First Day of Kitchen Class

I slept surprisingly well last night, despite doing to bed with butterflies in my belly. I kept telling myself it was silly to be anxious, but... it's just what happens.  I woke up to the 6am alarm, which interrupted my dreams about fondant and sprinkles. That's SO early for me!  I am clearly going to have to start getting up a bit earlier throughout the week to better prepare myself for these one-day-a-week early mornings. I was sleepy and clumsy, but I got my coffee and all my stuff together and made it to school in plenty of time. 

Class was a lot of fun! The Chef was the same one that spoke at the orientation I attended in December, and I really liked her, so I wanted to take my first skills class with her. She seems to have a great attitude, is very friendly and helpful, and really put the class at ease.  She is all about having a community spirit in the kitchen, and we spent some time in class getting to know one another, which was very welcoming.  My class is almost entirely women, which is apparently unusual, according to her.  It's a diverse group, though, of all different cultures and study interests.  Very exciting!

The syllabus is pretty full for a 7 week class.  I am so glad I am only taking the one class. It will keep me very busy with all of my other work, but I am eager to squeeze it all in.  In addition to our hands-on kitchen time in class, we also have textbook reading homework (our book is On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (5th Edition) ) We also have to put in 2 hours of college kitchen time, helping to prep for one of the restaurants or events, setting up one of the dining areas, or working the bakery shop. I will probably try to work the bakery shop, as that interests me most. 

We also have a paper to write about a chef of our choosing. Next week I have to bring in three choices (so the instructor can limit everyone who wants to choose Emeril, hehe).  I actually don't know a whole lot of chefs other than the real famous ones, but I am starting to look for someone who appeals to me.  I am kind of focused on finding a female pastry chef whose work inspires me. Karen Portaleo and Kaysie Lackey are two that I have found so far that look promising.

Class finished early after a tour of the kitchens and a stop at the library for an orientation, and I was happy to come home and take a nap.  I had a pounding headache (that early morning and lack of caffeine catching up with me?) but I managed to whip up a few new royal icing experiments for cookies later this week. I was definitely feeling inspired after today!