Hi A quick update as I had my cooking practical test on Friday I just want to post the results. I had to make Chicken Consommé, Grilled Salmon with Béarnaise Sauce, Duxcelle stuffed Tomatoes, Green Beans and rice pilaf all in 2 and a half hours start to finish. I had no problem getting the work done and my test score was 95 out of 100.

Hey all sorry it’s been some time since my last post but the three weeks of quantity food production was the most busy I have been here at school. We started out in lunch and this is the busiest kitchen on campus they sell between 500 and 600 meals at lunch time and they are only open from 12:30 to 1:30 yes that’s 500-600 meals served in one hour. Class stares at 5:30 am with picking up the food from the store room. By 6:00 we have the food stored away in the kitchen, this is done around the students cooking and serving breakfast. After we finish that it’s off to lecture until 8:15 when we can get into the kitchen and start preparing lunch we have from 8:15 to 12:30 to get everything ready for service. Our class had 12 students and we made six different entrées each day. Once service starts it’s a mad rush to plate the food and get it out. To give you an idea of how much food that might be one day I cut 110 pounds of boneless chicken breasts into chicken strips for spicy chicken strips. The next day I breaded and fried all 110 pounds and we served 160 portions of the chicken in one hour. After service we clean the kitchen until 2:15 when the dinner students come in and start to prep for dinner. At this point we still are not done for the day. We have to have our wrap up meeting with the chef and discuss the plan for tomorrow; we typically finished between 3:30 and 4:00 each day. I did this for 7 days then switched to breakfast and that class started at 1:30 am but finished between 9:00 and 9:30 each day and did that for 7 days. Breakfast does not serve and many meals but everything is made to order so it’s a pretty busy day.

Now I am in a class called Garde Manger, it’s a class about making hors d’ oeuvres, forcemeats, sausage, cured and smoked foods. We did a reception today for about 100 people and it came out really cool looking. We will be making sausage and terrines for the next three days.

I have my cooking practical test this Friday so I have been bust getting all the recipes and game plans I will need to take that ready

Well that’s about all for now and just so you know the Wednesday before thanksgiving is my last day here at the Culinary as it’s the end of my first year. I need to go out and do and internship working for 18 weeks. My plan is to work at the Patterson Club in Fairfield CT and they are building a brand new building that will not be ready until March so I will be taking a short vacation from my training and starting to work in March and it looks like I will return to the Culinary some time August.