Sugar Related Mischief & Other Musings on Life

Our pastry section is coming to a close and quite frankly I am ready to go back to cooking. Baking is too precise, too much measuring and too much sugar. Not that I haven't enjoyed learning the techniques and adding some great desserts to my repertoire, but I think the whole class is tired of the sugar highs and subsequent crashes. Last nights class was a little wacky and I blame sugar. It was the first lesson we've had in a week or so where we actually had time to stop and eat dinner as opposed to shoveling it in our faces while watching Chef Nic demo pastry cream for the 10th time. We also had extra time after the break where Chef was nowhere to be found and it totally reminded me of elementary school when the teacher has to step out of the classroom for a second and all hell breaks loose. The volume increased by 300 and I thought a food fight might break out. The rum used to flavor one of our souffles may have made it into some coffee cups and this group of adults, some of whom are lawyers and bankers were acting like spastic little kids who have been pent up inside on a rainy day. Maybe there was a full moon, but I'm pretty sure it was the sugar and the strict rules of working with it. Whatever it was, it was a fun class and I'm happy to be stuck with this group.

Last night's instruction was on souffles and mousses and it was probably one of my favorites of the pastry section. We made a heavenly and intense chocolate mousse, a chocolate souffle, a souffle flavored with Grand Marnier, a cheese souffle and then I think the last one was a fruit souffle, but my poor partner did most of that one because I was too busy bopping around the room on a sugar pogo stick. The souffle lesson ended uncharacteristically early, which led to drinks after class (AGAIN) and I am realizing that I really have to learn to say no once in a while. I have appointed myself Activities Director of our class, so I do feel a certain responsibility in fulfilling the role, but this is ridiculous. Someone told me it would be exhausting living here and they were right, whoever that was.

We have a test Friday on our last 6 lessons and then we move on to a section on nutrition. In flipping through the text, it looks like we are going to be covering the composition of food, nutrients, vitamins and label reading. There are a few interesting things about these 3 lessons. The first being that there are only a handful of recipes and we are accustomed to preparing and plating anywhere from 4 - 10 dishes in each class, so I have no clue how we are going to spend 5 hours talking about macronutrients and making one dish of striped bass over lentils. There has to be a catch. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a stool to appear at my station. The second is that I find it ironic that in these 3 lessons we are only able to produce 6 recipes that are healthy. It's like you take away the butter, egg yolks and duck fat and the French are rendered useless. I think Friday will also bring the end of my partnership with the quarterback, who has been awesome by the way. Easy to work with, absorbs everything from the demo and is patient when I pepper him with questions. We'll see who my next kitchen companion will be, regardless, I'm sure it will be memorable.

Speaking of memories, we are headed to Buffalo for Labor Day, 8 years to the day we rolled into town with almost no cash and no clue what we were getting in to. It should be a fantastic weekend catching up with old friends and family, returning to our favorite spots, and of course, chowing on as many chicken wings as we can handle. It's hard not to relive my emotions of that first week in Buffalo, when reality set in and then I broke out in hives. It's also tough not to be satisfied with the path our life has taken since and to wonder what the next 8 years will bring. Whatever it is, I am enjoying this part right now. Happy Labor Day!