The greatest game, a slingbox, and some duck

After Mom, Dad and Lauren left- I was sad. To be fair- I was really sad and crying. I was happy to get out and do a little cooking and socializing. A bunch of us had a fun dinner complete with a hilarious game of Cluedo (British Clue) and decided to go watch the USA vs. Canada hockey game at a Canadian bar. I'm so glad I went, what a GAME! I only wish Dad and Lauren were there to watch with me- as we LOVE the movie Miracle and it was just that! Ryan Miller was unreal.

A very late end to the game meant that yesterday was resting, laundry and getting ready for the week. My brother EJ sent me the information on his slingbox- which is a device that plugs into a TV at his house in Buffalo and I can watch it anywhere in the world on my laptop. US TV!!!!!!!!! I was so happy to hear English, see CSI Miami and of course, see US coverage of the Olympics. I'm VERY sick of curling so I was thrilled with some ski jumping and skating.

This morning we had the duck practical- nothing says 'good morning' like yanking out duck guts! I was working on my duck (removing neck etc) and I realized that my hands were covered in blood- I said out loud "boy my duck sure is bloody!" and then I noticed that it was my hand that was bleeding! I cut myself and had NO idea. It's fine, but in the WORST spot. It's on my right hand just at the base of my pointer finger...aka exactly where I hold my knife. I went and had it bandaged and continued my work. Roasted duck with glazed baby onions (yawn) and turned and glazed turnips and of course a jus. Everything was tres bien- Chef Lesourd said my meat was cooked well, my onions and turnips were perfect and my jus tasted good, but was a bit too greasy. All in all I was happy!

After school Bruna and I went to W.H. Smith- an English bookstore in Place de Concorde. I didn't realize how long I'd been looking at travel books but Bruna said..."we have to get out of here!" A quick lunch at Angelina and here I am- researching Geneva for Anthony and I to hopefully go tomorrow- I'm excited to see another country!

A bientot!

PS. That photo is from class today- for some reason when I went to make my paper lid to glaze my onions...4 came out! I'm usually lucky to get one to turn out- so strange!

Wait, what day is it?

Students at Le Cordon Bleu know a lot of things. We know how to brunoise, we know how to clean, we know how to make sure our boards don't slide around, and we know how to be on time and in uniform. One thing we don't know is what day it is.

You see, at Le Cordon Bleu- we know time as it relates to class. For example- if you have 12:30 demo, you know for sure that it's about 3:30pm when you leave. When it comes to looking at a real calendar? forget about it. No one has a clue. Students stare at 'le planning' and say "wait, what day is it?" because school is the only thing on their minds. I must look at my planning 17 times per day to make sure I know when class is- and before I go to bed everynight, I triple check it to make sure I wasn't making a mistake and missing a class. In fact, I just emailed Lara to make sure that I'm not mistaken (I left my planning in my locker) that we only have 12:30 demo tomorrow. We're all a little pathetic.

You'll be happy to know that I received an "excellent" on my tart today. It was our first practical with Chef Strill and he made fun of me 23456786543 times because I was so tense. It was our first real grade and I was petrified! For the first time, when I looked around and saw people that were ahead of me, I just looked down and focused. Not one problem. I didn't kill my yeast, my dough rose, I seasoned my onions, I soaked my anchovies in milk and water (OUR anchovies. We had a tin per 2 people) and after 17 minutes, it came out golden and brown. The one thing I would complain about is that the SIDES of my tart were a little bit big. Bruno showed me a new technique and made the edges of my tart look fancy. In demo we learned to use an upside down plate and push the dough against the plate making a spot of the onions. Chef showed me how to make it pretty- and I wish it weren't so puffy.

I'm also pleased to announce that I have my first cut, though I'm sad to report that it happened when I was putting my knives AWAY. I knicked my finger on my cleaver and I had to run down to reception to have it fixed up. It really wouldn't stop bleeding! It didn't hurt at all, but for hygiene and sanitation, we must put this on:



All in all, a great day. I had THE BEST night's sleep ever thanks to my new travel alarm clock/sound machine. I slept to the pitter patter of raindrops and I had a great night's rest! Check out the picture below...a little SF here in PARIS!



A Bientot!