Spring Has Shown It's Face

I'm whipped. Completely. I feel hungover without the pleasure of having had a kickass night. I think Spring's crazy arrival has my body confused. It feels strange to go to school when I feels like I should be going to the pool. I almost couldn't bear the thought of going to class Wednesday night when it was so beautiful. I would have rather been having a glass of wine on my patio. But, alas, it was not to be. Instead I was off to custard night. I hate custards. I think it's a texture thing. To make matters worse, the lights went off during lecture so we sat in the dark in the glow of the television/chalkboard. Half of the class was sound asleep in ten minutes. The girl next to me nearly snapped her neck; she nodded off so severely. Our assignment was to make two custard dishes and a roasted fruit dish. Doable. We made ice cream, pots de creme, and roasted peaches and raspberries. We were done by eight. Class goes until eleven. We were encouraged to plate the dishes as they would be in a restaurant setting. This is when I decided that perhaps the baking program is not for me. As I looked around the room, everyone seemed to be happily creating these fantastically decorated and beautiful plates. Not me. Or my partner. We got a nice plate, some whipped cream, gave the pot de creme a squirt and voila(!) we were done. Not so simple for the rest of the group. These people were making candied lemon peel, tying parchment around things, making strips of orange peel. I felt like a fish out of water. Maybe I just like it simple. It's not like I'm not artistic. I just didn't care. It''s going to taste great either way. I just wanted to go home. But no, I didn't get home until 11. People asked a lot of questions during the wrap up. A lot. Questions that are never going to be applied to real life. Way to many questions about how to cararmelize the top of a creme brulee. On a boat. In a storm. Not really but about that bad.

The next morning it was up and off to Soup/Sauce. I love this class. I feel comfortable and at home. In baking classes I get nervous and feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. I think I have decided to stick with the savory side of things. It'll be better for my mental health. And my waistline. I had a great group to work with. I learned how to use the commercial steamer from one of them. I love to learn from the students. We made a bechamel and veloute sauce. Then we made the daughter sauces of them. Not difficult if you know pretty much what you are doing. It was a lot of cream to constantly be tasting however. I wonder how many trips to the bathroom people made when they got home... With the sauces we had to prepare a protein to go with. Since I made the crawfish butter for the sauces, I used this to make my main dish. Celery, onion, garlic, parsley, rice, crawfish and the most wonderful sauce to make it all yummy. It was great. Chef had three helpings. That is a good sign. I just pulled the reciped out of my ass. It was a good day to be on my game. The dishes, however, were a site to see. I didn't know the kitchen had so many pots and pans. My gracious class let me go to take care of the kiddos. Bob had provided us a great dinner, though. I had gotten and email midway through class that said he had gone to the grocery. He had gotten dog food, steaks, and wine. What more do you need? Perfect!