October 9, 2007

I woke up at 9:30. I got dressed and went to my gym. I did my work out and rushed home because I had to make it to my bank before 1 pm. I showered and got dressed so quick and picked up my computer hoping I could steal some internet at school. I got to the bank before 1 and then picked up some lunch and then went to school. I sat at school trying to get the internet to work, which it wouldn’t, and eventually I gave up and just typed up my Amsterdam blog and will paste it on my blog when I get internet. I did however use the internet at school. At around 3:15 I got into my outfit. Today we learned a tomato mousse with lobster and an oil of mint and vanilla, terrine of sardines, foie gras and escabeche with pistachio oil, and the dish we prepared was veal rib roast with braised stuffed lettuce and breaded polenta fries. Everything was tasty, except I thought the polenta fries were a little bland, so in pratical I infused my milk with rosemary and they were WONDERFUL! Chef complimented me. He says I’m wonderful in the kitchen. He says everything I do is perfect. I don’t think he is making my ego bigger either…he is being honest. And he tells me when something needs work, like yesterday with the salt. But overall he is very impressed…as am I. I truly think it’s the environment and the people I am working with.

After class it was raining. The ONE day I forget my umbrella, so I had to walk home in the pouring rain. By the time I got home I was DRENTCHED! It was funny. I read a little and then went to bed at 11.

October 8, 2007

I woke up at 5 am, got dressed and organized my luggage. I left the hostel at 5:45 to catch the tram back to the train station. I took the exact same train out that I did in. I left at 6:55 and arrived in Paris at 11:06. I was SO happy to be back, yet LOVED Amsterdam and can’t WAIT to go back :) Anyway, I was also happy to make it back to my house safe. When I got home I immediately unpacked and did laundry. I then showered and came to school because our internet was down and I needed to check my email. At 3:30 we had our first day of our last week in Cuisine which is 3 star cooking. We have my favorite chef this week! We learned the most amazing food! We learned sea bass on a pastry with leek cream and an avruga vinaigrette, veal sweetbreads (if you don’t know what those are- they are the glands of a lamb) in leek with morel mushrooms with baby veggies and a citrus butter sauce, and ganache, white chocolate and coffee jelly trio with coconut tuile. The food was DELICIOUS! I mean….just unreal! For practical, we made the sweetbreads and the dessert! My sweetbreads needed some more salt, but he said my plating was definitely 3 star. My dessert didn’t turn out right, but neither did Emi’s so I didn’t feel bad. I think it was the recipe.




Dzintra is in the US and now we have a new guy whose name I can’t pronounce…or remember. But he is from Greece. Anyway, we started 30 min early and finished around 8:30. After class that guy, Fernando and I along with a bunch of people from another class went for a beer. I didn’t drink because I was SOOO tired. At 10:15 Fernando walked me home to pick up some stuff. I went to bed around 11 pm.

Amsterdam 3

I woke up at 9 am. Got dressed, had breakfast, used the internet and left at 10 to go to the famous redlight district! I walked around in the daylight so I could get my bearings. I went to the erotic museum where I bought (X RATED- but not what you are thinking) I also got some suggestions from two of the workers in the porn shops as to what to do around town. After I figured it was way too early to get anything fun done in the redlight district so I left to do some souvenir shopping. Then I went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I don't know why...but I did. It was lame as usual...but I still took pictures ;)

Then I walked back to my hostel and went to Vondel park where I (X-RATED). I came back to the hostel around 4. I realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I waited for Summer for a while and she didn’t come back, so around 4:30 I left to go to Hard Rock Café. I had a Burger which I actually had to send back once because it was missing one of the cheeses! Then I walked back to the redlight district. From 6:45 to 8:45 I (X-RATED). At 9 pm I walked home and got a BJ….dirty people…I got a Ben and Jerry’s :) It was yummy! I talked to Summer for a bit and organized my stuff for the next morning and then went to bed at 11.

Amsterdam 2

I woke up at 8:30, got dressed and went downstairs for my free, CRAPPY, breakfast. I stayed down in the lobby til around 10 am. I then went to the Rijks museum and then the Van Gogh. They took me a short time, as museums are not the most fun for me. But I enjoy them for the time being. I then asked where I could get Harley Davidson gear and I was sent to this bike shop, so I went there. They sold nothing and told me the ONLY place I could get it would be a 20 euro taxi ride there and then the same back. I decided against that idea. I walked to the Waterpleinloo market. There I also grabbed something to eat. After that I went to the main shopping street. I happened to run across some great thrift stores where I made an awesome purchase (and I bargained with the guy) of a silk mcdonalds vest! It’s so cool! Then I had some free time so I (X RATED). I then walked to this restaurant called Pasta e Basta where the servers and hosts sing and serve you. The first course is antipasto and is buffet and you can eat as much as you want. Then you chose a pasta dish out of 8. Then dessert. I also had wine and coffee. I had to sit at the bar because they were completely full. The guy serving me asked “is it good?” and I replied “I came here for the singing” He laughed and said “ok, I got you…I won’t ask any futher” It was funny! I also met one of the wait staff who I could tell was really young but she has potential to be good. She was 17 and was about to take her exams to go to college. I gave her some song suggestions and my info to stay intouch. She also wanted to know where I went to school. I think I made her day because she told her boss and she was so excited. Overall the singing was ok. Some of the people were unreal! Others I could have done without…and the food…I definitely could have done without ;) I then went to Boom Chicago. I had met the bartender the night before, Ian, so I sat and ordered a drink. We chatted and then Summer, the girl from my hostel, met me there. We got seated and met this nice guy John who was also by himself. Anyway, the best part of my trip is about to be explained. The show started and they had a picture montage of the performers in the show. There was a picture and the name of Julie Nichols who was the piano player. I thought, there can’t be more than one in the world. So I looked over and low and behold, it was THE Julie Nichols who I went to HS with. SOOOOO random!!! I wrote a note and gave it to the waitress to give to her. She gave it to her, and she was so confused. Julie looks in the audience and I waved and she got very excited. I enjoyed the show very much! After the show Summer left and I stayed and waited for Julie. It was SOOO exciting. We sat, drank, chatted, and I met the rest of the cast. Oh and we also watched the cubs lose :( Anyway, it was SOOOO good to catch up. Around 4 am, I decided to leave. We parted ways, but that was DEFINITELY the highlight of my trip!

Amsterdam 1

I woke up at 4:45 am, finished getting ready and then left my house and waited at the metro station for about 15 minutes. I then took the metro to the train station. I got to the station early around 6:15 am. I met two very nice girls who were also traveling. One of them actually went to Northwestern. While they were in Paris they happened to have stayed with a girl whose boyfriend attends LCB and is in the basic class. SO weird! The train left at 6:55 and I slept the ENTIRE way. I happened to hear once that we were delayed for a bit and we were cause I arrived in Amsterdam around 11:25 am instead of 11:06. I went straight to my hostel and set down my stuff. I left right away to go start touring. The closest thing to my hostel was the Heineken Experience. I was all for it, except for the fact that I hadn’t eaten ALL day and they give you 3 beers in the tour :) It was fun though. I met some really nice people including two couples from England. One of the couples actually gave me their info and said if I happened to be near Birmingham I should give them a ring! How nice. After I left I went to get something to eat. I then proceeded to walk to Anne Frank's house. Thinking about it even makes me sad. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Then I did some shopping for friends. Eventually I went to dinner at a restaurant a friend from school recommended called Envy. You can see the pictures of the food I ate. I chose the tasting menu, as usual. It was actually very cheap for all the food I got. I won’t bore you, but if anyone cares to know what I ate, just email me. However I will tell you I ate horse meat, which was delicious! After dinner I watched the kitchen for a while because it was in the middle of the dining room. I then spoke to the chefs. We chatted. On my walk home I stopped off at Boom Chicago to buy tickets for the next night. Back at my hostel, which is HUGE…600 beds in the hostel total and 20 beds alone in my room….I met a girl named Summer from Oregon. We chatted a bit and eventually I got into bed. After a few exchanges of texts with Sara, I fell asleep around 11:45.

apology

Im sorry but my computer is down. When it is up and running, you will all have new blogs from amsterdam and my last week of professional cuisine at LCB. Til then, hang on tight...i PROMISE you wont be let down! Thanx for understanding!

Penny

October 4, 2007

I woke up this morning and got my work done! ok...well i procrastinated on packing, but I cleaned my room, and vacuumed, and then went to the post office. I then went to school for my last day of healthy cooking. Today was Healthy desserts...but they were DELICIOUS!!!! We learned 5 of them. 1) strawberries with a balsamic reduction and yogurt with spices 2) grilled pears with a vanilla caramel mousse 3)French toast with wine and coconut cream 4) duo of sauteed mango and pineapple with a yogurt and fromage blanc mix and 5) mini bananas with green peppercorns and caramel cream flan. That being said....and all so YUMMY...I made 3 of them in class. I made number 1 and 2 and then for my third I sorta made a twist on number 4. I played around a bit and tried to focus on plating cause the recipes were SO simple. I think i did an ok job with my plating. We started at 5:30 because we got done so early from the Demo. We also finished around 7:30. It was nice. We did a bunch of talking though because it was Dzintra's last day :( We had champagne and stuff too.



After class she drove me home and i said my goodbyes. I wont see her for atleast 3 weeks as she is off to the states! I then came home and packed, showered and got read for the DAM...AMSTERDAM!!! off to bed cause i can't wait for tomorrow :)