AHA Moment

AHA!
It was my last week in my cooking class today and I was so sad to know that. But I am going to take what i learned all semester and make sure that I grow as a cook. I loved this class and if anyone is ready to cook in the kitchen its me! My mom is going to be so happy for me to be able to cook right in front of her and i cant wait to be able to teach the teacher!

Last day of Class! Sweet Endings

 This last day was a crazy sad amazing day! I had a fun day and an amazing experience in this class. It was rough and stressful at times but it was such a great experience and I wish I could take it again! But when one adventure ends a new one begins!

Prep day!

We made all the Creme Brulee and this was our last event so we had to make sure it was perfect! We put all the creme in our bowls that we cook in the oven. But when it was cooking it took too long which means that something went wrong with the recipe. We had to start from scratch because it says 8 1/4 which we thought meant 8 eggs but it was 8 1/4 ounces. so reading your instructions is what you need to be able to make sure what you make comes out right.

AHA Moment!

AHA!
This week I learned a lot of on how to get pre prepped for event day! It was a moment to step up my game before anything. Its a nice way to know that we can always do more than people except from us. So when you start a recipe you have to step up your game and make sure you have all the exact ingredients before starting.

Last class before our last prep day

tl Lets learn about eggs! Today we learned how to cook an omelet, poach an egg and to make them sunny side up. I find the poaching an egg to be weird and unique. It tasted like an okay egg but the way of cooking the egg was a weird way of cooking. When its cooking it looks like a white parachute that is above the yolk part of the egg.

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AHA Moment!

I had an amazing time with our Pasta Event and who knew that Pasta is so amazing when its from scratch. I mean i guess anything is better homemade. I had wish sometime this class wasn't coming to the end because once our last even is done than were done with the class which makes me so sad! I am and have had an amazing time with this crazy adventure in this crazy class! I cant wait for our last event day though because will be making the creme brulee!

Pasta Pooluza

Its pasta day folks and today my group has made reginette pasta with arrabiata sauce, Which in English means the Angry Queen so to go with our Angry Birds theme where we show off our amazing birthday party table with a catapult that can shoot our amazing Vegetable Balls to also go with our theme! If you want the vegetable ball recipe here you go! Mostly everyone really enjoyed them but we did need to cook the lentils a little longer than we did!

Vegetable Balls Recipe and Directions

INGREDIENTS

1. • 2 cups lentils
   • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
   • 1 large onion, chopped
   • 2 carrots, chopped
   • 2 celery stalks, chopped
   • 1 garlic clove, minced
   • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
   • 2 teaspoons salt
   • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
   • 8 ounces Button Mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
   • 3 large eggs
   • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
   • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
   • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
   • 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

PREPARATION

1. 1. Combine the lentils and 2 quarts water in a medium stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the lentils are soft (but not falling apart), about 25 minutes. Drain the lentils and allow to cool.
   2. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil to a large frying pan and sauté the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and salt over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown. Add the tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 15 more minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. When cool, add the lentils to the vegetable mixture.
   3. Add the eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley, and walnuts to the cooled vegetable mixture and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated. Place in the refrigerator for 25 minutes.
   4. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
   5. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.
   6. Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 1/2 inches), making sure to pack the vegetable mixture firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, allowing 1/4-inch of space between the balls and place them in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid.
   7. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through.
   8. Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.

Prep day/ how to make Tortellini

 Prep day for Pasta event day was today's work. Every class before our big event we have to have a prep day where we get all ready for the event. We only have  certain amount of time to get everything ready before the event day so were not rushing or not having anything ready. I am excited to have this pasta day since it is one of our hardest events and i want to know what ill do with this difficult challenge.

AHA Moment of the Week

AHA!
I know how to make homemade pasta! I cant not wait to make the pasta for thanksgiving dinner! My mom will be so proud of me to be able to make pasta from starch! I will show her step by step on how we did it in class. Since she could come to the event ill bring the event for her. It will be the best thanksgiving ever! I seriously cant wait! and i have this perfect wine that can go with everything. I love how this cooking class made me think of all the taste in a meal!

We get to make our pasta for event day!

 day we get to make our own pasta dough which we have learned that we This need to really follow the recipe and read the difference between the sizes of the ingredients. We had to use the back up pasta dough because the we didn't use the right amount of egg.
So allays read the full recipe before mixing everything together.

Chef is making the dough

 This day Chef is showing us how to make our own pasta dough from pre-prep day. It was cool to learn this system and how easy it is to be able to cook fresh pasta which is way better then box pasta. This was a great recipe to learn and be able to do on our own.

 

Class to Class

So these last 6 weeks we have many different lessons, had two prep days and had two event days. Each day we go through different cooking styles and other things. In HA 270 my technology class I have to put together a restaurant and since i have tow put on four different "Restaurant" when we do our events with our groups in cooking it helps because i have already came up with four other ideas for a restaurant. It is hard to write from start a five page paper, to a power point, and a web of different management positions. Its easy to now start that project because i pretty much did the same thing from what i do at events.

Video of the Week

Lets cut a carrot correctly!

AHA moment!

AHA!
Its so funny how in cooking there is different styles. Likes and dislikes. You can simply go in somewhere and have a total dislike in your food. But you can go somewhere else have the exact same thing and just because it is cooked, cut, stemmed, grilled, etc. your taste can like it. It surprise me on how much the littlest difference you do to your food someone can ether love it, like it, hate it, or even just like its disgusting. Everyone has different taste and thats the one thing you have to be smart o is that not everyone will absolutely love your food.

Cooking Vegetables in different ways

Vegetables are a great snack and if you cook them in different ways you can get many different taste out of them! Today we cooked vegetables in an acid and baking soda which made them look slimy, gross, and brighter. Its so weird how the food can be made in different ways just like if you fry a turkey! 

Lets learn how to do simple cuts

 Cutting a carrot may seem simple and it is but there is different in cutting carrots. you have the sticks and the dice and the rabbit carrot. It just matters what your cutting it for. So great to live in a place where every wedding wants different cuts.

Video of the Week

Learn how to make 2 step sausage.

AHA moment!

AHA!
The meat event was so much fun but it makes me scared for the next event. The bar is set so high that the pasta event has to be awesome which makes it harder because were making pasta to order is going to be difficult but at the same time it will be like where really at a restaurant. I don't know what ill do! But its going to be awesome and exciting!

EVENT DAY.....Meatmaddness

Its Meatmaddness day! Onik Onik, moooooo, and quak quak! It was a room full of meat and craziness. We had a room full of cowboys, pigs, bath time, sleeping time, and much more! It was a blast at this event. I loved it more then the soup because it was MEAT! Besides vegetarians who doesn't love meat!

Were making the sausage today!

 Today we got to learn how we would make sausage! This is chef explaining how to make the sausage. So you can see in these pictures on how excited he is to show our class on how awesome it is to make your own sausage. Its pretty cool even the videos are pretty awesome and you can do it all at your house if  you have thousands of dollars of equipment to use.

AHA Moment!

AHA! 

This week i got to cut open a chicken! It was such an awesome thing! I called my mom right after to talk about how awesome it was! Being able to actually take apart a chicken is completely awesome! I loved it! Also we found out exactly what were going to do for our event next week! We all are gonna take that Texas brisket and rock it! 

Now its my Turn!

 Now last week we learned from chef and watched him cut up a chicken. Now we get to do it! It was so interesting to feel literally every bone in that chicken. Having to cut it up felt like a murder show. It was so weird to feel the inside and outside of a chicken. I also had to crack the chicken bones in the shoulder and it felt gross and awesome! Its so awesome I go from a a class where i am on the computer the whole class period to a class where I am truly fishing the rest of a job of killing a chicken!

AHA Moment!

AHA! What a crazy week! We go from doing a soup event to cutting a chicken in pieces. It was fun and interesting! I love how fast and crazy this class is. I actually saw Chef mark cut a chicken in Half! Like how crazy is that! Its so awesome though. I never really watched my mom cook which kind of sucks because I could have know how to do all this! It wouldn't be learning it would be relearning. Which would of helped a lot when I was a freshmen eating out or in the hot spot all the time.

How to Cut a Chicken

 So we got to chase a chicken around, cut off its head and pluck their feathers. AHAH Just kidding! We learned how to take a chicken a learn how to cut it in order to cook it. We have to cut off the flaps, then go into the stomach and so on and so forth. It was a great thing to watch but next week i can't wait to do it!

EVENT DAY: Soup Savy

 Its EVENT DAY! Our table looks great for a date night! Yes my event is called Stary Night, a great restaurant for a Friday night day night. It is fun and romantic. You have your sky, your napkins, and you have hearts all around the table! We weren't the only ones making claim chowder the table across from us made it too. We never found out who won but we did really go all out! Both of us! Our competition did a New England football theme! It was creative and fun! Also my mom got to come and try my food! She loved it and had a blast!

AHA Moment!

AHA!
Its a great time to have fun in cooking! Everyone is so excited to have a great first event! We are all ready to have a great time! Enjoying what you do is what makes life. If you hate your job or don't like what you are going to school for then you will ether hate your life or have no motivation to do anything. That is not me! I am in love with what i do and what i will have for my carrier. Every time I am in my HA classes i am excited have having fun with those classes! I love what ill do and i love my major!

Video of the Week!

That cooks can have fun after they worked so hard!

Its all about the prep day!

 So the next week will be our Soup Savy Event! Its going to be totally awesome! Getting all ready for our soup makes me more excited for event day! Even more excited because my mom will be able to come try this soup so I have to follow the recipe and make it good. This day is the day to make sure everything is taste good and everything is in order!

All about the Mac and Cheese

 Chef making the best mac and cheese ever! I love making mac and cheese and here we are getting to learn how to make it from scratch and eat it in class! it was a mac and cheese filled day! We learned not make it but how to really taste the difference from the mac and cheese in the store for .99 cents to how it can be so much more than that.