Let's all pretend that it hasn't been two weeks since my last post...

Alright, where to begin... Well a couple of weeks ago I went back home to Michigan to see my family and friends. I had a very busy but fun trip and got to see almost everyone that I was hoping to. I made it back to New York by myself and realized that it now feels like home here. Mostly because I have a routine that I was anxious to get back into. After I got back I went back to work and had a dinner out with my coworkers. Afterwards we went to a karaoke bar and somehow I ended up getting onstage with a couple of co-workers and singing a terrible (but secretly awesome) R&B song from the early 2000's in front of a room full of people. Somewhere a video of this exists but I am trying my best to never let it see the light of day hahaha. Now onto school:
The weekend that I got back we started a new "mod" or semester or term or whatever you would like to refer to it as. This one is all about cakes and fillings. We also got a new chef/instructor. He's French and cannot pronounce my name... at all. He calls me Kyla and has apologized for murdering my name hahaha. It's now become a joke to where I just write "Kyla" on all of my stuff. I think that the name Kyla just sounds like my name being said with an Australian accent. "G'day Kyla." See? It totally does. ANYWAYS, he is a lot tougher than our previous teacher, and I am expecting to not get a 4.0 this time, but I am excited for more of a challenge. One of the days our first weekend with him I had to work alone because my partner didn't come to class and he complimented me at the end of the day saying that I was "really on the ball" working on my own and that I had done really well. Oh, also I got my "report card" for the first two mods and have a 4.0. So here is the first cake that I made (note, I forgot to take a picture before I put it into the box so one of the rosettes got messed up.)

It is a lemon scented cake and it was pretty easy to make. The best part was that I finally learned how to put a crumb coat on a cake and have it look "square." (I realize that the previous sentence might make me a nerd). We also made a chocolate cake, which my partner and I, finished with a praline ganache filling, butter cream icing, rich chocolate ganache glaze and hazlenuts. Behold:

We also made some petits fours, ours were almond frangipane with a raspberry jam filling and a pastel green fondant icing:

We've also been practicing our piping and cornet skills. This last weekend we had to practice piping. The chef went around to every single person to show them what they were doing wrong and then helped them correct it... except me. I didn't think that I was doing it that well and actually wanted some pointers but he never said anything to me... I think he might just be afraid to say my name so he avoids me hahaha. This weekend I also made angelfood cake and an orange chiffon cake. I forgot pictures of those as well. They look pretty boring though so don't worry. I think that's about it. There isn't really too much else new going on with me. Not even any good homeless stories... Hope that you're all well.

-Kayla