I am back in a kitchen. Life is beautiful.

First time in almost two months, and boy have I missed it. The classroom I’m at is right across the hallway from the first classroom I had back on the first day of school. It really hit me when I saw the batch of noobs on their first day today. They had gone downstairs and gotten their equipment, knife bags, books, all that junk, and came upstairs and was waiting in the hallway. Looking into our kitchen. Just like I did, over 3 months ago.

It’s hard to believe it’s only 3 months. Fuck it feels like years. I remember looking into this kitchen and being amazed. A whole classroom of people that actually looked like they knew what they were doing. They were juggling 3-4 pots and pans at once, pulling stuff in and out of ovens with just a side towel, chopping and dicing stuff so fast it blew the mind. Today, I saw them looking at me, being that guy I was so amazed with just a few months prior. It feels good.

I walk around these days actually knowing where I’m going and what I’m doing. That sense of confidence is just great. Like people walk around their whole life and never feel that shit.

The class itself is great. It’s has a whole new set of challenges, besides the level of the food being refined, and plating and presentation being more important – each table has a designated time when their food is due.

Now I’m not talking due as in, you can finish whenever you want as long as it’s before 10:40. If your appetizers are due at 10:40, well guess what? It’s due AT 10:40. You’ve got a 5minute window to turn it in, and if it’s later than that, you lose half your daily points. Did I mention the vast majority of the points in this class are based on daily points? Awesome.

It will take a little while to get used to. It would be a lot easier if I had actually cooked some of these things before. Like today, we finished up our lecture at like 9:30 and our table had till 10:40 for appetizers and 11:10 for the entree. I was fully done with all the prep I could’ve done at like….9:50. All my vegetables that needed to be blanched were blanched, all my vegetables cut and ready to go, all my spices out, everything sliced and diced. So I kinda stood around not doing a whole lot. I didn’t really want my food to get cold, so I hung out for 20 minutes or so before I got going again.

Let’s just say, I was a little pressed for time towards the end and turned in something I really wish I had 5 more minutes to refine. Misjudged how much time things would take me, oh well. I managed a 16/20 just on stupid mistakes alone today. It’s probably the worst grade I’ve ever gotten on a day’s work in a kitchen, but that’s ok. I won’t make these mistakes again, so it’s for the best. Plenty of time left to nail this class in the pooper and finish it up with another A.

Tomorrow’s menu includes a french onion soup, a cheese omelet, and a pork chop with some kind of prune stuffing with a sauce robert, served with a vegetable medley saute and garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!

Wish I took a picture of today’s stuff. Cream of broccoli soup as a starter, with a sauteed chicken breast over a bed of rice pilaf, served with a delicious chasseur (a pan sauce reduction with mushrooms and tomatoes) sauce and a side of zucchini provencal. It was unreal, so yummy. I typically think chicken breast is a waste of space and it’s dry and tasteless and just all around crap. Changed my mind on that one, this dish is something I’d order in a restaurant.

Pandora is playing all my favorite tunes today, the weather mellowed out. Things are just looking great right now. Can’t wait to wakeup tomorrow.

Peace!