American Baking and Pastry - Lecture 1

Today was the first day of school for the fall semester at SCCC, and one of the few times in my long college career where I was looking foward to it. First day of class and we were already assigned homework.

And I already finished it. Something that I don't think I've ever actually done. So for all you kids out there, this is how it looks when you take classes you actually like - you do the homework right away.

Enough about that.

As with the first day of classes, it was basically an overview of the course and what to expect for the semester. There was a little bit of teaching, but mostly going over things we should have learned in Intro to Baking. This is a five hour class, but tonight we stayed for a little over two.

There are a handful of familiar faces in my class, which is a relief. The make up of the class is about 50-50 younger students to older adults. And I fall into the older adult side. But because this is an upper level class, I think people will be taking things seriously.

Homework tonight was going over the handout on common liqueurs used in baking and their corresponding flavor. Most of the items on the list I already know, such as Amaretto, Cointreau, Drambuie, Grand Marnier, Pernod.

Next week is another lecture, but according to the schedule it's the last time we'll be in a classroom before the final exam. The rest of the semester will be spent in the kitchen.

The Problem With Spring Semester

Being in the Northeast, snow is expected. So we have our shovels and salt ready. We have our warm clothing and waterproof outerwear to deal with the low temperatures. And we expect things to keep going.

But then there's a snow day. I don't get these days anymore, but I used to. When I was in grade school, and even then it was only for extreme conditions. If our elders marched through blizzards, then we could put up with a few inches and go to class.

But things have changed. Global warming... lack of salt... things. Since I've been upstate I've noticed it more. When I went to UAlbany, we had one snow day, and they it was for afternoon classes. Still had to trudge out to my morning classes. This season... heck the last two weeks alone they've had what... two? Three?

Lucky.

Or are they? I only say this because I am having the same problems at SCCC. These winter storms have been hitting early in the week, cancelling either one of the classes I am taking this semester. Cake Decorating has been dealt the worst of it - we've only had ONE class so far - and that was the "first day." I have that in quotation marks because technically the real first day of classes was a holiday so of course no class.

Plain bad luck.

How will they make this up? Two labs now we've missed and they're the foundation classes for the rest of the semester. Sure, I may have a leg up because it's piping and frostings which I have plenty of experience with, but it's sucks for those who don't. So we have to do it on our own at home, and I guess they'll have to cram the rest in the remaining weeks.

Still sucks.

And I am pretty sure there are a few people in my class that will be demanding a refund.

Okay, rambling post somewhat food related done. Time for lunch.

Oh, and I do have Food Prep tonight. We make soups tonight. Excited!

Sur la Table Haul

This is still a thing, right? Posting about purchases at shops? If not, call it a revival.

I wouldn't call myself a die-hard, but I really do like this store. I walk in an ooh and ahh just about everything in there. I easily lose track of time when I visit (I was in there today for over an hour!) and my restraint is always tested. Today I did alright... I went in for one thing, possibly two. I walked out with only three. 

Next lab we're covering cookies. Brownies are also thrown in there. The recipes we had to choose from were not all that appealing. I was thinkng shortbread, but I figured that would be more work. Spritz seemed easy enough, plus I get to use a pastry bag. But here's the kicker - they don't suply the pastry bag, or the star tip the recipe calls for. Considering how much I've spent for this class, they could have those on hand. But no...

And let me stop complaining. The pastry bag by itself goes for $17.95. This kit has the bag plus plastic tips for $24.95. I don't know about you, but I think it's a good deal. I'll let you know how well it works on cookie dough. Will be perfect for piping whipped cream or meringues. And because it's a silicone bag, I can use it over and over again.

This is the reason why I stopped into the store today. I flipped through the mailer and saw this beaut, along with a milk frother and pressure cooker oven. Never going to get the frother or oven (unless gifted or given to review hinthinthinthinthint) but the guide is more than reasonable. They are selling it for $9.95. And as the packaging states, it can also be used for fondant, tortillas, and parchment paper. If only I had seen this a couple of weeks ago. But it's the holiday season and pies will be made. Many many pies will be made. You could have pie if you want. I really like the whole process of making them... not really eating them. Maybe a bite or two, but not necessarily a slice anymore. My apptite is weird, I know.

A bowl scraper, $3.00. Nothing fancy here, but it will be a workhorse. I've bought some before at the dollar store, but they always ended up being used for home repair. I follow some bakeries on Youtube and I've noticed some use the scraper when mixing dough by hand. I think I'll try that technique on my next batch of bread. 

I really hope Sur la Table thinks about opening a place in the Capital Region. I <3 them. Really do.

~~~

Random Thoughts:

I harvested more of what remains of my garden and brought it down to my parents. They took all of the  kale, chard, and a big chunk of celery. My sister is digging through the sweet potatoes and onions, hopefully she can use it. Definitely use the sweet potatoes and celery for juicing.

We don't have cable so I get my tv fix whenever I visit. Let me tell you, I really like the new shows on CBS. Stalker, Scorpion, NCIS New Orleans, Madam Secretary. Good stuff. 

AC Moore is having their Moonlight Madness sale tonight. 25% off total regular and sale purchases. But you need the coupon. Ends at 9pm.

I bought a book at Costco, Against All Grain. Pretty excited about it. Not excited that they only accept American Express. But as my dad has explained, their credit card is connected to American Express. I never have cash and I only use my debit card when absolutely necessary. Boo, Costco.

There is leftover Halloween candy. At first I resisted, but Nestle Crunch. I'm a sucker for them.

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Night

It's the weekend... Saturday night to be specific. Not out mucking it up, but visiting family. November 1st, All Saints Day. Paying our respects to the departed. M doesn't understand why this is a thing, but it is.

Today was another Tour de Donut, which I should write about. We'll see how that goes. I'm still full from this morning - I consumed about half a dozen. I may have hit my quota for the season.

Going over the review sheet for my Baking class. This coming test will cover the last two and the upcoming lab, so pies and cookies. The review was supposed to be done and handed in during this week's lab. Yeah... didn't do that. Worse case scenario, she gets it next week. Whatever, this isn't hard (but don't tell that to some of my classmates). Write by hand, type it up later to hand in. If anything, it'll reinforce the important concepts.

I still need to write my personal statement for graduate school. I've been attempting to write this since February. Talk about writer's block. Sure, I have notes here and there... a sentence jotted down on a copy of the New York Times because an article brought about some inspiration. My reluctance to complete it probably shows I don't really want to go to grad school, but it's something that has to be done. Upward mobility, career path... blah blah blah.

I think I'll finish off the leftover ribs.

Random Musings in the Library

I've just spent the last half hour looking at knife sets. And not just any knife sets, but the sets you would purchase if you signed up for a cooking class. And not just any run of the mill class, that lasts only a few weeks, but a real class, full semester. I even took a peek at their textbook (albiet an old version) and got giddy.

It's always been this dream of mine, to go to culinary school. It seems like a natural progression - I talk about it quite a bit, I dabble in the kitchen. But I never took the actual plunge. It would take up a lot of my time, and money, but I could probably handle that if I save enough. And there's the real job. The real job that unfortunately has me working the occasional overnight or weekend. That does get in the way of school.

But I would enjoy the study. Practice my knife skills, trying my darndest to get the dice to match exactly like the ones in the picture. Follow along with the videos on techniques. Plying M with plates full of my efforts (and I don't think he would complain).

Realistic me knows this won't happen. If anything, I'll buy an old copy of textbook and watch lots of youtube videos. That's what I do now for the most part. And things I've been doing lately have been allowing me to practing my knife skills. So that will have to do for now. Maybe one of these days I'll have the time (and resources) to just do it. But for now, it'll stay a happy dream.

School Things

Some pictures I've been meaning to post... but got distracted

Lotus Blossom martini. My post-pinning drink. It was okay, but I'm not really into martinis. My sister, the bartender, is all about them, so I passed it over.

Pan fried sea bass, Szechuan style. Post-pinning meal. Well, part of it. The server asked if we would like the head removed and said okay. So they removed the head... and took it away. Boo. Lots of good stuff is in that head. So I hear.

Some spicy tofu dish that I ordered for M. Apparently too spicy for him, but OMFG... incredible. Silken tofu, peas, scallions, maybe even some cilantro. Either way, mighty tasty.

My class dinner the day after pinning. Here where I drank lots of drink, and ordered the salmon. Rare. I was shocked they gave me an option, but whatever... it tasted like slightly warm salmon sashimi. And it was pretty darn good. Served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The sauce I forget, but it wasn't bad at all.

One of my classmates had a graduation party. And. Went. All. Out. Bartender, catered food, shirts. It was a lot of fun... maybe a bit too much fun. Anyways, food was catered by Bailey's Smokehouse. Everything tasted good, but sadly there wasn't much for M to have, so he munched on pickles and salads.

On the same day as rehearsal for graduation, the school held Senior Night. The spread was a variety of sandwiches, salads, fruit, and desserts. As college students usually do, they bombarded the table, coming back with multiple plates piled high with food. Us second degree folk waited patiently for the zoo to die down, and in the meantime ran around the room swooping up any untouched glasses of champagne. I only had two. And a half. I grabbed a veggie and turkey sandwich, the garden and pasta salads, and a brownie. The bread was tough as hell, but the fillings were pretty good. And they should be good, considering how much you normally have to pay for these sandwiches.

Thank You Gift

During one of my hospital rotations, I spent a week in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit... or what we health care people just refer to as PACU, or Recovery. It's a great unit, and the staff seems pretty laid back, even with the revolving door of patients they see on a daily basis.

On the first day a nurse from Endoscopy came over to let the staff know that a family member from the previous week had stopped by, and as a thank you for the wonderful care they received left a couple of pies to snack on.

What was that? Free food? This day was getting better and better.

As you can see, this was clearly not a pie. It was better than a pie, and more ideal to eat than a pie, considering where I was. Chocolate, nuts, marshmallows, coconut, and cherries. Mixed together and poured into a glob thing. But it was quite tasty and I found myself going for seconds. And thirds. And fourths.

Is It Kosher?

Why yes... it is.

It is a common misconception belief in my class that food will help retain the audience's attention. I can tell you that this is not true at all- I don't remember the content of any presentation where they gave me food. There may have been talk about vaccinations, but I'm not entirely sure. There was a lot of candy, that's definite... and a lot of time for me to figure out the pattern in which to eat this candy (but don't tell everyone, my OCD is still on the low)

Back to the picture above. This day was an exceptionally long day, so long that I started losing my mind and now I have a tumblr page. Near the end of one presentation, they started distributing food, which I paid no attention to... until these chips came my way.

I've never really had good experiences with kosher food. I worked at a facility that was Kosher and the bringing of non-Kosher food was a big no-no (but we did it anyways). The meals they provided always seemed to be missing something (coughcoughflavorcoughcough) and almost always undercooked (especially the chicken). These chips? Okay, but it seemed very taste muted.

I ate my handful and refused additional helpings. My classmates on the other hand, kept on eating.

Obviously, hunger beats out taste any day.

Blog Killer

Not really a blog killer, but this class is sucking the life out of me. M may or may not be filling in for the next few weeks (hopefully things lighten up after this class).

School Perks

School: Thank you Student R for spending thousands of dollars on our school. As a token of appreciation, ice cream is on us!

Me: Gee... thanks.

My school had a free ice cream day at Cold Stone. I normally get berry berry good, but I went crazy and got the birthday cake remix thing. It was good 2/3 of the way and then I of course began to get queasy with the sugar overload.

Sorry ice cream. I didn't want to throw you out, but you were going to make me throw up.

Panera Fridays

It's now routine for a handful of my classmates to head over to Panera after class and vent about the last week. We really need it, and it gives us a chance to talk about things other than school.

I tend to order the You Pick 2, but look at this. That is not half a sandwich... it's a mere quarter! Boo, Panera.

Cafeteria Rant

Dear School of Higher Learning:

You suck.

I do appreciate that you allow me to go to your school, and into your completely insane program. I can also appreciate the fact that because of your school I will get to where I need to be in the the shortest amount of time possible.

But do you need to make everything else just suck?

Let me use your cafeteria as an example. It's nice. Clean. Convenient. What little of the food I've tried was pretty good. And I do have to hand it to you, you've totally cornered the market. There is no other food establishment within walking distance.

But damnit, why make your food so expensive? See that picture of my pasta? Small container of noodles and sauce. Eight bucks. I know of others who have bought plain turkey sandwiches and it set them back almost ten.

Not only that, but there is no common sense. Signs are not clearly posted listing how much things are worth, so we go up to the register blind... and hope that we have enough money. You know that between 11-1 is when you will see the most people in there... I know, I always get stuck in it. Why is there only one register? What should be a quick trip in, ends up taking most of my lunch break (which is a whole story unto itself).

Three bucks for a beef patty? I'm sorry, but no.

Perhaps I'll like you more when it's the end of the semester and your on-campus students will be giving away their swipes. When that happens I will be all over it.

But for now, I'm hitching a ride to the deli all the way at the end of the road.

Sincerely,

R

From Farm to Campus

So the other day I saw a sign in the cafeteria for a Farmers Market. Sounds cool, right? Well... there it is. I shouldn't expect much, because it is a small school, and I have zero faith that these young people understand the concept of healthy eating (I am so guilty of that). I would have bought some stuff, if I didn't have another few hours of class afterward... and if it wasn't so freaking expensive. No wonder I didn't see students out there. Just us second degree kids.

Another thing I found annoying about this "market?" The fact that all the produce was from Long Island. There was a big sign hanging there emphasizing this fact: "GROWN IN LONG ISLAND"

Not saying that LI grown produce is bad (it isn't!). The issue I have is that in this area alone, there are many farms. I get the eat local, buy local thing... but hey, 20 minute trip to the farm vs. 3 hours?

Well, at least they're trying. Maybe they'll wise up and take advantage of the true local farms.

Breakfast

Large hazelnut light & sweet, water, pastry from Panera

Easter Forecast

Today - SNOW
Tomorrow - SNOW
Weekend - Did I mention SNOW?

Game Face

Studying raaaar!

Game Plan

What im doing for the next few hours

We're Not A Party School... We Swear!

Summer School

I can't believe it's already week three of the summer semester.