OPPORTUNITY!!!

Well, what a crazy week last week was! I took the four mid-terms and did well - what I consider well - on one of them. The most disappointing one was the baking mid-term, especially since my table partner Dave and I went into open lab the Saturday before and baked everything that would be on the test. My rolls never rose correctly. I think my water was too hot for the yeast. I'm going to try them again someday. My cookies - were to perfection on Saturday. For the mid-term, I baked them in the deck oven instead of the conventional oven and didn't trust myself. Then, my instructor didn't like the amount of nutmeg I used in my apple pie and gave me a BAD score. My biscuits were the only thing that I got high marks on. I was devastated. I HAVE to brush it off and start the second half with a clean slate. Believe it or not - I still have a solid A in there, so I'm extremely lucky. I have an A in my Baking and Pastry Theory class. I only missed 6 questions on the mid-term, and we have an opportunity to earn 75 bonus points in that class so I'm not worried at all. My Effective Speaking class - he never gives higher than a  B at mid-term time - I have a B+. I'm loving that class. We write and present two speeches per week and it's making me more and more confident speaking in front of an audience - and also being able to memorize at least the main points and speak off the cuff, make a connection with the audience, and feel comfortable. Now, my Purchase and Product ID class - I have an A- in there. I thought I'd ace the mid-term. NOT! It was an on-line, TIMED test. We had 101 questions, more than half of which were math and essay questions. We had only one hour. I was so nervous that I panicked and couldn't type, couldn't think. What really sucks is the other classes were able to take the test in class and have as much time as they needed. I got an 89%. I'm determined to get an A in that class just to prove to myself I can overcome the nerves for the final. We're working on a huge project right now. A concept restaurant. We have to come up with a name, a theme, a location, and a signature dish - main course with two sides. We then have to come up with a menu and find the conversion factor to have the recipe serve 10. We then have to cost out all of the ingredients and come up with a cost per plate. I'm really surprising myself with enjoying the math!

So, I know I put a lot of pressure on myself and I know I can't keep it up. I'm not a naturally smart student - I have to work really hard at it. But, at school yesterday, there was an awards ceremony for honor roll students, perfect attendance students (believe it or not - out of all the students, there were only about 30 who had perfect attendance last semester), and scholarship recipients. I was honored for being on the President's Honor Roll - 4.0 - and perfect attendance. So, there's no where to go but down! LOL! At least I can say I did it! Both my boys told me how proud they were of me. Jason said, "Just think Mom, if your life would have gone differently, you would never have had this chance to be doing this." That's true, but look at the cost.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and Ramzi came over and made me dinner. I had a dozen roses waiting for me, the dishes done that I had left in the sink when I left for school, and he even cleaned up the glass in the pantry from where I dropped something in the morning. I was so happy we could celebrate Valentine's Day together, even if it was a day early. I took him to The Melting Pot for his birthday last Friday. We had an awesome time - we'd both never been there before. He's taking me to No. VI Chop House this coming Friday for my birthday. Speaking of that...that restaurant is part of the restaurant group I spoke of last blog post. I went for the interview last Friday. Out of all the possibilities I had for employment, THIS is the job I wanted. So I met the owner on Friday at one of his delis. I took my laptop and had a PowerPoint presentation to present to him. After the presentation, and talking a bit, he offered me a job...Catering Manager of his soon to be opened new restaurant! I was blown away!!! What an opportunity! He told me he was going to throw me into the deep end, but I'll be attached to his hip! His Catering Director - who oversees all the catering at his locations -  is going to be training me for the next month, which, by the way, is when the new restaurant opens. He plans to do a lot of advertising so I'll probably have catering events scheduled even before the opening of the restaurant. This is exactly what I wanted! Well, a position in catering. So, I start tonight - Valentine's Day! Talk about baptism by fire. I'll be learning the ropes, shadowing a server, working in the kitchen, shadowing the bar tender, the catering managers from the other locations, AND trying to finish the second half of this semester. I'll be salary and the money is not that great, but for him to take a chance on me and have this awesome opportunity??? Next semester I only registered for three classes and they are all on Wednesdays and Thursdays so that's good. I guess I'll cut back to part-time - 12 or 13 credits a semester. It will take me longer to graduate but I'll be graduating with a degree in Culinary Management AND - if I'm lucky - three years of catering management under my belt. This is the best of both worlds. This morning, I was reading my Grace for the Moment inspirational thoughts for the day:

 "There is a rawness and a wonder to life. Pursue it. Hunt for it. Sell out to get it. Don't listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second-rate life and want you to do the same so they won't feel guilty. Your goal is not to live long; it's to live.


Jesus says the options are clear. On one side there is the voice of safety. You can build a fire in the hearth, stay inside, and stay warm and dry and safe... Or you can hear the voice of adventure - God's adventure. Instead of building a fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow God's impulses. Adopt the child. Move overseas. Teach the class. Change careers. Run for office. Make a difference. Sure it isn't safe, but what is?"

There was an awesome sermon on Sunday where I heard some of the same things. So, I pray that if God put this opportunity in my path, he did it for a reason and he wants me to go for it. I pray I have the strength, energy, patience (with myself), grace, humility, and knowledge to work and go to school and not let either suffer.

Here's the website for the restaurant group. The new restaurant isn't out there yet.
www.mattprenticerg.com

I'm Tired!!!!

L to R Chocolate Dipped Shortbread; White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pecan Scones;
Football-shaped Brownies; Spritz Cookies; Biscotti; Chocolate Chip; and
Oatmeal Cookies

Cake Pops I made at home for my Effective Speech Class. Did a PowerPoint on how I made them - everyone in class got one!

Naan and Pita Bread

My table mate sneaking goodies home in his pocket! That's a no-no!

What I really am is exhausted! We are coming up on Week 5 at school - mid-terms. All I've been doing is going to school, studying, reading, doing homework, studying for quizzes, vocabulary, more homework, trying to figure out how to do math, and writing recipes. We have to hand write every recipe, and we do about 10 or so dishes a week. Last week was cookies and brownies and boy it was fun!!!! But still at a killer pace. I think I'm going to have to start wearing Depends - I don't even get a bathroom break! Our table for some reason is the last to get done every time. But, we're learning. Here are some photos from last week. I did most of the cookies, but the boys at my table did the Naan and Pita bread, along with the muffins. I'm loving this class, but it's a lot of work both in and out of the kitchen.

Our beautiful - and TASTY - pies!

This week was pies and tarts. We make them in mini-tart pans so we're not each making 3 regular sized pies times the 15 in our class. Three of them I made. I piped the meringue on the lemon meringue pies and the whipped cream on the chocolate pies. The guys decorated the custard pies with the fruit. The bread on the left-hand side is our French bread. We left it proof too long and it didn't turn out very well. You have to totally multi-task and stuff is ready to be taken care of when you're not ready! That was a tough week, believe it or not. Did you know there are three ways to prepare fruit to go into a pie? Baked fruit - the traditional way to make an apple pie. You put the raw apples, spices, etc. into a raw shell and bake. Then there's the cooked fruit method where you cook the fruit and juice or liquid on the stove top, just till almost tender, and put it into a par baked - or blind baked - shell and bake it the rest of the way. Then there's the cooked liquid method. You drain the juice from frozen or prepared fruit, or if you're using delicate fruit like raspberries. You cook the juice on the stove top, finish it,then add it to the fruit in the par baked shell and bake the rest of the way. We learned all about custard and cream pies.

 Like I said, mid-terms are this coming week - I have four to take: one in the kitchen - the practical, where we have to bake a lattice-crust apple pie, spritz cookies, yeast dinner rolls, and biscuits. We have four hours, which I thought was WAY too much time allowed - until I went to open lab this weekend with my other table mate and discovered we went over by 10 minutes! Not as easy as it sounds, especially when all the doughs except the spritz have to either be refrigerated or - in the case of the yeast rolls - proofed twice. Plus I'll be sharing an oven with my other table mate who's just taking this class because he has to, not that he wants to. He just wants to get through it.That's hard when we're both making the same products but at different times because our class only has 4 mixers for the 7 people taking the final the 1st day (the other half will take their written exam the 1st day and bake the second) so the oven has to be set at 3 different temps...it should be interesting. Then I have a mid-term in the Baking and Pastry Theory class. You'd think it would be the same information from the Baking and Pastry baking class - NOT! We go into more detail and we're covering different chapters than the baking class. Then I have a mid-term in Purchasing and Product ID. I just got a B- on a quiz so I'd better start reading the chapters before the mid-term! LOL!

So, here's the real dilemma for me. I started putting my toes into the working world, part-time. I put my resume in at the school. I got a call from Career Services, where they wanted me to do office work because of my back ground. The career services person was so excited when she interviewed me - except that job can only be taken by a student receiving Federal Aid - which I am not. I really had no interest in office work - I need food service experience. There's a store room at school where all the supplies are kept and I wanted to work in there. Great experience and you don't need to be a Federally funded student. I worked in their one day for 3 hours for a class requirement. That's the job I thought I might get but the budget was cut and they couldn't hire anyone. The career services person said she'd put in a good word for me with the store room, as well as pass my resume along to some of her contacts. She said I was professional, interviewed well, and was passionate about what I wanted to do after graduation, but need experience.

 I got a call the next day from a local hospital, asking me to come in for an interview, which I did. The position was for the dietary office, talking directly to the patients about their meal choices and then entering it into the computer. I got a tour of the kitchen and cafe. Unfortunately, there were no open positions for either of them. I told him what I wanted to do and wanted experience in. He was honest with my and said I could very well get pigeon-holed in the dietary office, especially if I do a good job. Plus there were employees who hired in before me waiting for food production positions to open. We agreed he'd hold my resume and call if there was an open position. That was very nice of him. Then I got a call from the owner (with other investors) of several restaurants and delis around the area. He has one restaurant in a big hotel in downtown Detroit. I received the call when I was on my way to the interview at the hospital. This is a job I'd REALLY want! He does a lot of catering. His name is HUGE in town and Detroit. I had just sent him a letter a while back, expressing my desire to work for him, how I didn't have years and years to gain experience and I wanted to work for the best! He got my name from career services and wanted me to come in for an interview. I mentioned the letter and he said from my lack of experience I would never have gotten a call - it was only on the word of career services - and her word goes a long way! I'm excited to have the opportunity to get real world experience, but there's no way I could work 20-24 hours a week and take four classes - no way. If I do start work, I'm going to have to drop back to three classes, which will take me longer to graduate.

Dan and I still aren't talking or communicating. It hurts so much. Jason said I just have to give it time. I can't believe it will be a year in March when Dan asked for the separation. The pain and hurt will never go away, but it's getting easier. I'm not crying as much, but still have times where I break down, especially when I'm tired and overwhelmed. I finally got my health insurance situation settled.

The guy I'm seeing , Ramzi, is such a great guy. We have so much in common, especially the pain of going through divorces. We each know how easy it is to lose everything - how you need to grow and nurture a relationship, not take it for granted, and how you need to respect a relationship and your mate, and work on it every single day. He's great, too, because he knows how much homework I have and how busy I am. We usually make dinner either together or he makes it so I can study. He's a fantastic cook so that's fun. We've both gone through Divorce Care - him twice and me just half of the sessions. I still want to start over when I can find time. We are both going through a marriage seminar series at church. We both want to really know what it takes to keep a marriage together and learn from our past mistakes. There are several divorced and unmarried couples attending. We are enjoying it and it's Christian-based, so that's a real bonus. The last session, it hurt so much because a lot of it hit home for me - things I did wrong - things I could have done better. I felt awful. I wish Dan and I would have gone through something like this. But, this is a learning experience for both Ramzi and I and we are grateful for it.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday! I'm going over to Ramzi's house...his girls are with him this weekend and I'm going to meet them for the first time. I'm probably more nervous than they are. I can only imagine what's going through their minds. I hope they can just accept me - not as a mother figure, but as a friend and someone who cares for their Dad. I'm taking an apple pie I made in open lab yesterday (snuck it out!) God give me strength today and the rest of the week.