...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...
Thanks to my friend the Hoople (aka Bill), I think I have this thing up and running.
It only took almost an hour (some of you may know just how well technology and I get along). Luckily this time was well spent learning how to set up a blog, as I wait for the Salvation Army to come and pick up my refrigerator. Yes, it is still in working condition and I would keep it except that my grandmother no longer needs hers, so I get to have it. It is bigger, newer and possibly, shinier. For those of you who have always wondered, size does matter...in any event, the lady from the Salvation Army told me that they can pick it up "between 8am and 3:30pm. We may not take it though." Ok, that was the politest way I have ever been told to go and do something improper with myself and the rest of the world.
So I leave tomorrow night for London (via Hong Kong to visit a dear girlfriend and her wonderful husband) to go to cooking school. The Cordon Bleu, to be precise. It is my year off from practicing and studying law...the better to refresh the brain upon my return.
To answer some prelminary questions:
No - this is not meant to be a career change (which is why I asked work for the time off before I applied for the course). They agreed to let me come back when I am finished.
No - this is not a result of being inspired by the plethora of reality cooking shows on TV (which I haven't bothered to watch since I could predict the lines of the show - masterclasses excepted).
Yes - I have always loved food. Some of you may know about my rule for dating and food - not negotiable, boys must be able to eat as much, or more, than I do. It's no fun when he's full and I'm saying, "Great appetizer, where's dinner?"
Yes - I can cook. Sort of. It involves throwing everything into the pot and seeing how it turns out. Requests for repeats indicate that the attempts have been, for the most part, successful.
No - they didn't require industry experience to get into the Cordon Bleu, which is good because I don't have any. They did want a CV and a letter saying why you like food. Lucky for me I dreamed about vegetables (sans butter - I left that part out) the night before I sent my application.
Yes - I know the coffee is bad. See below. It is cause for panic and confusion.
Yes - there is a uniform.
No - I will not take pictures. If I do take pictures, I will not show them to you. No matter how nicely you ask, so forget it.
Yes - there will be food that I either don't like or think is gross. Not looking forward to having to eat it first thing in the morning, but must be done - talk about taking one for the team!
London Bound
Everyone kept asking why London instead of say, Paris, to which I say the following:
1. More friends = more potential guinea pigs.
2. I speak the language - sort of. I realized how important this was while arguing with two evil telecommunications companies, who shall remain nameless (cough, Telstra and Optus, cough, cough) last March when I moved house. I figured that if I couldn't make them understand that they had not provided their services and/or their services were no longer needed when we all theoretically spoke the same language, I wouldn't have a snowflake's chance in hell of doing so in my extremely limited French in Paris. I know enough French to be snobby about my ability to speak the language and it's Not Good. If I can't get directions to the Orangerie, I probably can't get them to fix my broadband internet.
3. French bureaucracy can't be fun. The UK Consulate sent me my passports in the envelope that they said they never received. I didn't want to find out what the French one might do...
Sort of
I am now in the midst of packing (sort of) and sorting things out (sort of) and organising the apartment (sort of). Everything has to be done at once because they are all sort of interrelated.
In the meantime my apartment looks like a disaster area - there are piles for mail (sorted/to be sorted - sort of!), piles for filing, piles of requested groceries, piles of toiletries that I'm afraid I can't get in London (or at least can't get without spending way more than I know they cost at home) and clothes to get through the freezing weather in HK and London. By the by, thanks Abs for the warning re current temperatures in London. Will be packing coats and hoping they don't take up too much room. Am thinking clothes are of secondary importance - most, if not all, will probably not fit by the end of the year. Have packed things that stretch.
Now it's back to more sorting/triaging everything for my bags. Have realized that for a person who isn't into cosmetics, shoes and bags, the piles which have to be whittled down resemble Sephora and the bag/shoe section of a department store. May have a problem with bath products...hope food fixes all.
Coffee has gotten cold but is still immeasurably better than the cup of coffee I tried in London back in April 2010. Am panicking at the thought of bad coffee for the rest of the year. May have to schedule a side trip (Italy? France?) for coffee fix. Or else spend the rest of the year in a coffee-deprived haze. Do people judge if you drink cokes in the morning if drinkable coffee is unavailable?
Mesa suggested the title of the blog, so thanks JH! See email re same.
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.
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.
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.
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.
