#93 - Finally! The wait is over...

Today was a day of tears:  tears of stress, tears of nervous anticipation, tears of worry and unalloyed terror and finally...tears of relief.


Yes, it's official - I passed both of my practical exams although the Patisserie one was a very near thing.  It wasn't anywhere near what I would have called even a good effort in terms of technique, having done every single element better previously (and actually, same for the Cuisine final) - but it was done and it was enough to get me through.  I heard someone who is progressing through the levels tell someone else that now they are nervous - well, I can't help the tears which came with the relief of finally knowing, one way or the other.


The rundown
Friday's Patisserie was a nightmare.  It started with a dream during the night in which I was already in my exams, but then I woke up and I actually had to do it.  Who knows how long the dream lasted, but I was working on my sable biscuits in it - and in that odd, dreamlike way that time passes, it seemed like it had been going for days.


It was time to get equipment and things ready for the exam room - my bag had been packed the night before and all extraneous knives had been removed from my knife kit.  Eventually found the bread knife and the cleaver I had removed for the Cuisine final - in a box with odds and ends when I tidied up my room.  See, it might look more tidy with things put away, but then I can't get my hands on things so tidy is not the same as organized.


The first 3 hours of my exam were great - the brioche was done on time and proving in the prover (although I had initially written down the wrong time, I had written the start time so it was easy to fix) and the sable dough was done.  The bain maries were set up for the chocolates, my lemons zested, juiced and on the stove, ready to start reducing when we were allowed to turn on the heat and the raspberries with the sugar on another burner, ready to go for the jelly.  They have a rule that in the 1st hour, you may not turn on your stoves.


Turned the stove on as soon as I was allowed to so that things could do what they needed to do.  I set up my tray for the truffles (paper, wire rack) and baking trays for the jaconde biscuit (the cake sponge for my dessert) and tuiles.  The brioche was chilling in the fridge so I tempered the chocolate and checked on the lemon juice and raspberries, both merrily heating but not boiling away - perfect, right?


In which the cascade starts
Somewhere in the 4th hour, things started to go wrong.  I was all of a sudden starting to get a little behind and I'm not sure why.  The melted butter for my sponge had disappeared off my stove when I wasn't looking and I thought I had messed up the sponge (no, it turned out ok) but it was time to make the mousse.  The jelly was already setting in the blast chiller and the chocolate twirls were in the fridge but all of a sudden - my lemon juice and zest for the mousse were no longer on my stove.  There was no chance of sabotage because everyone was making different desserts and I wouldn't have taken the pots to the washup because I needed them - but where was the lemon juice?  The chef went to investigate but all of a sudden my timing was off.  The sugar couldn't get started because the mousse had to set while I did the sugar and my truffles hadn't been capped - already a problem because it was so cold in the Patisserie that the chocolate was too cold when I flooded the mould and the shells were very thick - I knew they weren't going to score high...what do you do when you know that things aren't going well and you can't fix it?  You keep on going and hope that somehow it works out. Had to keep going but there were a few moments when it would have been nice to curl up in a little ball under my station and just wait to wake up so that I could do my exam for real.  Except this was real and it was starting to feel horrible.


Towards the end, I knew I wasn't going to get the biscuits done in time because I didn't have enough time to chill them down as much as I needed to - a lightning decision to salvage what was possible - take them out early (delineations of the colors got lost, lost a bunch of points for technique and presentation) and presented them less than half baked because I was already 5 minutes over (automatic 10% deduction) and didn't want to get disqualified by going over the maximum time.  There is a certain agonizing pain that comes with presenting something you know is sub-par but there was nothing to be done except hope for the best and hope it was enough.


Debrief
Waiting for the results was absolutely excruciating.  On the one hand, not knowing means that there's always a glimmer of hope - you haven't failed until they tell you that you did.  On the other hand, waiting to know one way or the other leaves you unable to think of anything else. Despite everything I could do to keep my mind off it (tons of laundry, packing and re-packing,   multiple ballet classes in the same day, going out with friends) somehow it always came back to the nauseating finale of the Patisserie.  I knew the Cuisine exam wasn't as good as the mock exam but the Patisserie - it was touch and go as to whether I had passed.  Failure meant no Patisserie Diplome, no Grand Diplome (and trust me, it's a big piece of paper) and could almost seem to be a waste of having returned to London to finish the last month of classes.  Of course there's a bright side (seeing the new school, using the new equipment, being back in London)  but the silver lining was hard to see under the doom and gloom of a possible failure.


So - how did it all go?
Cuisine:
Chef EB told me I should go to France for 5 years and eat out at restaurants more.  Yes, chef!  I think he told a lot of people that they should go to France and eat there more, though - at least 5 other people in my group were told the same thing.  Oddly enough, the dishes were better during the mock exam although the timing was definitely better for this one.  Managed to have a respectable plate although the detailed comments weren't available due to a computer glitch.  Good - I don't need to know about my hollandaise or my tartlet which I know could have been better.  I'm sure they would have said the turning could have been better, some veggies overcooked (turnips again?), some veggies undercooked (carrots?) and who knows for the rest of it?


"Congratulations - you passed."  Even though I had felt quite confident about the Cuisine final, I didn't realize how tightly I'd been strung while waiting to hear those words until the tears started.  The release of some of the tension was almost unbearable, especially as Patisserie debrief was next and the tension ratcheted back up almost immediately, even worse than before.  I exited the debriefing room for a hug from classmates who were going through the same thing.  Some concern from the others as they saw my tears - "What happened?  Did you pass?"  A sigh of relief as I nodded, then congratulations all around as we said them to each other as each person exited a debriefing room (the Cuisine and Patisserie debriefs were in adjacent rooms - I am guessing it's because a few of us had to go to both rooms).


Patisserie:
Chef CB's comment about my tuiles - "cremated".  Well, that's about right - I'm not sure what happened - the temperature in the oven at home must be a little different from the one at school - hard go gauge, I didn't use the oven thermometer at home.  Also - a tuile and the backup broke during plating so marks were deducted for the plates not being identical, although since all the elements on the plate were present, I got credit for that and the portfolio.


And then the compulsory items...brioche - a bit tasteless (needed more salt) and the head was crooked.  Otherwise, ok.

Truffles - white chocolate went out of temper (again!) and the shells were too thick, the caps uneven, but the ganache had a good texture, technique was fine and tasted very nice (yes, the extra 5 drops of Framboise helped, I think).


Sable biscuis - were not cooked, not chilled enough before cutting, etc. etc.  No points for taste because it wasn't cooked so they wouldn't have tasted the biscuits.  Evil petit fours - I saw some on a menu the other night and ended up pushing it away with a shudder, unable to think about the ones I had presented on the cakeboard.


Coulis needed more sugar, the glacage was a bit too runny, mousse was nice, jelly was too jelled and at the bottom of the mousse instead of in the middle and the sponge needed more syrup (which also had Framboise in it.  I soaked the sponge well, but maybe I should have done the sides too...)  Messy plate, messy sauces...it could have been so much better.  The white chocolate twirl was way too thick - I probably should have used the small teeth on the comb but was too nervous I'd melt through them while plating - my fingers tend to run hot which sucks when working with dough or sugar or chocolate.


Then the sugar...oh dear - let's just say it was not good - but I'm glad I managed to get it done at all and it was still standing when it got downstairs - a relief since the sugar kind of got overcooked at the initial stages.  I don't have a photo of it (for my reference only) but let's just say that it fell far short of what I had hoped to produce.


"Despite all that, you passed."  More tears, a hug and a kiss before heading downstairs to clean out my locker.  What a relief to know that it hadn't all been in vain and although the day produced a crappy performance, it was enough to get me through to the end.


Nor was I the only one to cry from the sheer relief of knowing finally - and knowing that we had done it.  There was more than one person who was still upset about the performance we had handed in on the exam days and we compared notes in terms of what we had been told - quite a few of us were told our dishes didn't taste so nice (hence the the suggestions that we live  in France and eat out more), as well as other problematic areas of our techniques and things.


I do want to re-do and try out some of the suggestions the chefs made - I'm sure I can do better than I did.  Now just to figure out a way to do it...some things are easier to try at home than others and although my sugar pretty much sucked, I am so glad I don't have to do it again.


So until next time, may you find that the effort you put in is worth the final result.

#79 - more cooking...

Almost back to basic
This morning was my first practical (that I was scheduled to take) in over 3 months.  New kitchen, new policies, a huge fridge that I need both hands to open after firmly planting both feet, finding the foil, the aluminum cups, the greaseproof paper...and finding out 2 hours into a 2.5hour practical that I get to use all four burners on my stove.  It was almost like the first or second practical back in basic where we were all looking for things, only in my case, I was the only one doing it.


Better than yesterday when I kept going back towards the boulangerie after getting things from the washup area, only to go running past the door I needed and towards the emergency escape. Hopefully that's not some Freudian thing.


Cooking again (or, Picking Up Where I Left Off)...
So 8am today, I got my station kind of set up then gloved up.  We had to take apart a dover sole and I didn't want to smell like fish all day.  It took a little while longer to fillet and skin the fish than I would have liked - I'd like to blame my knife (I hadn't sharpened it properly in a while) but I'm afraid it's just being out of practice.  The good thing is the induction burners work really well.  The bad news is that I am getting used to them so I was either boiling things over (the crayfish water for blanching, the sauce after I added the cream) or they weren't really going (the champagne sauce was under reduced so still a bit too acidic from the champagne).


This was the last practical I did before injury back in November so I really am picking up where I left off.  The sauce stayed in the timbale this time and although it seemed to leak everywhere when I initially unmoulded it, it looked fine once Chef JB took it apart.  I have a feeling he might have been lenient on the grading today - or perhaps he was making allowances for my being in an unfamiliar kitchen.  It looks easy from the outside when you just look, but if you have to actually put your hands on a cutting board, it's no longer by the washup area which is shared by 3 porters, who actually do the washing up for both kitchens on the various levels.


The super good thing is that there is a lot more equipment.  Cuisine kitchens have maurices (silicon spatulas) again.  We have a lot of little pots to strain our sauces into when we are finishing and holding them for service.  and the 4 burner thing?  The others have had a chance to get used to it, but I almost didn't know what to do with myself, having so much space.  Tomorrow will be a chance to get organized because we have our mock exam the next day, so I have to review my knife kit and take out anything extraneous, then ensure all my blades are sharp and ready to go.


There's also a little downtime over the next couple of days.  There are a couple of blocks of time which are not relevant to me because they are for feedback for the students who have been here for the entire term.  I also have a chance to get rid of some of my ingredients because everyone is getting ready to try their desserts.  For the Grand Diplomes, the plated dessert portion of the final Patisserie exam is probably the most stressful thing because we have to make up our own recipes and methods (or adapt from things we learned previously) and there are multiple components.  The result is a group of people who freak each other out over various things - I'm sure some of them are silly, but it's hard to see that when you're in the middle of it all.  We all had a chance to discuss, bitch and moan between classes - there's a cafe with both indoor and outdoor seating.  And of course, I've already told you the food and coffee is good.


Tonight was dinner with UP.  Jamie's Italian on Threadneedle Street.  I'd write more but I'm so tired I fell sleep for a while when I was trying to complete the preceding sentence.


Tomorrow is a demo only, so hopefully I'll be able to post photos of the pigeon.


So until next time, good night.

#66 - Wallowing...

...5 minutes of discouragement
Good news:  my hand is healed, 3 weeks after the burn.  Bad news:  hand won't be ready for me to take finals for another 3 months.  Thus spake the Consultant (cosmetic/plastic surgeon at the burn unit) after I told him what tomorrow's Patisserie final entailed.  For the moment, homework is to moisturize my hands 4 times a day (just to get the burned part used to being touched again and to desensitize the nerves) then to do my hand exercises in a bowlful of uncooked pasta.  Yes, I have hand exercises...so I indulged in a few tears while I tried to figure out what next, then decided it won't do any good until I hear back from LCB administration about what to do for my finals.  For the moment, focus is to get hand working as quickly as possible.  Yes, yes, it takes time.

...in lots of good food and stimulating company
Luckily last week I had planned to go to a supper club thing run by one of the people from class at LCB.  Mrs J makes yummy food and I got to partake!  See this link:  https://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/pages/Mrs-Js-Secret-Kitchen/141786465854903.  Also, really good conversation, I'm sorry I didn't have a notepad and pen.  We had some artists and an art dealer at my table so there was lots of talk about what is/not art, preferences, how it reflects the politics and economics of the day (what I needed paper for), etc. etc.  Hearing the artist's point of view, the dealer's point of view and the insurer's point of view in light of my own (shallow) layperson's view was educational and fascinating - that is to say, the other people were.

The artists were quite sweet.  They asked me if it was hard to eat "regular" food given what we had been learning at cooking school.  I don't know about others, but I told them that since I injured my hand, I have had a lot of beans (and cheese) on toast.  Before, I used to eat 2-minute noodles.  At the moment, I can't make them so that hasn't happened.

FYI - Important
Anyway, the point is this - sometimes you just want a quick and simple something to eat.  Also, just because we can cook something and make it look fancy doesn't mean that we don't appreciate something someone made, however simple they think it is.  There's a certain something that is added when a meal is prepared for you by someone else.  Technical skills are an added bonus, but really, maybe it just comes down to the thought put into it, even if it is a cup of tea and a piece of toast.  The fact that someone made the effort into making something just for you makes it absolutely amazing.

It seems to be a common misconception that a chef will not appreciate something you make them because they can do it better.  I have been told by a chef in no uncertain terms that this is NOT the case, so if you are ever tempted to cook for someone but are intimidated, don't be.

But back to the food...
Mrs J, with KA assisting, made us a delicious dinner.  The amuse bouche turned out larger than planned so I just suggested we call it an extra starter instead of an amuse.  I don't know if that was actually done or not - I am a bit sleep deprived and not thinking too clearly at the moment, but I wanted to get this down while it was fresh in my mind.  Anyway - it was coddled scotch quail eggs (I think) - soft boiled quail eggs wrapped in sausage meat, crumbed...and really yummy.  This is from a person who doesn't eat runny egg yolks and doesn't eat pork.

Somehow they turned out 16 dishes in a tiny space.  Starter was a seared scallop with cauliflower puree (yum!), some kind of crunchy praline thing with a spice whose name I can't remember and some garnish.

Main was beef wellington with foie gras, vegetables, yummy sauce.  The beef wellingtons were individually sized - a nice touch.  Apparently they were sized that way because of the space constraints of the oven, but I didn't know that until later.  I thought I would want my beef more well done but I really enjoyed it this way - pink in the middle (something else I normally don't do!).  Apparently the logistics of doing individual sized portions was a nightmare and both of the chefs have vowed never to do that again.

We had a little beggar at the table - a very cute and friendly 15 year-old who tapped my hand when he felt that his share of attention was not being paid.  Unfortunately for the cutie pie, I am impervious to large eyes and furry coats and no foie gras was forthcoming his way from my plate.  Or scallop.  Or beef.  Or anything else, actually.  He eventually gave up on me.  Attention is all very nice but what he really wanted was the yummy food.

Then dessert - wow, just the way I like it.  A bitter chocolate tarte with a hint of orange peel in the tarte shell.  Mrs J wasn't satisfied with the tarte shell but I actually preferred it to the filling.  The ice cream wasn't my favorite, but I don't feel bad saying that since it was a stand-in for the one that had been planned (but which didn't work out).  It was really rich though, so I only had part of it which was plenty.  It was possible to eat a bit more of it because it wasn't too sweet (85% cocoa will do that).  They say there's caffeine in dark chocolate, but I am almost asleep so evidently it's not currently effective.

So here are some shots of the kitchen - staff food (chili con carne), mixed veggies, what happens to the sink, stove and kitchen when the dishwasher stops working (I think that's what someone said)...I'm amazed at what they did in the kitchen - it was a regular, domestic kitchen and somehow they managed to turn out a multi-course meal for 16 (?) plus staff food.  There was also a little outside area - I can't remember if they actually cooked outside or if they were just storing some things out of the way there while dinner service was going on.

Also, we had a bit of fun with the paying for the meal.  You make a donation for the cost of the meal (or whatever) and we messed around with her teapot.  Sorry HJ!

Community service warning - Hunter cars (or something like that)


So it was quite late and I wasn't going to take the tube.  We got a quote from a minicab company but when I told the driver my address (the same information we had given the dispatcher, by the way) he told me a different address.  Given we were in the middle of nowhere, it's really cold and I was exhausted, I wasn't inclined to argue.  However, it makes me really cranky when someone says one thing in order for you to choose them, then says something else when it's kind of too late (i.e. you're already in the car).  Maybe it's because I take giving my word seriously, but I take other people's words seriously too and I felt like they had lied.  I paid the driver but I told him he should sort things out with his dispatcher because what they had done wasn't cool.

My suggestion - I haven't tried it yet, but you can bet I'll try it on Friday for graduation - is to use a reputable company (even if they are bit more expensive).  I have a feeling you are less likely to have these last minute changes to fares with lame excuses ("it's 11 miles".  Um ok, except what changed from when I gave the same information to your dispatcher???)  I'll let you know how it turns out with using a larger car service.

So until next time, don't worry, be happy...

#64 - Baby steps

I have started to lose track of days because the main purpose of being in London (going to cooking school) has been abruptly curtailed as classes draw to a close and people struggle not to buckle under the marathon Patisserie session this week.

Unintended benefit of being injured and being unable to go to class - I actually have some time to organize myself - very necessary as I have to juggle logistics and try to guess when I will be back in London to take my exams (so planning clothes, potentially some equipment and of course, my uniform) to mention just a few things.

Am trundling along, doing what needs to be done - which includes a lot of rest and allowing about twice as much time to do everything.  You don't realize the little things you take for granted until you can't do them anymore - like tie your own shoes (I've been wearing boots with zippers), not poke out your eye when trying to put on some mascara (preparation for last night's Christmas dinner was...interesting) or tucking in those strings on the dress which you  need to keep it on the hanger (or you would cut the darn things off).

Food for amusement (yours)
Hopefully my little trials and tribulations will give you a giggle or three and thank heavens that you aren't as clumsy as I am.  I debated whether or not to put in this next little bit, but I did promise the good, the bad and the ugly.  I'm not sure where this falls on that list.

So the Christmas dinner - lots of fun, lots of interesting people and I even remembered names!  The preparations were a bit fraught (this is the bit I debated).  Ok - so not having a roommate meant there was a little bit of acrobatics needed as well as a lot of patience in order to get the hooks done up on the bra which needed to go with the dress.  If you are wondering what I did for the last couple of weeks, the answer is that I have a lot of dance tops and I just wore my regular t-shirts under my chef's jacket because the bandaged club at the end of my right wrist didn't fit through the sleeves of my long sleeved shirts.  So yes, it was all a bit chilly.

Then there was the matter of the hair - fairly simple...when you get a hair cut, they blow dry it for you so that was fine.  But the makeup...the 10-minutes normally allotted had to be stretched a bit in order to allow for very slow work.  I was in a hurry the other day and accidentally poked my eye with the mascara wand - not an experience that anyone wants to repeat, I am guessing.  Speaking for myself, definitely not.

Final bit of embarrassment...so I managed to get through dinner with the gimpy hand fine during the starters but hadn't thought through the main very well.  The burn unit says lots of protein to help with the healing so I chose steak.  So far so good.  Until, of course, it's time to eat the thing.  They supplied a steak knife and I managed to cut a small bite.  The only thing is my hand is achy - no idea what from, but I am guessing one of the culprits is the middle finger.  Anyway - a very nice guy sitting near me volunteered to cut the meat for me - until one of the waiters saw and came over to finish.

I am guessing it's going to be a no go for the Patisserie final (even if I were able to do it in terms of the recipes) given the current state of the hand.

Must admit to inspecting the dessert and tasting it in pieces, then together (how they taste our things at school).

More learning!
Anyway, dinner over (in which conversational topics ranged from accents, words and misunderstandings, to Exceptional Men, to Christmas parties past and future, travels, movies, etc.) it was time for more education.  Previous  experiences with casinos have been limited to getting lost in one (Crown, in Melbourne) and going to a wedding (Star City in Sydney).

In terms of betting, I had no clue.  Luckily there were some sharks in our midst...I got a crash course in roulette, or at least this casino's one.  No photos were allowed so unfortunately there aren't any shots of people playing and having a good time.  It was actually more entertaining watching the people in our group playing that I think betting might have been.

Today was a whole day of nothing.  A little bit of organization to try to prepare for packing and vacating the flat but otherwise, a lot of sleep.  I'm not used to being up so late...

Class tomorrow morning - luckily they pushed it to 9am.  After this weekend, that's going to feel pretty early.  This is our last class - who knows, we may all wax nostalgic.

Anyway, must go and rest.  So until next time - may you also feel little stress from the silly season.

#59 - Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for all of my lovely family and friends; the opportunity and time to come to London on such a huge adventure; to being able to find the silver lining in almost any situation; living in London and getting to enjoy all the pretty lights along so many of the streets; winter thermals arriving just in time for it to start really getting cold...


Thanksgiving in London
Couldn't do practical on Thursday (venison).  Unfortunately Cuisine classes require knives for almost everything so even if it was just to stir sauce with the uninjured hand, you have to butcher/trim meat to be able to make sauce.  So went and had Thanksgiving dinner with LM instead - she leaves in just a few days so it's our last dinner for a while.  She found a bar where we could get Thanksgiving dinner!  I have to say their chicken wing starters were so delicious and I was glad to see they are part of the regular menu.  The crab cakes were a bit dry and made from (not super great) frozen crab meat - adequate, but couldn't stand up to the chicken wings.  No pics of the starters because we started eating as soon as the food arrived.

Crippled hand version

Normal version

Turkey was pretty good although mine was a little cold around the edges. LM liked the sauce/gravy/whatever better than I did. Not surprising since it was quite sweet. The bar and waitress were really kind. I explained that I had injured my hand, so they were happy to cut up the turkey and stuffing.


Then dessert.  Not sure what was going on with desserts - pumpkin pie was missing something and the NY cheesecake seemed a bit too ricotta- y.


Have noted we are really spoiled for ingredients and things because of school (hence comment about freshness of crab meat or desserts, etc.) as well as what we have sampled in demos.  Must remember that we have been tasting food prepared by absolutely amazing chefs.  Our own efforts don't come close to matching their dishes so we shouldn't expect anything close in our meals unless we are at Michelin starred restaurants (or something comparable).  Similarly, shouldn't expect same quality frozen crab at a BBQ joint where they charge you GBP4 for two crab cakes.


Hand is still out of commission.  Swelling has gone down a little so fingers no longer look dislocated but still looks bad from the uninjured side.  Blisters haven't popped yet and am in no hurry to do so - the little bit of extra cushioning really helps with lessening the pressure on the burn site although the muscles in my arm havebeen affected by the swelling.  As long as it gets better in time for me to finish my assignments and get through finals, it's all good.  Recovery a bit late for Cuisine portfolio which was due last Friday, but luckily that one was mostly finished.  At the moment, that's looking a bit doubtful as I still can't hold a pen or spoon, much less knives.


So until next time, may any injuries be minor and pain free.

#53 - Tea Party (then pigeons)

Or - In which more dramas ensue but no one killed anyone else (we left our knives back in our lockers)
Too tired for much commentary. Long day yesterday (but not as long as scheduled). We started early in the morning - everything was more or less made so it was a matter of getting the decorations done (and in my case, cutting straight). Occasionally felt like too many cooks in the kitchen. I suppose that's bound to happen when you have almost 30 people (including our teaching chefs) crammed into a couple of kitchens normally meant to hold 11.

A friend from Masters (law school) days in town for work - got to come to the Tea Party (yippee!) and his office was very glad for the goody box he got to take with him. We caught up for dinner after all the cleaning up at school - and his office got more treats because they needed homes. After all the sugar, butter, flour and chocolate, was a relief to have savory food - really yummy Indian food down near the egg-shaped faceted thing somewhere near Bank / Leadenhall. May have finally found the time to take up the standing invitation to visit Cologne to see him and meet his family, of whom I have heard so much but never met.
So - photos...done fighting with the formatting...

Pigeons
We then had an 8am practical on the following morning.  Pigeon wrapped in cabbage (breasts), stuffed legs and a mushroom tartelette.  I am not a big fan of the whole butchering small birds (or anything, actually) first thing in the morning.  The thing about the pigeon is that it has a strong smell, the skin doesn't come off as easily as with quail or chicken and it has a lot of gross things inside.  Like the heart.  And the liver (maybe I should have cooked its liver too!)  and various other spongy bits and pieces.  I forgot to put on gloves - don't think I'll forget again.  Yes, I should be used to it by now.  Is it indicative that I'm not yet used to having blood and guts on my hands first thing in the morning?

Anyway - long practical.  Tomorrow morning at 8am:  St Pierre en Croute de Chorizo, Mille-Feuille de Grenouilles aux Amandes (John Dory with chorizo crust, frog legs mille feuille with almonds).  Photos then.

We had our cheese lecture today after a demo for tomorrow.  It is late and I have to review my notes, so must go.

Until next time - good night, sleep tight.

#52 - Bath & Harrods

aka "In which Bath does not include a tub and No One goes inside Harrods"

First - Bath
On Saturday morning LM and I went up to Bath.  She said she hadn't been there in years (not since a trip during an exchange in high school) and I had never been there.  I didn't get my coffee from the place I like when I have time (Sensory Lab, 75 Wigmore Street, W1 - http://www.sensory-lab.co.uk/) because - oh, the horror! - they don't open until 10am on weekends.

I suppose that's a civilized hour but I had a train to catch.  The cafe doesn't open early because most normal people have been out the night before and only start to venture into the streets a bit later.  I suppose there's no point in opening early for a lone early bird.  So feeling quite sorry for myself (but not too sorry) I had a Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks instead.  It bore testament to my oft repeated phrase "put enough milk, sugar and other crap in it and it won't taste anything".  Anyway, there was the usual quick walking to the trains once we arrived at Paddington Station, then waiting for our platform to flash up on the screen.  No, it wasn't Platform 9 3/4.  I guess they rounded up, it was Platform 10.

The train ride passed quickly, then it was a meander around town.  LM already had a couple of places in mind so by the time we hit all of the things on the list and the things that caught our eyes as we passed, it was dark.  There was the Pump Room and all the Bath Spa things (Temple of Sulis Minerva), then what were the Assembly Rooms (think Jane Austen times) which is now the Fashion Museum.  One of the things I love about the old buildings is that they have these really high ceilings.  There's something about the height which gives such a light feeling.  Even if there isn't much space horizontally, the vertical space always makes it feel like you're in less of a shoe box (or tomb or whatever).  The age of the stones here reminded me a little of Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome.  There was even a similar wet stone smell in some of the rooms as we went through.

Second - the Fashion Museum
High ceilings were also a big part of the upstairs rooms at the Fashion Museum.  The ceilings to the rooms where the exhibits were were a bit lower, unlike upstairs which I assume used to be the public gathering rooms upstairs - I associate with them with older (but not old) buildings.

I think I must be even more fashion challenged than I ever thought - there was a wedding dress display (yech), then fashions up to the 19th century (ooh, fun - think period dramas). Then there was the more recent fashion stuff (20th century and on) - most of which I didn't understand and most of which I couldn't picture anyone wearing.

We had lunch at a little cafe called Cafe Rouge (a chain, but not a bad one - I love their fries!), then a certain amount of time at a store called Kitchens.  Given that LM has finished Patisserie and I am (hopefully) finishing it, there were a lot of things we wanted in the store.  Somehow having managed to curb ourselves (we would have been pretty happy to have most of everything in the store - I told her I would need to have a house with a very large kitchen one day) we then ended up at another kitchenwares shop (Lakelands?).  It was a bit more pricey than Kitchens.  Having exercised a bit more self control, we had a look at some shoes (I bought comfy boots - on sale), then more Starbucks.  It really is insidious...

We were exhausted after such a long day so the chatter was a bit more subdued on our way back to London.  However, we did get to enjoy some of the fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day.

Actually studying...
Sunday required some work.  I met up with one of the girls who is taking a little break before finishing Superior Cuisine next term.  Then it was study time with AM in South Kensington.  It was kind of a drizzly and cold day so pretty good for studying if you couldn't curl up in front of an open fire with a cup of hot chocolate (yes, corrupted by Patisserie!) a good book and a warm, fuzzy blanket.  Instead, we were ensconced with our laptops in front of us and discussing (having a difference of opinion) over some of the methods / procedures.  Got the braised lettuce sorted out today but it was cause for a little discussion yesterday.

Then LM and I had dinner at this funky little sushi bar / club in Knightsbridge.  It was so funky that we couldn't find it.  We approached from different directions as she was coming from work and I from studying.  The result:  wandering up and down the street.  I happened to be passing when a couple in front of me happened to stop in front of a couple of bouncers and I heard the name of the restaurant.  I followed them in and down these stairs - it was dark and dimly lit with a mirror facing the stairs as you came down from the street level.  Enough to make you check your step a bit.  We forgot it was supposed to be kind of clubby - until the music turned up all of a sudden near the end of the meal and we could no longer hear each other talk.  The people over by the bar loved it though - they were having a little boogie as we were leaving.

Avoiding the Labrynth known as Harrods
There had been discussion of doing the tourist-y things we hadn't done yet (or hadn't done in a while).  The result:  a stop for photos by Harrods's windows.  Luckily Harrods was closed but the windows are still very pretty.  A lot of the stores have put up their lights - although I find the different songs at each window at Selfridges off-putting because you can hear the song from the next window when you are standing at a different window and since they are all audible, more often than not you are hit with a cacophony of sound.

I say "lucky" about Harrods being  closed because last April, a girlfriend and I had gone to do a little bit of shopping and to do a lot of gawking.  Shopping accomplished, no gawking took place because we kept getting lost when we were looking for the exit.  There were a couple of stair cases and doors which became awfully familiar and I think we passed the Diana and Dodi memorial at least 7 times.  It was an almost inescapable loop - perhaps Harry Potter's moving stair cases were inspired by an inability to find one's way out of a shop.  In any event, I am now afraid to set foot into Harrods if it involves leaving the sight of the street for fear that I will spend the rest of my life returning to Diana & Dodi's memorial.

Tea Party (Minus the Mad Hatter)

Tomorrow is our Tea Party.  We spent today making the majority of the desserts and the decorations for them.  It was one of those days - I kept spilling things and ended up wearing a great deal of chocolate.  I must have been splashed more after the break at the 3-hour mark (when we took this photo).  The second 3-hour session found me wearing quite a lot of raspberry (from making the jam) and looking a bit "disheveled".  Not surprising, given that I got a recipe where I had to make an anglaise with just egg yolks and raspberry puree.  Not having done one like that before, I went on autopilot and ended up with sugar in my egg yolks.  Only thing is, there was no sugar in that component of the dessert, so I had to start again.  FYI, 480g of egg yolk is about 24 eggs.  Now imagine separating 48 eggs (because you messed up the first 24) and knowing the mousse has to be spread on a cake, then freeze for a while.  First big screwup in a while...but it got fixed and all seems well.

Some of the desserts will require some last minute tweaking (i.e. filling the eclairs, glazing some of the cakes, etc. etc.)  We finished on time and the decorations don't look terrible.  Photos tomorrow (or possibly the next day) - in the meantime, it's time to go to bed.  Laundry is making noise as I wash off the dirt from the dirtiest practical ever.  Must remember - clumsy and neat don't always go together.  Am falling asleep so...

Until next time, may you also have a nice tea time.  And good night.