It is finished...

I graduated! Finito. So ends this phase of my life, as well as the blog that attended it.

A day at the lake....well maybe more like 30 minutes

the other day we had some time to kill before class, so went to a little lake in okmulgee. can't believe we are about to graduate. i've made good friends, gonna miss it.

i've gotten a bit sentimental since we are nearing the end, of school anyway. good times.

i almost made it in time, had to climb too much in 10 seconds. oh well

Pastry and Dessert Competition 06

We won Third out of about 20 entries, I was surprised. Pastries aren't really my forte, so did it just for fun. But was nice to win all the same.

This was the plated dessert I entered, simple but everything tasted really good (if I say so myself).

From left to right: Churros con chocolat (not quite disneyland style, but thats ok)
Spoons with a tasting of fig, cheese, and Membrillo (quince preserve) with a
drizzle of honey.
Crema Catalan (spanish custard with lemon and cinnamon, and caramlized sugar on top)

I did Spanish things that I had eaten in Spain so that I knew it would taste authentic. Just trying to be a little bit different than everyone else, and it worked out well.

chef jac...slaving away. actually we just did really simple stuff, so that we could do it more for fun. which it was.

My partner....whenever he wasn't harassing the other teams. big goof ball, but you gotta love him.

Me and two of my favorite people in the world. April and Carol, they should have won first place, but thats ok.

My Chefs : My goofy chef (perryman, with the toke on, ice carving and meat fab
My first and last chef (thrash, somehow ended up teaching my first and last classes only)
My michael buble lovin chef (howard, taught dining room and always had him on overhead)
My prankster chef (l'heureux, taught baking and always had a trick up his sleave)

My baby...

Still a little frosty, but this was his final resting place...the courtyard outside the culinary building.

Finishing touches, worked on it outside, was nice.

1 week left

Plates waiting to go out.

My friend Ashley, good times on the line. (and yes its supposed to be flaming like that)

Long, cold process of ice carving

The start...tracing the outline.

During

Straight lines are harder then you'd think. ugh.

Finished product.

I just found this pic from a few weeks ago of an appetizer we did for a party. Just grilled veges, spinach leaves, with a balsamic glaze and sprig of thyme.

This was one of the items on our menu for this class. Pork tamales, with salsa verde and black bean and corn relish. really simple, but sooo good.

FYI: chefs don't burn things, they over-caramelize them.

Me and my friend got to use the big woks for stir fry the other day. Sooo fun.

Lobster Cobb Salad, yum. This is the same lobster in the pic from the other day, the ones we got in live.

Oystah, little oystah

Was really cool, we got in 4 different types of oyster, from different regions. You could totally taste the difference, amazing. East coast were by far the best. ummmm, almost made myself sick.

This was my job all week, hickory smoked baby back ribs, sooooo good

Poor guys, enjoying their last few minutes before being cast into the kettle of boiling water. Sure tasted good later though, not gonna lie

Does this earn brownie points for a future job?

These arent great pics because there is snow on the backside of the ice, makes it look a little off. but it actually turned out really good in the end. Good times.

All my good friends ended up in the same class, pretty cool.

Boy after my own heart

ah the pleasures that ben and jerry have to offer, nothing compares

Interesting week, but a good one

Ever seen a seahorse with an elvis profile? my camera died about halfway through class, so will have to put the finished product up later. kinda nice for an action shot, but i look really serious don't i? next week we are doing pistol pete and the osu logo, should be fun.

Little wet, little bit.

I realize its gross to put a picture of a pig carcass out there for everyone to see, but thought some of you might get a kick out of it. in my meat class we got in a whole pig, cut down the middle, and we had to cut him up. definitely a learning experience, especially since he had been frolicking in his pig pen 24 hours earlier, poor guy. was ok until i accidentally grabbed his hoof when we were lifting him out of the box. kinda threw me a bit, i'm not gonna lie. (sorry kels)

last semester = hardcore cooking classes + fun electives

My latest endeavor; ice carving.

Angel fish (we did this together as a class, for a first not too bad)

Chef did this one as a demo for us.

Never-Ending Pasta

Angelhair anyone?

if you'll notice, the tall one got the job of holding, while the hobbit cranked. in the end we decided both were equally brutal.

little loopy after 3 HOURS of cranking out the never ending sheets

Finals Pics ( 4 weeks late, my camera was at school over the break, whoops )

Chef Surmont, had to put up with me ALL day long for 8 long weeks. The table behind is the bakery display with an ice carving of 2 candlesticks, nice and Christmasy.

Grilled Antipasto platter

Me and Ben got stuck doing the pasta action station for the employee Christmas party at school. If you look out the window there are some ice sculptures.

Salmon Gravlax. ( we got to cut a whole, fresh salmon and cure it with dill, salt, sugar, and gin)

Baked Brie with a filling of mushrooms sauteed with thyme, shallots, and sweet vermouth wrapped in puff pastry.

Blue Cheese Tart with rose garnishes made out of tomatoes, lemons, and radishes.