to class and it's time to bake. Chef took care of that - so that was easy. I didnt screw up that part! While they were baking he was showing us how to fill and dress a tart. I could watch him bake and decorate all day. He's really amazing. Now I didn't know if we would be eating these (I was praying we would be!) so I had to avoid the easier fruits to cut up like peaches and kiwi. I had to stick to raspberries, oranges and raspberries...actually I did put kiwi on mine now that I think back. It turns out they went to the cafeteria for sale so it didn't matter what I put on it.

 Everyone was chopping their fruits and I grab my first strawberry and chop...chop...slice my own finger..fuck. of course. They didn't sell us shit knives thats for damn sure these suckers are sharp as hell!

 So I run to the hand station and rinse my finger..yeah its been bleeding since this morning. lol. I cut it on my cuticle so it just wouldn't stop. Everyone seemed concerned and asked me If I was okay.That was nice. People even brought me bandaids :) I like my classmates!  Chef came over to check on me and said "jesus, mary and joseph what am i going to do with you ashley?..Do i need to stab you with your epi-pen?" "haha not right now, just a bandaid and a glove will be enough I think, but thanks."

 Two bandaids and a glove and I was still bleeding..You will all be happy to know I survived my injury. It was a close call though...phew.

 Now I'm super annoyed because everyone is almost done decorating their tarts and I haven't even started! Damn it! Clean and sanatize my knife, throw out my fruit ... get a new glove because I have some how ripped this one already! arg! My table finished way before me, they cleaned and the girl beside me even did my dishes for me. What a doll. I hate being the last one done. I don't think anyone wants to be the last, But chef says "don't rush, do it right!"

 It was really fun decorating it :) I used strawberries, oranges (only one in my class to do so!) raspberries and some kiwi because people had extra cut up that they gave me. Then we had to put a glaze on it and then sugar a piece of mint and add a cape gooseberry ( I HATE those little orange balls of sour grossness) . I'm so proud of it! I never thought I could pull something like this off and in the end when I think back it really wasn't all that difficult. I could totally do this again!

 Tomorrow is the winery tour and pot luck lunch! Im so exicited to do some taste testing...and possibly buying.

 Pastry school is such a dream come true. I love it. I'm wondering if any of the tarts actually got bought? Can't wait to check tomorrow morning!

My pastry cream after its been whipped "smooth like a monkeys ass"

My tarts top view.  

Tart side view. Beautiful! 

One of the fridges with everyones tart. Can you find mine?

A closer view. 

First full day of classes!

Happy Monday!

 Today was my first day of having to be at the school at 730. It wasn't so bad. I think I will survive this...until winter hits. I can see me changing my tune when its snowing and cold.

 Anyways! Today was our first full day of classes. Our first one was Baking Theory, which is taught by jean-luc (pastry) and Larry (Boulanger). Today was pretty simple, we were showed equipment and we have to know the names. 98% I know, just have to learn a few..they have french names. I'm not french. Thus...not understanding. OH! haha. Get this, when "mixing bowls" came up it had the french word underneath it.. "cul de poule" know what that means in french? CHICKEN ASS! haha chef had a good laugh when that came up. "And I don't know why that french term is there because it means chicken ass in french.." we all thought it was funny.
 Did you also know that another word for 'melon baller' is "Parisienne scoop". I will be calling it a melon baller. But it sounds fancy doesn't it?

When we got to the fridges he pointed out a walk-in-fridge and started giggling to himself. He said (you have to say it in a very thick french accent) "now, when you go in to a walk in fridge and the door closes behind you. DO.NOT.PANIC. Don't start running around screaming and crying (picture him failing his arms and running in circles), don't knock things off the shelves in panic. There is a knob. push. *insert pushing movement*..."push..push..push". I had a student last year who got locked in and she started freaking out and when I opened the door she was standing there bawling (picture him acting like a crying teen)..she was having a moment. So remember to push the knob guys, okay?"
 And then this went in to a story about the time he panicked because he got locked in a tanning bed lol. He was very scared he was going to turn in to a puff pastry right then and there. haha. a quote from his tanning bed story "and I thought holy shit! This thing is going to turn back on and I'm going to be done for."

OH! and Larry the Boulanger teacher put me in somewhat of a headlock today! haha. We have a german guy in Boulanger (Boulanger and pastry come together for classes on mondays because they are semi small classes) and when I mentioned that I was born in Germany Larry got all excited and started asking me more questions "where were you born?" "Lahr." "seriously!? when?!" "1985.." He then ran over to the front of my desk and grabbed my hands and was shaking me and i said "my dad was in the military.." "what did he do!!?" ..i went blank..."was he a cook!?" *slow head shake no* "yooouurrr blushing!" "haha well yeah I am!" Then he wrapped his arm around my head (gently..he didnt hurt me) and said "oh god, this year is going to be fun!" haha, never a dull moment!

 So we got through all those and we had someone from the school come in to talk to us about creating a respectful working and learning environment. It was nice and refreshing, I'm so sick of working in places that are so negative. Talking behind your back. Not willing to listen and be respectful of others opinions or things. I just hope my classmates were listening as well as I was.

 Then comes our communications course. I think I'm actually going to like this one! Our instructor Amy is wonderful. We will be working on our portfolios and such in this class. I'm super excited to make a portfolio! I made one in college (round 1) and loved it! And making a portfolio of your sweets and work to show off to the world? ah! I can't wait. Amy, is actually a sommelier (a wine expert, for those of you who don't know...or if i spelt that wrong) . I think that's so cool! I would love to do that! Maybe that's something to look in to for the future?
 At the end of the class we took a personality test. I can't wait to see the results of this. I turned to my new friends and said "so if this comes back and said WARNING! PYSCO!..you will still be friends with me right? lol" They said yes, so its all good. I'm fully expecting to see a note on the bottom of my test saying "don't allow Ashley to have knives or anything pointy or sharp" haha. We shall see!

 You will all be happy to know that my lunch did not kill me and that I got to eat today! WINNING! If you don't know what I'm talking about refer back to my "BACTERIA EVERYWHERE" post. It will explain why.

 After lunch we had our computers course. It is what it is. Computers. I'm going to challenge out of it. If I pass the test then I don't have to sit through that section of the class, which would be awesome! although, the chairs they have in there are super comfy so if I'm feeling especially lazy I might stick around.
OH! I got a laugh out of the class today. I need to start thinking before I speak..I really do. When teacher was talking about Thursday (our winery tour) he asked "whats the best part about a winery tour?" and I blurted out "DRINKING!" haha. He said "no. lunch!" . I still think hes wrong on that one.

I am absolutely loving school so far. Made some friends, Love the instructors, Love NSCC in general. I feel so comfortable there already. Bring on the kitchen work!

 I'm so excited for tomorrow I can hardly contain myself!

See you on Tuesday!
Ashley out.

BACTERIA EVERYWHERE!

HAPPY FRIDAY WORLD! 

 This is my first friday that it actually matters that its friday! I haven't had a weekend off (without booking it off) in...in....iiiiiinnnnn...a long time. so exciting! 

 Today was a very long day. I was awake at 5am, and I must say I am still in very good spirits at the crack of dawn. I bound out of bed and am just jolly. Feels good. And yes I know its only the first week..but I count it as a success. Anyways where was I?...oh yes! long day. Awake at 5, on the road early...I thought I was going to be smart and beat the traffic. No...I hate the bedford highway at 8 am. 

OH! I got to use my macpass for the first time today. I was terrified that it wouldn't work so as I approached I was also clutching a loonie just in case it didn't want to work for me. But it did! It was so exciting for me. Now I just need to remember that I need to actually slow down and not blow though it taking the arm with me. I'll be sure to write that note on my arm to remind me on monday. 

 

I was at school 20 minutes early, It was food safety day. You know what today made me...a germ-a-phobe. I was sort of always a closet one. Now Im a full blown one. Everyone and everything is disgusting! Did you know we have more bacteria and crap in our bodies then we have cells? gross. I mean 98.6? Thats the danger zone. No wonder!  

Then we talked about bacteria, mould, viruses and other nasty things. Things that are high risk for bacteria and...gook...(im sorry lol im so tired..) and two of them were rice and cooked vegetables. Now I had both these things sitting in a container in my backpack. After I find out that bacteria doubles every twenty minutes I start eyeing my backpack expecting to see some sort of horrible bacteria creature come crawling out...Its been in there since 7:30 this morning. 4 hours in the danger zone...I.cant.eat.this. DAMN IT! Before this course, I would of had no problem popping it in the microwave and chowing down. But when you reheat you need to reheat it higher than the original cooking temperature. You need to reheat rice to 165 degrees. I nuked the hell out of it, and took a few nibbles...I couldn't do it. My little bacteria monster was jumping around in my brain singing "I'm gonna get you!..you can't smell me or taste me but I'm going to wreck you later!" little bastard ruined my lunch. 

We did this course from 830 to 5. Sooooo long! so much information so little food, not a good combo for ashley. We shall find out later if I passed my test, If I have to do that course again I might lose my marbles. BUT I did learn a lot. I thought I wasn't listening but it turns out my brain sucked up the info. Good job brain! 

I got my gym membership today, so now I just have to use it. And I also got a second locker. Lots of space to store my crap..i mean junk..I mean goodies! 

Since I didn't get out of school until 5 I was not happy that I would have to fight traffic again. Luckily the traffic didn't hit until after I got over the bridge (damn bedford highway again!!) The traffic was so backed up and absolutely insane that I found myself playing nintendo. What ashley? What do you mean? I know many if not all of you know what Mario Cart is. While I was waiting for traffic to move I found myself slipping in to Mario cart world. My thumbs were pressing invisible buttons on my steering wheel and my beautiful red car 'ruby' was shooting red shells to all these cars in front of me. Then I got a star which made me invincible and I got a mushroom which gave me power ups! I was going to make it home in record time! Then the traffic started moving again and I had to come back to the real world. 

...Note to self. Find and install red turtle shells. 

Now Monday is the first day of many 730 start times. Lets see how this goes! 

 Have a great weekend everyone!