what could be better than chocolate?

Well it's getting kind of sad that the semester is almost over, but our Ingredients book definitely saved the best chapter for last.....CHOCOLATE!  Next week is finals review and then we are done, so this week we didn't have to do any experiments.  We made all the recipes exactly how they were intended, so for once everything was edible and delicious.  Each group made a different recipe, so we were all definitely on chocolate overload by the time we were done tasting, but it was completely worth it.  My group made flourless chocolate cake, which I had never tried before.  I am the opposite of gluten-free, so I never had much interest - but that has changed now.  It was like a fudgier, denser, brownie.  And once I scooped some of the other group's chocolate mousse on it and snuck a couple raspberries from the other kitchen, it was the best lunch I've had all semester.  If you are gluten-free, this is a great alternative and very easy to make.  And even if you aren't, it was very tasty!

So now I can't wait until summer semester when I will have a class all about chocolate. 

In breads class, we did some interesting breads from around the world that I had never tried (or even heard of a few of them).  Our group made panettone and Georgian Khachapuri, which was the big hit of the day.  It was a really tasty dough, shaped almost like a popover, with a filling of cheddar cheese with salt and plenty of black pepper.  Anything with cheese is a big hit in our class - second only to chocolate!  And the switch to savory was much needed after all the sugar earlier in the day.

Georgian Khachapuri

So I'm a little nervous about finals, we haven't really had any tests in the baking classes, just quizzes so far.  It's hard to know what to study for a written test when everything you do in class is hands on.  But either way, I am really excited for next semester and to move on to my next classes!

happy thanksgiving!

I want to start this post by saying how thankful I am for all of the amazing things in my life this year.  This has been a huge year for Trevor and I - got engaged, got married, changed a career, and hopefully we will close on our first house in about two weeks.  I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and the best month and a half of marriage yet.  I am thankful for all of the family members I have been lucky to have my whole life, and for all of the family members I was lucky enough to gain this year.  And I am thankful to have a chance to follow a dream and to have the support of all these people, especially Trev, along the way.  To anyone who reads this blog, you have no idea how grateful I am for all of your support and encouragement.  And I can't forget Cane - the best kitty in the world and some really wonderful company on days when I get a little lonely so far from home.  

Part of our decision to stay here in Florida for Trevor's job meant we were pretty much giving up holidays with our families.  This was probably the hardest part for me, and I was really worried that I would have a really hard time sitting at home on Thanksgiving and Christmas while Trevor was at work and my family was 500 miles away celebrating.  We have committed to creating our own traditions, but I still knew it would be really hard, especially this first year.  So I was really excited to get an invitation to our friends' house in Tampa, a much shorter drive and one we can actually make once Trevor gets off work.  It also meant I could bake - since I can't really justify three pies for just the two of us. 

So enough of the sappy stuff, here's the fun stuff!  Wait, one more thing I am grateful for - recipes passed down from my Mom and Grandma.

Mini apple pies - this is Grandma's recipe, only smaller.  (I only have two pie pans, so I decided to take a little bit of a risk - only lost two trying to get them out of the muffin pan!) 

Pecan pie - this one is Mom's recipe, and my personal Thanksgiving favorite:

And finally, buttermilk pie.  This is something we never ate at my house, and that I actually tried for the first time with Trevor's family.  I loved it, so I searched for a recipe and finally settled on this one:

Alright, gotta get back in the kitchen and make the most important part of Thanksgiving - the homemade whipped cream!  My first and favorite job in my Mom's kitchen - and I can't stress how much better it is than the store-bought.  If you have never made homemade whipped cream, PLEASE try it - it is so easy and sooo worth it!  Have a wonderful holiday!

croissants - the first AND last time

Well I haven't posted in a couple weeks because we have been working on a recipe at school that took two weeks.  That's right, two six-hour classes, a week apart, to complete.  As delicious as croissants are, they take a LOT of time and steps to make.  I don't know if it was worth it, but I will say a croissant fresh out of the oven is WAY better than from the store.  So maybe, just maybe, one day I will decide to make these again for a special occasion. 

It's actually a really interesting process, and until we did it, I had no idea how croissants (and puff pastry and danishes) were made.  Because they are laminated doughs, the dough is actually separate from the fat and then the fat (butter) is enclosed ("locked-in") to the dough through a series of folding and rolling.  That's what creates those oh-so-yummy layers.  It starts out as one layer of dough and one of butter, but as you continue folding it and rolling it out, becomes many many more. 

The slow part is that in between each fold, it has to chill for about 30 minutes.  And then it has to chill at least overnight before baking (this is really why it took us two classes).  But at the end, we had amazing croissants (and chocolate croissants!) to show for all of our work and waiting.

Just look at those layers!!

Here are a few other things we have been doing in class since my last post:

And a few things I have done at home:

fun homework is the best kind!

Not much to write about today, but I spent most of the day working on my project (remember, where I get to plan my dream bakery??), and I got really wrapped up in the fun parts.  We had a few boring weeks of costing and pricing recipes, workflow design, etc... but now I am starting on the fun part!  Front of house design... and since this isn't for real, I can pick whatever I want!  So here is the "mood board" I created for my furniture, serveware, etc.  Also, the FOH layout that is not quite as exciting to look at due to my limitations in Excel, but gives a better idea of where everything goes (kinda have to follow my color coding and use your imagination!).  Enjoy!

drumrollll...pizza day!!

Ok so maybe we didn't get to toss the pizza dough up in the air or anything (I may or may not have tried at one point and gotten a very stern look from Chef Tony...), but it was still pretty exciting when we found out it was finally pizza day in breads class!  Making the dough from scratch was already exciting enough, but it is super fun to pick any toppings you want from a well-stocked kitchen.  Especially when you just made ricotta cheese in Ingredients class and then your group gets picked to make the pizza sauce from scratch!  (Ok, anybody who knows me knows I hate ricotta cheese, but it was still fun to learn how to make it - even if it took our group a few tries!)

Here are a few pictures of the process - I didn't get any while we were cooking it, but here it is straining, then mixed with sugar and orange water for a filling for pastries.  The point of making the cheese was learning about milk and milk products (lesson of the week), but I guess we had to bake something, so we turned them into these cute little pastries.  This was the first time I had used phyllo dough and I really had fun folding them up - so much fun I went home and tried it with taco meat for filling instead (see below for pictures).  It wasn't as fun after about 12 (for anybody that has never used it, it is very very delicate, tears easily, and can't be left out at all or it will dry up - so you start with one sheet, cover the rest, brush with butter, lay another sheet on top, cover the rest, brush with butter...so on and so on, and that only gets you enough to cut up 3 of the size I made at home!)

(We ended up using mozzarella on our pizza, but a couple other groups used our ricotta on theirs.)

So to sum it up, we made ricotta cheese in the morning, then in the afternoon we made the pizza dough and pizza sauce.  And then of course we added toppings, baked it, and ate it!  Yum!  I almost didn't have room for our standard Monday night Chipotle.  And then after all the pizza making and eating, we also made Challah bread - but we ran out of time, so we didn't get to taste it.  No worries, we are going to turn it into french toast next week!  Chef Tony told the class that if we could figure out a six-strand braid, we would get ten points extra credit.  I got really frustrated after two tries and gave up, but luckily my group stuck it out and made this beautiful braid!  A few other groups got it too, but ours was the prettiest (if I do say so myself).

All of the groups' challah...ours is bottom left.

Oh yeah, and here are a few other things I have been trying out at home in my free time:

classes catch-up!

I managed to fall really behind on my blogging, so here is a quick update of some of the recipes we have done over the past couple of weeks in my classes. 

Two weeks ago was pie dough in Baking and Ingredients, and then more yeast breads in Specialty Breads:

And then this past week was meringue day in Ingredients, and more..yeast..breads... in Breads.  (I think we move on to something else next week!!)  Ingredients was fun because every group did a different recipe, so we got to taste lots of yummy treats!  I have to admit I was a little jealous of the group who made creme anglaise and then used it for an ice cream base!

The focus for the country bread recipe was different shapes.  We tried a "fleur," but it turned out looking more like a spaceship...ahh well.  It was still tasty!


Another quick update, I registered for next semester's classes this week and I am very excited!  My schedule looks great and all of my baking classes sound very intriguing:  Pastry Techniques; Cookies, Tarts & Friandises; Basic & Classical Cakes and Pastries.  Can't wait!!  But I need to focus on making it through this semester first :)

I also finally tried out a recipe from school at home this week.   I made focaccia bread for Trevor and I and topped it with a homemade basil pesto, asiage cheese, and thinly sliced tomatoes and red onions.  It turned out very tasty, but it over-proofed like crazy!  It was supposed to proof for two hours, and within 45 minutes it had already doubled in size.  I hurried to shape it and get it in the oven, but it still baked up huge.  I'm not sure what I did differently, I even checked the temperature in our apartment.  Oh well, guess that's why Chef Tony tells us to practice, practice, practice at home!  Better to work out these kinks now before I open my bake shop....

THE cake

I haven't been doing much baking myself the past couple weeks due to wedding and honeymoon, but since this is a blog about baking, I had to dedicate one post to the most amazing wedding cake I have ever tasted, thanks to Pawley's Island Bakery!

When I originally went for the cake tasting, I thought I was pretty much going to have to pick one flavor of cake and one flavor of icing.  As much as I love cake, that was going to be pretty tough.  Since Trevor couldn't go tasting with me, I was going to have to rely on knowing what he likes, my discerning sweet tooth, and my mom's help (and her favorite is raspberry, the one flavor Trev ruled out!).

When we got there, we were told that not only could we pick a different flavor of cake for each tier, but we could pick three different flavors of filling for each cake flavor.  This made it even more exciting, but no less challenging!  All of the flavors were delicious, and here are the combinations I finally narrowed it down to:

Bottom Tier:  Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache, Strawberry Mousse with Fresh Strawberries, and Chocolate Mousse

Middle Tier:  Lemon Cake with Peach Mousse, White Chocolate Mousse, and more Peach Mousse

Top Tier:  Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Filling, Lemon Mousse, and Cream Cheese Filling

Needless to say, I continued to dream about the cake in the months between the tasting and the wedding, building it up to an expectation no average cake would be able to fulfill.  However, this cake was anything but average and it turned out even better than I expected!  Even if I almost had a heart attack when I saw it being delivered 5 minutes before the wedding instead of the planned two hours before (apparently everybody else knew it was arriving late but didn't want me to stress out). 

And it turned out beautiful too, exactly how I had pictured - and even decorated with the extra flowers from the ones I made for the bouquets.  Can't wait till our first anniversary when we get to eat it again! (Well, the peach layer at least!) I highly recommend picking a bakery who will make you an extra anniversary cake so that you don't have to worry about trying to save any during the wedding.

The obligatory feeding-each-other-cake picture! 



My mom cutting the cake...she's getting to be an expert!



too many carbs for wedding week!

So I didn't think I would have any extra time for blogging this week, but I am way too antsy to sit still, and I was really excited about some of my pictures from the last week, so here they are!

In Ingredients class, we experimented with different flours again, and also with different types and amounts of fat in Honey Wheat Bread.  My group had the original recipe, and it turned out really yummy.

Then in Breads class, we made more bread, similar to last week with a lean dough recipe, but we got to try two new shapes, that I think turned out really pretty.

We also made focaccia bread, and my group ended up making two recipes because we made a mistake in the first.  I was really excited because we got to choose toppings for the focaccia (always fun to raid the fridge in a very well-stocked kitchen!), and when both of our doughs turned out okay, we got to choose two different combos. 

For the first one, we put the toppings on top like the original recipe called for, and then to switch it up on the other, we mixed the toppings inside the dough and formed it into loaves instead.  Needless to say, I ate a LOT of bread yesterday!  Between the bread baking and all of the different toppings that different groups were using, that kitchen smelled ah-mazing.

Oh and a quick follow-up from last week - I did go back and try that butter/almond cake recipe in cupcake form.  I ended up making a lemon-amaretto buttercream to frost them, but I couldn't really taste the amaretto.  Still, some of my favorite flavors and I really liked the combination.  I'll definitely use this recipe again when I am looking for something other than chocolate - not often, I know.

week 5

I was really excited to find out what we were making this week in my classes because I knew we had another experiment in Ingredients, and we were finished with quickbreads in Breads and moving on to yeast breads! 

In Ingredients class, we made Butter Cake (after tasting it, I would name it Almond Cake - it has a lot of almond flavoring, which I love!  I'm going to try it in cupcake form with some lemon buttercream icing, yummm)  The experiment part was that every group used a different kind of flour, so each cake had a different amount of protein/gluten.  My group had bread flour, which actually didn't turn out bad.  It was a lot more dense than a regular cake texture, but it was still pretty tasty (the whole wheat group didn't get so lucky).  There were a lot of variations, including cake flour, pastry flour, semolina, and a few others - I was only able to get pictures of a few. 

I thought I was going to be able to resist eating all the goodies we are making, but I am having trouble for a few reasons -
          1. We can't take anything home or give it away, so except for a few items they save for the school bake sale, it all goes in the trash.  And I really hate wasting food, so I find myself eating as much as I can just to save it from the garbage. 
          2.  We usually take stuff out of the oven right around 11 am, which is EXACTLY when my 6 am bagel starts to wear off.  It's really hard to get excited about my sandwich and apple when there is a whole cake sitting in front of me.  Definitely going to have to work on that, or I am going to get really huge, really fast.

Then in Breads class, we started on yeast breads.  I was really excited for this because I think it is really impressive to make fresh bread by hand, plus I just plain love bread.  We made soft yeast rolls and French/Italian bread in baguettes.  Although it was easier than I thought (my wrists didn't agree the next day, students aren't allowed to use mixers to knead dough), turns out I do not love the smell of a yeast dough.  Again, something I'm going to have to work on, because the finished product is definitely worth it. 

On a side note, I got a 96 on my first test in Food & Bev Management class - really glad about that, I was kinda nervous.  The material isn't hard, but it has been a long time since I had taken a test!

Oh yeah, and I probably won't be blogging for a couple weeks, seeing as how the wedding is in 10 DAYS!!  Between all the prep and then the honeymoon, I'm thinking the blog is going to get forgotten for a little while.  But I'll be back!

now we're cookin'

I'm so glad we are finally baking, and not just because I was tired of taking notes.  We did our first "experiment" in Ingredients class this week, which I was really looking forward to.  One of the main themes of that class is to learn the "what" and "how" of baking, but also the "why."  This means we get to do some pretty interesting tests of baking theories and practices over the semester so that we can really understand why we are using a certain ingredient, formula, method, etc. 

We are still in the mixing methods section, so this week we experimented with changing up the mixing method of a recipe.  Since it's a shorter class, each group only had one recipe, but there were a few different ones throughout the class.  My group had brownies! (ok, we might have special-requested that one)  The recipe was written using the creaming method (defined by creaming (duh) the butter and sugar together to add air).  Then we had an alternate recipe that was exactly the same, except we had to melt the butter before adding it - no creaming, obviously. 

Here are a couple pictures of our final products.  The main difference between the two brownies was the texture.  The brownies using melted butter cooked up really fast around the edges, but never finished cooking in the middle (we had to take them out because class was ending).  Although I have to say, I am tempted to make them that way once in a while and then scoop out the middle and put it on some vanilla ice cream.  It definitely wasn't your standard brownie, but it was still pretty yummy - and extra gooey and dense.  We probably won't be so lucky when we get to the experiments that involve adding too much baking soda, etc.

Anyways, I'm really excited for all of the experiments - a great way to learn, but not nearly as frustrating as making these mistakes at home.  And it never hurts to have a plate of brownies warm out of the oven right when it's time for your lunch break...

And in Specialty Breads, we moved on to the Muffin Method of mixing.  We made Zucchini Bread, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Morning Glory Muffins (a yummy mix of apple, carrot, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and oats).  Another group made Olive Oil Muffins, which had both olive oil and balsamic vinegar in the recipe.  I expected them to be a little bit weird, but they were actually pretty delicious!  I'm going to have to try that recipe at home...

finally baking!

We finally got to bake in Specialty Breads class this Monday, and I was really excited.  The first day, we didn't bake in either of my hands-on classes, and then the second week of class was Labor Day, so it felt like forever when we finally got in the kitchen on Monday. We had to break out into teams of 3, and my team was great, we worked really well together.  Hi Lauren and Beth if you're reading this!

This week we were studying the biscuit method of mixing, so we made Cheddar and Herb Biscuits (with herbs picked fresh from the herb garden outside of the building), Chocolate Scones, and Irish Soda Bread. 

The biscuits were awesome, even if I ate one a little too soon (turns out we're supposed to wait till the end of the class, whoops!).  In fact, at the end of the class, Chef Tony even said our team's biscuits came out the best!  Pretty exciting for our first day.  And anything with chocolate has to be good, right?  So I ate two of the scones (I have a feeling there won't be much supper getting eaten on Monday nights from now on).

I didn't get to taste the Irish Soda Bread, but I didn't really want to...it had both raisins and caraway seeds, and I'm not really a fan of either.  It looked good though!

We didn't have time to the taste the bread because it didn't come out of the oven until about ten minutes after class was over.  Apparently everybody else made all three recipes at once, we did them one at a time.  Maybe we were the last ones to finish, but I didn't mind because that way we all got to work on each recipe. 

Next week is the muffin method, plus we should get to bake in my Ingredients class too.  Can't wait to see what we make!

sweet alyssum cake & bake shop

One of the reasons I was excited to choose the Valencia program instead of a strictly culinary school was classes like the one I am taking on Wednesdays, Food and Beverage Management.  While the textbook and the subject matter so far are a little dry (and mostly stuff I already know from working in food service for years...), the really exciting part about this class is the project.

The project takes you through all 16 weeks, and you basically dream up your ideal restaurant concept, and then come up with a business plan.  There are going to be some more difficult steps during the rest of the semester (calculating food cost and then pricing menu items, coming up with front of the house and back of the house layouts, etc), right now is the really fun part - coming up with a concept, logo, and menu.

Today in class we had to present our basic concept - and there were more than a handful of bake shops (that's ok, I can handle a little competition!), but there was also tropical Caribbean restaurants, gastro-pubs, a pizzeria styled after a Brazilian steakhouse, and a lot of other really interesting ideas.  I think at least 98% of the world is nervous to stand up and speak in front of a bunch of strangers, so of course I was a little scared for that part, but I had so much fun designing my logos - yes, that's plural.  I had trouble deciding between two different names and logos, so I posted them to Facebook to ask for a little feedback from my super-supportive friends and family (thank you guys! you have no idea how awesome you have all been!), and then I took them both to class to take a vote there too.  Turns out, one of them won by a landslide in both votes!  So, drumrolllll....

Sweet Alyssum is the winner!  If you aren't familiar, Sweet Alyssum is a flower (hence the logo...duh) that my name is derived from.  I did end up changing the color from purple because I didn't want it to be too overly feminine.  Thanks again to everybody who helped me decide.

So after we presented our concepts today, our next assignment is to come up with our menu.  No prices yet, but we have to choose ten items (that's what the asterisks are for) to carry through the project that we will write recipes, calculate cost, price, etc.  Well I'm a nerd and lately I have WAY too much time on my hands, so I started as soon as I got home from school.  I can't even explain how different it is to be so excited about schoolwork - I don't think I even realized that was possible the first time around.  So here's what I've got so far - but it is set up in brochure format, so you have to use your imagination and pretend that it is printed 2-sided and then folded in thirds.  As usual, feedback is mucho appreciated! 

one of my MANY inspirations

This post is kind of random, but we broke down and got a new computer this week (another story for another day...) and that meant I had to transfer all of my pictures over.  During that process, I found some great pictures I took of my Grandma baking last year (Thanksgiving, I think).  I am super lucky to have had both a Mom and Grandma who were constantly in the kitchen and always let us kids help out if we wanted. 

I'm saving  a post on Mom until Christmas cookie time, but I couldn't resist sharing a few of these pictures of Grandma in the kitchen with a couple of her signature recipes - apple pie and of course, the sweet rolls she makes by hand for every holiday.  Oh, and the picture above is her making celery and gorgonzola dip, another holiday favorite - I know that's not a baked good, but I just loved that picture.

Grandma's obvious specialty is homemade pasta (specifically tortellinis), but my favorite thing to make with her are the sweet rolls that we have for Thanksgiving (perfect for leftover turkey sandwiches) and Christmas every year.  The recipe has a lot of steps, including letting the dough rise, which means lots of time to sit around and talk in between.  It's also fun to come up with all the different shapes, braids, twists, spirals - every year, it feels like a new recipe even though she has made it for decades (one time she showed me the recipe card that she still uses every time she makes them - I think the date on it was in the 1950s). 

Grandma is one of those people that likes to show her love through food - and every time she cooks for us, it definitely shows.  She used to always have homemade cookies in the house for Grandpa, and every time I came home from college, she sent me back with a care package of cookies, chicken broth, parmesan cheese and small shell pasta (the last three are probably my favorite meal ever!) 

She's also a little bit old-fashioned - she likes to do things the way she knows how, even if it takes longer.  It took us months to get her to use her Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.  But I won't argue with her - she's one of the best bakers I know.  And she makes the best apple pie I have ever had!


Grandma teaching me the steps to the perfect apple pie



The finished product... yum!

 And a few more pictures of my grandparents just because....

survived my first day!

Well I was VERY nervous the night before and hardly slept at all, but I made it through my first day of classes yesterday!  Mondays are my longest day of class as well as my hands-on baking day, which means.... super awesome uniform!

Oh yeah, those are hounds-tooth pants!  Everybody has to wear the same, super-strict uniform - including long sleeve chef coat, baggy pants, non-slip black shoes, apron, and white hat.  And sadly, no jewelry - which means I can't wear my engagement ring.  I expected that part, but it's still a little tough to take my ring off, I haven't even had it that long!

Luckily, the chef-instructor had emailed us the guidelines early, so I had time to order extra-small ladies' cut online - which is waaay better than the 3XLs that were in stock at the uniform store.  But his emails made him sound really strict (he expects to never see a wrinkle), which had me even more nervous for class - especially because I was pretty sure that I had ordered the wrong hat.  The guidelines said white hat.  Do you know how many varieties of white hats there are on chef uniform websites??

So even though I was really excited that the day was finally here, I was still nervous to head to school Monday morning, and just preparing myself to get chewed out for the wrong hat, too-long fingernails, or something else I had missed.  But as it turns out,  there were people with no uniform at all, no book, and no knife kit.  (That's what I'm holding in the photo - my baking "kit" - knives, spatulas, measuring cups, pastry and decorating tools, and lots of other fun stuff.)  So I felt way better - and he said my hat was ok, even though he thinks it makes me look like I just had brain surgery.

So on top of already being nervous, I got to class early and started talking to the other people waiting in the hall outside the classroom (the uniforms definitely make it easy to spot the other culinary students on campus...), and started hearing horror stories.  Apparently the chef had a few horrible reviews on the professor-rating websites, and some people who had taken his class before compared him to Chef Gordon Ramsey.  Now I developed some pretty thick skin in construction, but if he calls me a donkey or a cow, I might just cry. 

Apparently there was even a rumor going around school that someone made him mad in class, so he calmly took his chef jacket off, beat the kid bloody, calmly put his jacket back on and went back to lecturing.  According to him, it's just a crazy rumor that developed after someone cursed at him and he told them to get the f*** out of class.  Whew - this could be a long semester.  Especially because he is the instructor for both of my classes on Mondays - Baking Ingredients & Technology from 8-10:50 and Specialty Breads from 11-4:50.  But he actually seemed pretty nice in person, had a great sense of humor about all the horror stories, and just has high expectations for his students (ok, I can handle that...).

Well, the Ingredients class is all brand new students like me, so it was easy to get talking to people and start making friends right away.  We jumped right into lectures on types of flour, gluten strands, and a lot of other technical stuff.  No kitchen time this week, though, just introduction.

Specialty Breads has a few people carried over from the morning class, plus a few people who have taken classes with him before.  We were supposed to make biscuits the first day, but the ovens weren't working! Very disappointed about that, but we got to explore the kitchen and check out all the commercial equipment.  I have worked in a LOT of restaurants, but always front of the house.  So I have seen all this stuff before, but never actually used any of it.  The first three weeks of lessons are on quickbreads - biscuits, muffins, etc - some of my favorites, so I am really excited and ready to get baking.  I wish Labor Day didn't mean it will be TWO weeks until my next baking class.... 

So over all the first day was great.  We even got to sample some awesome cookies (I guess from another class) during one of our breaks - YUM!  Tomorrow I have Food and Beverage Management - no uniform or hands-on baking for that one, and my other two classes are online.  Oh, and quick update - everybody else was right, I was wrong - I definitely wasn't the oldest person in my classes.  There were a lot of people close to my age and a few older.   I knew it was a silly concern, but I definitely feel better.  I'm actually really excited to get to know the people in my classes, we obviously have some common interests!

a few campus shots... the classroom/kitchen we were in are in a beautiful new building, sitting right by a pretty pond - made for a very nice spot to sit and eat my lunch :)

what I'm most scared about..

I would be delusional to act like this is going to be all easy breezy along the way.   So I've decided to be completely honest about it all and share some of the things I am most scared about - maybe it'll even be therapeutic to get it all out.

      1. What if I'm not any good at this?
    Obviously, I wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't gotten really great feedback on my baking so far.  But that doesn't stop the doubts from sneaking up some times - I mean, when I think about it, my biggest fans so far have been Trev, the kitty, and the guys at the plant.  Let's be honest, Trev can't say anything bad - he wouldn't dare.  And I'm pretty sure the guys at the plant would eat anything you put in front of them.  The kitty, on the other hand, has an impeccable palate, so I know his opinion is legit. 

Anyways, I hope all of the rave reviews have been real and the people who have told me "you should open a bakery!" over the last year have really meant it.  It's still a little scary to go from doing something with very black and white answers to doing something completely creative and subjective.

    2. Depending on someone else to support me.
     I want to be really clear here that this is not a comment on Trevor's ability to support us - I don't doubt that at all.  But for anyone that knows me, I am a control FREAK with multiple other neuroses.  I think that me being able to step back and trust him to support us financially will be the first big challenge of our marriage.  But we've been talking about it nonstop and I think he is ready to let me be a crazy person about it, and I'm ready to try my hardest to relax and trust in what I already know - that he is going to be a wonderful husband and provider.  So I think we will be able to find a way to handle this big change - but it's still scary!  And on a side note, he did this exact same thing two years ago when we moved here for my job - quit his job and moved to another state to be with me.  I've always been grateful (we couldn't take the long distance much longer) but now that I am in the same position, I am way more impressed with him doing that for our relationship.

    3. Being the oldest person in all my classes.
     This might seem silly, but I'm actually pretty nervous about this one.  Granted I'm still pretty young, but I'm just picturing walking into a class full of 18-year-olds and feeling completely out of place.  When I went to pick up my tools at the campus bookstore yesterday, I think I was the only person who wasn't there with their mom.... I guess this is a hazard of going to a regular college with a culinary program instead of a strictly culinary school, but I hope I can find a way to relate to my classmates and even make some friends.

    4. Losing the fun in baking.
     I love baking.  I love finding new recipes, making a huge mess in the kitchen trying them out, and then eating and sharing my experiments.  But I'm nervous that between school and hopefully working part-time in a bakery, it'll turn into just work and no fun.  I'm pretty sure I love it enough to do it all day every day, but it's definitely not the same as a hobby.  I'll just have to find ways to keep it fun and not let it turn into a chore.

    5. Gaining 100 pounds.
     This one's pretty self-explanatory.  We are really going to have to watch ourselves with the whole eating-the-homework part of this.


Ok, got it out of my system.  Hope this didn't come off as too negative, I am absolutely excited about my decision and can't wait to get started.  But I would be lying if I said I was sure 100% of the time that I am making the right choice.

And on a brighter note, I've been going through old pictures to try to find some of my all-time favorite recipes.  Here's a few I've found so far!

my last day

So today was my last day at Zachry.  Very bittersweet - I have been counting the days for so long and I am so excited to get started on the next chapter - but it is hard to say goodbye.  Plus it's a little unnerving to be unemployed for the first time in three years - especially in this economy.  In fact, I haven't been without a job for more than a week since freshman year of college.  I actually woke up about two hours early, feeling really anxious.  I'm not sure why, I guess just the thought of my last day - making sure I haven't forgotten to take care of anything - and the finality of it.  No turning back now! 

I made peanut butter pie for yesterday for my last day favorite - figured things would be too crazy today with the dedication ceremony and everything.  Not really much baking involved, but something I have always loved.  My recipe is inspired by Molly's famous peanut butter pie at The Islander in Pendleton, SC, but she never would give me the secret recipe.  Plus mine has a chocolate layer, so it is a little bit different. 

But then last night I made two batches of snickerdoodle muffins I found on Tasty Kitchen (well technically I made three - I completely forgot the eggs and vanilla on the first run even though they were sitting on the counter - didn't scroll over far enough on my phone screen.  Guess I better get used to mistakes and experiments, huh?).  I used their recipe but as usual, I substituted Splenda for sugar (only in the batter, not on the cinnamon-sugar topping), fat free sour cream, and margarine instead of butter.  I brought those for our last morning meeting with the whole team.  They turned out delicious! 

Cane is NOT happy that he can't have a muffin.

So I've got to be a little nostalgic and post couple picture of the plant - it was just a field when we showed up in March 2009, and now it is an operating power plant.  This was a great experience and I will really miss a lot of it.  I have learned so much - and some of it I am sure I will be able to use in my bakery too.  Everybody teases me about developing budgets, spreadsheets, tracking tools and reports, etc for my own business after doing it here for so long, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist.  I already have ideas for a few of the spreadsheets.  (And yes, I have scheduled out my degree plan for all four semesters already).

So anyways, this chapter is over.  I'll admit I got a little misty-eyed driving out of the gate for the last time.  I'm ready to move on but have no regrets - this was one of the best learning and growing experiences I could have wished for.  Thanks everybody for EVERYTHING!