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.