Finals-DONE!

Hello ya'll!!  Well, I made it through my second lab class!  It was a such a great experience, and I got the A-!!  Chef told me it's the highest grade any of his students have earned in long time.  Totally awesome feeling!!

Here are the pictures of my final baked goods...

Bear claws (puff pastry dough filled with almond cream)

Croissants

Side note:  For both of the recipes above I used Plugra butter.  Regular butter has 80% butterfat, about 16% water and the rest milk solids.  Plugra butter has 82% butterfat, which doesn't sound that much different, but it is!!  First of all, it is twice the cost of regular butter (so the school only got a case of it to use) and because it has less water, it results in more flavorful and flaky product (like with puff pastry and danish or croissant dough).  I don't know if it is available in the regular stores, but if you find it, try it out for a pastry recipe and see if you can tell a difference!

Gluten-free cheese bread (I had a little too much of a crust on the bottom, but the chef was happy with the flavor and the adjustments I made to the recipe)

Pumpkin quick bread (didn't have as much flavor as past times I made it, might have been the pumpkin I used that was about 6-7 days old after opened from the original can, which is about the limit)

Rustic bread (mix of bread, whole rye and whole wheat flours).  I tried to make clovers as my design since it was close to St. Patty's Day =)

So, now I am on Spring Break for two weeks (I know, I'm totally spoiled!!).  I have been working at the hospital at the end of the week, but otherwise been hanging out and enjoying my time off.

Went out on St. Patrick's Day and had a few of these bad boys!

Had some sushi over the weekend at this really good restaurant in Grand Haven called The Harbor (about 10 minutes south of Muskegon).  They have a great menu (check it out!)

Also, made an amazing dinner at my apartment with a friend over the weekend.  Here's what we created!

First, had some wine!!  It's from Cali and I swear I've seen this rock before at one of the parks off Highway 1, so had to get it!!

Some of the wine went into our homemade red sauce with roasted garlic and basil.  Then, in the front is my mushroom filling for ravoli

Making the raviolis

The final product-it was SO good!!

That's it for now!  I'll have another post soon!

Cheers and Chocolate Event

Hello family and friends!  Last weekend was the big fund-raiser for the school called Cheers & Chocolate, and it was an AMAZING time!!  I was lucky enough to have my mom, sis and bro-in-law travel from Ohio to come to the event and stay at my place for the weekend.  We were packed in my little apartment (along with Jasmine and Marley), but it was really, really fun!!
Since I am a 1st year student and don't have a lot of experience in the kitchen with fancier desserts, I volunteered to work the front of the house and got assigned the coat check room.  I had to stay in the room the whole time, but the fam came by a few times to give me updates and show me the amazing food that was available.  I gave them my camera to document what was happening-here's what they saw!

Desserts going out on the first floor

A view from above

Kevin (in blue) and mom (to the left of K) in my classroom!

Another really packed room!

Kevin and Nena enjoying some treats!

Dessert close-ups!!

This is made out of chocolate... seriously amazing!!

Mom, Nena, and Kevin taking a break in the coat check room!

Here I am with Rusty, another student who coordinated all front of the house volunteers. He did a great job!!

Nena recovering on my couch with the pups =)

The whole experience was so great... I'm looking forward to creating some of the amazing desserts for next year!!  And, anyone can come, by the way =)...

So, this week in class we worked on our final recipes which we will create next week!!  I can't believe how fast this quarter has gone!  Monday will be the written final and product ID (more identifying foods and equipment in the bake shop), then Tuesday and Wednesday we will bake our 5 recipes for the chef to grade (he will look for uniformity and taste).  Here's what I have been working on:

We have to make one "diet" item.  I'm making this bread, which is gluten-free with cheddar cheese.  It's actually not TOO bad, but just not quite the same as regular bread.  

These is the assembly of my bear claws: puff pastry dough filled with an almond paste cream

Here they are right out the oven!

I'm also making croissants.  These are the first ones I made...  The feedback I got the chef: the ends need to be tucked better underneath and they needed a few more minutes in the oven.

I will also be making pumpkin quick bread and round rustic bread loaves.  I'll be sure to share those pics next week, they're for all the marbles!!  I also had mom take a pic of me in my uniform (sans my "funny hat" according to my sister!)

In other news, I have been training at the hospital for a few weeks now and everything is going good.  The other RD's are really nice, so I hope to make some friends!  It's a good balance from class and dietitians seem to be pretty well-respected which is always nice!
After next week, I have two weeks off from school for Spring Break.  I will be working, but plan on visiting Nena and helping her get stuff done around the house in preparation for baby Loughrin!!  And, I hope to visit with my family!!
Have a great week everyone!