Saturday January 29th
My first week as a Culinarian (in training) sophmore went by so fast that I could hardly remember the dishes I prepared when showing pictures to my husband. That made me think, I really should start to write this stuff down ~ if I don't now, I'll never remember anything from my final semester at Paul Smiths College.
I started my adventure at Paul Smiths in August of 2009, here almost two years later it's drawing to a close and I have so many mixed emotions surfacing about my experience. If there is one "personal" thing I've taken form this experience is that in life there always has to be balance. And I'm not just borrowing that line from Eat Love Pray~ Initially being accepted by my peers was very important to me, two years later, being respected by my peers is all that I strive for. I learned the hard way that an adult going back to college might be acceptable, but it's almost impossible to make true friends with people that could literally be my children. There are rare occassions where this is possible hence why I stated "almost" in the previous sentence... but more on that later.
Here I am at the end of my first week of my last semester at PSC. What a week it's been! My main classes are Contemporary Cuisine, American Gastronomy and Cultural Enology ~ fancy words for saying I'm learing the time line of food in relation to our country, how to cook and plate it elegantly while learning what wine might best be served with it! After thoughtful conversations with my husband Mark, I've decided to reconsider the degree program for Culinary Arts. My main goal was to simply get "a degree" from PSC and I've accomplished just that. This decision has left me feeling so free and open to the exploration of foods I would normally never consider preparing... but I've got a lot to learn before I can get there. The atmosphere in the classroom this year is so different and exciting. There is a sense of mutual respect for each other and encouragement to explore new ideas! It's also amazing to see the creations of my peers. This week seemed as if it would start off with a typical first day, only going to class for half the slotted time and then taking time to prepare for the following day... NOT. In our first contemporary cuisine class we chatted a bit and then went right into production of Chicken and Vegetable stock that we'd store away for future use during the semester. The following day we moved into sauces and garnishes and finished up the week with learning Artistic, Minimalist and Architectural styles of plating. Thank goodness I remembered to bring my camera as it will help me to remember along with writing in this journal/blog. It's fast paced and thoughtful all at the same time! In American Gastronomy we started the week out with the game plann (no pun intended here) for the first week discovering the foods of the Native Americans. I learned about the 3 Sisters (corn, beans and squash) and witnessed the Circle of Life when it came to preparing smoked rabbit for our family style meal at the end of the week. I tried Squab, Venison and Rabbit and was pleased to see that I was OK with all of them. My partner Christian and I prepared a Squab Stew, Pan Seared Rabbit and a To Die For Marinated Venison on Wednesday. Previously in the week we did 4 separate types of Jerky (thank God it was with Top Round Beef) and Pemekin! All in all, it was a really good week!
