Being a life long Kansan, I was expecting some mild teasing upon my arrival to New England. You know, some sort of reference to tornados, Dorothy, or perhaps a "midwestern" accent? Well so far there has been minimal reference to Oz or the bipolar tendencies of the weather back home, but this week I did endure some teasing regarding my "accent". However, this accent doesn't trace back to my midwestern roots, no no, I apparently carry a German accent that surfaces with such words as stencil, pencil, and with the letter "in"(N) in general. Oh yes, a harsh lesson I have learned in my 23rd year, how did I go so long without knowing I possess such a charming characteristic.
Regardless of the witty banter from my classmates and chef, well mostly just my chef, this past week was exceptional. Our last week in plated desserts was incredibly enjoyable and brought with it many learning opportunities, and not all of them pertaining to pastry.
A list of additional lessons learned this week:
- You will never get the answer you want if you never ask.
- I ASKED Chef Matt if I could make candy corn!! Yep, a means by which to satisfy my obsession with the sugary bits of happiness that autumn brings me annually, bahahahahaha!! Well, the jokes on me. Turns out it is a fairly tedious task and Brachs is waaay tastier than homemade, however, Chef Michael enjoyed them and so I was then assigned the task of making a quadruple batch of candy corn for La Brioche to sell.
- Earworms
- Or "ohrwurms" as the Germans refer to them(how ironic?), the parasitic phrases and catchy tunes that get stuck in our heads. What is the relevance of an "earworm" you ask? Well friends, Chef Matt is very very susceptible to the pesky parasites, the week began with Dream Police and a variety 80's ditties, and ended in original melodies relating to my newly Chef-diagnosed "speech impediment".
- My obsessive personality is quite dangerous in a pastry kitchen.
- I literally made myself sick on Friday evening gorging on the INCREDIBLE maple pecan caramel corn (see the addictive recipe below) looming on a rack within arms reach. Oh, my, goodness, I COULD NOT stop munching, makes me nauseous thinking about it.
- Filing is much more hazardous than it seems.
- Monday was my first day working as an office assistant for financial aid, and whoa. The previous office assistant left 6 months prior to my arrival so I had a bit of catching up to do, and by that I mean a stack of papers 2 feet high that needed filed and four file cabinets of files that needed organized. A very monotonous task which resulted in multiple CARDSTOCK cuts on my hands and forearms, I would've never imagine such horrific work-related injuries
- side note.....I am currently listening to cats meowing jingle bell rock and I couldn't be happier
- Skeletons can be categorized at delightful and delicious
- Another holiday themed task I had this week was sheeting, cutting, and icing 50 gingerbread skeletons, and they were some pretty precious, palette-pleasing dudes.
- Chef's whites attract chocolate, or maybe I still have a depth perception issue.....
- I was able to provide an additional form of entertainment this week as I was involved in a minor mishap with a chocolate cake tasting. So as you know, you must taste, taste, taste, and that I was doing when disaster struck. In the process of tasting the main component of my dessert this week, a chocolate lava cake with chocolate cinnamon sauce (yes just imagine the dangerous decadence) I misjudged the placement to my chops and the gooey goodness didn't miss a nook or cranny as is made its way down my face and onto my chef's whites. Ohhhh yeah, just as graceful as you would imagine.
- Oftentimes childhood classics turn into grown-up favorites
- Sophisticated S'mores, my finale in plated desserts and an all time favorite of yours truly.
- Main component: Rich Warm Chocolate Lava Cake
- Subcomponent: House-made Toasty Marshmallow and Creamy Cinnamon Ice Cream
- Sauce: Decadent Chocolate Cinnamon Sauce
- Garnish: Graham Cracker Crumble, Chocolate Graham Tuile, and Decorative Spun Sugar BAHHHHHH!!!!
Next up: Artisan Breads. 3 weeks. M-F 7pm-2am
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