Day 50. Downton

Day 50. Downton. Lets take a moment to think that it is day 50!! Wow! 27% of my adventure here is complete!! That is crazy!!! Ahhhh. I'm really enjoying my vacation to Scotland. Its nice to clear the mind and get ready for round two of culinary school.

 Today we got up, ate breakfast and headed to the mechanic to turn in the keys to get the car fixed. They said it would be ready in an hour. So we milled around the bay looking for options for our day. The ferry to the first island the girls wanted to go to left at 8am, the mechanic didnt open until 830, so we had to reinvent our day. Also, the next islands the girls wanted to go to no ferries/transports were going there due to the weather. We stopped by the Visitors Center and were told that the only touristy things still open were the whiskey distillery, and a castles grounds, not the castle. If we wanted to charter a boat tour we had to have 7 in our party. Neither options were appealing. We got the car, and found out that the front left tire was flat, and the back left tire had an air buldge, so they replaced two tires. Not one. Nice. Not. I am sure the tires had had lots of previous damage from American drivers bumping into the curbs on narrow roads in the rental car before, we just got the after affects.

 After getting the car back, we headed back to the hotel to find other activity options for ourselves as locals didnt even know what we could do in Oban. We found a few castles. Mindy really liked the sounds of one, so we went there. It was about an hours drive, and we stopped along the way taking pictures of the scenery through the midst and constant light rain.

 The castle was amazing. It is actually a working/living Castle as the Duke of Something lives there with his family. Half the house is open to the public and the other half is the private quarters. Little did I know but parts of it were filmed for Downton Abbey! Say what? That's right. The dining room, and back entrance were filmed as Cousin Rose's parents house....season three I believe. So cool to be where they have been. Ha. The grounds and the rooms were so amazing. And we could actually take pictures inside....something you dont hear about when walking in castles here. There was a weapons room filled with over 3000 weapons, in the tallest room in Scotland of course. The grounds were amazing too. Fall colors are everywhere.  We took a walk on the grounds into a foresty area, moss covered trees and leaves of every color and bridges to everywhere.  Truly fantastic imagining being a Lady here would be quite nice.

We walked around the little village town. Had pumpkin soup (my tribute to Halloween) at a really old pub before heading back to Oban. We were a bit tired. We got back, used the Wifi to find a dinner place and were off again. We went to a fish & chips place, and no one got fish & chips. I got chips & baked beans. We shared this Scotish Christmas pudding for dessert. Amazing. All the seasonings (ginger, nutmeg, all spice) in this lovely dish. So good.

 My phone has reached its max on photos, so I spent some time deleting blurry/unneeded/double photos from my phone. Now I am sitting in the Hotel lounge as there is no Wifi in the rooms, only common areas waiting for my phone backup to complete on the worlds slowest wifi. Oh well. It was a lovely day. Downton. That was a pleasant surprise. ttfn.

Day Forty Nine. Highlands and a Flat Tire.

Day 49. Highlands and a Flat Tire.

 We left our beloved B&B after another great breakfast sans Haggis this time and took a bus to the airport to rent a car to go to ... the highlands. I had no idea what the Highlands were. Gasp. I know. I didn't know that the mountainous Glen's and Lachs (lakes) had an name to go with them. A name that only begins to give the justice for what they are. Amazing. Fantastic. Wonderful. Brilliant. Wow moments around every bend. They are truly magical. The fall colors are warming into the scenic vistas. Around every corner we wanted to stop and take pictures. I dont really know how to describe it. Small roads through trees, then lakeside, the through and along Glen's. Absolutely fabulous. I thought of my mom and her saying on trips, "Look at how green it is!" This trip is was more like "Look at how amazing this is!" Reds, yellows, and oranges mixed in with the greens and browns of the land.

 We stopped by a B&B in the middle of nowhere Glen for lunch, but we missed lunch time by 30 minutes. The B&B owner said that people had not eaten at her place in 2 1/2 weeks, as it is the end of season, and no one comes up here this time of year. Well, we are here the last 2 days of season, and we are here to see it al. We found another place just up the road for grilled cheese & soup and a cute old man before heading off to see more amazing things.

 Imagining clans fighting, Braveheart war, and the history behind this land is pretty remarkable as well. No words can truly describe it. Once we hit the last Glen just after sunset, we headed towards our hotel in Oban (oh-Bin). Mindy had white-knuckle driven the car on the left side of the road for half the day. I started driving about an hour before Sunset, and quite enjoyed my time on the left side of the road, being a leftie myself, it was rather easy... that and the automatic transmission didn't hurt either.

 We were riding along, and I was telling the girls about a blog I read back in March about the places that we were actually in & going to tomorrow. I said that the blogger is a professional blogger and probably got paid to go on the trip. After I read the blog I thought that is only a place for rich people to go... and now we're like the rich people! We're here!" We had a good laugh about that. 

Moments later a big bus and long line of cars came from the opposite direction. I swerved a tiny bit to avoid the bus and hit the curb (seriously small roads). Mindy had hit the curb a few times earlier, so I thought nothing of it...until I heard the sound that I have heard with Melanie & Lisa on separate occasions . Thump Thump Thump Thump. Flat tire. "Ugh. I ruined the vacation. I should have never invited myself along. I should have driven slower. I should had turned the keys back over to Mindy after the last pull over stop." These were just a few of the millions of thoughts that ran through my head. Mindy and Erin were the most kind and caring. No one was hurt, just the tire. Road service came 1.5 hours later. The girls kept me in good spirits and told me not to worry about it, it will all be fine and work out. The tow truck dropped us off at the mechanics shop with the car (so we would know how to get here in the morning when the place opens.

 We checked into the hotel, ate at an indian restaurant around the corner where the waiter would stand in the corner and stare at us, came back to the hotel, and called it a night. Everything happens for a reason. A magical day through what only before could be described as a movie set through an amazing land filled with mystery and awe. A lame flat tire that will hopefully not cost my tuition to repair. Happy people to spend the day with who are the most relaxed, kind, and patient people on the earth. These three things are highlights of my day in the highlands of Scotland.

DAYS FORTY SEVEN AND EIGHT. DIfferent Accents. Tartans. Shortbreads. Haggis

DAYS 47 AND 48. EDINBURG. Different Accents. Tartans. Shortbreads. Haggis.

Tuesday morning came way too early to make truffles. When we got there, Chef asked why so many of us were there. We were confused. He was there, we were there to cook for our practical class. He said that ususally hardly anyone comes to the last class of Basic as it is the last class. Dear Chef, this is our first time doing this, how were we supposed to know and its truffles, of course we are going to be there. We divided into three groups and made the milk, white, and dark truffles. After everyone was done, we divided them up so that everyone could eat all three. They are delicious.

 After class I headed straight to the airport. Met the girls, and off we went on a propellar plane to Edinburgh Scottland. It is an amazing place. So much more quiet than London, but just as much new mixed with really old buildings. We checked into the loveliest bed and breakfast. When I checked to see what time sunset was, we had one hour to get to the Royal Mile (I think that is what it is called) for pictures. Our luck so far here is barely missing buses so we either wait a while or walk it. It is also my first taste of what winter will be like here too. Freezing. We walked around, looked at the Castle's exterior, looked in too many shops for Tartans (for one of the girls as she has four lines of Scottish ancestory), took pictures of the buildings, and headed to eat. Our B&B lady recommended a few places to eat, and the pubs were all great. I had a salad for dinner, and it was most delighful, nothing strange in it. After that we headed back to the B&B where Erin called it a night. Mindy and I still were up for some fun, so we headed to another recommended pub for dessert & Scottish folk music. We got there before 9 to order dessert (kitchen closed at 9) and took our time with it while we waited for the band to set up. Only it wasnt a band it was just random locals who pulled out instruments in a corner both and started to play. More and more people just plopped down with them whenever they walked in and joined in. It was amazing to see and hear. We ate Sticky Toffee Pudding & Banoffee Stack. Both amazing, and i would drink the toffee sauce in a heart beat....but then I would not have a heart beat so I'll skip on drinking toffee for now. After that we called it a night.

 Wednesday, more Edinburgh. Our B&B had a full English breakfast. There was veggie haggis on the menu, so I decided to get that and every other vegetable on the menu (roasted tomato, mushrooms, potato cake). The veggie haggis tasted much like stuffing. Mindy got the real thing, and said that it was good too. Were adventerous. We headed to town and bought tickets for the hop on hop off tour buses that go around the city. It was nice to hear about the things we were driving by. We got off, and walked around the ship port, near the retired Royal yacht, got a shortbread from a local bakery, and grabbed lunch before heading around the city again. We stopped by the royal palace for a photo op and a free (because of our tour buses) shortbread in the shape of a crown. I am pretty sure Scots invented shortbread as it is in every tourist shop around. Pretty sure bland is a palate winner for them too. Ha. We tried to get to the top of the hill for sunset but alas, too many shops and places to stick our noses in prevented us from getting there, but the sunset looking up the hill was fantastic. We went to dinner. I got knocci and roasted sweet potato. There was no sauce. I've never had knocci without a sauce. Mindy noticed that it was missing the roasted goat cheese. With the addition of the cheese, it was amazing. Sticky toffee pudding and a brownie for dessert. Good times.

Days FORTY FIVE AND FORTY SIX. Soup and Pasta

Days 45 and 46. Soup and Pasta. Sunday was stake conference at church. The visiting 70 was the most entertaining, down to earth speaker I have heard in quite some time. If I wasnt so tired I'd write about his talk. (He bought a house outside of the stake boundries when he got called to be stake president, he told the powers that be that they made a mistake, he's moving and he will loose all of his down payment if he doesnt complete the purchse. He lost his money, found a new home in the city. James E Faust called him one morning and said he would like to meet the man who gave up all his money to serve the Lord....that is just one of the stories he told). After that Mindy introduced me to some people, and invited me over for a soup lunch. I accepted. Spent the afternoon talking with them....and invited myself on Mindy & Erin's trip to Scotland. Yep we leave Tuesday as in today/tomorrow depending on when you read this. They were planning the trip Sunday afternoon and were glad I wanted to come with them. I have been so busy with school that i have not had time to plan out mini trips. I told them I would do whatever they wanted to do as long as I didnt have to plan anything. :)

 Monday was a slow morning, jog/walked, did laundry, cooked up & froze some meals with vegetables I had lying around. Then before I knew it, it was time to go to class. We learned how to make Truffles. Three kinds. White, Milk, and Dark Chocolate. All three with different outcomes, but all with similar beginnings. Chef actually asked for volunteers to help him. Usually we just sit and watch. I was picked :) and helped with the Milk Chocolate Praline ones. This chef is the only conscious one that makes a batch for the non-drinkers in the bunch. They were really good.... just not looking forward to making them at 8am tomorrow.

 After class, five from my group signed up for a Jamie Oliver course at Recipease....I know I have written about it before, but it actually came through tonight. No Jamie did not teach the class. Yes I was bummed. Yes I got over it. We made pasta from scratch. I thought we would make different kinds of pasta (ravioli, tortelli, spaghetti), but we only made one kind and we just took it through the pasta machine in two different cuts, thin and thick. We made marinara, tomatoes/garlic/spicy pepper. I thought we would make different sauces, but that was the only one we made. They had two others that they did just as a demonstration, and we could take a bite of them. For the money we paid I would have hoped for more, but it was fun, simple, and easy. We got to eat our own concoctions as well. Pretty tasty for a first timer, and yes, I will be giving lessons :) Got home late, and packed for the trip. Yahoo! I'll try to keep you posted. Dont know if I'll have wifi up there, but just incase you wonder where I went....now you know you'll have to be patient.

Days Forty THREE AND FORTY FOUR. Wine and Canterbury

Days FORTY THREE AND FORTY FOUR.  Wine and Canterbury.  Friday morning was a bit lazy.  I didnt have to be to school tell 130 for my exam results, and then for a wine class at 3pm.  I passed my cooking exam.  Yippee.  As for the wine class, I doodled more on my paper than paid attention to what was being said.  2/4 other non drinkers didnt even come to the class, and attendance was not even taken.  Lame.  I did learn some nice things about wine.  There was a tasting at the end with a red & white wine.  Those that did taste, there faces said it all....it was terrible (after class they said for being such anexpensive school you wouldnt think that they would serve cheap wine), so I was not missing out on anything.  I didnt have any Friday night plans, and others in my group did, so I went home, made dinner, talked to Mel, texted Lisa, wrote some emails and went to bed.  

My tube ride home from school Friday night, I texted my two outside of school friends to see what they were doing on Saturday. Dierdre was working, and Mindy (nice girl at church) was going to Canterbury with a friend visiting from the states.  I didn't even know what Canterbury was but I invited myself along.  I google imaged it and it looked nice.  

I met Mindy and friend at her flat, we took a bus to Victoria Station, and off we went on a train ride through the countryside to Cantebury.  It was a lovely village town, with a stone wall surronding the old city and a more modern mall, further around the wall and into the old part of town was a delightful village filled with many people... the stacked Tudor and other really old buildings lined the streets...some had dates on them as old as 1545.  Amazing to think what these walls have seen over all the years.  First stop was lunch at a pub.  The sandwhich was massively large...the size of my face.  Not joking.  The bread slices were 2" thick each.  Then filled with veggies it was overwhemling figuring out how to eat it.  Luckilly the bread was super soft & easilly edible.  I must have been starving because I ate the whole thing, side salad, and a soup.  No shame.  It was good.  It was nice sitting at lunch and hearing birds chirping rather than cars rolling by.  Then we walked the street a bit more and explored the library and a shop before heading to the church...it was massive.  We spent 2.75 hours there.  I dont think I've ever wandered around a church for that long, but there was so much to see.  Architecture, Stained glass, pillars, crypts, gardens, chapels, archways, graves.... oh yah Henry IV is buried there with his wife.  No big deal, I saw a king today.  

Englanders know how to have a life outside of work, and the town was closing down by 530.  We looked in a few more shops before taking the train back to London.  We had dinner in Victoria Station at a Sushi place, one with a conveyor belt of foods rotating around.  Pretty fun.  We were all tired by that point.  After dinner I called it a night, and went home.  It was great to get out of London, and know that there is still life outside of school :) ttfn.

Day FORTY TWO. To Be or Not to Be. A Tourist.

 In the morning I was having a hard time deciding what to do with my time for the day.... bike tour....be lazy.....see some sights....grocery shop... be lazy...I opted for see some sights. Essex had recommended some places for me to see, so I used that as a guide for my day.

 First stop. Poppies at The Tower of London. I didn't go inside (I am saving that for any visitors that want to come see me), rather I went along the outer edge to see an instalation called "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" marking 100 years since the First World War. The moat surrounding the Tower is filled with ceramic poppies, 888,246 to be exact. One poppy for each british & territorial soldier who dies in WWI. I didnt know that's what the poppies stood for until I heard an older lady tell two boys about the poppies. It is amazing and sobering to think of the sacrafices of all those soldiers. The contrast of the red poppies against the gray stone tower walls was pretty amazing. 

Before I left home (arizona), I went to familysearch.org and printed out my family tree fan chart. I wrote in where every ancestor was born. There are a few from England, and one from a burrough of London, Wapping. My great great grandfather (my mom's dad's mom's dad) was born in Wapping in 1827. I decided to go to the town he was born in. I checked with Malta first to make sure it wasnt a scetchy part of town, and she said that "it was up and coming. Helen Mirren lives there." Shoot if its good enough for an Oscar winner, it is good enough for me. From the Tower of London I walked to Wapping. [I really need to invest in learning the bus system.] I didnt have an exact location of his (William Sheperd) birth, but I was good enough with the town/signage of Wapping on a building. The area is a bit old mixed in with a lot of new buildings surrounding it. I asked a random lady in a Wapping Garden park to take my picture with the scroll I made of my lineage to this place. She didnt comment on my scroll, just took the pictures, and walked on. And so did I. I walked on.

 I walked along the River Thames walking path over the Tower Bridge (the one people think is the London Bridge) to the south side of the river to go to the Design Museum. By the time I got there I needed the loo & something to eat, and decided to save $$ for the museum to go with somone else (most all museums here are free, not this one :((). Luckilly they had wifi, and I used my CityMapper app to get me to Burough (Burro) market...on a bus....it is a place that I had heard a lot about and it comes with lots of food stalls.

 I circled and circled Burough Market, fascinated by all the foods, produce, meats, fish, breads, cheeses, food vendors. I found an indian place to grab a bite to eat at. I have no idea what it was, but it was vegetarian and delicious. I also got a brownie and a ginger cookie to eat later. Lisa, your ginger cookies are way better, and the brownie...was like eating something brown, but not a brownie if you catch my drift.

 At this point I decided to call it a day. It was only 430, but I had a successful tourist day. I still needed to be local, and buy some groceries. Since I hadn't walked enough (hahah) I decided to get off 2 stops early and head to North End Road to the farmers market stalls. Looking at all the food, I had no stamina to carry to much. I bought bananas (12 for 1 pound) and walked home. Envying the buses that drove past, always missing the stops. I stopped by the grocery store to buy almond milk. Exciting I know.

Came home and felt exhausted. Ate the rest of my indian food, ate the ginger cookie, caught up on rewriting some recipes, watched some tv, and went to bed.

 I need an app that tells me how far I walk, but some days I'd rather not know.  I tallied it up for the day at it was about 4.25 miles of walking. That isnt much I know, but it was still a fair amount.

 A great day to be a tourist.

If you dont want to leave a comment, you can always send me an email michelletarwater at gmail dot com

For more information on the Poppies go to: http://poppies.hrp.org.uk

Days FORTY and FORTY ONE

DAYS FORTY and FORTY ONE. Paul Harvey. Lets take a moment and acknowledge that it is day 40. Holy moley. Moving on. Day 40 was spent practicing, cooking, piping, and practicing, and reviewing. I went for a jog/walk in the morning. I seriously love the River path. So amazing. It was a bit windier than usual, all I could think of was "Winds in the East....a storms brewin in...." (name that movie) Then, in the midst of making italian meringues, buttercreams, tempering chocolates, I decided that i needed some savory to balance out the sweets. I used the veggies I puchased a few days ago and made carrot & corriander soup and veggie packs (that I froze) to use with currys in the future. Yeh, I was in the kitchen for 7 hours. Luckilly no one was home, and i had it all to myself. I didnt even look up and out the window infront of me to notice that it was raining. My landlady came in about that time, soaked, and that's when i looked up and out the window. She said it had been raining hard for an hour. Well, that shows my level of conscentration :) Apparently it was the aftermath of some hurricane blowing through. After I couldnt been in the kitchen anylonger, and cleaned up all the remnants, I reviewed more and went to bed. In the morning, it was hard to get out of bed. Dread or Fear (couldnt decide which) were keeping me comfortably in my cozy bed. I finally got up and took a short jog (literally short as it was around the block) to shake the nerves and get over it. It is just one dessert, it cant be that bad. I ironed my outfit, got ready, ate breakfast, reviewed a bit more and headed off to school. Everyone was a but nervous. I dont know why, but in crowds when I am nervous, I start making jokes, having people laugh, saying dumb things. It was good for us all to relax a bit. Before..... The test. We were each assigned a specific station...alphabetically I should have known. Luckilly I was by China, the calmest person to work by, and to the other side of me was all the ingredients :) quick access to everything. Then the chef announce the dish we were going to make. The Geniose Sponge with Rasberry Jam filling. We squeled. A few in the class had guessed that would be the one we were going to make. The chefs told us not to squel as this was a "serious thing" we were about to do. We had 15 minutes to fill in the recipee gaps & blanks on the method/instructions, and draw/label a picture of the top & side view of the cake. After the 15 minutes were up, papers were collected, and it was time to bake. Things went alright. My sponge cake....I thought I whisked it too much, than not enough, so i whisked some more, folded in my flour, and as I poured it in my tin, a large lump of flour was there. Oh well, move on. I got my soaking syrup, rasberry jam, and buttercream all measured and ready at the same time. All went well, except my buttercream. I dont know what happened. I probably put the butter in when the other ingredients were too hot, and it melted a bit. It came out super soft and almost runny. When I piped the filling, it managed to keep its shape and I thought well its either good or bad. I knew it was too thin to coat the outside. As I was putting my cake in the blast chiller to cool, Poland mumbled to me that her buttercream was like mayonaise, and she put it in the fridge to chill. Brilliant! I thought, I'll do the same thing! And so I did, which I probably (1) should have never done or (2) not left it in the fridge for so long because... it turned pale yellow.... its supposed to be more on the ivory side than the "one of these things is not like the other" kind of cake....and it hardend the frosting....its supposed to be light and airy, but this was more like good ol american frosting....good for me to use, but bad as I had chilled the butter in the buttercream too long. Wow. I am giving too many details here. After my buttercream was masked on the cake, I was running out of it, no chance to go back and do touchups, so I moved on. Oh well, get over it. I did my almond border, and piped some pretty good chocolate on top, added some rasberries, and I was done. I couldnt do anything more to the cake. I called for the Chef, recorded my time and I couldnt believe it! First one done! That has never happened to me! Yahoo!! Packed up my things, and that was that. My first exam dish over. Afterwards my entire group... all fourteen of us went out to a pub. We've never all done something. It was a really good time. Its amazing that people have to drink to have a good time. I had a good time watching them all :) My group truly is the best out of all three groups that started at the same time. We all get along, all included in plans and if people dont come we dont get mad, and happy to be with. Near the end of the pub time, Essex and I were talking. She was the one that booked a table at the pub. We were talking about our group and how great it was that we all get along. She said that she has so much fun whenever I am around because I make everyone relaxed and have a good time. She then gave me the best compliment. She said I was the joy and soul of the group and without me it would never be this much fun. Moi? Little rediculous moi? Yah, I'll take that. And that is ....the rest of the story. PH signing out.

Days THIRTY EIGHT and THIRTY NINE. Exam Part One.

DAYS THIRTY EIGHT AND THIRTY NINE. Exam Part One. Sunday I started the day with church, a girl introduced herself to me afterwards and invited me over to her flat to have lunch and meet some other midsingles that we stopping by her place. She took a three month sebatical from her job, and is here through November. Very nice person. She then told me that she'd met some people through an institute class. (I havent been able to go to the class because of my classes). She said one of them is worried that she would take a sabatical from work, and has been introducing her to people to help "keep her busy." She told me she doesnt need the people, but its a nice way to get to know others. A few others came over to the flat, I stayed for half an hour, as I really felt the need to study for my exams coming up this week. I headed over to my favorite studying place, the V&A to the study room, and forced myself to study. The Wifi wasnt working so I had no disctractions. With about 10 minutes before the museum closed, I had all the recipes down. It was such a relief, and I was in denial to be so prepared. I knew all the practice test answers, I knew fruits, nuts, dairy, ice cream....I felt prepared. I went home, had cereal for dinner, looked at my notes again, and again realized I have short term memory loss, facetimed, reviewed until about 1am when my brain coculdnt handle anymore. I actually slept well. No nightmares, no waing up every 10 minutes, just a nice calm sleep. Monday, when I woke up I wanted to take the morning as calmly as possible. I didnt want to freak myself out or get anxious. I reviewed my flashcards, got ready, ironed my chef's coat, ate breakfast at the table (instead of whilst while walking to the tube), went to the tube like I was in no rush, and got to school with no angst or worry. I joined the others in the hall outside the classroom, we joked around saying either we know it or we dont, so here goes nothing. No one was quizzing each other, we were all ready to be done with it. 10 Multiple Choice, 10 Short Answer, and 10 True/False questions were to be completed within one hour. It doesnt sound that bad. I took 58 minutes to complete the exam. The multiple choice and T/F I am pretty sure I got at least 9/10 right on both of those. The short answers, well we shall see how generous they are with those questions. I thought it would be ____ g of flour in Pate a Choux, but instead, it was an empty box for us to fill out all the ingredients/weights and to list the method of how they are made. Ahh, yeh, good thing I studied. I drew a blank on one, but as I worked on the others, the blanks were filled in and all questions answered...now hopefully they are the right answers & the ones they are looking for. Essex and I laughed later in the day comparing the things that we each wrote down. Oh well, its over. No going back now. Seven of my group went to lunch together afterwards to celebrate being half done. It was good, just not my favorite meal since being here. I had ricotta knocci, that was on a cream bed sauce. The best part was Vermont sharing her brownie with us afterwards. I havent had a brownie in...over a month! :) After lunch we had a demonstration class where we watched a chef make 4 desserts that we dont have to make for a practical, as our hands on dish this week is our final exam dish to be made on Wednesday. Chef wasnt to specific in giving details on what he was doing during the demonstration, but I really appreciated tasting the Tarte Tatin, Vanilla Ice Cream, Cold Mousse, and Shortbreads...it was like a celebration dessert feast for completing Part One of the exam. After class, Malta & Dehli and I headed for the tube, I wanted to get somethings at the grocery store (to practice our dishes tomorrow) and so did Dehli, so Malta joined us. I think she bought more than us. I was just going to work on my piping/masking/decorating portion, as that hasnt been my strong suit. The girls talked me into buying flour/sugar/butter so I could practice some more of the dishes at home. After the tube I stopped at two more grocery stores to get chocolate for piping, and whipping cream for masking/piping. Seriously practicing is expensive. I was exhausted by the time I got home & was relieved to find a lunch I packed for myself on Friday still in the fridge so I didnt have to cook dinner. Essex told me that Quorn has veggie Scottish Eggs that she loves to eat, so I bought some of those and had some for dinner too. Now i can say I enjoy a british food of Scottish Eggs ("sausage" wrapped around a boiled egg, breaded & fried/baked). I watched the Amazing Race as my reward for a job well done. Talked to pops about what they want to do when they get here, and looked at my recipies for Wednesday's bake. Once I started to fall asleep, I knew it was time for bed. Tomorrow, practice practice practice, but Exam Part One is complete. Horray.

Days THIRTY SIX AND THIRTY SEVEN. Macaroons. Study.

Days THIRTY SIX AND THIRTY SEVEN. Macaroons. Study. Friday I had no idea that everyone would be so excited to make Macaroons. They have never been on the top of my must have dessert list, as the cookie seemed too light and airy, leaving only a filling to be enjoyed in a couple of bites. I didnt see all the fuss for the macaroon. I think I needed to appreciate the work behind the macaroon for me to truly enjoy it. I had always heard befroe that it is too hard to make macaroons, but it was much easier than I imagined. First we had the demonstration class, where the chef showed us how to make them. He used to have a bakery called "Macaroon" so he would be the expert on them. Random bits of knowledge for you: The cookie part itself has no flavor....it is only food coloring that gives it color, the filling itself gives it the flavor. In order to enjoy a macaroon at its fullest potential, one must wait at least 24 hours before consuming to allow the filling to infuse the cookie, thus giving it flavor. We made two kinds, pistachio buttercream filled & chocolate ganache filled. The chocolate ones do have some cocoa powder in the cookie shell, the chef said that they should never be flavored with anything else more than cocoa for them to be proper macaroons. I thought that the ones I made turned out pretty good for a first timer. I had a few last night because I have little will power when it comes to chocolate, but amazinglly enough, we each made a couple dozen and more....there was alot of extra batter so people were making more than one pan, but I was good with the copious amount I already had. I am patiently waiting the 24 hours to give another one a try. We made them in the night class, so it was 1030 when I got home, tried to study, but was so tired I went to bed. Saturday....tried to study. I got up, looked at my notes, couldnt concentrate, took a jog, made breakfast for lunch, studied some more, memorized the ingredients for the exam dishes, took a study break to a farmers market that lines New Market Rd that Malta had told me about (I got 6 bell peppers, 5 vine tomatoes, 12 large carrots, 3 zucchini, 6 heads of garlic all for five pounds! best deal yet!), went to other grocery stores looking for shaving cream to practice my piping, got a falafel, unloaded groceries, ate, tried to study, fell asleep at 7, woke up at 730pm, talked to my bro, and am now writing this. Pretty typical day of the life of a student. Now I must study. Learn. and Remember. Monday is the written exam (10% of my grade). Wednesday is the make the dish exam (45%). No pressure....off to review exotic fruits and so much more.....ttfn.

Day THIRTY FIVE.

Day THIRTY FIVE. Strong Personality & Character and Frozen Preperations. We had two lecture classes, with a gap in the middle. One lecture on Chocolate, and the other on Ice Cream. Um. Yah, my two favorites in the dessert world. Favorite story from th day: As we were waiting for our classroom to be available for our Chocolate lecture, the regular (slower paced) basic pastry class was getting out. They were all coming out with samples of Lemon Tarte and Chocolate Tart.... the best thing I have eaten here so far, and a dish I am sad we didnt get to make. I was waiting with Dehli, and I asked if she could see who the chef was in the class getting out, so that maybe we could see about getting a sample. She laughed and said it was Chef Touille. Good. There's a chance. I held the door open for those leaving the class, and just as there was a clearing to go in I hear Chef Touille say, "I know you all want to gobble every last bit down, but you must leave." I stepped in the room, "Chef! Chef! Do you have any Chocolate Tart left?" "Meeechelle, what are you doing here?" "Waiting for Chocolate Lecture next door." "Only because it is you Meeechelle, you can have some. I'll see you in the lecture." I smiled, thanked him, quickly grabbed the last two pieces, and went back out in the hall. Those around waiting for my class laughed at my successful attempt. I gave one to Dehli, we laughed, and felt like victors of the samples world. You would think in a lecture on Chocolate we would get samples, but no. That is in intermediate, not basic pastry. So sad. We watched a video on where chocolate comes from, and the process from taking it from cocoa pod to a chocolate in your mouth. It was the basis of chocolate, not the flavor of chocolate. The video featured one of the worlds best chocolatiers, Michel Cluizel. (you can buy his chocolate in Paris, Harrod's, or Amazon). In the video he said that chocolate must have a strong personality and strong character. The way he described chocolate, it sounded like he was describing a person. He truly is a passionate person about chocolate. After that we had 4.5 hours before our next class. The usuals, plus India3 joined us for a round to Chinatown to have dim sum. My ordering was simple as there were only 2 vegetarian dim sums. Both were amazing, and similar in taste, but good to eat. We also went to a chocolate shop (Hotel Chocolat) that Chef Touille had recomended in class to see them actually roast cocoa pods. They werent roasting any when we got there. I was excited to go to the shop, because it was listed in my top hot chocolates of London list I found. Paul's (from earlier this week) beat this one... I didnt but chocolates this go around, but I still have time to come back. Back to class, for Ice Cream. If there is ever a favorite dessert of all time it is my dad's vanilla ice cream. CCC's are a close second. I was excited for this Lecture, but after a morning of no chocolate, I had my doubts. This time around. We. Had. Samples. Glace, Parfait, Granita, Sorbet...we had it all... so we could taste texturally the differences between them all. My favorites were the Mango Sorbet and the Chocolate Glace. But none compared to the ones MET makes at home. Chef said that he doesnt like the term Ice Cream, as it really isnt iced cream. He said that his favorite way to make his frozen preparation is with dry ice. He makes his mix, adds a little dry ice & in twenty minutes he has perfectly frozen treat. I'll have to try that in the future. :) Class actually ended early, so it was nice to get home at 9 instead of the usual 1030. Tomorrow, one more dish to learn before tests next week.

Days THIRTY THREE and THIRTY FOUR. Study. Pretend to Study. Work Hard. Have Fun.

Days THIRTY THREE and THIRTY FOUR. Study. Pretend to Study. Work Hard. Have Fun. I met up at Malta's house with four others on Tuesday to study, and make some practice dishes. Malta had ordered all the ingredients we needed to make all three test dishes. Her kitchen is small, so we rotated two cooking, while the other four studied/talked about studying. There is so much material to learn, and so much we dont know if we need to know it or not. We'll get it... or else we only have tell next Monday to get the written part down, recipe making is a week from today. Yikes! I made a Tarte de Citron....Lemon Tart. I made my crust, but when I blind baked it, I forgot to put in my bag of beans (to weigh down the crust, so it is evenly baked everywhere). It turned out a bit flat. I just laughed it off, it was only a practice, and this way I wont forget what not to do too. Some of the girls came into see my flat tart shell. "I failed. Oh Well." I told them. They laughed. Luckilly they all get my sense of humor. We ate mine later, it was weird sitting in a room of my peers, eating my tart, I wanted to tear it apart, but they were all nice enough not to critique it. Funny we all wanted to eat something sweet after baking and talking about desserts all day long. A few of us took a break to go to the pharmacy. I needed the equivelant to neosporin (they dont sell that here), with the help of Dehli, I was able to find something comparable to it. We went back, and practiced piping shells and rosettes. We were there until 930ish. I was so tired, and just wanted to go to bed. I came home, and prepped my notes for tomorrows class, and went to bed. Wednesday. I got up, went for a jog, came back and got ready to go back to Malta's house, for more practice. We made Pate a Choux (aka Eclairs), and studied a little bit for me. Graxiously, Dehli made us lunch. It was amazing. I tried to watch, but with baking/piping eclairs, there was alot going on. The Dal & Pulao rice were so good, a perfect blend of flavors, spices, warmth, and heat...Dehli said it was too bland for her, but the rest of us appreciated that her bland, was quite right for the rest of it (mom it would have been too hot spice wise for you). We tried covering our eclairs with the fondant, but it was a bit runny, i persisted and got 4 good ones out of it. We ran out of time for chocolate piping, so that is something I will still need to work on. After that we all headed to school for our only class of the day/week so far....it was a 630pm class to make two things, Meringue a l'Amande: Batons de Marechal (almond meringue baton shaped; backs dipped in chocolate) & Sables Hollandais (checkerboard cookies). We were with Chef Baker for the first time ever in the kitchen. Before that we only had him for our dry lecture on flour. It was my challenge for the night to make him smile. I succeded. He is always so serious, and I have to focus hard to understand him, but at one point I made him laugh, so I consider that an accompishment. He quickly went back to quiet critique man for the rest of the night. I like eating the Almond Meringues. They are light, almonds in the batter & covering the outside and then the backsides are dipped in chocolate..they are good. One I would make at home. The Sables looked cute, were a challenge to make, and would make cute checkerboard pieces before I need to eat them again. AKA bland and boring. perhaps if I dipped them in chocolate too, they would have been better. I left them both out on the kitchen counter at home tonight, hopefully my flatmates will eat them. I left some things at Malta's so I stopped by there on the way home (its on the way, three stops propr to my place). It was raining when I got out of the tube. My bag and pants were wet even under an umbrella. I got home 1045. I couldnt believe it. Time passes so quickly here. Its been hard work the past few days. Studying. Learning. Its all good. I am still having fun.

Days THIRTY ONE AND THIRTY TWO. Umbrellas.

Days THIRTY ONE and THIRTY TWO. Umbrellas. Please make one with a curved pole. I swear the dryest thing under an umbrella is the pole itself, and not the person, or items being carried by the person. Anyone want to invent one for me?? Sunday. Happy Birthday Max! I headed to the Science Museum. It was right across the road, so not to far to go. It had all sorts of Sciences in it, engineering, manufacturing, space, electricity, steam, and humans. Everything has sciene in it. Pretty sweet stuff there. Then I ventured to what is becoming a favorite museum, V&A (aka Victoria & Albert). I went through the wing on 1800 British stuff. It was way more than stuff, but in the midst of it all, I came across a study room. Quiet, with free wifi, and enough background noise to keep me going on studies. I stayed for 1.5 hours in that room until i memorized 4 recipies. Came home, made a couple of the pink hued chocolate chip cookie dough, survived. I talked to the parents. Talked to the amazing birthday boy and his talkative adorable sister who also had a birthday this week. Watched Downton Abbey, tried to study. It was a take it easy kind of Sunday. Monday. I studied the map of my neighborhood and discovered a river trail to jog/walk on .... and I did it in the rain. I knew that the rest of my day would be spent studying, so I needed to get some movement in me. It was a beautiful path. I wanted to stop and take pictures every twenty feet, but that doesnt do a body good, so I kept on going. Trees everywhere, the first leaves that have fallen crunching beneath the feet of pedestrians, cloudy skies, the constant drizzle that felt more like a facial than rain. It was good to get out. Studying? Not so good. I find any excuse to do something else. ADD I suppose. I finally decided to go back to the V&A to study, that way I would force myself to look at my notecards on the metro there & back and at the V&A as well. I did pretty good studies, read lecture notes on flour, sugars, honey, fruits, nuts, spices & reviewed the recipies I need to get memorized as well as review the ones I thought I did have memorized. I stayed until it closed at 530pm. I grabbed a cookie and quiche for home. I saw the chocolate chip cookie the day before walking by the shop's window, and I had a feeling based off its size, shape, and thickness it would be a good one....and it was. Yippy! I found a good cookie! If only I could eat a dozen of them for all meals. :) It rained the whole way home, a light rain, no downpour, enough to use an umbrella, but enough to wish that I had a massive umbrella to keep me and my bag dry. Oh! I also managed to find one of Yelps top Hot Chocolate places as well. It was soooo good. actual chocolate melted in a simmering pot of hot milk. No powdery mix for this place. I want to go back there, but I must press on and try new places....except for the cookie. Must go back there. Ok. That is enough for now. ttfn. Hypnopedia here I come.

Day THIRTY. More To Come.

Day Thirty. To More to Come. It seems strange that I've already been here a month. That I took off on a plane 11 September, and here I am. Some days it feels like I just got here, and other days feel like it is most certainly day thirty. I was really lucky to have such an awesome welcoming committee of two strangers who took me in, took me around, and helped me get settled. I have a great group to work with at school. I am understanding my Chefs accents better each day. I am improving everyday too. Sometimes I wish or think I need to practice everything at home, and other days I can appreciate that my pants still fit. Its been good so far. Today. Baking at 8am on Saturdays is not my forte. Never has been. At least I got my arm workout in today whisking up eggs and sugar by hand, staring up at the kitchen aid above me and reallizing we wont be using those for a long time. It is nice to understand/get our hands in the grit and mechanics of baking, but 839am all I'm thinking about it how I love my Kitchen Aid. I has exhausted this morning. I started singing silly songs to keep me entertained, and my classmates too. (Think "Whip the Cream" to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's 'Turn Around." and you can imagine the crazy I am baking early..."everynow and then my arms get tired, but I whip the cream...). You're welcome. We made Charlotte aux Cassis. Sponge Cake with Blackcurrant Mousse. Made sponge cake, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on, cut them, piled them on top of each other, cut them again to make tiny sandwhiches 1/2 cm thick, rounded the tin with them, circle of sponge for the base, made blackcurrant mousse (whipping the cream), put that in the tin on the cake, another layer of cake, and another layer of mousse to reach the top of the tin, and made a glacage (glaze) for the top, and topped with berries. Tada. I have no idea how it tastes. I didnt even try the mousse. (Malta told me she was going to a tea on the tube ride home, so I gave her mine to take to the party. My party for one did not need a cake.) No worries, I am sure people who enjoy sponge cake with fruit mousse appreciated it. Midday class was about petit fours. I was an idiot, and asked the chef at the end of Charlotte class, why the ingredients lists for the next class were for mereingues and not little cakes. He smiled, and said he would explain in the next class. Randon Fact for you: Did you know that petit four means small oven? I didnt either until today. Petit Four is also defined as "any of various very small rich sweet cakes and biscuits, usually decorated with fancy icing, marzipan, etc" What? Never knew that no wonder why I looked like an idiot. My whole life I only knew a petit four from my mom's betty crocker (or was it BH&G) that has a picture of a little square piece of cake covered in a pink glazed frosting. I had no idea that it was anything that can be eaten in one or two bites. #akward #imoverit So in class, he showed us 5 different petit fours, two of which we have to make, and thanks to samples, I am looking forward to eating them again when I make them next week....on Wednesday. We have two days off, but my group has planned to spend them baking our exam dishes and studying. After class, I went home, did a bit of laundry, and headed for the grocery store....not just any grocery store....an American one...and an expensiver one too. I'll keep you guessing. I asked my local classmates where to get a good chocolate chip cookie today, and they said, if I haven't found a good one yet, go here. Essex said that all shops keep cookies out on open shelves and so they are always dry and crisp, so if I like the gooey center ones, I better be making them and bringing her one :) I also was on the hunt for Corn Tortillas. I made it to the american grocery store and it was finally familliar to me in the way that it was organized/structured. I could find my way around. There were no corn tortillas, only flour ones. So I decided i would buy the ingredients for CCCs, and so I got a cart, and got sugar, flour, butter, but there was a problem. No. Chocolate. Chips. What the heck? Defeated I put everything back on the shelves, only to find "chocolate bits" at $1.25 for 1/3 of a cup. I converted that for you americans. I didnt even know if it was good to use as it also said "Dairy Free." Uhhh... as I was passing the yogurt/butter case, my eyes saw something I thought was a log of butter a chef had told us about, but .... it was ....Chcolate Chip Cookie Dough!! Yippy! Put all the ingredients back on the shelf again, and took my chances on it. I'll make a couple tomorrow to celebrate Maxwell Lewis Andrews birthday. I did take a bite tonight, and it is not to bad, it has a pinkish hune to it, so here's hoping I'm alive tomorrow. [Also I looked up chocolate chips on amazon tonight, and people are reselling Costco's Kirkland brand of CCs for $29.69. Um yah, dear america, send me some chocolate chips with any friend that is flying here. Bitter & Semi sweet respectively. Thank you]. Dang this is a long one. I must be tired. Thanks for reading so far....there's just a bit more. Sometimes i wish that I could be a true local and eat currys and naan eveyday and not be an Arizonan who is constantly seeking out salsa at stores because I dont want to make it and break appliances (ahem the toaster and microwave turned convection oven). Sometimes I wish I could eat out for every meal to enjoy this amzaing melting pot of culture and food (donations can be sent via paypal to michelletarwater at gmail dot com. Sometimes I wish school wasnt so exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally. But its worth it. Sometimes I wish I was more of a tourist and can see as much as possible that this city has to offer culturally. But then I realize that I have 150 more days to do these things. There is Still More To Come. I can do great things.

Day TWENTY NINE. You cannot find happiness in perfection.

Day TWENTYNINE. You cannot find happiness in perfection. Today's only class was a lecture on fruit. Fruit from all over the world. Berries, citrus, exotic, and stone fruits. I thought it was funny that AZ/CA did not make the citrus growers of the world map...and no I did not raise my hand and say they are in my parents backyard again. I don't want people to think I live in a forest. The chef you led it, was interactive with us, and actually had twenty six fruits for us to hold in our hands, and even taste them too! Tamarillos, were sweet smelling, but tasted like what I imagine sewage to taste like. Chef definitely has a sense of humor for telling us that after we all tried it. Mangosteens, granadillas, curuba, were the others I had never heard of. The oddest looking one of all was the snake fruit. Seriously has a skin that looks like a snakeskin. We didn't eat that one. After learning all about fruits, class dismissed, and that was that for the day. After school eight of us went to lunch. The group is getting bigger. We went to Lebanese food at a place called Yalla Yalla. Honestly, it was Greek to me. No really, same things as Greek food, moussaka, falafel, babaganoush... I got falafel & a haloumi cheese/olive/tomato salad. I like haloumi cheese a lot. It was all solo good. Devin and I chatted once about how the food tastes different here. To me it tastes fresher, more vibrant, more flavorful, more colorful (if it's possible to taste the color you can here). I've enjoyed every eat I've had out. I wish I could eat out for every meal, but my budget and waistline won't appreciate that. It was really a good lively conversation, and I like getting to know my classmates better. We have an honorary member, MaineAustria, who hangs out with us more than his class group. He's funny, calm, and keeps the pace with all of the girls he has to deal with everyday. Out of 42 in our intensive program, he and Hong Kong are the only guys. Sorry ladies. He's taken. As we were walking back to the tube, Maltese told Essex and I that five were going out for a drink. I decided to go along, it was either that or study. I also thought it was strange to go for a drink as all five of them had drinks at the place we just left. Oh well. Their money. We had a lovely time at a cute pub down a street the size of two sidewalks. I got water, and the rest got drinks. Two hours later when the conversation had a lull we headed off our ways to get on with our evenings. My evening was buying a cookie on the way home. With all the desserts I make I was craving a chocolate chip cookie. The equivalent of a a nicer paradise bakery was on the walk home out of the tube. They only had chocolate chocolate chip. I thought that would satisfy, I should know better. Eating a cookie that had the texture cardboard I managed to get it down. Looking at the grocery store next door I probably would have been better off with a store bought packaged cookie, but I am not that desperate...yet. It is a little after 9 and I am exhausted. I have school tomorrow at 8am, so I better be headed to bed soon. Oh! I almost forgot! The title of this entry comes from the conversation at the pub when Poland was talking about body image, she randomly said "You cannot find happiness in perfection." We all the talked about how true that is for everything in life. Family. Job. Home. Friends. Travel. Boyfriends. Everything. We choose to be happy with what we have, and be glad that nothing is perfect.

Day TWENTYEIGHT. Sorry. We're out.

Day TWENTYEIGHT. Sorry we're out. It was a day of studying. I had plans to take a break for a walk run but it rained all day. Not complaining, just not one for excersise in rain. I did study. Made flash cards. Studied. Memorized one out of a thousand recipies and in accomplishing that I thought I would treat myself to londons best hot chocolate. I yelped it. It was on the way to school via bus for the guest lecture, so I headed out. Apparently drivers here are like the ones in AZ and don't know how to drive in the rain. My 30 minute bus ride turned into an hour. I could have walked faster, but opted for dryness. It kept getting closer to needing to be on my way for the guest lecture the longer I sat in the bus studying my flash cards. I deserved hot chocolate, so I got off at the stop, walked in, and asked for one hot chocolate. "Sorry, we're out." What?!? The lady went on to explain that with the rain it was a very popular day to have some hot chocolate. Come back tomorrow. I wanted to tell her about my hour long bus ride, but opted not to. It was probably for the best. The prices in this shop were ca Ching ca Ching ca Ching. The lady did take pity on me and gave me a sample piece of 70% dark covered in 100% cacao. Ummmmazzzzzing. I will probably go back as it is my winterlly duty to find the best hot chocolate in the land, and with over 17 on the yelp list, I better get started soon. The guest lecture....I made it right on time. After moving 10 feet on a bus in twenty minutes, I walked really fast practically running to get there. I am glad I did. She was on a cooking show last year, where the challenge was to make something appear different than what it was. She made a hamburger and fries out of desserts, using salty, sweet, tangy, sour, and crunchy pastry items. The bun was a mousse, pattie was a brownie, tomatoes were candied plums, lettuce was sheets of gelatin something, cheese was white chocolate infused with saffron, onions were Apple slices, ketchup was raspberry & passion fruit purée with gelatin. The fries were baked thin slices of citrus pound cake dusted with cinnamon sugar. Even the plate she presented it was edible. It looks like a piece of wood, but is millionaires shortbread (shortbread with caramel layer covered with chocolate. It was dreamy to see what can be done with desserts. The restaraunt she works in now has an invention kitchen....where they formulate new recipies into actual things. She told us a bit about her background. After graduating from culinary school, she worked for Gordon Ramsey for six years. She said I the beginning she didn't want to work for him, but was glad she did. She wanted a new challenge and is now at a three star Michelin restaraunt as head pastry chef. Amazing. After class India1 was going to eat something, so I told her I would tag along. The only things that stay open after 9 around here are pubs and hoighty places I'm not dressed for. It was 857 and the pita place said it was closed. Lame. We hopped on our seperate metros, I did some grocery shopping, and that is my day. Goodnight.

Day TWENTY SEVEN. Want or Choice.

Day Twenty SEVEN. Want or Choice. This morning I had a terrible dream. I'll spare you of the details, but I woke up in the middle of the dream, in one of those "where am I moments?" and it took awhile for me to analyze and get over something that seemed so real. [Note to self: do not eat dried lavendar profiteroles before bed weird dreams may occur.] I decided to go for a jog/walk to get some blood flowing in me. On my jog/walk i had that thought that there is a difference between Want and Choice. I can want something (happiness, love, to be the best baker) or i can make the choice to be it (I can choose to be happy, choose to love others, choose to be the best baker). Choice is an action, while want still waits on the curb, hoping for whatever it is to come by. I'm so deep I know. After lazilly getting ready for the day, I made it to school to learn about Dairy in a lecture. It was a good class with samples to eat....clotted creme and dulce de leche to eat on SCONES. My first one in England! It was a delicate light bun, with a lightly crunchy outter shell (like a biscuit), and a soft muffin like middle. Chef gave us enough clotted cream & dulche for 3 scones, but there was only 1 scone each. No shame, I cleaned my plate. I am going to have to invest in clotted cream, that was amazingly creamy. I really like dairy in all its varieties. We also learned about fats & oils. He told us that in a McDonalds ice cream, there is lard & vegetable oil to help it hold its shape. Um yep, never getting one of those again. He also told us vegetarians that we arent really vegetarians. For example, in natural food colorings, there are beetle heads and other insect parts. As well as all vegetables are grown in gardens using manure so we are all eating something off another animal that who knows what that animal ate to get that kind of .... you know what out. The classmate from the Netherlands did not know the word manure meant. She was shocked to find out. Tonight we had a demonstration class for another Charlotte Cake. I've determined that Charlotte is a cake made of sponge, molded in a cake ring with mousse and decoration, as now this will be our second charlotte...this time we are back to fruit. Ugh. And I will be giving this one away...I dont need to waste calories on it. We make it Saturday, no Instagram pics of food for a few days. Tomorrow we have no class!!! But I signed up for a guest lecture of a local pastry chef at 630 at the school. The rest of the day will be spent studying. Friday we have a Lecture, and Saturday back to baking & a demonstration class. Light class wise, but heavy on the study. To want to study, or choose to study. Now that really is the question.

Day TWENTY SIX. St Honore Cake.

Day TWENTY SIX. St. Honore Cake. Today's two classes were all about this "cake"...first the demonstration class, and then the cooking class. It is really a heart attack of the pastry world... sugar crust, pate a choux (eclair batter) piped around the edge, and the two are the baked. Then, it is topped with a combo of pastry cream and whipping cream. Then the edges are mini creme puffs, dipped in caramel, which are rolled in almond/ St. Honore is a french patron sain of bakers and pastry. Yes, there is a saint of pastry. A really old one at that (600 A.D.). Nothing too miraculous, just a tree grew out of a peel...I dont know we really didnt talk about him at all. Back to the cake. This dish has an element of all the three exam dishes, lemon merengues crust, pate a choux (eclairs), and the beginning stages of the frosting for the sponge cake. It is good to practice all of these things, but weird to see them all in the same dish. French pastry so far is pretty one level...i am sure the alcohol takes it up a notch, but um yah, I dont do that. Morning was lazilly getting ready, and then three hours at school studying before the cake. I got home at 1030 tonight, and cant believe how fast time flies.

Day TWENTY FIVE. Spices and Nuts.

Day TWENTY FIVE. Spices and Nuts. Lazy morning again studying in bed. I had intended to go to a street farmers market to buy veggies & fruit this morning, but the weather as finally turned cold and rainy (in the 40s) so I opted for no adventures, but to study the morning away. Today my only class was a lecture on Nuts and Spices. Pretty exciting. A bit better than the dry lecture we had on bread. The chef running the lecture, had not heard of 2 spices and 1 nut that we were to discuss, but they must not be that important for pastry if he's never used them. We had a fill in the blank work sheet to go along with the PowerPoint presentation again (like the flour lecture). When he was talking about nuts, the line was "Pecans are more expensive than Walnuts and are used in premium goods. They are grown in _____." Chef asked if anyone knew where they were grown, I chimed in and said "In my parents backyard!" The class got a chuckle out of that one. Shoot. Its true, they are grown there. Chef was impressed and asked what we used them for. Pecan Pie & Baklava. "Baklava? No not baklava" -- Maltese whispered to me. Some students had not heard of Pecan pie. Um what? Its in my top 5 favorites people. At the end of the class, after a lovely rendition of "Guess that spice in a cup" Chef did a review of everything. "Where are cashews grown? (Africa and India) Where are Hazelnuts grown? (Europe Turkey, Italy). "Where are Pecans grown?" From the back of the class far from where I was sitting was heard "Michelle's parents backyard!" Class dismissed. Vermont and California wanted to go out for dinner. I am trying to be on a budget, but we ended up going to a restaraunt, I got falafel for twice the price of the place I was planning on getting it from near my home. Oh well. It was still good to get out. I was so tired during the meal. I swear whenever I do eat out with these girls, it is on one road, near their flats, and no where else. California & Vermont actually went back to the bad nacho bar on Saturday night. Lame. But these girls love to chat, and I love to eat, so it all works out. At dinner, the song 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias came on. The music in this place was rather random. Vermont thought the song was from the mid nineties, I knew it came out when I was in Hawaii, so I said 'it came out in 2000 I remember where I was when it came out'. [I looked it up 2001]. Poland said "I was 10 years old in 2000" ('Ahh... yah I was in college in 2000' I thought to myself). I think they will be shocked if I ever tell them how old I am. But until then, it will remain a mystery. Unless facebook has already unearthed that for them. Back to home, and my bed. Goodnight!

Day TWENTY FOUR. Truly a Day of Rest.

Day 24. Truly a Day of Rest. My body woke up bright and early, but my brain did not. It was truly a day to be lazy and rest up. I wrote blog entries, responded to emails, watched Saturday morning conference, and priesthood session, read recipes, and studied....all from the comfort of my bed. Only to get up for the loo & to eat. I did manage to take a walk midafternoon around the neighborhood to the Thames River, as it is only .5 miles from the house. On the map, it looks like a nice big park between the house and the river. Turns out that half of the park, are private estates, and so a big brick wall surronds that portion. When I made it to the river, it was an industrial section, nothing grand or glamourous, just water with buildings all around. I debated going further down a bike path, but bikes and I have had a few near incidences that I didnt want to take on. Back home, showered, and back to bed, more studies, more interneting, and trying not to burn the housedown. I decided to warm up a leftover Madeline I had sitting in the fridge, I thought the toaster would be an amazing option for that. Well, toasters here are not like home & do not have the ability to pop up whenever you want. Instead, my madeline got stuck, and caught fire. I tried to unplug the toaster, but I couldnt find the outlet (it was built into the eave on top of the cupboard, hard to get to when your madly blowing the flame out). Finally it went out, kitchen smelled like smoke. There is no exhaust fan over the stove, and all the windows are locked with a key. The only window I did find was in the next room, the bathroom. Luckilly, that helped. I am not good with appliances here. At some point soon I'll only be able to eat out of the fridge or PB Sandwiches for failing to use the stove properly. Ha! Not yet. Back to bed, more studies, warmed up some soup, and watched Sunday Morning Conference at 5pm. I sang my recipes to all the musical numbers. :) Talked to the parents inbetween sessions, watched Downton Abey, and went to bed. It was nice to have a lazy day, not feeling obligated to go anywhere, see something, or do anything but be lazy.

Day TWENTY THREE. #takecakewithyoueverywhere

Day Twenty Three. #takecakewithyoueverywhere. Class began today at 8am. As we were at school tell 930pm last night, it's been feeling like we live I the building, being in it every 12 hours for the past 5 days, hence the lack of blog entries. We made our Black Forest Cake in the 8am class. We were all tired, but we managed. I have worked with whipped cream plenty of times in the past, so it was easier for me to work with. It was much easier to accomplish than the Genoise the day before. So better that the chef, (who was in the room to help answer questions/leads the class) who had worked with us two weeks previous said "wow! Much better than two weeks ago." I don't even remember what I made with him two weeks ago, but I'll take the compliment. He said that my sponge was excellent, masking (application of frosting) great, and decoration good. I need to work on my piping shells. I didn't tell him that when assembling the cake, my knife drove into my cake and made the layers unstable, but I being one of ingenuity knew how to hold it together with whipping cream. It's funny though, we made the whipping cream in partners to share. He told Hong Kong that his masking (whipping cream frosting) was overworked. Ha! Same bowl and a difference of opinion. The triangles seen in the picture, are made out of cocoa butter sleeves, we applied a thin layer or tempered chocolate to the back, cut the shape, cool it, and peel off the sheet and the design sticks to the chocolate, like transfer paper. I picked something I thought Mel would like as it was her birthday. Happy birthday Mel! The dishwashers we're glad to get my cake. Thirty minutes later we we in demonstration class. Chocolate Charlotte. Finally chocolate. Chocolate Sponge cake, with pistachios sprinkled on top to bake, filled with layers of more sponge, and chocolate Bavarian Creme, and topped with tempered chocolate fans stacking to make a flower. Heaven has finally come. He made two varieties, the other was a white sponge with passion fruit creme filling. When it came time for samples, you know which one I took five spoons to. It was sooooo good. Sooooo smooth, so rich, light, decadent, delicious. With my schedule being so variant and busy this week, I have little time to call and wish people happy birthday. I had ten minutes before we were back in the kitchen for our third class of the day to make our own chocolate charlottes to call Hannah before she gets on a cruise ship, as her birthday is tomorrow. Facetimed in the halls of the school. I didn't have my earphones with me, so all of my fourteen classmates were a part of the call. Hannah had an international chorus sing happy birthday to her in their hotel room in Florida from London. Technology is great. On to the chocolate for our third class of the day. We each made our own. and didn't have to share anything (like whipped cream from this morning). I was glad to have my Tupperware from lunch with me as there was extra chocolate mousse to take home. That will be my treat for conference tomorrow. The girl next to me, made the two of us alcohol free soaking syrup to apply to our sponge. My "generous sprinkling" of pistachios was a bit too generous, but I liked the way it turned out. Most classmates mousse turned out lumpy, including mine, but I the mouth, it is silky smooth. My chocolate ribbons were easy to do once I got the hang of it after two tries. Overall I was happy with the way it turned out and even more happy that I could eat it. It is my favorite dessert so far in the class, because for once it isn't fruity. After class I met up with Dierdre for dinner. The bus stop luggage carrying friend from my previous flat. I came straight from class, so I had my large school bag and cake carrier with me holding the chocolate Charlotte. I get a lot of weird looks carrying a cake carrier around. Our waitress was so excited to see the carrier, she asked if she could see what it looked like. Her face lit up as she looked at it. I told her she would have to have a piece of it. She said she might want one later. After an amazing portobello burger, shared sides of mac & cheese and fried zucchini, Dierdre felt weird about opening up the cake carrier, so out of my bag I pulled the Tupperware full of chocolate mousse, and parchment paper scraps of chocolate sponge. About ten minutes later, out waitress came by and cleared our plates and brought plates for us to open up the cake carrier. I asked if she would like a slice, and she agreed. Dierdre and I had small pieces and gave the waitress 1/4 of the cake. She was so happy. She came back five minutes later with a waiter and both raved about it. The waiter said that his church group buys cakes for events and asked for my number so that I could cater future events and asked for my business card. Ha! I wrote my UK phone number on a napkin and gave it to him. Classy business card. I gave another big piece to the waitress as in this open concept restaraunt I could see other servers elbowing each other for a piece of the cake. Another waitress came over to tell me it was the best cake she had ever eaten. Wow. So nice to share cakes, make people happy, and my waist line not as big. The waitress gave us a 20% discount on our tab for the cake :) I really need to carry cake with me everywhere I go. A free sandwhich yesterday, and a 20% discount today. Sweet. After dinner, Dierdre and I parted ways, we had both had long days. I watched Saturday afternoon general conference live at 9-11pm and was quickly asleep in bed soon there after. Sunday will truly be a day of rest. I've had classes ending at 930 three times this week, and three days in a row of 8am classes. Keep in mind this does not include travel time or dressing in/out of school whites. I've had long days, and short days, and only 2 1/2 weeks before basic pastry is over. It's a whirl wind, but a fun whirlwind. Take cake wherever you go. Happy times will come

Day TWENTY TWO. Flawed and Free Lunch.

Day TWENTY TWO. Flawed and a Free Lunch. This morning at 8 am was our cooking class where we made the exam dish that we had seen made Wednesday night (the Genoise with the wickedly smooth frosting). Going into it I thought this will be easy, it's cake! I can do cakes. Ahh...not this kind. My sponge (cake) was excellent. The buttercream was nicely made, but frosting the cake was the hardest thing ever. That wickedly smooth frosting was equally wicked to use. It is so light, it was not forgiving. If I were actually doing the text on this dish, I would have failed, going over time by thirty minutes. The chef actually had to finish frosting my cake to get me out of there) she masking/frosted two others so I didn't feel like a complete idiot. I did the top decor, and one of my S shapes turned out more like a Z and they need to all be curvy. I was pretty down on myself on my little flaws on the cake. We had another class at 630pm, I was determined to stay around school, so I didn't have to go home for the seven hour break. Essex, another classmate, told me about this museum a few blocks away from school. I decided to go there to do something before I started my studies somewhere. It was the Sir John Soane’s Museum. I had no idea what I was walking into. Literally. For the outside, it looked like a house in a long line of tall row houses. I thought this is nothing special, but was I wrong. Sir John was an architect, who bought the adjoining two houses and made it a mueseum for "for the benefit of ‘amateurs and students’ in architecture, painting and sculpture." I asked a curator what his favorite piece I the house was, his snobby reply, "there are fifty five thousand pieces in his collection, I haven't seen them all." That's right fifty five thousand pieces of art, sculptures, books, drawings, paintings. The house was a zoo of architectural design. I didn't know what I was looking at, didn't do any research on this place before hand, so my hour admiring this inquisitive place is worth another visit. Go to slowness.org for more info and photos. No cameras allowed. After that I was hungry, I sat across the street in a park, and ate an apple. It was a lovely afternoon, so many people were out enjoying the amazing and unusual warm weather. I decided I needed more than an apple. I walked by come eateries, and kept walking, not being able to decide on a single place to eat because my tiredness was getting to me. I needed a nap. Bad. I went back to school, got my cake to take home, and headed to a sandwich place for a quick bite for the train. I walked up to the counter with my grab and go sandwich and cake carrier in hand, and the cashier said "oh you are so kind! It's not even my birthday, and you are bringing me a cake!" My instant reply was "you can have half of it if you like." He was shocked, excited and very happy. He insisted on giving me a free sandwhich in exchange for half the cake. I wonder what I could have gotten if I gave him the whole cake. With the hustle of other customers, I took priority, three cashiers huddle around, and in awe that I was giving them half to eat. I wasn't going to eat it all, so I was glad to share. the manager came over to see what all the excitement was about. It was funny watching the cashier not want to cut the cake as he thought it was too beautiful. He didn't see the flaws. They were all so happy. I was glad to give someone a smile. I went home, instagrammed, found a quote on flaws to post with the picture, "I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions" Augusten Burroughs. I was able to take a little nap knowing that flaws are okay, and people are still happy to eat cake no matter what it was supposed to be, but what it actually is. That night we had a class on how to make Black Forrest Cake. It is drenched in alcohol and cherries soaked in kirsch, more alcohol. Cherries are not on the top of my favorite fruits (sorry dad). I knew this cake would be one to give to the dishwashers right away. There are a lot of steps that go into 8" round sponge cakes with cheeries and whipping cream layers. A lot of work goes into simple things. At least I made someone's day with cake

Day TWENTY ONE. Lovely afternoon.

Day THWENTY ONE. Lovely afternoon. We had a lecture class this morning at 8am, given to us on the bread master chef. Apparently he is really shy, French, not good at English, and likes to read verbatim from the PowerPoint presentation. Needless to say the lecture on all the types of flour and sugar was done in under two hours, including a twenty minute break and sampling breads. An early morning class to fill in the blanks on worksheets and eat carbs. Just great. As I was packing up my things, my tube buddy Maltese and I asked each other what we were up to for the afternoon. We decided to join each other for a study session. We ran a few errands first, to the paper store for me to buy pens (because most all of the pens I brought from Arizona are dying on me), page protectors, a ruler (so I can actually see a mm for myself, sorry kids it's been a long time since I was in math class), and page protestors. Dang my shopping trips are really exciting. Dropped by her apartment to get her laptop, and then we were off to a cafe for studying and eats. On the way to the cafe, she showed me around. We walked by a park where the Beatrix Potter's (Peter Rabbit) house once was, a street where Madonna had a house, the rich peoples homes, and her dream home on the corner of tregunter road and fils ton road in Chelsea. The homes were the biggest I have seen so far in London, gated, pristine landscaping, really wide and tall homes. Amazing. People here stay for hours at cafes and employees don't get mad, they're glad you are taking up space :). I studied, rewrote some notes, ate some lunch and we talked a lot about school, backgrounds, whatever. It was a really nice conversation. I had my first celebrity siting, although I have no idea who he is. As we were doing our own studying for a bit, she pulled up on her laptop some Google images of a guy sitting three tables away with some girl. He's on a reality show here called Made In Chelsea. It's like Real Housewives, only with rich twenty something's. He was nice to look at. After a bit more studying we were on our seperate ways. She walked me to the bus station and said that if I ever need anything even in the middle of the night, to call her. She knows it's rough being in a new place with not knowing anyone, she moved here 8 years ago only knowing three people, and since then she has had drinks with Hugh Grant, socialized, and really loves this place, and is looking out for all of us foreign students in the class. Weird to be foreign, but good too. I went to the grocery store after the bus and found veggie refried beans (in cans that were the size of veinna sausages with the pull top lid), salsa in a jar (not a squeeze tube), flour tortillas, cheese, and some soup. I had a burrito for dinner, studied a bit more, and now am writing to you all. Bon voyage Andrews family! Have fun sailing the seas with Mickey!

Day TWENTY. Get Over It.

Day TWENTY. Get over it. Well, our first class was not a class at all today. It was meeting with our chef mentor to go over progress/help/recommendations. And my group got Chef Toullie. Ugh. It's fine though, he knows us the best out of all of them so far. Being last on the list in my group, I went last, everyone was to meet with him individually to have 15 minutes to go over things, so I waited 2.75 hours to talk to him for 5 minutes if that....others went way over time and I was left with nothing. I told him I have a hard time memorizing, and asked for tips and he told me to "get over it." Yah thanks for nothing buddy. He's a nice guy, just when he's short on time, he can be short. I had 5 minutes to change into my cooking clothes (apron, towels, hat, hairnet) before practical class happened. Lemon cake and Madeleine's. Mine both turned out pretty good I think. I was in a hurry to pipe my Madeleine's into the pans, I didn't realize there was a certain way to pipe them, but apparently there was, and Chef T walked by and saw my lazy piping. They turned out great, and had good height, but he only focused on my piping. Whatever. Get over it. :) Then we had a third class today, where we learned our third dish for our final, Genoise a la Confiture de Framboises. Aka Genoise Sponge Cake layered with raspberry jam. Make sponge cake, cut in half, brush bottom half with syrup, cover that with raspberry jam made by you as well, add a layer of buttercream, add the other layer of cake, frost the whole thing, and delcorate. Half of this is decorating. The sides and top must be perfectly straight & piping on top must be 'elegant and pristine' two things of which I am not. Ha! The buttercream I must say is wickedly smooth. Amazing. Light, creamy, airy, but still has thickness, not like sweet buttercream at home, this has no powdered sugar, starts off with cooking sugar and water, whisking eggs, and blending the two together. Each of the three final dishes is hard in its own way. I can't decide which one more than the other because they are hard in different things. I don't want to dwell on it though, I need some sleep for the 540am wake up call to get to class by 8am. Goodnight.