September 12, 2007

After last nite's sleep I thought for sure I was going to be better in the morning. I had one disruption at 5 am, but I took some meds and went back to bed til 10. I woke up at 10 and low and behold...i felt great! I little lethargic and weak...but overall back to my old self! finally :) So today was a lot of catching up. I organized, cleaned up. And eventually ran out to run an errand. Came back and got ready for school. I went to school to thank everyone and to give them an update on my health status. They were all worried. So was i! But all is good now. I even ate some pasta for lunch...as well as a piece of bread and a banana for a snack ;) So I had my first real class today. In the 4th level things are different. We have class Monday through Thursday 3:30-9:30. I get fri, sat, and sun off ;) This week we are focusing on international influences. We first have a demo and then we go straight into a practical. We learned 4 dishes and then we made 2 of them. Let me say...making 2 dishes where NONE of the ingredients are the same is HARD!!!!!!!! I thought i'd never survive. I got into class and said "where do i start first" cause you really have NO clue!!! Anyway, we learned the most amazing dishes. Pan fried foie gras on sweet potato puree with satay with a creamy emulsion of wild rocket, Squab pastilla with pistachio oil, Shortbread with crab in a lemon lime balm, with mango and lemon grass sauce, and a creamy white chocolate with tonka beans and green tea cappuccino and cocoa crisp. All delicious. I didn't lick my plate clean though. I only tasted because I didn't want to get any sicker! We made the crab and the squab plate. I forgot to mention...there are only 5 people in my class. Me and Dzintra who was in my class last trimester. Fernando, who has been an asst for a while at school. Peter who I knew from a few trimesters ago and went to do his stage and then came back. Then an asian named Emi who speaks no english. SO it's a pretty tight class. It's initmate and comforting. The best part...No rushing, no competition, and NO GRADES!!!!!!!!! I love it :) So I finished my dish first...No clue how i did that because i thought I was WAY behind...but I finished and chef was thoroughly impressed. He liked everything on my dish. He didn't have one bad thing to say. He wouldnt even let me plate my second dish before he tried it. But i insisted and then hated it...but i'll post the picture anyway :) (it's the pie looking one)


Anyway, I went home pleased. Dzintra is going to be driving me home at nite...so that's nice. I went to bed around 11 feeling very accomplished knowing this course is going to be very good for me!