Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sunday No-Fun-Day

Today is Sunday. Once reserved for all-you-can-drink mimosas and eggs benedict is now the bane of my existence. I have to work, of course, and waiting tables on a Sunday morning with its screaming children and fussy old ladies is about as fun as a hole in the head. However, working during the weekends is the price I have to pay for being a full-time culinary school student (not including the actual $41,000 it cost in student loans), and that being the case I gladly do it. I couldn't image doing anything else with my life now that I have started school. It has only been a week so far, but I absolutely love it!

The kitchen classes are by far my favorite part, especially considering the language classes we have to do are just review sessions for me. We started learning basic knife skills this week. Our chef instructor Guido I-Still-Can't-Pronounce-His-Last-Name is a short Italian man with a gray goatee and a great sense of humor. The first day of class we got our knife kit and he went over each piece and explained what everything was. He explain kitchen procedure and what we were expected to do/set up each time we entered the kitchen. Eager to use our knives, the class was ecstatic when Chef Guido pulled out a potato and showed us the dimensions of a proper julienne (1/8 x 1/8 x 2.5") and then asked us to do the same. That first day also practiced slicing and chopping onions and garlic.

The second day in the kitchen was more more eventful. We once again went over julienee, but then we tried a another proper cut which was just a bigger version of a julienne. Those were a bit easier for me, and I got praise for my good work from Chef Guido! A couple of the others had a bit of a rockier start. Amy, the 60-year-old oddball from Alaska already managed to cut herself as well as burn a hole through her knife hit on the first day. Another woman, also a little older, also cut herself on the first day. The second days casualty was my friend Chelsea. So far, in fact, I am the only female in the class who has yet to cut herself. The third day in the kitchen, Friday has been our most exciting so far. We actually did two recipes: bruschetta and panzanella.

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