Concepts and Theories...

Yesterday was my first Concepts and Theories of Culinary Techniques class. I have it from 1-4 on Fridays. If any of you talk to me on any kind of regular basis, you will know that this conflicts with my nap schedule. I usually nap when the kids nap every single day. When I don't, around three o'clock my eyes are falling shut of their own accord. To combat this problem, I used the Starbucks gift card that Marc's brother, Chris, so graciously sent me and got a grande coffee in a venti cup. It kept me awake, but I still kept yawning every five seconds. Thankfully, the teacher was sitting behind me working the power point presentation.

I definitely think this will be my most challenging class. I learn best with the hands on approach, and this class is meant to go along with the Skills Lab that I was switched out of. There is one other student who was switched out as well and we both approached the teacher after class. We asked if we were at a disadvantage since we were not in the Skills Lab. He hesitated before saying that we weren't necessarily at a disadvantage but that we will probably have to study a little harder than everyone else. We will be ahead of the game, however, when we are in the Skills Lab in the future.

The other students already prepared chicken and beef stocks in the Skills Lab earlier in the week. They already have had the hands on experience of the preparing the carrots, celery, and onions in the corrects sizes for the different stocks. They have already had the experience of rinsing the bones or not rinsing the bones as well as roasting the bones for the stocks. They have hands on experience viewing and preparing the various terms for the various items and steps in preparing a stock. I am going to be just straight memorizing these things instead unless I try to make them on my own at home without a Chef present to correct any mistakes.

Memorizing wouldn't be quite so difficult if I had taken French instead of Spanish in High School. I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce most of these terms until I hear the Chefs pronounce them in class. I also have no idea what most of the terms themselves mean. I'm not talking about what they entail, I am talking about literal translation. Marc has downloaded a free Rosetta Stone for French and we are seriously contemplating working on it together. My only hesitation is that my brain, which has been a mommy brain for the last five years, is already being asked an awful lot. I don't want to overload it. I also don't want to take time away from studying the subjects that I am being graded on. We will see what we decide to do.

The class is with Chef Frost. Apparently, his dad's name was literally Jack. This led to some jovial ribbing about being named Jack Frost. He has entertaining mannerisms and he really does try to make the class fun. He started off the class yesterday with a mixer to help us get to know the other students. I discovered a fellow student who is a mechanic and will fix any problem for a case of beer, a girl who's boyfriend owns a tattoo shop, a guy who owned a restaurant that Marc and I have had conversations about down at the beach until it burned down a year and a half ago, and a girl who also has a tattoo on her collarbones that says, "To die would be an awfully big adventure."

Our homework for the week is to define a long list of vocabulary and to read the chapter on soups and sauces. At least now that I have the first class out of the way, I have a heads up on what is going to be discussed each week so I can come to class prepared. I don't know if I have mentioned in a previous post, but my goal seems to fit nicely here. I am going to strive to graduate summa cum laude. I am hoping this is possible. Some credits transferred over and I am not sure if those grades transferred and count towards my GPA. I am hoping that just the credit transferred and not the actual grade. If the grade transferred, I will not be able to graduate summa cum laude. I suppose I should ask someone about that. I have some other things I need to take care of in the office on Tuesday anyways, so I can probably ask then.

Have a good weekend! We do not have class Monday so I may not post again until Tuesday.