Driving down to Franklin this afternoon it occurred to me that the year is half over, the summer is half over, and I am more than halfway done with culinary school. All vaguely sobering in a “what do I do next?” kind of way.
Classes at the Pannery are rocking along. The Boss Lady is pleased enough that we are doing a second session in July. Some classes will be repeats but most are new menus and the Mystery Kitchen menu went over so well we are doing three of those. One is a spicy theme which will be Moroccan dishes. The other two I am still thinking on. I want one to be a breakfast for dinner kind of thing but I have to okay that with said Boss Lady.
My classes I am taking are going really well. My brain almost hurts with all the new wrinkles forming. Advanced Baking has gone on from puff pastry to working with filo to cakes, genoise and sponge in many guises, to charlottes. My group made a Dobos torte which, despite not being exactly precision level, tasted really good. I have a new appreciation for how difficult decorating is. The pastry bag and I are getting on friendlier terms but it will be quite a while before I’ll be able to say we are tight. Next week is tarts and then chocolate work. That is definitely something I am looking forward to.
The hospitality/supervision class is bounding along. The wiki discussion thing we are doing helps have a better sense of a class, but as a whole I think I still prefer the face-to-face of a classroom and the immediacy of the discussion in that setting. And quite honestly, I think I manage my time better when I have to appear in a classroom once or twice a week as opposed to signing in at my leisure which seems to happen really late at night or when I feel like I should be spending time with the boychick or with Keifel.
There are some exciting things on my culinary horizon. I got an advanced reading copy of a book that’s coming out in September. Watch this space for a review closer to the street date. I have a feeler out for what could potentially be a great internship if I can take the figurative heat of that kitchen. I’ve also decided to go for the gold and do the AAS degree as opposed to the certificate. I know that I want to teach and it will be easier for me to teach at someplace like NSCC if I have a culinary degree of somesort. And, lastly, the classes have generated interest in me doing lessons for people at their home, including cooking parties. That has me excited. It’s teaching and getting paid to do, which means somehow all this outlay that Keifel has graciously undertaken pays off. It may still be a minute or two before I can support him in the manner to which he would like to become accustom, but at least my “business” may be in the black this year.
