May The Stars Light Your Way
Today, I took a vacation day from the office to volunteer on an episode of THE DISH, Jean-Robert’s cooking show that airs on Channel 12 in Cincinnati. I arrived at 10:00am and reported to the set of the show. Well, actually, to the tiny kitchen…
Wendy got home with Buster this evening (expect an update from Wendy soon) and wanted to go get him a harness to help hold his front end up while he’s outside to potty. She got the idea when she was outside with him at her…
Another GARDE MANGER class at Cincinnati State this evening. We worked on Sushi, Salmon Mousse, Risotto Balls, and a couple other items. Dinner was leftovers of all those items, so it was pretty random. We got out of class before 8:00, so I was able to make it home in time to see the finale of AMERICAN IDOL and watch Taylor Hicks walk away a winner. Congrats Taylor!
After running a few errands, Wendy & I hung out with Buster and the other pets this evening while we watched AMERICAN IDOL and voted, voted, voted for Taylor Hicks! While we were out, I picked up some Stouffer’s French Bread Pizzas and prepared one…
Here’s a quick update on Buster, the dog that’s currently with us… As you may recall from this article, Buster is a 6-year old sweet Daschund who is currently paralyzed from the neck down. On their first attempt last week, the folks at Wendy’s hospital weren’t…
Chef Kinsella was unavailable for class (yet again) this evening and we had a substitute instructor — the very-capable Chef Potter. Chef Potter had instructions to administer a test and then take us through a few recipes. I arrived at the normal class time (3:00), forgetting that we’d been told to show up 90 minutes later. Chef Potter was kind enough to let me take my test early while I sat in his class, and what a test it was… 75 questions of material that seemed mostly unfamiliar to me. I had read the assigned chapters and reviewed my notes, but I would have sworn that a lot of these questions were on material we’d never covered. Still, I soldiered on and finished the test with time to spare before the 4:30 start. As I saw my classmates coming in, I told them about the difficulty of the test to come. Books were cracked, note compared, and discussions held before the test.
As it turns out, I’d been given the wrong test (sheesh). The actual test intended for us was only 25 questions and was over material with which I was familiar, so it was pretty easy.
After the test, we got started on our recipes — Smoked Whiskey Shrimp, Palmiers with Proscuitto, Gougiers (cheesy piping-hot puff pastry), and another. It went pretty smoothly, and we were done-and-gone by 8:00.
Steps onto soapbox. I’m not sure what the situation is with the instructors always being on their cell phones during class, but Chef Potter is no less guilty of it than Chef Kinsella. This is perhaps one of the most annoying trends I’ve seen lately at Cincinnati State, and I hope it ends soon. If I had a cell phone and it rang once during class (let alone a bunch of times), I’d be in trouble because the instructor would consider it impolite. I consider it impolite that the same courtesy doesn’t extend the other way. Steps off soapbox.
Dinner this evening was a selection of sandwiches prepared by the students in Chef Potter’s earlier class; subs, tea sandwiches, muffalettas were eagerly consumed by my classmates and myself.
Buster the Dog came to live with us on Sunday, May 21, 2006. He is a 6-year old Daschund who suffered an unknown spinal trauma on Thursday, May 18, 2006 and became paralyzed from the neck down. His owners weren’t able to take care of him,…