Hi

Hi all here is my first loaf of sunflower seed bread isnt she pretty lis :-)

starting the 4th week

hello hello,

So I made it through the first three weeks! Which kind of seems like a miracle. 27 weeks to go. And if all goes right I will be home to visit in 6 weeks. As of right now since I got a 97 (that is freaking amazing) in my Safety & Sanitation class my GPA is a whopping 3.5 (I was wrong about the pass fail thing we got grades). I still have not gotten my Math grade so we will see how long that lasts.
Today, is the first day that I wear the chef's outfit my pants are really long like probably a foot longer than I am and since I am short they are the kind of pants that go up to your neck - fun! I think it is interesting that they have people learning how to cook and bake wearing white - white really isn't a great color for a clumsy, klutzy girl like myself.
My allergies are a little out of control lately and I actually was sent home from work yesterday because of my cough. So I am on all kinds of over the counter stuff and it doesn't seem to work - I am staying away from that job in the basement for a few days to see if that helps since it is very moldy down there (they don't seem to think it is) and I think that is what started all of this. Other than that I am ok just missin everyone.
Any who... miss you guys

one grade rec

So I just found out in my science class I got a B, which is wonderful! Yippeyy! I am sure then, that I must have gotten a B in Math. So now I can breath...sort of I have a final today in Sanitation/Serve Safe this class doesn't have a grade it is just pass/fail and Certification.
It is kind of gross and you learn about stuff you just probably wish you didn't know. I had to learn about all the parasites, bacteria, and viruses one can get from food - pretty much no more shellfish, Sushi definitely no Oysters and there was something else, apparently I am trying to block it from my memory already - not good my test is in an hour.

I started working this week - I got the job on campus but I am still looking because my allergies have gotten so bad since I started - I have that awful cough I get and I think it is because it is so musty and moldy in the bottom of this 200 year old building. I still haven't heard from the bakery which is what I really want ...keeping my fingers crossed!

Guess what?

If you see black flecks (that look like pepper) and smell a nasty oily smell - there could be cockroaches near by.....

I learned that in my Serve Safe class aren't you glad I shared my info

Still waiting on my grades - ugh!!! it is already past five and no grades how frustrating!

the day after

So I went to my interview this am (at the bakery) and they said they would let me know ....ugh! I started at the campus job and it is pretty much in the basement of this 2oo year old building, made of stone and guess what ...it makes me sick - there is mold every where - you can see it - I was wheezing and coughing the whole time. I won't leave though until I have something else no worries.

My other final I think I didn't do so well. I will know tomorrow what my grade is and hopefully I passed.
I have got to get back to class - miss ya all

And the good news I got my whites today ...Now I can dress up!

finals

So I just took my Math final and I think I did ok????
Now, well in a few minutes, my Food Science is the next hour and a half test yippeyy!

One would think we would have a short day or something right? No. They have decided to move up or Serve Safe class to start tonight and the final in that bacteria and sanitation filled class will be the end of class on Friday

So that means I actually will have a free weekend!! Thank the higher being!!

Oh, good news I got the job here on campus I start tomorrow and I have another interview at the bakery tomorrow as well, of course I have already confused the two and my first day start time is the same as my interview time...go me!

Saturday my day off?

So yes, it is a Saturday and technically i am off today but I have finals on Tuesday and papers due on Monday. One paper is on Marshmallows - at least it isn't on Peace Talks. The second paper is giving me a hard time I have to use 8 definitions in a paper on a baked good of my choosing separated into two categories Fats & Sugars. I think I am going to do a Pretzel. Why not? I guess I have been picking wacky topics because we talk about serious bread all day and croissants and what makes it so flaky and a good croissant over a bad one. It is just flour, water, salt yeast and maybe some butter. Everyone is so serious.
Yesterday, we took a little field trip to see a cheese maker it was out at Point Reyes, The Cowgirl Creamery. Great cheese and great business owners. They actually make vegetarian cheese by using a vegetarian rennet which is very rare. Not that the rennet is rare - just rare that a cheese maker is using a vegetarian rennet.
That is another thing you learn a whole lot about food that maybe you really didn't want to know. Like did you know that all, and I mean all sugar is put through a filtration process that involves bones? White, raw, all browns kind of crazy -oh, and that all brown was white and then sprayed with molasses it is easier and cheaper to just process all sugar at once then go back and make some into brown and light brown sugar.
So I finally took a break today and walked over to the Berringer Tasting room and did some tastings, used my student ID for a real nice discount(free) do not tell anyone. Then walked back to my place of residence and struggled with this Fats and Sugars paper. And now I am back in the computer lab I thought it might help sitting in front of the computer ...not so much
Well, I should get back to work missing you all :-)

week 2 almost over

First, here are some shut outs. Miss Emily, Happy Birthday from Auntie - I love you so much!!
Mandy, Happy Birthday to you! And to my little man Jordan your getting so big a Happy Happy Birthday to you as well.

So I am almost at the end of my second week. And this school is tough! They were not kidding when they said you should not work for the first three weeks - I don't see how you can and get all of your assignments done. I have not turned the TV the whole time I have been here (right before going to sleep doesn't count w/ sleep timer) to busy studying and getting homework done. Even on the weekend I had to study for my midterm and now this weekend will be the same ...but, for my final in Math and Science which are on Tuesday. I think the science one will be OK but the Math ...word problems definitely not my forte(sp?) One thing for sure you have to get over being the kind of student that wants all A's. In this short amount of time it is just not happening, at least not for me.
The food is kind of funny it definitely goes in cycles of what the hot side students are learning. Like this week at the beginning was smoked stuff - cheese was OK other things not to much (to much smoke flavor) and the rest of the week has been a lot of pork and sausage and some of it not so good. Maybe because the Pork Board is here as well. Desserts this week are from around the world and let me tell you why would anyone think that chocolate and curry go together? It was gross! I didn't mean to try it someone was asking what it was and looking at it I thought it would be lemon or an herb like Verbena no such luck.
I have met some really nice people in my class mainly girls. Apparently, baking and pastry lends itself to a student body of mainly females but, the hot side has mainly men and some cute ones at that. I study a lot with some girls that are in the same dorm and in my class there is Abby from LA, Anna (which we call Bananas) from San Diego , Sandy from Mass, Krista from Minn, Kristen from Mass, and Kristin & Julie from NY. The dorms are interesting the walls are very thin hence the TV with sleep timer. You can hear the person next to you talking on the phone and most of there conversation - weird. The bed is a lot to be desired I miss my bed that is sitting in storage. You can kind of feel the springs poking you definitely, not like my pillow top. The maid is pretty awesome - I do love that - she makes my bed once a week!
I have been looking for a job and there are some very well know bakeries that are hiring but they are kind of far (Napa, by car 20-30 min) so trying to figure out transportation has kind of been a pain. I think I might have to settle for a bit and just get anything until a bakery position opens up around here, St Helena. So I have applied to a couple of wineries and for a few positions here at Greystone.
My scholarship and grant search has paid off! When I got here I still owed 21,000 and now I am done to 15,000 so that is pretty amazing. :-)
It is very overwhelming & stressful at times and I am hoping that by the time we are out of the classroom next week that it will be more like I imagined cooking school to be. Cooking and baking stuff.
Love to you all miss you lots!

third day

So much homework! Holy shit! I have reading assignments out of 4 books and then the math class is several chapters a night and I am tired oh, and papers.
So for meals everyday I think the hot side cooks / students make a couple of different dishes that we all eat from kind of like family style. So when I first got here I decided that I would have the intentions that I would not be a picky eater and try everything. So last night was some sort of crazy spicy stir fry. It was good but I have not eaten red meat for just about a year now. I got so sick! All through class (because dinner hour is in the middle of one of my classes) I was concentrating so hard not to throw up. And as I was walking out the building I am thinking don't throw up on the castle. You can't be the girl that threw up on Greystone! So I made it back to my room and proceeded to throw up for the rest of the night ...so what was the lesson here...I am going to be a pick eater! I have a weak stomach and I can be a pick eater!