tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56272393516241087522023-11-15T23:59:15.003-08:00Kayla in New YorkThis is a blog about moving from small town Michigan to NYC to attend culinary school and pursue a career as a baker.Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-61644236396250118672013-06-15T10:48:00.001-07:002013-06-15T10:48:36.379-07:00Flat tires<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj037OkauQW2YPgsh9v6LDR-UBYUrd-PDVzby91nx_2NWnlMivQVDL4IfmuW1dboc4e8GXMbujdUEfGRipvhLK5eRrtFS_LParcO0HSaLUXa5FdTrsRHYhyphenhyphenEop6Ie9GzDwQ_xZ3chKBJw/s640/blogger-image-2077862585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj037OkauQW2YPgsh9v6LDR-UBYUrd-PDVzby91nx_2NWnlMivQVDL4IfmuW1dboc4e8GXMbujdUEfGRipvhLK5eRrtFS_LParcO0HSaLUXa5FdTrsRHYhyphenhyphenEop6Ie9GzDwQ_xZ3chKBJw/s640/blogger-image-2077862585.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Well it's been awhile, yet again, not too much has been going on. Time is flying though and I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing. Over Memorial Day weekend my friend Brittney came to visit. I've known Britt since first grade and it was awesome to have her here visiting. She was also good luck I think, because there were a lot of things I saw while she was here that I've never seen on my own. Such as, the flash mob pictured above. These people came speeding past us on bicycles and then hopped off into this fountain. It was pretty funny and we just stared at them for a few minutes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I also decided to get rid of my Facebook, Instagram, and twitter for the summer so that I could "unplug." It's been ok so far, just a little boring. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here's the really important part of this post: I changed my own flat tire the other day! On Wednesday I started my drive to work and after I had gotten onto the highway my car started making a noise which soon got much louder, at this point I realized that I had a flat. So I got off at the next exit drove for a block or two to find a parking spot and got out to look at a completely deflated tire. I had a moment of panic because I've never changed a tire and to be honest my dad never showed me how. I know I saw him do it before and somehow I just figured it out. So I changed the tire and put on my spare and made my way back home. On the plus side I got an extra day off from work and it happened to be the only nice day of the week. I didn't have any extra money or time to get the tire fixed/replaced until today (I've been taking the train to work for a couple of days). So took my car down the street this morning to have it fixed and was dreading how much it was going to cost. Until something amazing happened. I pulled out my card to pay and the guy shook his head and told me that there was no charge this time; to just come back to their shop the next time something happened to my car. I seriously almost started crying because of how nice this guy was. Not to mention that he hasn't patched my tire, but put on a whole new one and filled my spare with more air. Sometimes people being nice here still catches me by surprise. I'm thinking though that I may be in the wrong line of work because in the last couple of weeks I've replaced a headlight bulb, my wipers, and changed a tire. So, when I get back home, if anyone is in need of a mechanic just give me a call ;-)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hope you're all well and having better luck with your vehicles than I am!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">-Kayla </div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-16772934798251861882013-03-29T18:13:00.001-07:002013-03-29T18:13:43.187-07:00Re-evaluation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the past couple of weeks, a feeling has been building inside of me, something that I never imagined would happen but weirdly enough has. I've begun to feel homesick. It started out just with the regular missing my family and friends, but has evolved into missing slightly weirder things. Things like: Meijer, 6% sales tax, Dan Dickerson and Jim Price, nature, politeness, and even people calling soda: "pop." The city has really started to get to me and things that I loved when I first moved here are now driving me insane. I used to love that no one paid attention to anyone else, but lately I've been craving eye contact and annoying small talk from the cashier ringing up my groceries. I started to think about spending another set of holidays away from home and came to the conclusion that not only do I not want to, but I don't have to. So, my plan is to move back to Michigan in September. I thankfully have a brother who has a whole house to himself and is willing to rent me a room.<br />
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I should note, that I also feel like I've accomplished what I set out to and moving here is not something that I will ever regret; I've gained a lot of experience and knowledge that I am very thankful for and have also met some of my favorite people. I've also realized that starting my own bakery down the road is a more realistic dream in somewhere like Michigan where leases are not outrageous and there isn't another bakery on every corner. So, I'm moving back, I don't have a set date yet and my plans are not 100% complete, but it has taken a huge weight off to come to this decision. Hopefully all of you are well and I can see you in September!Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-84044146239454218242013-01-30T10:49:00.000-08:002013-01-30T10:49:07.790-08:00Reunited and it feels so good...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, yesterday morning I woke up bright and early to make the two hour drive down to Philadelphia to see Lauren. The drive was pretty easy (minus getting lost in NJ and going on a roundabout approximately 12 times) and I got to her apartment relatively unscathed. After a quick walk to the train station and a not so quick hour long wait, we got into the city. Philadelphia is pretty nice, and comparatively small. We didn't really do that much sight-seeing because we both were low on funds, so instead we walked around the city and looked at cool buildings. I made sure to take a few pictures too. So here you go,<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Clothespin!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">City Hall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant board-game pieces </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Mac n Cheese noodle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some weird sculpture</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1zMlN5zgUnNsJvSPxhIS3jFzlBXqQ1BTsItZAsy7APWt5DT7Sn0zKIWyFdTAIQYS-zMM0OQUXVkpbjPX8l178BY70u2OUTS58LPoO_YxbES3zKCeMLTCogQNtS3-8Osx1aapJKDhKw/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1zMlN5zgUnNsJvSPxhIS3jFzlBXqQ1BTsItZAsy7APWt5DT7Sn0zKIWyFdTAIQYS-zMM0OQUXVkpbjPX8l178BY70u2OUTS58LPoO_YxbES3zKCeMLTCogQNtS3-8Osx1aapJKDhKw/s320/016.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful church</td></tr>
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After a few hours of walking around we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and saw a movie. It was so much fun being able to see Lauren (and Brian) and it's nice to know that I have some family so near by. I think that's all for now, I'm off to do my taxes!</div>
<br />Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-29356399826926705292012-12-19T18:46:00.000-08:002012-12-19T18:46:43.885-08:00Year in Review <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9YCfspmm-89mOSjPB5NBPcvgUEx4TVpGDtWuqC63e1nFDtTWfSMwU6LE02jg5AzXyPkFWLDoxuT-pnW3JECOzcMxiKZ2pq2FVdTu6k5Fdu-cnN5eugIQyHsRnw70UZcGMRG2wm6EsA/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9YCfspmm-89mOSjPB5NBPcvgUEx4TVpGDtWuqC63e1nFDtTWfSMwU6LE02jg5AzXyPkFWLDoxuT-pnW3JECOzcMxiKZ2pq2FVdTu6k5Fdu-cnN5eugIQyHsRnw70UZcGMRG2wm6EsA/s320/044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, It's hard to believe that 2012 is coming to an end (and possibly the world? jk). I haven't posted in a few months so I thought an end of year recap would be an easy way to catch people up on what I've been up to. I graduated culinary school in May, got an externship and then a job at Amy's Bread, discovered that my Dad is pretty much the best person ever and brought my car out.<br />
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In November I decided to come home to vote in the election and to get my car. I gave myself like a total of 16 hours or something at home which made everything pretty stressful. Things didn't go exactly to plan and after about 20 minutes into the trip my car started smoking and overheating. I freaked out a bit and pulled off the interstate and did what anyone would do... called my dad. And after the following story I'm sure that you'll agree that I really lucked out in the dad department. My dad left work and drove 45 minutes to come help me out. After inspecting my car he quickly came to the conclusion that my car was not going to make it to New York safely. At this point I was getting pretty anxious since it was 11 am and I had to be to work at 9 the next morning and the drive takes 11 hours. So my dad decided that he would let me use his car to drive back to New York, get my car fixed for me and then drive all the way out to trade cars back. I don't know what I would have done without him. The drive back was thankfully uneventful, though a little boring. I took a grand total of two pictures haha<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgNNqt1olbHZYkZvHWFY2F5bZ8z-jtFz0kiveIhMiZUjXLMEKDFRKbtGZ3Wtv78nlSUKqV81DaHgrVWaoj5KeJmeAeLjxoFZn1XHBiE6ZSQTv1FRQD-dQJ-LCRu9x1Lmnfpz9Tb9Y9w/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgNNqt1olbHZYkZvHWFY2F5bZ8z-jtFz0kiveIhMiZUjXLMEKDFRKbtGZ3Wtv78nlSUKqV81DaHgrVWaoj5KeJmeAeLjxoFZn1XHBiE6ZSQTv1FRQD-dQJ-LCRu9x1Lmnfpz9Tb9Y9w/s320/016.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DSG4ZprwYt56_sTIJ470KA_TUkdx7MNJo6sFrjl1PF7eYnuJ-5_Vpv8vg7zEq5BSi7i57lewep-iVLZoEoOYEWpYC6EOKNpSovf-neMmA1G1b0tQlwYd_NsmxMfP08pQ8c_Wz2vStw/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DSG4ZprwYt56_sTIJ470KA_TUkdx7MNJo6sFrjl1PF7eYnuJ-5_Vpv8vg7zEq5BSi7i57lewep-iVLZoEoOYEWpYC6EOKNpSovf-neMmA1G1b0tQlwYd_NsmxMfP08pQ8c_Wz2vStw/s320/017.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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I made it back safely to the Bronx and then a week or so later I met my dad in PA and switched cars with him. So now my commute to and from work has become a lot better and less annoying (though don't get me started on NYC drivers, I may soon be blinded by road rage). </div>
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I decided to quit Starbucks after the holidays, the stress of never having a day off is starting to get to me (along with the horrible customers that come in) and so I gave my notice and should be done in early January. The bakery is going well and we have been insanely busy because of the holidays. </div>
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Things have been going well, but one major disappointment was that I was unable to make it home for Lauren's wedding on December 1. She has always been one of my very closest friends since we were very small (see above picture) and I was really sad to not be able to share in her big day. The good part is that she is now living in PA not so very far from me, so we will hopefully be able to see each other more often.<br />
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Well, I think that's it for me. I had an eventful year which included surviving a hurricane and having to parallel park on a regular basis. I hope everyone is well and has a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.<br />
<br />Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-10653071310865147302012-10-03T16:26:00.001-07:002012-10-03T16:26:33.681-07:00One year in...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's crazy to think that just a little over a year ago, I was being dropped off at some slightly gross place in Queens sobbing and thinking I'd made the worst mistake of my life. What a difference a year can make... (or something like that.) Well, folks I'm here to report that I'm still alive and well. I've not had much time to do anything lately, I've been working a crazy amount and then catching up on laundry and cleaning on my day(s) off. The bakery is going really well and I still love it. I've been getting to make different things and on the days that I work later in the day/evening I get to help the night bakers which means making a bunch of stuff you never see on the day shift. I also have been cooking for myself pretty much every day, which is nice. The other day I made veggie lasagna (Thanks Aunt Kathy!) and even my meat eating roommates loved it. I've also continued reading a bunch, the latest book I read is the new Junot Diaz book called "This is How You Lose Her," he is the author of one of my all time favorite books, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," and his new book was just as good. <br />
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Also, I've been able to listen to NPR at the bakery every day. Now this may not seem that exciting to anyone but me, but there might not be anything better than making carrot cake and listening to Car Talk. Speaking of carrots... I was making carrot cake on Monday and came across quite possibly the biggest carrot ever...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4KBnjmSafH6MvwjTX0uBVlpAKBsZYOk3MxHU10H2L3FHHdPsIumc9pCKtUt2XuKs-xRNXenY0lhSsLmqkCTBtKI0b_OlJSXsg_oMGQjozbn3fX5yx5KRzwfHMBtxTuhiwjdc9OluMA/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4KBnjmSafH6MvwjTX0uBVlpAKBsZYOk3MxHU10H2L3FHHdPsIumc9pCKtUt2XuKs-xRNXenY0lhSsLmqkCTBtKI0b_OlJSXsg_oMGQjozbn3fX5yx5KRzwfHMBtxTuhiwjdc9OluMA/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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I also made red velvet cake this last weekend and looked like the victim of a violent crime:</div>
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Oh, also, I'll be coming home for a day to do my civic duty and also to get my car on November 6th. It might seem crazy that I'll be bringing my car to the city, but it's been taking me around 1.5 hours on the train to get to and from work which is driving me crazy!!!! It will take around 30 minutes via my car and there is free parking at my job and plenty of free parking at my house, not to mention that the route to get from the Bronx to Queens that I'll take doesn't have any tolls. So in order to save my sanity, it seems like the smart thing to do. Now, if only I could figure out a way to steal my dog without my Dad and/or my roommates noticing I'd be golden.</div>
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Here's some food that I made recently for myself and some dessert for my roommates:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQZNQEUPMKb85U5s7lpTztWvE0eSMo5iTkcdGE7_90vX7FgF0sKx8m6qpnCLmmsF_g_vbntKndS4ZpPXlike6hGvNtHvUwWCCbGI9fdM4eiNnZbpAR4lgHPkug8E0O44KuFqG_GPs6A/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQZNQEUPMKb85U5s7lpTztWvE0eSMo5iTkcdGE7_90vX7FgF0sKx8m6qpnCLmmsF_g_vbntKndS4ZpPXlike6hGvNtHvUwWCCbGI9fdM4eiNnZbpAR4lgHPkug8E0O44KuFqG_GPs6A/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">strawberry shortcake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bSfJAZKi_8piR4szw5oSeTUWey2b_J1IGTyE26tCukQgSmmQS31uyJqMYR2l_rOZ8MDh-lmD1UJq-NqNw4WnXonIvyjhG7MC9DbFMfrZs1hXCB2N1RgGktPCDQUbnBzxxlyf_foNvw/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bSfJAZKi_8piR4szw5oSeTUWey2b_J1IGTyE26tCukQgSmmQS31uyJqMYR2l_rOZ8MDh-lmD1UJq-NqNw4WnXonIvyjhG7MC9DbFMfrZs1hXCB2N1RgGktPCDQUbnBzxxlyf_foNvw/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thai coconut veggies with brown rice</td></tr>
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And lastly, my beloved Tigers have eked into the postseason for the second season in a row, while Miguel Cabrera is about to accomplish something that hasn't been done since 1967, which is to win the triple crown. It's nice to know that even after a year in New York, I haven't been converted into a Yankees fan.</div>
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<br />Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-67257086382260529572012-08-12T18:13:00.000-07:002012-08-12T18:13:06.969-07:00Ch-ch-ch-changes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-D60DPxUyqWuCnNMU3zJj3Vr6n4_JhonYjjlM-M5wJE_sJ_lHi9BSjt4P4bsdlzbJtCYxsEB6iApP00ubPcSxFhx7A4c6xc_DDhmql-90ESAhtrAqunKcb3vBgsVvGilg49s_QB_oA/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-D60DPxUyqWuCnNMU3zJj3Vr6n4_JhonYjjlM-M5wJE_sJ_lHi9BSjt4P4bsdlzbJtCYxsEB6iApP00ubPcSxFhx7A4c6xc_DDhmql-90ESAhtrAqunKcb3vBgsVvGilg49s_QB_oA/s320/034.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turning 25 doesn't mean you're suddenly mature</td></tr>
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I could start this by saying how sorry I am that I haven't blogged in so long and how busy I am and blah blah blah; but the truth is I kind of forget about this blog 98% of the time. Anyhow, I went back to Michigan for my birthday to try and spend a couple of relaxing days at the beach. Dad, Sam, and Zach all took a couple of days off to accompany me to Grand Haven, and it was a blast. I even managed to get some pictures:<a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a nice way to spend a birthday and it also included quite possibly the best nap that I have ever had. (I fell asleep on the beach.) I got to see some friends and family, which is always nice, and just happened to get my favorite birthday gift ever:</div>
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Victoria gave me that awesome necklace which I have only taken off a few times. And now onto other life events. I got a call on Thursday while I was at Starbucks and it was from the head baker at Amy's Bread (the place that I'm doing my internship at). She wanted me to come in the next day to talk to her. I never work with her because I'm only there weekends and she only works Monday through Friday. So I literally have not seen her since she offered the internship to me three months ago. So, I went in on Friday feeling super nervous (as usual) and was pleasantly surprised when she offered me a full time position. I had been thinking that if I ended up being offered a spot that I would turn it down, but as soon as she asked I knew that this was exactly what I wanted. I had been getting really bummed out about not working there anymore because the people there are amazing and it kind of is the highlight of my week to be able to go have an awesome time while doing something that I love. So, as you can probably guess I accepted it and will be starting full time on the 25th. This means that I won't be going down the assistant manager route at Starbucks, but I will still be working there a few days a week (or as much as I can handle without going more grey). It's really bizarre to think that I'm coming up on a year of living here and in that time I've gotten an apartment, made amazing friends, started and finished school, and gotten a job at a bakery. It's amazing to realize that you're in the exact place you're supposed to be at exactly the right time.</div>
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<br /></div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-2425657095127307562012-06-09T17:15:00.001-07:002012-06-09T17:15:13.848-07:00No Time for Rest, Feeling at home, and Figuring Stuff out<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The house from my favorite movie The Royal Tenenbaums, it's about 5 blocks from where I live<br /></td></tr>
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I've lived in New York for about nine months now... That's crazy. On the one hand I cannot believe that I've been away from Michigan for that long and on the other hand I can't believe that I've only been here for that long - it feels like I've been here for way longer (in a good way). Life has gotten really crazy in these last few weeks; I'm working seven days a week and around 60 hours and you know what? I'm happy. Like really happy. The bakery is amazing and every weekend even though I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed because I'm exhausted from closing at Starbucks the night before; I get there and realize that there is nowhere else I would rather be. The people who work there are awesome and so kind that it's kind of unbelievable. They make me feel so welcome and like I'm an important part of the team and not just some lowly intern. I feel so incredibly lucky/blessed that I ended up where I did, because I have to assume that it would be much tougher to be working so much if I hated the place I was going. So not only have I been working like crazy, but I'm also moving... that will mean that I will have lived in three of the five boroughs in my short time here. Maybe I can go for some sort of record? I've also managed to be filling my not so spare time with reading, and have been reading about a book a day. Nothing super Earth shattering or important but it feels good to read none the less. I also managed to find some time to go see the new Wes Anderson movie (he directed the film mentioned in the above picture) and it was so cute and wonderful! I loved it and was glad that I got to see it early (it's in limited release). Also, the wonderful customer at my work is going to have me make a cake for her parents' wedding anniversary in September and has been telling her friends about me, so I think that I'll be doing some "free-lance" cake work. I like doing it and it will be a nice way to make some extra cash. Anyhow, I hope you're all well. Also, once I'm moved into my new place I expect all of you to come and visit and crash on my bedroom floor (not all at once though, it'd be pretty crowded).<div>
Talk to you soon!</div>
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Kayla</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-22206866015785036632012-05-19T17:44:00.002-07:002012-05-19T19:19:52.525-07:00Sore feet, no free time, and being content<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, you are looking at the newest graduate of ICE (sort of - I don't officially get my diploma until I've finished my externship.) My dad, brother, and sister got to come in for the occasion and it was fun showing them around the city and finally making it to the museum of natural history. The cake that I made turned out pretty much the way I pictured it in my head when I sketched it, and despite a couple of flaws I was happy with the end result. Here's a picture my dad took:<br />
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It's still kind of weird to me that I made that. I am not the least bit creative but somehow I managed to do that... weird. Anyhow, I started my externship this morning and was really surprised when I awoke that I was really sad to not be going to school today. I guess it's not that much of a surprise since I've kind of always been a nerd... oh well. The externship went well, I made cookie dough, made a couple types of frosting, prepared cake pans, wrapped cakes, cleaned, more stuff I can't think of. I think that I was underestimating how tough this would be in addition to Starbucks, but I'm not complaining, it's fun. I went to the bakery which is in a part of Manhattan called Hell's Kitchen and there was a street fair going on today; so for the whole day whenever I looked outside I felt like I was back in Rochester, because it looked just like downtown Rochester when they have something going on outside. </div>
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Here's another picture from graduation a very (un)flattering close-up (thanks dad!) It should also be noted that I had eight hours of class before the graduation ceremony and the air conditioning was not working.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My eyes look nice and wonky...<br />
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On a different note, I'm considering moving again. A girl I work with needs a new roommate (she lives with two other girls but the third just moved out.) It's in the Bronx but in a house that is really nice. I am going to look at it on Tuesday, I haven't decided for sure, but it seems like it would be a really great fit. I'll keep you updated. Hope you're all having a good weekend.<br />
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-Kayla<br />
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<br /></div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-82461704739351865292012-05-03T21:18:00.001-07:002012-05-03T21:18:17.109-07:00Life questions, being vegetarian, neglecting blogs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was just thinking that it hasn't been that long since I last updated my blog and then I looked and noticed that I never even posted about the chocolate stuff I made. (Spoiler alert, I hated it...) I also feel like not much has happened but I guess it has. So, I will try to briefly catch everyone up with my life since my last update. (I posted a cute picture of Margot because how can you be mad about a lack of updates when you see that face?) Before I get into the school stuff, I actually have something that I need a little advice on. So, I got promoted to shift supervisor at Starbucks a few weeks ago and about a week ago my manager asked me about becoming an assistant manager. I had never really given it any thought and had not been very interested before, but I gave it some thought and told him that I would definitely consider it. I figure that even if I get a job right out of school it's not going to pay that great and it might not have the great benefits that Starbucks does. Plus an assistant starts at around $40k a year which it quite a lot more than what I currently make (plus you get stocks and 401k and all that great stuff). So after thinking about it I told my manager that I would like to pursue it. I was thinking that it would take several months if it even happened at all. There is also the fact that when you're promoted 99% of the time you have to transfer to a different store. However, today when I came in my manager told me that he talked to our district manager and I can do an interview in two weeks... He also told our dm that he would delay getting an assistant for a couple months so that I can stay at our store and do it. This seems to be happening really fast and I'm a little bit worried if it's the right thing to do. I need the money and I really like working at Starbucks and there's a definite safety net there; I just don't want to get distracted from my goal of baking. So, am I making a huge mistake by possibly taking this promotion? Or is it a good decision? I need some outside perspective please! Alright onto school. I cannot remember everything that we did, so here are some pictures:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning stages of molded chocolates</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKmUnj51Sskin21uCIQf68RjKeLWUNyWfGf53MDSUOnqRnhvZDTKw3G7GWA5vNdN6u6VwIllNrFuG1ZaPUmK2OQo6EWbzQBMaYitAd5el7Ah6G0g0p0qTu3sN2WIx45yC3vD4zCJHUzg/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKmUnj51Sskin21uCIQf68RjKeLWUNyWfGf53MDSUOnqRnhvZDTKw3G7GWA5vNdN6u6VwIllNrFuG1ZaPUmK2OQo6EWbzQBMaYitAd5el7Ah6G0g0p0qTu3sN2WIx45yC3vD4zCJHUzg/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This looks like a walnut but it's chocolate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPf03URNC9XK8do1bf46jn9CWJ3J_Zu6KWy5Zmv4SS08Pj-Pfw40j1SPvRWS5YX2EbENi7EnLDOziojdSOYjMYYDpS0cJ3etF9gsCCCMuxeS6u7om7xctaPBTABa6mVOimc5mamz-5w/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPf03URNC9XK8do1bf46jn9CWJ3J_Zu6KWy5Zmv4SS08Pj-Pfw40j1SPvRWS5YX2EbENi7EnLDOziojdSOYjMYYDpS0cJ3etF9gsCCCMuxeS6u7om7xctaPBTABa6mVOimc5mamz-5w/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAevKamuXxaOr1hLNqtKhfQv4uLm1A8v-hmF-fAGpfRlqI8OLn8xozR7_aEnThCCmqusTWb3ekhF7UXLKh_oUv9TIcNp994YmNQCSnwE_zLqY-RCY4qh8Ub5LC1FrQDVODuiGMXt_6Q/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAevKamuXxaOr1hLNqtKhfQv4uLm1A8v-hmF-fAGpfRlqI8OLn8xozR7_aEnThCCmqusTWb3ekhF7UXLKh_oUv9TIcNp994YmNQCSnwE_zLqY-RCY4qh8Ub5LC1FrQDVODuiGMXt_6Q/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkD4KWev8YB5ztogilVKmjlmjdYvYhdYrDufgV5Bsvt7-mr5mF2acmO9cz-2ovfgJ5_iGWPPQt8BSAfLTB40pcqdZbgHiRe09AQw8EFsmV7dPmgmPEHfkrbq5qSZ8wJhIfjId2sCV5A/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqkD4KWev8YB5ztogilVKmjlmjdYvYhdYrDufgV5Bsvt7-mr5mF2acmO9cz-2ovfgJ5_iGWPPQt8BSAfLTB40pcqdZbgHiRe09AQw8EFsmV7dPmgmPEHfkrbq5qSZ8wJhIfjId2sCV5A/s320/020.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isomalt (fancy sugar)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxF-gHbrjxnFibmR59CWLnf4zbNcH-3Z7bSfYZsfJsmW1VrJHNmgyrwlk_nEUb6hQbohEkDNHhQkA_bcoiPxdSJwYCeV0nJbFT_IozksKl5GzSSfUOcE_xRm-XO0XeAa-C7essBcKpg/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxF-gHbrjxnFibmR59CWLnf4zbNcH-3Z7bSfYZsfJsmW1VrJHNmgyrwlk_nEUb6hQbohEkDNHhQkA_bcoiPxdSJwYCeV0nJbFT_IozksKl5GzSSfUOcE_xRm-XO0XeAa-C7essBcKpg/s320/022.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate showpiece</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91q2cFAsECy9034HwoJlDUmu5FH1xjSr9s456aPl02Mmc9pMuDW3VIHqyZCkT7V1cn3S34GBa_7-vzK4fmq89LNBH88R4utBsiH-95NoS-vW1GKE40wmRL2hHLkAfB4aj3AiEpi7IcA/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91q2cFAsECy9034HwoJlDUmu5FH1xjSr9s456aPl02Mmc9pMuDW3VIHqyZCkT7V1cn3S34GBa_7-vzK4fmq89LNBH88R4utBsiH-95NoS-vW1GKE40wmRL2hHLkAfB4aj3AiEpi7IcA/s320/024.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's all chocolate/isomalt (even the round base is chocolate)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnib_o-dIQhm27TdQAHlkrIQIdDNc7noH0jPuFGMPAubC0-Qe5HNCXuOX0Lo1GcQfMbHIsZMvclzUsGXBxY-4_XuOB8u22NGWoBxIUmAeuyf3RFCSxFGFjoUCsG7BeuUa2ES9Rp60vQ/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnib_o-dIQhm27TdQAHlkrIQIdDNc7noH0jPuFGMPAubC0-Qe5HNCXuOX0Lo1GcQfMbHIsZMvclzUsGXBxY-4_XuOB8u22NGWoBxIUmAeuyf3RFCSxFGFjoUCsG7BeuUa2ES9Rp60vQ/s320/025.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">marzipan fruit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWdRR0SSnF-66f41ARa9Rc73QZEnBe-bYq8Crce8sfXbuJbvKsav8A6ThW_rRpcE57rugwzTujIKhQZtrEx8rOkVnjXKcnae78THFU1S_baC8ei-rWgLmo8l6G-QWlFtcNLt2D2hYHQ/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWdRR0SSnF-66f41ARa9Rc73QZEnBe-bYq8Crce8sfXbuJbvKsav8A6ThW_rRpcE57rugwzTujIKhQZtrEx8rOkVnjXKcnae78THFU1S_baC8ei-rWgLmo8l6G-QWlFtcNLt2D2hYHQ/s320/026.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">more marzipan fruit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKU6AiYXgIEk2X0QEL3gWC_UAq-1TM_B4eUNaE2j-HYBmacs3-6fWR_67fbWBF1-UBvMo1BdYw-P_LnAOYgqrdNUI-jltXa1TQpwtW47W9XAg73JMX5_PXKqKF22J6aMytcONumY40Dg/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKU6AiYXgIEk2X0QEL3gWC_UAq-1TM_B4eUNaE2j-HYBmacs3-6fWR_67fbWBF1-UBvMo1BdYw-P_LnAOYgqrdNUI-jltXa1TQpwtW47W9XAg73JMX5_PXKqKF22J6aMytcONumY40Dg/s320/028.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">random terrible piping</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6dQHW5Rl7QxJPEuxRqUFz8JOA1fLuQ2QEZdRhyphenhyphenqAoNAf9881w-8qTfHecongbzBG9IrNso6vCGNtjAMrnNiUdwi_CZh-cn8qEkh6clINlUIG2ZnK0qTxKD5rb_DwdzpNcP9TTQ5YEA/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6dQHW5Rl7QxJPEuxRqUFz8JOA1fLuQ2QEZdRhyphenhyphenqAoNAf9881w-8qTfHecongbzBG9IrNso6vCGNtjAMrnNiUdwi_CZh-cn8qEkh6clINlUIG2ZnK0qTxKD5rb_DwdzpNcP9TTQ5YEA/s320/029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">basket weave piping</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgia959J_Y6mrfm67WFAhQigmjbNVMvi2v-H3vxhyiThxbTQ9Fc_CYWHSUi0qmxtbuqAva1O7M8dbiyIn5yKx8klhyphenhyphenzaB-iCYR5QHPa6ub9Q4lPuOM_4K6NYZcQkfo3zKhafkl7BfoCoQ/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgia959J_Y6mrfm67WFAhQigmjbNVMvi2v-H3vxhyiThxbTQ9Fc_CYWHSUi0qmxtbuqAva1O7M8dbiyIn5yKx8klhyphenhyphenzaB-iCYR5QHPa6ub9Q4lPuOM_4K6NYZcQkfo3zKhafkl7BfoCoQ/s320/031.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">buttercream rose</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh_1t-txOXMyzG1AUW_H499u5QN20KRDF3cRLfdYZRRgr6LkRHwuLh02vskChQHtX2bA4EqfT-44f55KVlJLzF9FZ4RH6KRpT_glhSKJYEWZZV3fPQ2zAy-oQzIqSbGk3sCiO76KwEg/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhh_1t-txOXMyzG1AUW_H499u5QN20KRDF3cRLfdYZRRgr6LkRHwuLh02vskChQHtX2bA4EqfT-44f55KVlJLzF9FZ4RH6KRpT_glhSKJYEWZZV3fPQ2zAy-oQzIqSbGk3sCiO76KwEg/s320/032.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another rose</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnly6RQMlx6rKNQFl_xaILiZ-E8QRO4AKJvMz8cTwux3XO9hjnO7KoNfxTmGCL4XnZsOuGKcKvnyZ1qDU6x-EZYKAda5Q2lWNehpAYEyAgyUc4zL29_xSz1rJkLwpbd-ZPDKFC-FLIg/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnly6RQMlx6rKNQFl_xaILiZ-E8QRO4AKJvMz8cTwux3XO9hjnO7KoNfxTmGCL4XnZsOuGKcKvnyZ1qDU6x-EZYKAda5Q2lWNehpAYEyAgyUc4zL29_xSz1rJkLwpbd-ZPDKFC-FLIg/s320/039.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beginning of gumpaste roses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq54tox_xBPq048UgOiuxhAaFNj7gdW1K0iGzEIOJAH51uzgj741o5NVe3FSwHjVsfWY3bBiGFFok8L-OuCl-zTG-QoDdctzP7KBpU6fEDOPvjPRrR9C4m5nw1JiuHayclk1FfqdKuQ/s1600/040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq54tox_xBPq048UgOiuxhAaFNj7gdW1K0iGzEIOJAH51uzgj741o5NVe3FSwHjVsfWY3bBiGFFok8L-OuCl-zTG-QoDdctzP7KBpU6fEDOPvjPRrR9C4m5nw1JiuHayclk1FfqdKuQ/s320/040.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">gumpaste roses finished</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Those roses are going to go on top of the wedding cake that I am making for my final project. I have to say that I love cake decorating. I ended up being good at it which greatly surprised me. Tomorrow morning (or this morning since it's pretty late) I am going to Amy's bread to work for a couple of hours. If all goes well, I will get my externship there. So please send some good thoughts my way. I kind of didn't go into detail about anything in this post, so if there's anything that you are wondering about, a picture of whatever, leave a comment and I will try to answer it in a new post within the next couple of days. That's all for now, sorry for this rambling post. Oh, hey I forgot to say that I stopped eating meat again. So there's that... </div>
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Hope you're all well.</div>
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-Kayla</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-37132760827329288242012-03-19T14:01:00.000-07:002012-03-19T14:01:32.432-07:00Promotions, Finals, and Feeling at home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOxvvZHKsqzvxkTstbVW0Sh3vkVJDl5JRpJfoT3f3Z-OcYNQfhXxHDUU9NEXN4rWk0W6LMmSH1vnUguZiqYmjdRP6dgsLXTlcgdTDXluQw4xjNpRRNNQF0RDDzvKBCdHYI4tKE1Lnrg/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOxvvZHKsqzvxkTstbVW0Sh3vkVJDl5JRpJfoT3f3Z-OcYNQfhXxHDUU9NEXN4rWk0W6LMmSH1vnUguZiqYmjdRP6dgsLXTlcgdTDXluQw4xjNpRRNNQF0RDDzvKBCdHYI4tKE1Lnrg/s320/005.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneXLj6Ub9yCeCO7Zw_bSsa6cR41uCGuuiRVd0veA0rI2BfjDViIwGB0vXY9E3VSKJeNRY1j_RSTrHznWzeLicg-uOvO54keDyZTloDqxCsdixyu69flH_pKV2HnPEdIjF-8MkaGEv4A/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneXLj6Ub9yCeCO7Zw_bSsa6cR41uCGuuiRVd0veA0rI2BfjDViIwGB0vXY9E3VSKJeNRY1j_RSTrHznWzeLicg-uOvO54keDyZTloDqxCsdixyu69flH_pKV2HnPEdIjF-8MkaGEv4A/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well, I finished another term/semester/mod at school and am happy to say that I still have an A. The last few weeks of school have been a real test. I had to work with a partner that I cannot stand and have come to the realization that I am an absolute control freak. It's not a very flattering quality so I'm going to work on it. I had my final on Sunday and for the final we had a written portion and then we had to decorate a cake. We made the lemon-scented cake again, but this time we got to choose the flavors and determine how we wanted to decorate it. I chose to do raspberry jam with a framboise (raspberry liquer) flavored buttercream. We practiced our piping skills on Saturday and by Sunday my rosettes looked a lot better. When we finished our cakes we had to sit down with the chef one-on-one and discuss our thoughts on what our grade should be. I kind of hate having to self evaluate and tell someone what grade I think I deserve. I had a class in college where the professor didn't believe in grades, so we each had to meet with him and tell him what grade to give us. I was having flashbacks to that when I went to sit down with the chef. I finished my cake first and volunteered to go get graded first. There were different criteria like how the sides of the cake looked, the top of the cake, finishing details, the layers on the inside, etc. The sides of my cake looked kind of crappy because I had a little trouble with them, so he asked me what I thought I deserved out of 18. I said 13 because I was not very happy with the work and knew I could have done better. He told me that I am too hard on myself and gave me a 16. I ended up with an A (although a low A like a 93) so I was pretty satisfied. Plus the chef said some really nice things to me, which made me feel pretty good. Next weekend begins the chocolate mod along with more cake decorating. So stay tuned. (Oh - side note, I tried my cake before I got rid of it and it was delicious!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On another front, I got promoted to shift supervisor at Starbucks today. I'll be making about two dollars more an hour which is really nice. I've come to the realization that I love it here. I've made some really great friends and I get to live in quite possibly the craziest place on the planet. I still am surprised sometimes to think that I actually did this; that I actually moved out here on my own without knowing anyone. I feel really proud of myself to be honest, hopefully I can say that without sounding boastful. On a side note: I'm re-reading "The Great Gatsby" and was reminded by one particular passage as to why I loved F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing. So, I'll leave you with that. Hope everyone has a good week. I'll see you soon!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">"He smiled understandingly-much</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"></wbr><span class="word_break" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself."</span> </div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-72697981086528141202012-03-11T17:37:00.000-07:002012-03-11T17:37:18.538-07:00Ribbon cakes, cookies, parfaits and being good at balancing...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3ABxGpANFL6CNwEbcl0Q6UgpTYs1hlSxi2T2sPrh5tMW5DkyzSqOOYendLv5GV308T-pnSwDK1iwqUwjhpQj1qtXtevh9rd4N0Y4TmIfrobvZOcdGVnf64GG8A9jmYTEAzmQXnpgtw/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3ABxGpANFL6CNwEbcl0Q6UgpTYs1hlSxi2T2sPrh5tMW5DkyzSqOOYendLv5GV308T-pnSwDK1iwqUwjhpQj1qtXtevh9rd4N0Y4TmIfrobvZOcdGVnf64GG8A9jmYTEAzmQXnpgtw/s320/009.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have to wear my hair in a bun at school so that I can avoid wearing a hairnet; so at the end of the day when I take the bun down, my hair has dried in a weird direction and gets all twisted and looks pretty funny. I should have started this off by saying that I'm coming home in April. I'll be home from April 5-9, so hopefully I'll see you while I'm there. School has been moving along swiftly and I cannot believe I only have a couple more months of classes. I've been having a good time this semester and really enjoy my instructor. Getting a compliment from someone who is fairly critical feels a lot better than from someone who compliments everything. We've been making a bunch of stuff and I keep surprising myself by doing really well on it and being told so by my teacher as well. Enough bragging about myself though. I have some pictures!</div><a name='more'></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGPoJXhCiR1G47g2vrW7t6SnOM08DJoP71392QN3Rn4vhgrhElhRvuzsGZlB6EFKHXTn5OfoYGWp4v7ehynYwApOXihvoX_fHk7lSaqSI8UdEDc6ziuZ76M6WDLJJaO3ZNy8b9OHCNA/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGPoJXhCiR1G47g2vrW7t6SnOM08DJoP71392QN3Rn4vhgrhElhRvuzsGZlB6EFKHXTn5OfoYGWp4v7ehynYwApOXihvoX_fHk7lSaqSI8UdEDc6ziuZ76M6WDLJJaO3ZNy8b9OHCNA/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made tonsss of cookies!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GoE7Wh7Y3ZeRQP8KDVhh8Bj36QEr5M58AhwIv4bv6aTjho16f3xmbOtkbBnhg6cDGP-zF03xhasiGYXSzaTiseM6lNtGIdDvvv0h0EYW4QobCGrQUCfoaDKBhbrkrsGcp4VaNROqiw/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GoE7Wh7Y3ZeRQP8KDVhh8Bj36QEr5M58AhwIv4bv6aTjho16f3xmbOtkbBnhg6cDGP-zF03xhasiGYXSzaTiseM6lNtGIdDvvv0h0EYW4QobCGrQUCfoaDKBhbrkrsGcp4VaNROqiw/s320/001.JPG" width="239" /></a> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made chocolate ribbon cakes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The chocolate ribbon cakes were pretty neat, we covered a cake that had a mousse with chocolate "plastic" which was really neat to work with. Today we had our first attempt at making plated desserts. These are the kind of dishes that you would make in a fancy restaurant as a pastry chef. I am not a very creative person so I've been kind of worried about this part of the course, but it went well. My team made a chestnut parfait with roasted pears, candied chestnuts and a wafer on top. I was responsible for the parfait portion and had a mini freakout, but I'll get to that in a moment. First, here's a couple of pictures:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibXRzoPnu6VNZ66FpYzsnrJahM_zsMo1qT5mMxNY8PjD-Y_tJxI5aUIzKFB236Ev5smJlEU612xSGVUAWnkRUPoELqFJoKvqhV1aIBSeHPvHvn_HotJy5VWZm8LFkjZrNfe7oT4rpA5g/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibXRzoPnu6VNZ66FpYzsnrJahM_zsMo1qT5mMxNY8PjD-Y_tJxI5aUIzKFB236Ev5smJlEU612xSGVUAWnkRUPoELqFJoKvqhV1aIBSeHPvHvn_HotJy5VWZm8LFkjZrNfe7oT4rpA5g/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdi8jodt6dQauSeStgmVyppGHYdvnVQSa35n_Ie2xfMba2HAShXBqvaookR3QvAYOW0ZU0ZMnvxulAMRFWY9jL7OqiatSTIQB3Bs8LB1acesN8zhjin7_E9grB8Jk7mXRw95B1CIO7zw/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdi8jodt6dQauSeStgmVyppGHYdvnVQSa35n_Ie2xfMba2HAShXBqvaookR3QvAYOW0ZU0ZMnvxulAMRFWY9jL7OqiatSTIQB3Bs8LB1acesN8zhjin7_E9grB8Jk7mXRw95B1CIO7zw/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the one that I plated myself...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So onto my freakout... So I made the parfait part of the parfait... To make it I had to whip up egg yolks with a hot milk/sugar/gelatin mixture and whip until the yolks were cool, light and fluffy. Well after several minutes it wasn't happening. I ended up tossing it and starting from scratch. Then the same thing happened... I started to get nervous and went to my instructor to ask for advice. He told me to wait and keep whipping it and that it would come together... and if it didn't we would start over and make sure we did it perfect. Well, he was right and it came together after like 10 minutes. I have to say it came out beautifully and it tasted pretty great. I took one to another class and the chef complimented me and said it was beautiful. Next week we have some more plated desserts and then our final is on Sunday. Then the weekend after we move onto chocolate (ugh...) and cake decorating. Also, I've become a pro at making whipped cream by hand, I think I may be the fastest in my class.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On another note, I think I officially became a real New Yorker today... I was able to stand up on the subway without holding on and I didn't fall once. Hahaha I think that's it for now. See you soon.</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-25021395668024379132012-02-24T17:41:00.000-08:002012-02-24T17:41:58.707-08:00insert clever title here...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2iz-MAQxSD6xgjwNmtFucrd4oQGzF2aiReT-1xmFEcsysvYp6joUIscX7Xbrn7GUYOqNEt9ahHLxhYs0ju20CP6flBDT-uMXDP2C6hQbnCN2OfvwOj9FNfg0gtn44FNewanAb1m0ig/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2iz-MAQxSD6xgjwNmtFucrd4oQGzF2aiReT-1xmFEcsysvYp6joUIscX7Xbrn7GUYOqNEt9ahHLxhYs0ju20CP6flBDT-uMXDP2C6hQbnCN2OfvwOj9FNfg0gtn44FNewanAb1m0ig/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>I've sat down to write a new post like three times over the course of the last two weeks and each time have found myself with nothing to say. So, if this feels slightly forced or maybe not entirely interesting you have my apologies. I guess another excuse is that the weather has been amazing here (minus today as it's been raining all day - but hey it's not snow right?) Here's a semi boring description of my commuting plans: (this has a point I swear) I live uptown on the west-side and my job is on the east-side. So, in the afternoon when I get out of work I typically take a crosstown bus so that I can just take the train right home, instead of having to transfer trains and such. However, as I mentioned, the weather has been so nice lately that I decided to start walking across town instead of taking the bus. This means that I get to walk through Central Park on my way home everyday. (The above picture is of the big lake in Central Park that I get to walk past.) I didn't have school last weekend so I got to sleep in and go out with some friends which was fun.<br />
School has been good, I really like my new instructor. He taught us some new piping techniques and once again complimented me on my work. We've also made some more cakes, but I think that I only have a picture of one, here it is:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg97CtpMb2-osgoW8CbBArlIzYLa7CddGdHRvX6aQLsjPp7OBHxCsDXeLzaOlRQoxGOlLRzJcFvbDJd_buKhy32lLqMVzG5IGpeFYsrr2dUFZSvpQda26nEZ4dSMFrj7bcouP2GiAq5g/s1600/228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg97CtpMb2-osgoW8CbBArlIzYLa7CddGdHRvX6aQLsjPp7OBHxCsDXeLzaOlRQoxGOlLRzJcFvbDJd_buKhy32lLqMVzG5IGpeFYsrr2dUFZSvpQda26nEZ4dSMFrj7bcouP2GiAq5g/s320/228.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tYBY4YavxzZVhRCe2XJz2z3DB95fWE9ZfBVx33jUlr5kbQxLPdEa8Y_Y2odHuIV7hj-bOjQcjdp5NgzcAamhSwuDZJyF-uw49HwPL4C9PBtEYmCUdFNWCjhh1eDaYwt1HxovR77krw/s1600/227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tYBY4YavxzZVhRCe2XJz2z3DB95fWE9ZfBVx33jUlr5kbQxLPdEa8Y_Y2odHuIV7hj-bOjQcjdp5NgzcAamhSwuDZJyF-uw49HwPL4C9PBtEYmCUdFNWCjhh1eDaYwt1HxovR77krw/s320/227.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We made Genoise cakes which is just a type of sponge cake, although if you say Genoise instead of sponge you sound much more pretentious (just make sure to use a very French pronunciation.) We made a chocolate one and also a plain one. I don't remember which one this is because I finished them similarly, but the plain one had raspberry jam and lemon curd. I've got to be honest and say that I would probably eat anything thing that has lemon curd on it, because it's pretty much the most delicious thing ever. My chocolate one was layered with raspberry jam, whipped cream and fresh raspberries. By the way I whipped the cream by hand, take that Kitchenaid... That was pretty much all we did at school, it was a pretty laid back weekend which was nice. Tomorrow we have an exam so I'm hoping I do alright.<br />
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I decided this year to participate in Lent, mostly because I have never done so, and partly because I wanted to kind of challenge myself. So, for Lent I decided that the only beverages I would drink would be water and tea (unsweetened). So, no soda, no juice, and worst of all - no coffee. So far so good though. Have any of you given up anything for Lent? Also, on a slightly more embarrassing note I have been marathoning episodes of Felicity on Netflix. I never saw it when it aired on tv, but I kind of love it. I've been getting a lot of flack at work about it hahaha. On that note, I am going to go study for my test.Talk to you soon.<br />
KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-44789145260526914072012-02-08T13:04:00.000-08:002012-02-08T13:04:20.943-08:00Let's all pretend that it hasn't been two weeks since my last post...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95e3XMc6auGBttBcHf6loE-RJQVK5lTKP0UI5Khy6pl-zvBV4GZKboEkc2PXI6lwpTorcqfvVxphPEiouZjYV_4dphpolAO0b5iy3PV1CMUaBa0yJByXdrtbyFF-bTk_7HMSGbLwskg/s1600/P1000545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95e3XMc6auGBttBcHf6loE-RJQVK5lTKP0UI5Khy6pl-zvBV4GZKboEkc2PXI6lwpTorcqfvVxphPEiouZjYV_4dphpolAO0b5iy3PV1CMUaBa0yJByXdrtbyFF-bTk_7HMSGbLwskg/s320/P1000545.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>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:<br />
<a name='more'></a>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.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3-7xQgL9MjR-lKw_tcMKef83AbJyYAz1Z47DdgbPVbZvE5ZqPuSeQDmT-miGjZFIsuUehyphenhyphenaB1hOhZZuaqXKGhvJ9Ui9RRkz5MuqpmjB0f04aozp9hULHrWQdvEA4NXyzFSWldOgjOQ/s1600/P1000546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3-7xQgL9MjR-lKw_tcMKef83AbJyYAz1Z47DdgbPVbZvE5ZqPuSeQDmT-miGjZFIsuUehyphenhyphenaB1hOhZZuaqXKGhvJ9Ui9RRkz5MuqpmjB0f04aozp9hULHrWQdvEA4NXyzFSWldOgjOQ/s320/P1000546.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NlSWYIHtar1k3B6amXXnX2W2eK-ebD_J2l-S6XGnIqD3zy6tzSIOsmc0bOWU0TeDL_TTJUlm8qqclRRcGo94WcQcxaJ2nchiIQNVbJSxvSw_k88RzHrZp2eY7geYjm7JwDmaXHFHnQ/s1600/P1000547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NlSWYIHtar1k3B6amXXnX2W2eK-ebD_J2l-S6XGnIqD3zy6tzSIOsmc0bOWU0TeDL_TTJUlm8qqclRRcGo94WcQcxaJ2nchiIQNVbJSxvSw_k88RzHrZp2eY7geYjm7JwDmaXHFHnQ/s320/P1000547.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lrJr96pGlQK-y_Z6VdsdvV1Ne-70mFAoHAoN827HAPNeA1DVrilFTlaLtNCLyFMur9TiZ285G9IQCBoutb3nEDpc7r8EmtnGvJybq5VI3iFF08SE6IDPB6vZASRBSs7iLVGnFxVYRg/s1600/P1000548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lrJr96pGlQK-y_Z6VdsdvV1Ne-70mFAoHAoN827HAPNeA1DVrilFTlaLtNCLyFMur9TiZ285G9IQCBoutb3nEDpc7r8EmtnGvJybq5VI3iFF08SE6IDPB6vZASRBSs7iLVGnFxVYRg/s320/P1000548.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We also made some petits fours, ours were almond frangipane with a raspberry jam filling and a pastel green fondant icing:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_40EgLbT8usf2Qd_aIijWUdAQPUUqcIWMNw7Zl6CEXdHPOh4TnplD7RIngG94tmzJYVLWxsB30Fk5GQEKLjWQw3lW0EvnqLK7Bh1dsV0MuIx1ncErPO23Rx5R1ii5uIAThJSvjHrJEw/s1600/P1000549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_40EgLbT8usf2Qd_aIijWUdAQPUUqcIWMNw7Zl6CEXdHPOh4TnplD7RIngG94tmzJYVLWxsB30Fk5GQEKLjWQw3lW0EvnqLK7Bh1dsV0MuIx1ncErPO23Rx5R1ii5uIAThJSvjHrJEw/s320/P1000549.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lIpZpJV7v06IkEeB7HG3-Se21ORdKmRyfg38-xdfP2aK2-WT77Y06KB78MySQ_Z5V9e7yV1VnGGjKRq_pmcm8R4DclJGs5a0RzA_pMDPSav0Bo3XQ48G6VOdAOUndwCxm1xgVELW_Q/s1600/P1000550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lIpZpJV7v06IkEeB7HG3-Se21ORdKmRyfg38-xdfP2aK2-WT77Y06KB78MySQ_Z5V9e7yV1VnGGjKRq_pmcm8R4DclJGs5a0RzA_pMDPSav0Bo3XQ48G6VOdAOUndwCxm1xgVELW_Q/s320/P1000550.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">-Kayla</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-37188315312279677422012-02-05T18:03:00.000-08:002012-02-05T18:03:00.289-08:00placeholderThis is just a placeholder to let you all know that I am alive and well, and I will have a new blog post tomorrow. Bear with me, I haven't gotten to sleep any later than 430 am for the last two weeks so I'm a little tired.<br />
Until tomorrow,<br />
KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-14989865084627795652012-01-12T16:40:00.000-08:002012-01-12T16:40:13.261-08:00Part two because I'm terrible at blogging,..OK, so I had to split this into two parts because I could not get the pictures to go where I wanted them to, so before I threw my computer at the wall I thought I would just create a new post...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_ivnx7aJ7nkkNKzTuIcwRytZAJjl2-GQSLMe8smBGbx-LTt8OqaaWMcM1yWPtLpNajet0ykzWqxu_JCKIHeQuXaeoehE2ccUObE9T7gaBeB0uNdh8ZgRZ2kehG4d4uuEuUlOENEg5A/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_ivnx7aJ7nkkNKzTuIcwRytZAJjl2-GQSLMe8smBGbx-LTt8OqaaWMcM1yWPtLpNajet0ykzWqxu_JCKIHeQuXaeoehE2ccUObE9T7gaBeB0uNdh8ZgRZ2kehG4d4uuEuUlOENEg5A/s320/014.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh that? That's just two pounds of butter that I got to beat flat with a rolling pin... no big deal<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-YU0pNfB_eOts4vORh-4DZHaH2ae9S9zNFcLu4_P8AXDb2jbOmazkMszZbRVCmYoy9tQ4MQ7S9uJYDTMPO0bDCeH8mUYtqCrz8v61iSfN9OO8Xs4kl-9j9IgV-r2wCOAF6fGx9gwEw/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-YU0pNfB_eOts4vORh-4DZHaH2ae9S9zNFcLu4_P8AXDb2jbOmazkMszZbRVCmYoy9tQ4MQ7S9uJYDTMPO0bDCeH8mUYtqCrz8v61iSfN9OO8Xs4kl-9j9IgV-r2wCOAF6fGx9gwEw/s320/017.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple tart with puff pastry<br />
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</tbody></table>OK, That's it for school. In other news, I'm coming home in about a week and am beyond excited! I seriously cannot wait to see all of you! Alright that's all for now! See you soon! <div>Kayla<br />
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</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-53980631792377438532012-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:002012-01-12T16:33:27.711-08:00Sorry that I've neglected this...I’m sorry!!!!! For real, it’s been forever since I last posted and I feel terrible about it. However, I started back at school this week and I actually have stuff to post about other than weird Starbucks customers and homeless people. (Although I have had plenty of encounters with both - trust me.) Anyhow since I last posted Christmas happened, my friend Charlotte came to town, I got sick, and most importantly I booked a plane ticket home! I’ll start with Charlotte’s visit first.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious Falafel!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Char came to visit on the 28th and I managed to take the bus to the airport and pick her up without getting lost! I was quite proud of myself for that. I ended up staying with her at a hotel in Flushing and we took the train to and from Manhattan. By the way if you come to visit, don’t stay in Flushing. The only cool part about Flushing is that you can see where the US Open is played. (This might not be anything exciting for people who are not tennis fans…) I don’t remember exactly what we did but I will try to recap anyhow. On the first day that she was here we went to the Upper East Side to visit the MET (which by the way was amazing as always), we grabbed lunch at a local diner, and then walked through Central Park afterwards. I think that day we also went and saw “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” but I can’t be sure, we also went to a tapas bar (Spanish food which is fun to tell people about because they ALWAYS think you said topless :-\ ). After the tapas bar we went to see Times Square and the Christmas tree while they were lit up at night. The next day we went into Manhattan, first to 59th street to visit Dylan’s Candy Bar, where I found these shirts that Lauren needs to own immediately:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-PiExZJQpBEcV5GCh3MP_MCa0yPO-_vTfUKQv8w7JaueCpey_cmC-p-gn6yyKHBT-CkGQS7yaSYlP8kjTFCKeYcwGIsgw5cV1A6c5Xw-sI5Xb3z9cGz4vQsIxyTxUtfAMpLtR1Dg3g/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-PiExZJQpBEcV5GCh3MP_MCa0yPO-_vTfUKQv8w7JaueCpey_cmC-p-gn6yyKHBT-CkGQS7yaSYlP8kjTFCKeYcwGIsgw5cV1A6c5Xw-sI5Xb3z9cGz4vQsIxyTxUtfAMpLtR1Dg3g/s320/005.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFC8frn_QMJMVj91fvpXPM-ZJohDWpYdcOp4u3DretxPi9ZezYOtLiHZNnJ4EZ7mTs-F4-xDfxgaP7hCILGpMdac3995hwzU-X3Zfp4t3rUf1yH7dWP1N0bbzcY3Gw9Pqbhn2rgPIDkQ/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFC8frn_QMJMVj91fvpXPM-ZJohDWpYdcOp4u3DretxPi9ZezYOtLiHZNnJ4EZ7mTs-F4-xDfxgaP7hCILGpMdac3995hwzU-X3Zfp4t3rUf1yH7dWP1N0bbzcY3Gw9Pqbhn2rgPIDkQ/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
After the candy bar we went into the Times Square area to do some shopping. I warned Charlotte that it would be packed (after all this was only a couple of days before New Years) but we went anyway and were astounded to see just how crazy it was. After braving a couple of stores we walked over to Bryant Park, where there happens to be a branch of the library. I pretty much fell in love right away. The building is enormous and beautiful and it’s filled with books and history. Can it really get better than that? The answer is no. After some more walking around we went to Brooklyn to get some pizza. I should point out that after being quite warm it had gotten very cold this day. It was somewhere around 27 degrees when we got to the pizza place, which had a line half a block long. Charlotte questioned whether this pizza would be worth the hour long wait, but after I assured her that it was, she agreed to wait. And after an hour in the cold and not being able to feel our toes, we got inside and had the most delicious pizza in the world. (I would say it’s an exaggeration, but I truly believe this.) After pizza we walked down to the water to see the awesome view of the city skyline at night and then trekked back into Manhattan to go see a comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade. If you are ever in the city I really recommend going to the UCB. It’s only five bucks and it’s always funny, no matter what show you’re seeing. On Charlotte’s last day in the city we ventured into Chelsea (an area in Manhattan) to see my school and the Flatiron building. We then walked around to find a place to eat lunch and stumbled upon a Mediterranean restaurant that had a falafel pita on the menu, so we of course went in. The restaurant was kind of fancy but super reasonable. It was about 12 bucks for the falafel and fries; and it was delicious! (I just had to google it, but it’s called Barbounia.) After lunch we walked a block down to Crumbs Bake Shop and got a cupcake for later. I got a peppermint hot chocolate one and it was pretty good. After a quick visit to my favorite Barnes and Noble (aka a four story one), I rode the train with Charlotte back into Queens so that she could catch her flight back home. I had a great time having a friend visit, but I have to admit that being a tourist is exhausting. I was glad to get back to my normal routine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peppermint hot chocolate cupcake</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGeoIdhmJvgekqaYKm8-XwktI12kBv8_pwYd8jX264nTVfLm_N0s6P3zEmGOvLE6ZckF2Gzup2KexdQ5FV8TTBxtgJ4GUYw0L8tq8cDWT8DC8YEzCmEoaIUt68JxiOWYWngLbj9Dd0BQ/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGeoIdhmJvgekqaYKm8-XwktI12kBv8_pwYd8jX264nTVfLm_N0s6P3zEmGOvLE6ZckF2Gzup2KexdQ5FV8TTBxtgJ4GUYw0L8tq8cDWT8DC8YEzCmEoaIUt68JxiOWYWngLbj9Dd0BQ/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">The Library!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Alright, onto school. This weekend we made puff pastry. I’ve kind of been dreading it because it’s a laminated dough, like the croissants, so it involves a lot of rolling the dough out and doing “double turns” and other fun things. I was worried that I would end up messing it up like I did my croissants. Well guess what? Turns out I’m pretty good at laminating dough / making puff pastry! I was pretty excited when I had no trouble rolling out the dough to the length of the table. We also got to use a “sheeter” on Sunday which was pretty neat since it rolls out the dough for you. I don’t remember what else we did, but here are some pictures. Wait! We also made stroudel! It was crazy, we had to stretch this little amount of dough into a huge sheet. OK, now here are the pictures:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post Stretching<br />
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</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZOIiF3Jp_F9Ulqe5gj3Qldp6c4LNXZcMGjXV1g_DD38imCuLTqFDo31R61sMWqO_qGpnSwtd0ajIKCqFbLPaBDmpKBOwMSVyl5tEsQCgd3GWZMhgK_lgYxtocLGuY0ClWKaCuyJTZLA/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZOIiF3Jp_F9Ulqe5gj3Qldp6c4LNXZcMGjXV1g_DD38imCuLTqFDo31R61sMWqO_qGpnSwtd0ajIKCqFbLPaBDmpKBOwMSVyl5tEsQCgd3GWZMhgK_lgYxtocLGuY0ClWKaCuyJTZLA/s320/012.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stroudel pre-stretching </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-51435107604758145502011-12-27T19:14:00.000-08:002011-12-27T19:14:29.254-08:00Quick update!Ok, this is just a tiny post to say that my friend Charlotte is coming to visit tomorrow and I am so excited! This also means that I will finally be playing the tourist in the city. So, I'm going to try and take lots of pictures and then post them for all of you. In the meantime, I hope that you're all doing well. Love and miss you!<br />
KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-84505004478351341392011-12-22T09:02:00.000-08:002011-12-22T09:02:56.515-08:00Busy BusyOk, I'm sorry that I didn't post at all this weekend. I've been crazy busy because... (drumroll please) I moved! I have been so incredibly lucky to work with some great people who I've become friends with. One of these new friends/co-workers told me that she had a spare bedroom in the apartment that she shares with her mom. So, I am in an apartment in Harlem now and paying wayyyyy less in rent than I was before. It is such a relief. And now for the best news: because I am saving so much money in rent I am coming home in January! I still have to book my flight but I will be coming home Jan 20-25. Yay!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJyuAcTwFyxa_Mmgm8f2npejWlSLOtZWt6wGlMgLKDVmaWu7dlp8ZemAV6CuvlNthGn_AqtF8v7B_ptLPTVai7QDjeUV2823ZKZS2Tf7vORHJryggwVPWLRq9L2fzIL46g8JDLFGQyQ/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJyuAcTwFyxa_Mmgm8f2npejWlSLOtZWt6wGlMgLKDVmaWu7dlp8ZemAV6CuvlNthGn_AqtF8v7B_ptLPTVai7QDjeUV2823ZKZS2Tf7vORHJryggwVPWLRq9L2fzIL46g8JDLFGQyQ/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raspberry Pistachio frangipane tart</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHcolbBIx01sX7qkDQzLoS5DUIcHuuRAtGe2cWoBVlFN8lxEkuONwrHlD9fXqRAcXwurEegx2qJXrjk3BQRbTFEy6GUcbRrVzEuKMhC_h6DTUGCcjBMBMYwMmvG5PoDIzJXGUBKeQyQ/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHcolbBIx01sX7qkDQzLoS5DUIcHuuRAtGe2cWoBVlFN8lxEkuONwrHlD9fXqRAcXwurEegx2qJXrjk3BQRbTFEy6GUcbRrVzEuKMhC_h6DTUGCcjBMBMYwMmvG5PoDIzJXGUBKeQyQ/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port poached pears</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Alright, now that that is out of the way, I'll recap my school stuff. This weekend was pretty relaxed and involved making a lot of doughs for tarts and pies. Here are some pictures:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pJd4Y_Gc1gto8qe51qb6CASHmihAB_CJOp8o_vigGv9wW1kU-A8ZEMPm19JPXPRxFgPm0KflFExuMJh5xDeFkbB-PNbTqDpZm6dybBynqfpqf9q-7CoPG_CumpBsc5M9ESpJ8a7Fsg/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pJd4Y_Gc1gto8qe51qb6CASHmihAB_CJOp8o_vigGv9wW1kU-A8ZEMPm19JPXPRxFgPm0KflFExuMJh5xDeFkbB-PNbTqDpZm6dybBynqfpqf9q-7CoPG_CumpBsc5M9ESpJ8a7Fsg/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pecan Pie</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxgKEt6g1rplHkZgUK49QtP6rRzHnskhppHI_qoGMmPSHDuXZZMHIwqWlIavv8roXK7FeKvYGV_D3xpU8-hB2BLrZ4U1QZQ5fO_EZNXXPbWpiaHRPb-6-JmsKSRGtWpymrsDqD0nQCw/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxgKEt6g1rplHkZgUK49QtP6rRzHnskhppHI_qoGMmPSHDuXZZMHIwqWlIavv8roXK7FeKvYGV_D3xpU8-hB2BLrZ4U1QZQ5fO_EZNXXPbWpiaHRPb-6-JmsKSRGtWpymrsDqD0nQCw/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear Gallettes</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhBR30aKyMeV9X1c6NU02HKUtnwsJIaczLhC6xiWVordgz_R8qqO0UYlHSmuWJ8gpe3113FtCAcTXhx8C-WEnzyuZsMbd-Ypd682QWzzculiKqOzfYYF8pIk6i4Kyn-pZy0kAOjZKaQ/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhBR30aKyMeV9X1c6NU02HKUtnwsJIaczLhC6xiWVordgz_R8qqO0UYlHSmuWJ8gpe3113FtCAcTXhx8C-WEnzyuZsMbd-Ypd682QWzzculiKqOzfYYF8pIk6i4Kyn-pZy0kAOjZKaQ/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linzer Tart</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
It all turned out really well and tasted delicious. Since it's been a few days since class I honestly cannot remember most of it. But at least I took pictures, right? Alright, I think that's it. I'll try to post again this weekend. Sorry this was so short.<br />
-KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-21813215451518997642011-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:002011-12-15T14:15:22.385-08:00This one's for you Aunt Kathy :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKI2K8O774zBfqB8bAUnYZQUvitEfc2gNj8Oj0mMAndFIiL6AS02MAA2Rv6gUG1uLzUGCkjGkbgNNXss8mfI4BYyRfCP1jRAgoaTppe_Sf2p5vlbImIGmlawjVdDSgVHQ9Lj7XaGgF5g/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKI2K8O774zBfqB8bAUnYZQUvitEfc2gNj8Oj0mMAndFIiL6AS02MAA2Rv6gUG1uLzUGCkjGkbgNNXss8mfI4BYyRfCP1jRAgoaTppe_Sf2p5vlbImIGmlawjVdDSgVHQ9Lj7XaGgF5g/s320/009.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So today I went down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, among other things, and take pictures for you guys to see. I also realized that I didn't post about school on Sunday (forgive me, I've been opening at work... ugh.) so this may end up being a long winded post, bear with me. I'll start with the Christmas stuff first. I took the train from work, which is uptown, down to 49th st, which is "midtown", and I wasn't sure where all of the stuff I wanted to see was (Read: the tree). So, I walked around and accidentally walked through Times Square, which was a nightmare as usual (no seriously, some weird woman "danced" over to me to give me a flyer for a show... "no thank you" was my reply.) I got out of there as fast as humanly possible (i.e. not that fast since it's packed with people who are moving extremely slow in order to gawk at all the bright lights, even when it's daytime and they don't look that great). I kept walking all the while feeling incredibly stupid that I couldn't find the Christmas tree - even after Googling it. So as I'm walking I keep going around the same three blocks in a daze thinking "Gee, it's got to be around here somewhere..." and then I walked straight into the area that's located in and didn't realize it for a good two minutes. At some point I thought "oh wow, that giant evergreen with all of the decorations and lights is probably the thing I'm looking for... thank God no one was witness to this moment of brainlessness." For further proof that you really can't miss the tree, I present a picture:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX_lWOpHuSyZwMetjshVIb_3HS9NdVDCP8ej-D6nHhkjXqtKd0BL8K1lB1LVf2d1xis41NSqTJn5OIIfvGMk45aD-j_O_bzUtt7q8Ua5t4YXFIdJIYNVIkLED27MLuGQb_AfLK7NuvQ/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX_lWOpHuSyZwMetjshVIb_3HS9NdVDCP8ej-D6nHhkjXqtKd0BL8K1lB1LVf2d1xis41NSqTJn5OIIfvGMk45aD-j_O_bzUtt7q8Ua5t4YXFIdJIYNVIkLED27MLuGQb_AfLK7NuvQ/s320/011.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It sticks out in that "I'm a huge tree in the middle of a bunch of buildings" kind of way<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Here are some other pictures of the surrounding areas decked out in festive cheer:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiuBm6wC2yuIB4_9jcdVXvQGBuSqxPcWAldC4gEmkwP610TPiYHiatXjIehnhIz0z32IG0uHxlaea_1njaXfMBV1f7wE-bZgI5iP-oaUIIW1DTyEYCfNBHxE4LnEEKQluO1nLSonJBA/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiuBm6wC2yuIB4_9jcdVXvQGBuSqxPcWAldC4gEmkwP610TPiYHiatXjIehnhIz0z32IG0uHxlaea_1njaXfMBV1f7wE-bZgI5iP-oaUIIW1DTyEYCfNBHxE4LnEEKQluO1nLSonJBA/s320/007.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the trees had Christmas lights on them (it probably looks better at night)<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU1CtBN5OQ-uKKAOlxeFWfuaoiBIEigk1fZbJWD50yf_gEoOGmNYhdAD0iVOfpmTAOUjPyHOGUZnt3-x9x59BaaMBYunx3Cu7EzXNNdN0xIpqiQpT1EZacagp-Pw_8Owu58zBV0_Q6w/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU1CtBN5OQ-uKKAOlxeFWfuaoiBIEigk1fZbJWD50yf_gEoOGmNYhdAD0iVOfpmTAOUjPyHOGUZnt3-x9x59BaaMBYunx3Cu7EzXNNdN0xIpqiQpT1EZacagp-Pw_8Owu58zBV0_Q6w/s320/008.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnvIAK-C6hKUkZNjn1JEePCzdQDce6jmsakSf0Y2HhMC_QZuO92eXbbkpOEVGuIffxnQROy7POaqSfiGYXsKINRYYRPXD1f0oASQqWXLpyFpFa4piRBOI60azDDkkuGcjI_tpjOtU7g/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnvIAK-C6hKUkZNjn1JEePCzdQDce6jmsakSf0Y2HhMC_QZuO92eXbbkpOEVGuIffxnQROy7POaqSfiGYXsKINRYYRPXD1f0oASQqWXLpyFpFa4piRBOI60azDDkkuGcjI_tpjOtU7g/s320/010.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, my morning started out weird today. I got onto the 4 train this morning at like 4:30am and there was a seat open like an inch from where I got on so I went to sit down, until some guy who was middle aged sprinted (yes sprinted) to the seat and stole it, while looking at me and saying "no no no no no." Early morning Kayla was not impressed (yes I did just refer to myself in the third person). I just gave him a look like "you seriously just did that?" and went to stand by the door instead. (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he's crazy.) It all worked out though because on my way home a nice man gave up his seat for me.(awww)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Ok, that was my adventure for the day now onto school!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I really should blog right after school because now I honestly cannot remember what we did on Sunday... Oh yeah, we finished our croissants! I've got to be honest - my croissants were a pain in the butt. The dough was pretty dry due to the error of the scale on Saturday, so it was really really hard to roll out and form into croissants. I made it through though and baked some plain croissants and also some chocolate ones. (Edit: I forgot the best part about croissant making - you get to beat things with a rolling pin. More specifically butter. It is a laminated dough and so you have to roll like a pound of butter into the dough, but first you have to beat it with a rolling pin so that it's thin and soft while still solid. I recommend it if you are stressed or angry.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonBiwCdwrEd1EdKERkIvaJdo-YUHwA70sJ5oKv_HYyZCmZ25S5KphSWjPEvGeS6hoy9GbveDDakcrO4hHoxyRO5vskBIML7cc6_5gA-R__pfjZJkh8q2ivM6GeCmmlYkMM1bZocEDWA/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonBiwCdwrEd1EdKERkIvaJdo-YUHwA70sJ5oKv_HYyZCmZ25S5KphSWjPEvGeS6hoy9GbveDDakcrO4hHoxyRO5vskBIML7cc6_5gA-R__pfjZJkh8q2ivM6GeCmmlYkMM1bZocEDWA/s320/001.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">They ended up tasting fine though, I took them to work and they were devoured quite quickly. The guy that I was closing with ate like 3 at least... hahaha. We also made danishes and my partner and I filled some with raspberry jam and some with an apple filling. Note: the toothpicks popped out during baking so they came apart, they still tasted good.</div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44l3MTmZ3vOWzfMKlktM2amOsr_82Z3HtA76Z1Nmu5n0flnmWjJNz-AW1jIux91HcHXtd3jfKAR1uwR7LFNKluPmizTzHDd5yWPtjgkFZxUbNiifce8g1yJQo47OQbo5hssyMCYEfug/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44l3MTmZ3vOWzfMKlktM2amOsr_82Z3HtA76Z1Nmu5n0flnmWjJNz-AW1jIux91HcHXtd3jfKAR1uwR7LFNKluPmizTzHDd5yWPtjgkFZxUbNiifce8g1yJQo47OQbo5hssyMCYEfug/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After croissants and danish, we made fresh fruit tarts. On the one tart it's just pastry cream and fresh fruit (and actually on the little ones too) and on the second large one it has orange curd in it. (By the way - orange curd is delicious.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7pFJSLqDiRAOuPj07rdS8n3D0HYiFEkAWUaHlmGaTOvW2Hg0UFLPYBQ0wjKbQZqzGTJk79BHZ8K1PrJLPOJRcTEu6pCR4FMoboD3RiFuTR0iTyl2k_LfQOWJGQ9qfo1ofWgkox5R4A/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7pFJSLqDiRAOuPj07rdS8n3D0HYiFEkAWUaHlmGaTOvW2Hg0UFLPYBQ0wjKbQZqzGTJk79BHZ8K1PrJLPOJRcTEu6pCR4FMoboD3RiFuTR0iTyl2k_LfQOWJGQ9qfo1ofWgkox5R4A/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZD3u6NphMotDd596gU89TIh0ivVATK-xfLX5AEoPbjQUcxKs3RHZAZOwoPwUlX9iUEAvIqSFCkqSpNaix2sDPzC8B35sEO7vIxilT_GYMqZKLhdFLBrb6GbF4o7GgwhHTA0K8FNX9g/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZD3u6NphMotDd596gU89TIh0ivVATK-xfLX5AEoPbjQUcxKs3RHZAZOwoPwUlX9iUEAvIqSFCkqSpNaix2sDPzC8B35sEO7vIxilT_GYMqZKLhdFLBrb6GbF4o7GgwhHTA0K8FNX9g/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdG5ll7wp7allmibRVvPEPahTS5IhvZ84nXM7ICDMNg8WvGm5owZGYHMrR7X_dpyJ-RVSgwlGDblzFk-I44-RXDRt7VXcr1T-oK4uCVkXHItYu2_uJ0BTDcekqVZP9ZFX9adgB4MLhA/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdG5ll7wp7allmibRVvPEPahTS5IhvZ84nXM7ICDMNg8WvGm5owZGYHMrR7X_dpyJ-RVSgwlGDblzFk-I44-RXDRt7VXcr1T-oK4uCVkXHItYu2_uJ0BTDcekqVZP9ZFX9adgB4MLhA/s320/005.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one has orange curd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hmmm... I think that's it for now. I'm sorry if this is incoherent, I was up this morning at 330am and have not taken a nap today, because I need to be able to sleep tonight since I will be up again tomorrow at the same time! Yay! Oh, also I just wanted to say thanks for the cards/letters that I've gotten. It seriously brightens my day.</div><div>Kayla<br />
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</div></div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-75480382725138799732011-12-10T17:45:00.000-08:002011-12-10T19:29:25.122-08:00How to fail at croissants and other life lessons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/1ytCEuuW2_A/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1ytCEuuW2_A&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1ytCEuuW2_A&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>It was another one of those days today. I think that now I can pretty much tell if it's going to be a not so great day by whether or not I forget my glasses. Today I forgot them. I once again procrastinated on homework/studying for a quiz so my plan was to get up early so that I could take a shower and get to school early in order to do said homework/studying. I decided it was a better idea to sleep. Somehow though I managed to get up, shower, and get to school early. I finished my homework in, like, three minutes and got some last minute studying in. I was in such a hurry though this morning that my glasses got left behind. Anyhow, today we had a quiz first thing and I was feeling not so great about it. When I finished I was thinking that I got a B. At the end of class we got our grades back and I got a 97%, which means that my overall grade is still a 99%. haha<br />
I just realized that I never posted about last Sunday's class and I have pictures! So, I will just combine the posts since I didn't get any pictures today. Last Sunday we made doughnuts, bagels, pretzels, brioche, pain aux raisin, and probably something else I'm forgetting. For the bagels my partner and I decided to make cinnamon raisin bagels (sans raisins) topped with a cinnamon/sugar topping. I don't want to brag, but they were delicious! Here's a picture (they kind of look like doughnuts)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG94WT6VWipgc2V9js5pVNqi4FSgEURct640ReQigppCQwURFprhKDMFWNoPBGwkt4vu1yCDtD7Vt0C6-OU0gGWv4i_27_ctB2yHyUbjclULCTRGI6uplzzQJpEDg7G8vpDJfSYx2KjQ/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG94WT6VWipgc2V9js5pVNqi4FSgEURct640ReQigppCQwURFprhKDMFWNoPBGwkt4vu1yCDtD7Vt0C6-OU0gGWv4i_27_ctB2yHyUbjclULCTRGI6uplzzQJpEDg7G8vpDJfSYx2KjQ/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>As for the doughnuts, my partner and I made lemon with some icing and sprinkles on top. I am not a huge doughnut fan and if I am going to have a doughnut I prefer a plain cake doughnut, not a yeast doughnut, but what can ya do? Anyhow, the doughnuts came out looking super cute, I tried an unfrosted one and it was pretty decent, not too sweet which was nice. Here's a picture!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-_w4pkAVfFhmTlUozBkKrLGcfg6w2Cd8U9lAftmr_hGnhNYz6c6AtpiE5A5Oo47x0FoaEYx34JEPisX3BCs0stvBIpZ1EEyPON50UCxaWQG9RZYn7I1Lg4XcuTRCGxopzIZCHHGG7Q/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-_w4pkAVfFhmTlUozBkKrLGcfg6w2Cd8U9lAftmr_hGnhNYz6c6AtpiE5A5Oo47x0FoaEYx34JEPisX3BCs0stvBIpZ1EEyPON50UCxaWQG9RZYn7I1Lg4XcuTRCGxopzIZCHHGG7Q/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Today we made a few doughs that we'll be baking tomorrow. We made croissant dough (which I screwed up), danish dough, and a tart dough. We also made shortcake, biscuits, and scones. We only had a little while to make four doughs so me and my partner split the duties. So she made the chocolate chunk scones and tart dough. While I made the cheddar and chive biscuits and the shortbread. They all turned out great. The cheddar and chive biscuits were amazing! We were the only team that made that recipe so a bunch of the other students were sampling them and singing their praises. (Not literally of course, that would be weird) Anyhow, the croissants almost gave me an aneurysm. My dough came out super dry and sort of crumbly. In school and professional kitchens we don't use measuring cups to measure ingredients because it's not super accurate, instead we use scales. On our scales there is a lock switch on the bottom, it's always supposed to be unlocked, but mine was loose so it was toggling back and forth between the two without my knowledge/consent. So, my measurements were all slightly off and my dough came out super crappy. We laminated the dough (with butter not plastic) and I don't have high hopes for it tomorrow, oh well, at least it wasn't some stupid mistake that I myself made. It was equipment error I tell you! (I'm not bitter, I swear...) On the bright side, I got to Macgyver my scale so that I won't have the same problem in the future. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Random things from my week in the city:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OV0ernsu5Cj6rmi97PEBe9gF-918LuzG4p7uevytQGvk2UceyXEKvKggaSNNATYazuvkib46rKD4Hu2JKzUuErMe8-QvVZROpNkxzR27t_09pje2C5xaDj-XEtWzwq4UKLjPpuuG4g/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OV0ernsu5Cj6rmi97PEBe9gF-918LuzG4p7uevytQGvk2UceyXEKvKggaSNNATYazuvkib46rKD4Hu2JKzUuErMe8-QvVZROpNkxzR27t_09pje2C5xaDj-XEtWzwq4UKLjPpuuG4g/s320/005.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is just a building that is right by my school and it's really pretty; the picture didn't turn out great but it has a really pretty clock on it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLgxncmCkD2IsJgktJCdz9pHtejPg466WdVViF8CNmnxARauJ4W6DfsYQKnI6ufoJ_4R1FhqN2ORT9PbRQ_2aTmbqiaGCpYZQg_1svtFJWbjpSX1UckzKZXhSKpM9i7D0nIeM36is6w/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLgxncmCkD2IsJgktJCdz9pHtejPg466WdVViF8CNmnxARauJ4W6DfsYQKnI6ufoJ_4R1FhqN2ORT9PbRQ_2aTmbqiaGCpYZQg_1svtFJWbjpSX1UckzKZXhSKpM9i7D0nIeM36is6w/s320/006.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There is a homeless lady that frequents my store and she is always giving us clothing from thrift shops. This was my gift (seriously, it had a bow wrapped around it.) On the one hand it's really sweet and generous, and on the other hand... well you saw the picture. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I just started watching "The Walking Dead" on the advice of a co-worker and it's really good - so check it out if you're interested.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I went and saw the movie "We Need to Talk About Kevin" last night after work. I read the book a couple of weeks ago and the film was pretty good. It was slightly different from the book but still managed to be a decent adaptation. I also noticed that the theatre is hiring, so I think that I'm going to apply and see if I could work there as well. (It seems like a good fit - independent theatre that only plays indie movies? sign me up). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think that's it for today, Aunt Kathy - I'm going to try my best to get some Christmassy pictures this week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kayla</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-5040265459403283272011-12-03T16:47:00.000-08:002011-12-03T16:47:16.417-08:00Carb coma, Dry eyes, and other hazzards of culinary school...Too. Many. Carbs. <br />
That's a phrase that I didn't know I had in my vocabulary since I've never met a carb that I didn't like, but dear lord after today's class I feel like I've od'ed on them. Today we made savory breads/pizzas and by jove they were delicious. (I have no idea why I'm speaking/writing in this manner, I think that my brain may be slowly rotting). The first thing we did today was to get our report cards. Guess who's got a 4.0? Obviously me, I really wouldn't be blogging about my classmates good grades... Anyways, after getting our report cards, we started on making a ciabatta dough. We turned half of the ciabatta into focaccia. For the ciabatta half of it was mixed with rosemary and shaped into "rings" and the plain dough was made into loaves. For the focaccia we divided the top into quadrants and put tomatoes in one section, potato in another, onions and olives in the third section, and rosemary in the fourth. So it looked something like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8niyvRAntfiYUOFFlm-AOGbKpAJJ6aI454hw64WhsQfqLGJn8dszWQYVBKa-GYgUvuXolYvqOaYtWNJPTEKtj72tNpoKMy_RAU-jgWfrB9H0M4ZNma9HSDbd3Ht2VnUrNwPuQQT2sg/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8niyvRAntfiYUOFFlm-AOGbKpAJJ6aI454hw64WhsQfqLGJn8dszWQYVBKa-GYgUvuXolYvqOaYtWNJPTEKtj72tNpoKMy_RAU-jgWfrB9H0M4ZNma9HSDbd3Ht2VnUrNwPuQQT2sg/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We ran out of rosemary so I just did another section of olives and onions. My eyes hurt so bad today because they had chopped like 20 onions (other students, not my eyes) and after the pizza baked there was a lot of smoke in the air so it really dried my eyes out. The good news though is that I didn't burn myself or cut any fingers today. Here's a picture of the ciabatta:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcplo9a3W7yZSv0AP0LZJIrm-8zJDQlrD1_dd-hLyCARWh7HoQFexVUwAL1AnYlMg3ohbIkO7vk4GXzkPNELbkOIPGnWXh7KyaSGPEuKvBKtfbBStmxhmzuH2-y2j1GJvpAR9eNEhXtw/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcplo9a3W7yZSv0AP0LZJIrm-8zJDQlrD1_dd-hLyCARWh7HoQFexVUwAL1AnYlMg3ohbIkO7vk4GXzkPNELbkOIPGnWXh7KyaSGPEuKvBKtfbBStmxhmzuH2-y2j1GJvpAR9eNEhXtw/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After we made those breads we moved onto pizza! I decided to just do a very simple pizza with my favorite combination of sauce cheese and basil. It turned out really great.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmKpFxNn9ZazE5Uq-ogRb_NWJfQsf-J4pYL72evQS9fVlnYZSya9Tb1ZX7DF7wr2Rrzcgzu5vPDsB-lQsOxm_UdPKt19E1J7OkPqMQerKdTfCY-F-sVh4C29MDqBEsyoSQRltK94Hqw/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmKpFxNn9ZazE5Uq-ogRb_NWJfQsf-J4pYL72evQS9fVlnYZSya9Tb1ZX7DF7wr2Rrzcgzu5vPDsB-lQsOxm_UdPKt19E1J7OkPqMQerKdTfCY-F-sVh4C29MDqBEsyoSQRltK94Hqw/s320/003.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>I think that's it for today, hope everyone is well.<br />
-KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-91791566057256319462011-11-30T18:36:00.000-08:002011-11-30T18:36:19.356-08:00New Post?!?!Excuse the punctuation in the title I feel delirious with exhaustion (I may have been using a <i>little </i>hyperbole there). I don't have much to write about because I didn't have school last weekend because of Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving working, which I thought would be better than spending the day by myself stewing in loneliness (again an exaggeration), but it was actually tougher I think. All of these customers kept asking me my plans for the day. I tried to noncommittally answer so that they wouldn't feel sorry for me haha. ANYWAY, if you'll remember from a previous post, I have a regular customer who thinks that I'm Jewish. So for the last couple of weeks I've been agonizing over how to break it to her that I am indeed not one of the chosen people. I needn't have worried so much because it came out naturally, after she invited me to spend Hanukkah with her family, since I'm in the city alone. She also hinted at setting me up with her successful male cousin (I am kind of hoping that offer is still on the table... lol) I then let her know that indeed I am a gentile. So that was pretty much the highlight of my week because it made me laugh quite a lot. In other amazing news, my friend Charlotte is coming to visit me at the end of December and I am BEYOND excited! It is going to be so nice to see a familiar face.<br />
Oh also, I have seen three movies recently so here are some thoughts on them (I know you didn't ask lol). First I saw a movie called "Another Happy Day." This was definitely a "Kayla" movie. Weird, sad, etc. If you need to know more about what makes something a "Kayla" movie, just ask Lauren. There was a period of time that she refused to watch any movie that I had selected because she knew it would not have a nice neat ending. lol. Anyhow, the best part about seeing this movie is that it isn't in wide release yet, so it was only playing in one movie theater in the whole of New York. So I ventured to said theater and watched it along with about five other people (also by themselves), one of these people was an old man in thick black frames and a beret. That's right, a beret. I almost cried tears of joy. It made me laugh because he looked exactly like some pretentious film buff and it was magical. Next up I saw a film called "Martha Marcy May Marlene," this one was also pretentious and weird, but was overall pretty decent. It had a very ambiguous ending and I wouldn't recommend it because I think that most of you would probably hate it, but overall I enjoyed it. I saved the best for last though and that was "The Muppets." It was seriously good and really enjoyable and funny. So, if you have a conundrum next time that you're at the box office, I say go with The Muppets - it's your best bet.<br />
I think that that's all for now. I haven't forgotten about posting some recipes - I've gotten a little busy/sidetracked. I will probably post again on Saturday after school. Until then!<br />
-KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-89559580747233267972011-11-20T18:00:00.000-08:002011-11-20T18:00:23.663-08:00I should have stayed in bed...Ugh, today was pretty rough, so please excuse this post as it might all be me complaining. Yesterday I had to go right from school to work and then I got out about 20 minutes late, so I didn't end up getting home until 11:45. I had to be up for school this morning at 7am and needless to say I was quite tired. It wouldn't be so bad except I had a lot of early mornings this week so I haven't been able to catch up on sleep. I left the house and locked the first door behind me only to discover that my keys were not in my coat pocket where they normally are. I would have just rung the doorbell to run back in and get them, but I was in a rush for school. So I get to the sidewalk only to realize that I've also forgotten my glasses... Needless to say I was pretty cranky this morning.<br />
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Wait, I should back track - I forgot that I didn't blog about school yesterday! OK, so yesterday started our module on Breads and doughs! I've been pretty excited for this part of school because I LOVE to bake bread! So yesterday we made a few basic breads and I only have one picture but here it is:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlvju0Ta5IU0PydX-3e2eYBZmIyADYTcIm5sBqdSuWeSWBuEURHLjQPCNUuDVK0AgpVh09t6Atr5qoqTeZL5I5VHplPZVXyOQdUuhTJz6uXCnKENby0vi-R7Tbnq3v5MY_r65H77kUw/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlvju0Ta5IU0PydX-3e2eYBZmIyADYTcIm5sBqdSuWeSWBuEURHLjQPCNUuDVK0AgpVh09t6Atr5qoqTeZL5I5VHplPZVXyOQdUuhTJz6uXCnKENby0vi-R7Tbnq3v5MY_r65H77kUw/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The above breads are just a very basic recipe. Simply flour water salt and yeast. Here's the secret to the lovely crusty bread that is pictured above: steam. At school we have these crazily expensive "deck" ovens that have a button that releases steam. The steam gives the bread a nice crust to it and a deep rich color. Now, if you don't have thousands of dollars lying around and a huge space in your kitchen for new ovens, don't despair! My class had a quick visit from another chef at our school yesterday and though I was distracted by his British accent (seriously) I did manage to learn that you can get pretty much the same result by using a spray bottle filled with water. Sidenote: the British chef that came into our class is seriously good at making bread. He was on Martha Stewart and wrote the entire curriculum for this section of school. Also, he was the instructor of the class that I sat in on when I visited in the spring. Anyway, back to baking bread, yesterday like I said we made just very basic one step breads and then one with a "pre-ferment" or "starter." We made a clover shaped loaf and rolls with golden raisins and pecans (seriously delicious), and then also a loaf with kalamata olives. I didn't get a chance to try the loaf with olives because I left it at work for my coworkers, but I can say that the olives were delicious by themselves ;-) </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alright, on to today. After the rough start to my day, I was ready to bake bread. First we started proofing dough for some baguettes and then we moved on to dead dough. If you're not sure what dead dough is you're not really missing out on much. Dead dough is a dough that is used for decorative purposes. Some groups made yellow/green (colored with turmeric) and the others (read: mine) made red (colored with beet powder and chili powder). Here's where my bad day continued. For dead dough you first have to make a syrup that will then be added to the dry ingredients. So we were supposed to put in 400 grams and I for some reason just assumed that one syrup batch was 400 grams. Guess what? It wasn't. So our dough was super wet when it should have been the consistency of playdoh. Oops. Luckily we added a bunch more flour and it turned out fine, but it just made me a bit crankier that I messed up. After dead dough we made hot cross buns and a braided bread. Unfortunately I forgot my recorder - so I couldn't serenade my classmates with that lovely song. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TCw8_Lcvkkd-UPfHG0iw7ZdypCm4NDyW5jnLLd4damW0FzGSnk1P0QKoeqTWk0PwQSiTvSsSR3-cQ3WgA0ncfe4yfDONZCwII_QTFm2lOLhlwvIhcyVxS6sg_R-2DeZUkeee1ylkLw/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TCw8_Lcvkkd-UPfHG0iw7ZdypCm4NDyW5jnLLd4damW0FzGSnk1P0QKoeqTWk0PwQSiTvSsSR3-cQ3WgA0ncfe4yfDONZCwII_QTFm2lOLhlwvIhcyVxS6sg_R-2DeZUkeee1ylkLw/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I may or may not have "sampled" the missing one...<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmh-JUelL9Y4QXTzrIXGpUtdsigiBZpOcqpqjS23oAR9yDy8W1zWeJ2bGc6dECvYmt94kfUhTXq8y5xEL79ppY_IK0A8Zi-F-Em34zBOWAXxGxaz7LORTq9DvVzFOl1m5PGomYukJgQ/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmh-JUelL9Y4QXTzrIXGpUtdsigiBZpOcqpqjS23oAR9yDy8W1zWeJ2bGc6dECvYmt94kfUhTXq8y5xEL79ppY_IK0A8Zi-F-Em34zBOWAXxGxaz7LORTq9DvVzFOl1m5PGomYukJgQ/s320/004.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Braided bread!<br />
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</tbody></table>All of this bread baking has made me think about possibly going a different route in my career and pursuing baking instead of becoming a pastry chef. We'll see though, I still have quite awhile to decide. Anyhow, here are some random thoughts:<div>- This week I got into an "argument" with a homeless person at Starbucks. (Don't worry it was not a dangerous situation) I was at work and saw an umbrella handle sticking out of the garbage can, so I decided to go and change the garbage. As I'm lifting the bag out of the trash this old man says, "that's mine!" to which I replied, "well it's in the garbage and is covered in trash..." "it's mine!" "... it's seriously covered in garbage..." "I was keeping it in there!" at that point he snatched it out of the trash can and took it - garbage and all. I was a little astonished, it was obviously broken since someone had thrown it out and also, his excuse was that the garbage can at Starbucks is his own personal storage space? As I was arguing I was just thinking that it would make a good story, so I wasn't too mad. haha</div><div>- <b>Uncle Earl! </b>I was just wondering if you had heard that Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is coming to the Detroit area. I was pretty excited when I heard and then bummed that I'm not going to be there.</div><div>- One of my best friends might be coming to see me at the end of December! I'm so excited I can't even tell you. I seriously miss all of you so much and it will be awesome to see a familiar face. (Although, please know that I am happy here and having a good time.)</div><div>-I read a new book this week called "We Need to Talk About Kevin" - it's being turned into a movie (a slightly indie and pretentious one at that) so I decided that I had to read it. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day and a half (give me a break - I had to work ;-) ) I would recommend it, but it's pretty disturbing and creepy, so you may not like it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I think that's it for this week. My aunt Kathy mentioned something about getting some of the recipes for the things I've made. I have Tuesday off so I'll try to post a blog with those. If there is anything specific that you guys would like a recipe for, just leave a request in the comments!</div><div>Lots of love,</div><div>Kayla</div><div><br />
</div>Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-87646690122786292652011-11-12T11:37:00.000-08:002011-11-12T11:37:49.598-08:00ReliefYIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!<br />
Sorry, had to get that out of the way... Today was my written and practical exam. The written portion took place first and I had not studied very much so I was pretty nervous. After the written part we had to make a creme anglaise and then souffles. For the practical we worked by ourselves instead of with a partner. For the souffles we had to time things correctly because we had a window of time in which we were to present them to the chef. The creme anglaise was first and it is a pretty easy thing to make, the only way that you can really screw it up is if you don't temper the eggs properly which makes it so that you scramble them. I finished and the chef came to check it out and said that it was "very good." :-) So then I moved onto doing the mis en place for my souffles. I made the souffles and put them into the oven and was fairly nervous that they were not going to turn out so great. The good thing about this portion of the practical was that we only had to have one souffle turn out perfect to present to the teacher. Crazily enough, all of my souffles turned out lovely. I presented one to her and she stated that it was "beautiful" (!!!!) I was so excited! Then I got to see my grades for the whole exam. Drumroll please... Out of a possible 200 pts I received 198! I missed one question on my written portion, so that was the 2 points. I felt great after that and was thrilled with the result.<br />
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I never wrote about last Sundays lesson so here you go! We took the choux (puff pastry) that we had made the day before and filled them with pastry cream. We ended up making cream puffs, eclairs, paris brest and some lovely swans. One pastry cream was vanilla and the other was praline (it pretty much tasted like Nutella - so in other words it was delicious). We took the cream puffs and assembled them into a croquembouche. A croquembouche is a traditional French wedding cake and is a tower of cream puffs bound with caramel. The ones that we made were pretty small - and also not very nice looking. Without further ado here is my personal croquembouche:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmyANv7f8dE1AY81H-XDc9slpTD88OBdTC8ncNffUcwsprYLdqavBNRF8kuwOA5Ltf74TI3eRU0zUR4DkS2U6Og1v0vhtM0qOgOYcPFpNgksTVInTfrIKfnyWeUAVj7TL4PQDPMVxkg/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmyANv7f8dE1AY81H-XDc9slpTD88OBdTC8ncNffUcwsprYLdqavBNRF8kuwOA5Ltf74TI3eRU0zUR4DkS2U6Og1v0vhtM0qOgOYcPFpNgksTVInTfrIKfnyWeUAVj7TL4PQDPMVxkg/s320/002.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>It doesn't look great and it cost me a blister and a singed fingernail, but it could have been worse I suppose. We only did one lesson last Sunday because the second half of the day was spent with career services updating our resumés and discussing our options down the road for externships. Well that's it for school, I'll leave you with a couple of funny stories from work.<br />
1. A Jewish lady that comes into my store thinks that I'm Jewish... I think it has to do with the fact that she heard me saying that I don't eat pork and also because I said that I love to bake Challah. Either way it's pretty funny and I'm not sure how to break it to her that I am indeed not Jewish.<br />
2. One of my coworkers thought that I was Spanish... She swears that she heard me speaking Spanish to a customer. I had to break it to her that I indeed am the whitest person imaginable and cannot speak Spanish to save my life...<br />
3. My coworkers keep telling me how funny I am. In my head they're saying "Oh my gosh you're sooo funny - you should be a standup comedian!" While in reality they might actually be saying, "You're so funny... I think you might be mentally ill." I'm going to keep thinking the first one. ;-)<br />
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Hope that you're all well. Love and miss all of you!<br />
-Kayla<br />
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P.S. I wanted to quickly put all of your minds at ease. I always close with the same shift supervisor at work and he also lives in Queens. So, we get to ride the train together and I get off the train before him - so I'm never on the train by myself late at night, so you can all breathe easy :-)Kaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5627239351624108752.post-20662781490808985612011-11-05T16:44:00.000-07:002011-11-05T16:44:13.688-07:00Yikes, it's been awhile since I posted...... Don't worry though, I'm still alive ;-) I know I didn't post last week about school, but I ended up being called into work both Saturday and Sunday. So last week I worked all 7 days and 43 hours. So, I was pretty busy to say the least. I can't quite remember all of the things we did last weekend, but I do have pictures. (Hopefully this will make it so that you overlook the fact that I have no pictures from todays class.) Last weekend was all about egg based desserts. Such as, custard, crème brûlée, and other things that I have forgotten about. Oh! Also ice cream! Here are some pictures, (one of which has a guest appearance from yours truly) Oh gosh, I forgot we also made cheesecakes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaQ3fKvEuscodg1O206zEQ9QePyplhNwh1iHlZwvdCIaKr3iXYIaDLrF1BiWUozNxi0AVR2xQ8PzEHGz9VgYGb3g0D4HdG5__WMjvCvDZxFw1rcf0I8G-gfvyKLqIGa-SiXTammrHNg/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaQ3fKvEuscodg1O206zEQ9QePyplhNwh1iHlZwvdCIaKr3iXYIaDLrF1BiWUozNxi0AVR2xQ8PzEHGz9VgYGb3g0D4HdG5__WMjvCvDZxFw1rcf0I8G-gfvyKLqIGa-SiXTammrHNg/s320/033.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't tell, but it started snowing like crazy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8MeB66qCAOxOCvuKZNnCTEhQTp6dm5P5MxQirrMkh05NRbsPm15lIUenXITUYhWBNSNSqygel41N0fU3DYKRFg2nGga_CbGWiFWhq9CYN7Xn0DY2HfI8aYVCYEIyD_90mSyFC6sptw/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8MeB66qCAOxOCvuKZNnCTEhQTp6dm5P5MxQirrMkh05NRbsPm15lIUenXITUYhWBNSNSqygel41N0fU3DYKRFg2nGga_CbGWiFWhq9CYN7Xn0DY2HfI8aYVCYEIyD_90mSyFC6sptw/s320/034.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made bread pudding too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvqP14qxam0bC9itnbwvn8rpjJVfZzl9xplqG0nzysAn5GxuKhkIL8ubDdKuuc0MUwJvOLUHmgaZO1jE3ucYJo_axQmb_jiVS74iIobr03FcqlSNPNRzyF_gDoHIGqm7ebEjGa4mt8g/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvqP14qxam0bC9itnbwvn8rpjJVfZzl9xplqG0nzysAn5GxuKhkIL8ubDdKuuc0MUwJvOLUHmgaZO1jE3ucYJo_axQmb_jiVS74iIobr03FcqlSNPNRzyF_gDoHIGqm7ebEjGa4mt8g/s320/035.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The base for our ice cream - it has coffee grounds in it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JIXaTaLLCCV4OaNMWxi_aVqvRAPV7T7vu9WlvhrwnRuc8pQ0Ft1RCCiEhE1ZBp0av0TwaZTOF-xohzC0zTIbaUSTN0CsXW5OR761tkYu2DZyfeks_OvLf-1N-QvvZZA_115cAWoNmQ/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JIXaTaLLCCV4OaNMWxi_aVqvRAPV7T7vu9WlvhrwnRuc8pQ0Ft1RCCiEhE1ZBp0av0TwaZTOF-xohzC0zTIbaUSTN0CsXW5OR761tkYu2DZyfeks_OvLf-1N-QvvZZA_115cAWoNmQ/s320/036.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished bread puddings</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeO8z1JAkX4D9Cyp_pbw4I95bbk9Duo-JvnDR8pA2eRwC10V1w_8O6Zefbrz_ty-kf7azaZeO9Hvt9Ph0nhSykXyfZ1cNlPxNCoxzueum42gJ11SRWi7_dWz5FE3wPiKib2rdNQlee-A/s1600/037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeO8z1JAkX4D9Cyp_pbw4I95bbk9Duo-JvnDR8pA2eRwC10V1w_8O6Zefbrz_ty-kf7azaZeO9Hvt9Ph0nhSykXyfZ1cNlPxNCoxzueum42gJ11SRWi7_dWz5FE3wPiKib2rdNQlee-A/s320/037.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone let me use a torch...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LoRe26zmML3RyvNQy0G3-QDrxbhbFS2NcnDx2kuml48uyMC3zeQ8ywqj9NOpr8ZCuO19TuOm2SjdCoDavy6_ITn2S0gCzOlm8zDEBkfKUSajSVyzuanQMvoa3oaioyrLRx2tUAeylg/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LoRe26zmML3RyvNQy0G3-QDrxbhbFS2NcnDx2kuml48uyMC3zeQ8ywqj9NOpr8ZCuO19TuOm2SjdCoDavy6_ITn2S0gCzOlm8zDEBkfKUSajSVyzuanQMvoa3oaioyrLRx2tUAeylg/s320/038.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creme brulee - not quite burnt enough</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Lz7Dd7KJpmUHBgzwAJG5_g-rNhfoXd6NiAUYKDRkduaWFdNZZBOdi6CodNx37Tsqeb7Ubh8KEZ8n_6vwsxmVr26Vvcsdkyqs55l5rxUf28flNVLtg0_Fqde9R4hjcxdcRklGv-KtyA/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Lz7Dd7KJpmUHBgzwAJG5_g-rNhfoXd6NiAUYKDRkduaWFdNZZBOdi6CodNx37Tsqeb7Ubh8KEZ8n_6vwsxmVr26Vvcsdkyqs55l5rxUf28flNVLtg0_Fqde9R4hjcxdcRklGv-KtyA/s320/039.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheesecake! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>So we made all of those things last weekend, on Sunday I got called into work, so I went right from school to Starbucks and closed. I got home around 11:30 and then had to be back at work on Monday at 6am, which involves waking up at 5. It pretty much took until now to recover. Hahaha That brings us to today. Next weekend we have our practical and written examinations for this term. We will have to take a written exam and then make a flour based chocolate souffle and a creme anglaise. So the last 45 minutes of class today were spent reviewing. This morning we made some frozen desserts. First we made static frozen desserts (they are poured into moulds and then put into the blast freezer) and then we made bombes. It was a layer of vanilla bean ice cream, a layer of raspberry, a layer of chocolate chips, another layer of raspberry, and finally a layer of chocolate. It turned out well and tasted quite delicious. Then we made pastry cream - half vanilla and half praline - and then we made choux. Choux is just puff pastry, tomorrow we will fill them with the pastry cream to make cream puffs and eclairs. The second half of class tomorrow is going to be dedicated to career services. We are going to start discussing possibilities for our externships and do resumés.<br />
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I had a funny moment at work the other day when I had to wash the windows. The windows are pretty tall and there is a very long window washing tool that you have to use. So there I was outside on 3rd avenue with a long pole trying to wash windows while people were trying not to trip over said pole... The customers inside were pretty much staring at me hahaha. Also my dad called me this week and as soon as we hung up I burst into tears... haha The day to day here is fine and I don't find myself feeling sad or anything, but as soon as I talk to someone from home it makes me feel terribly home sick :-( So, if I haven't called you lately, it's probably because I know that I will immediately begin to cry and not because I hate you :-) I should also mention that it probably also had to do with the realization that I won't be able to make it home for Thanksgiving or Christmas - my store is in a Jewish neighborhood, so it's open on Christmas day.<br />
<br />
This week I went and saw a movie (Like crazy) and started reading a new book. The movie was really good and I am almost finished with the book which is also good. The book is called "Is everyone hanging out without me? (and other concerns)" and it's by Mindy Kaling who is on the office. Well, I think that's it for now. I miss all of you and hope that you're all doing well.<br />
Lots of love,<br />
KaylaKaylahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05364117206615455157noreply@blogger.com2