Seriously,

This place sounds like they are OTL - Out to Lunch. And seriously not worthy of your monies.

This screwup is not the first. Expect it not to be the last. But ....

Where do they get off doing this to their paying clientele? They really need to get their act together and as well, be reported for their lax programs.

BLOG!

MS...My son in college had a similar problem this year...Not all the staff are computer savy I think...

I got a letter at home stating the my kid had not attended any of a particular class and that his academic scholarship was at stake!

Turns out the "teacher" is not part of the regular staff and hadn't handed in any of the attendance records!!! We found the entire class was "flunking" despite attending every single class.....Problem solved now but you do need to stay on top of it...this experience may serve you well later then the IRS says you didn't pay your taxes.

Your posts here and on FB are perfectly timed...I am currently reading Julia Child's "My Life in France" and am at the chapters where she was at the cooking school and loving every minute of it! It would seem to be the perfect book for you!

Best of luck to you on your new term..only wish I lived closer so I could "test" your results.

LL -

I would so take my money and run if I had anywhere comparable to run to! But I also can't deny the amazing opportunities that have fallen into my lap because of this school...like most bad relationships I'm just going to stay for now . At least this one has a light at the end of the tunnel!

I am out and about in my uniform often. Coming home from class is the only time I can get most errands done (yes, I grocery shop at midnight ). I get asked a LOT of questions that I don't know the answer to (about cooking) and a lot of questions about school. I'm 110% honest about the admin problems as well as the benefits. I've had a couple people apply and write me down as a referral (believe it or not I actually got some free special classes out of it, I'm hopefully taking a sugar one at the end of the month!)

BL -

Thankfully my Chefs know how to work the computer, they usually enter in attendance and homework grades etc while we scale out and do busy work. I don't see how an admin person could get their job and be trained and still not get the system when she has worked there for yearsss. Every time I talk to her she acts like she hates her life and her job. That might be true...but she has a job. Just do it. Or hire someone else to help her so she's not the only one doing it. Lord knows we pay them enough money to do that. Or freaking replace her. My classmates and I are forming a letter to send off to the higher ups. Not really sure what the point in that is as they know there is no comparable school around but it'll make us feel better

If I ever have time to think about picking up a book I'd love to check that one out

Tonight we made chocolate souffles. YUM. Ours were perfect . I took a picture with my cell phone (new to the camera phone world...I need SM Sr to set up our account online so I can snag the pictures that way) after they had been out of the oven for about 20 minutes. They only sunk slightly. Chef was amazed. He took pictures with his cell phone too . My partner and I rock .

I managed to get my math homework squeezed in in the parking garage before class. I'm not so great at math and rounding decimals and had to do it in a slight hurry and was a little worried about it but I got it right! Tonight's homework is piping roseettes. Ugh. There is no way I'm going to be able to pipe roseettes and get them to campus looking the same since I have appts all morning/until class and lord knows how warm it's going to get in my car so I bet I will have my practice board balanced on my trunk tomorrow evening hastily piping away!

Our kitchen is right next to the kitchen Chef #1 is teaching in, we share a dish area and usually leave the doors open. So our Chef was talking about Kitchen Manager and responsibilities and all that and Chef #1 yells threw the dish room that I was perm. KM last term and did such a good job that he recommends that I be perm. KM again. And that settled that. Sigh. It's a nice compliment buuuutttt I really want to learn and concentrate on my own work. Like everyone else. and not have to think about a bazillion things. I understand "that's how it is in the industry" but I'm NOT in the industry. I'm learning how to be in the industry and I really just want to concentrate on my own damn stuff. Selfish, I know.

Oh and I was right, our practical tomorrow is on pastry cream! How do I know? I have to scale out for myself and now for Chef for demo. I had to scale out Pate a Choux (the paste used for piping eclairs and all sorts of stuff that get filled with creams and whatnot) and Pastry Cream for myself and only Pate a Choux for him so there are some benefits!

quote:

have my practice board balanced on my trunk tomorrow evening

How do you keep the board level and from slipping off?
Towel? Playdoh?



Its not selfish. Its not like humanity benefits if you are KM. In fact, some other student was desperately hoping for the experience and exposure. Its chef being lazy. However, it will in the long run do you good, because its as story you can tell in interviews (I was KM for x/y courses, based on Chef 1's recommending me to the other chefs).

Why do they teach you all to say 'scale out' instead of 'weigh'? Between that and 'cook off', which should apply only to stuff stored already partially cooked, I'm well on my way to a new pet peeve (sorry ms).

What piq said + 1.

I figure the Chef realizes that he has someone in his class who:

1. has a brain
2. is competent, even talented
3. is motivated
4. works hard

From your description of some of your other classmates, like the heroin addict, I'm not surprised they're thrilled to have you. They would probably be thrilled even without the heroin addict, though. You know what I mean....

Thanks Nina . Our class now isn't so bad, there's the normal 2 that don't do ANYTHING, the 2 that act like it's high school, etc. Annoying but not dangerous like heroin guy.

Last night went well. We made the ugliest dessert known to man. Okay maybe not....but ugh. Not pretty and a huge pain in the butt. At least it tasted good! I got a 39/40 on my practical . I missed one point because I violated safety rules and used my hand towel to remove a pot from the stove (in cases where the pot would actually be hot it could have burned through the towel. My pan was just warm. Oh well).

Gateau St. Honore:



Tonight we have our first written exam. So not ready for it, lots of studying and reading to do today! I am so exhausted, running on about 12 total hours of sleep since Monday. Thankfully today is the last day of class for the week! I so don't mind being in class a little while longer than the earlier classes M-Th to have 3 day weekends every weekend!

omgosh pate a choux and pastry creme..

yum..

(i make cream puffs all the time for gatherings)

That dessert looks like a Kliban cartoon or a character on Sesame Street.

quote:

Originally posted by Piano Again:
That dessert looks like a Kliban cartoon or a character on Sesame Street.

Seriously!

Apple - it was delicious but I couldn't get over how ugly and what a ridiculous product it is. Our textbook has two different versions of the "story behind St Honore". Basically it's some made up St of pastry chefs

Written exam went ok. 40 of the 50 questions were math but I think I did okay.... we'll see.

Right now I'm doing a culinary venture in the other direction! I have a friend and her husband coming over for dinner and games tomorrow. I decided to make Coq au Vin (chicken with (or is it 'and'?) wine, yum) because I saw Alton Brown make it on Food Network recently and it's assembled the night before and then baked/finished the next. So my kitchen might actually be presentable when they show up mid-afternoon to learn how to make Pot de Creme (like adult chocolate pudding minus the gelatin. We're also adding peanut butter because it'll boost the health factor.... )!

i could live on pastry cream.

gosh that's delish.

i rely on shoepaste (as my kids call it) for 'bring a dessert' events. i make small cremepuffs.. add something special to the cream (grand marnier or the cheap stuff).. a great chocolate icing.

I guess here, in Kansas that sort of thing is very special because people always rave. i make them small enough so they will feel guilt free when selecting one. (also great filled with chocolate mousse (sometimes a creamcheese chocolate mousse).

i have brought small creampuffs filled with smoked salmon mousse.. those were not so popular.

Apple, you can mail those salmon puffs to me...

quote:

Originally posted by Muffin's sister:
I decided to make Coq au Vin (chicken with (or is it 'and'?) wine, yum)

You have it right, it's "with".

If it were "and", it wouldn't be "au", it would be "et".

I always knew high school French would prove invaluable someday.

IIRC, "au" is a contraction of "a le" (I think that a is missing an accent), which, IIRC is literally "to the".

But I may be wrong. It happens sometimes.

I never took French in high school. I think I took some other language that had funny-looking letters.

In my copious spare time I'm writing the "you wish you went to culinary school" cookbook. Each chapter will have some theory and my lovely tidbits of info that I've soaked up as well as my favorite recipes from school (because i'm sick of having notebooks all over my kitchen and wanted all my recipes in one place. So super famous wonderful chef that is now my boss said "sooo....write a cookbook. done deal.")