First Day of School

Sweet Barley Scones

Hazelnut Tea Cake

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Zest

Think back to your first day of school. It's such and important day, you must have the right outfit, the right shoes, the right back pack, hair must be flawless and by all means make sure you have a cool lunch box if you carry your lunch to school. Then there is the worry of who will be your teacher, what other kids will be in your class and what time is recess? Starting culinary school solves most of those nerve-racking problems for you. You have a uniform: black shoes, black and white chefs pants, chefs coat. The hair, it doesn't matter because you wear your student cap. Lunch: you'll be eating the tasty fruits of your classroom labors. Instead of a cool lunch box, you get something much more fierce: a knife bag and student kit to transport the new tools of your trade. The teachers and the other students are there because they are interested in teaching/learning the same things you are. And who needs recess when you get to play in a kitchen all day?

I arrived for my first day with all the above mentioned items and a tv camera crew. What a way to make an impression on your first day. Let me back up here. My friend Kate, who I worked with at my previous job, has been sending me job postings from Craigslist since the day I got laid off. Most are culinary related, some are just odd ball ways of earning a little extra money. I greatly appreciate her concerns for my financial well being. The latest posting from Craigslist was posted by an associate at ABC looking for people to who had been laid off and were changing their lives for the better, to interview for Good Morning America. I responded to the post, figuring, hey why not?, and received a fast response. They liked my story and wanted to interview me and follow me to school. Be sure to watch Good Morning America tomorrow morning at 8am to hear what I had to say about being laid off from work and starting culinary school.

Back to school:
Our first lesson was on quick breads, biscuits and muffins. I chose 4 recipes to tackle for the 6 hour lab. I sadly only got through 3 by the end of the night. Between answering questions for my interview and repeating tasks for the camera crew, I got a little flustered and slowed down. It's great to be in a big kitchen with access to such a range of equipment and ingredients, but overwhelming learning where everything is. This is where my desire for perfectionism gets the best of me. I had to remind myself that it is my first day, there are going to be mistakes and that it will get better as I become more familiar with my new kitchen.

The 3 recipes that I completed turned out good. I'm sitting here in my bathrobe enjoying a sweet barley scone. The texture is nice, crumbly but soft, not too dry as scone can often be. Not overly barley flavored, and just a hint of sweetness from the small portion of sugar the recipe called for. The muffins were also very tender and light. The Hazelnut Tea Cake however has to be my favorite, even though it was the one recipe I had the most trouble with. Ingredients include almond paste, almond flour and Gianduja. Once the cake was done baking and cooled, I dressed it with an apricot glaze.

I had never heard of Gianduja before, but once it was defined for me I knew I liked it before I even tried it. Gianduja is chocolate with about 50% hazelnut paste. It comes in a bar form but is soft and easily broken into pieces. It's flavor is very similar to Nutella, but I almost think I prefer it to Nutella now. This might be a good excuse to buy some of both and have a taste test.

After a very busy day of interviewing, taking notes, baking and washing dishes, I left the school at about 12:45 AM. I was exhausted. I think it may take a while for my body to adjust to this schedule. I struggled up the stairs to my apartment with my student kit, knife bag and three boxes of pastries from my class. My roommate was very excited to see the food, I was very excited to see my bed. Culinary school is not going to be a piece of cake, but its rewards are going to be very sweet. Day 2 commences in 3 hours.....