But not like winter back in Kalamazoo or Battle Creek! It's cold, there's some snow, but no appreciable amount of snow. I'm not complaining at all!! I got an automatic car starter from Ramzi for Christmas and I'm really appreciating that. Plus I can park my car under a car port, so I don't have frost to contend with in the morning. Good thing as I've been leaving late every morning for some reason...oh, yeah, I THINK I'm able to finish up school work or study in the morning and run out of time! I need time management skills!!!
This week in the kitchen...felt like quitting again. I'm serious - this is soooo stressful. We are down a man now because one of the guys in our group dropped the class. Actually, every table has three people now. But, our table just can't seem to manage to get stuff done. We've had mixer issues. Can you believe I'm spending boo coo bucks for this school and they don't have enough mixers for each group????? We've had issues three of the four days we've been in class. I had to go scrounging for a mixer for one of the other kitchens; and while we were making bread dough, it started smoking and quit. So, now at the beginning of class everyone starts running for the table with the mixers...isn't that crazy? But, back in the good old days, they didn't use mixers, or proof boxes, or gas ranges, so I guess I shouldn't complain!
Our group has been having issues with our doughs not rising. I believe I have it narrowed down to one of the guys at our table who really doesn't give a rats behind if things turn out or not or if we get done or not. He just wants to get through this class. He's a culinary student, not baking and pastry and this class is a bore to him. He doesn't believe in the science of baking that things have to be precise. Yeast has to bloom correctly or the dough won't turn out. That means the water you dump the active dry yeast into has to be between 100 and 110 degrees. We made our brioche dough - which takes many steps and two days - and it didn't turn out. Very disappointing. So the other guy and I are going into open lab tomorrow (yes, Saturday morning from 7 am to noon!!!) to try four of the recipes again and see how we make out. Our chef told us if something fails, we should try to redo it as soon as possible to correct our mistake. She is hard on us. I also have her for a baking and pastry theory class, where we go more in depth with the theory of baking. I took a quiz yesterday and only got one wrong I think.
So, next week it's cookies and brownies - a bit easier - I hope! Our group is trying different ways of distributing the work. We just need to get things right and get things done in time so our grade does not suffer. Oh, I got a job interview next week at the school. Not sure I want a job this semester, but I'm going to take the interview to see what's involved.
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