Week 4: Practice, Grades, and Jalousies

I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about that damn lemon tart. Knowing that it could be my exam piece and that I'll have to make it from memory is freaking me out. It's gotten to the point where I'm waking up early, and I can't go back to sleep because I'll start rehearsing the recipe in my head while I'm still laying in bed. It's not the ideal way of starting your day.

They say practice makes perfect, and I think actual practice (not just in my head when I'm barely conscious) will probably help me feel a lot more prepared so I've assembled all the various bits and bobs so that I could practice at home. That means I've finally made a long-awaited purchase: a stand mixer! They're bloody expensive so I kept dithering on buying one, but I finally bit the bullet on a KitchenAid.

In related news, these 8AM classes are killing me. They're sporadic throughout the week, so I don't really get the chance to fall into the habit of waking up early. I was thinking how absurd it was that a bunch of people all over London were waking up at all kinds of godawful hours to go watch a guy make puff pastry for 3 hours. This may be why aliens haven't yet made contact with our kind.

We got our midterm grades today. Stupid me, I didn't realise we were being graded on our practicals, and they're worth half our final grade. Being practicals, I thought they were essentially just practice! Nope, wrong. I thought the chefs were just checking their emails or Facebook or whatever when they were tapping away on their tablets. Wrong again. Sigh. I'm doing pretty alright, a bit better than average, but everyone's been pretty cagey about their grades so it's hard to figure what that even means.

Ultimately, my grade doesn't really matter so long as I pass. Hell, I don't even need to pass since I have nothing riding on this. The grading scale is pass, then pass with merit, then pass with distinction. Pretty much everyone passes, and almost no one gets pass with distinction, so I'd like to walk away with a pass with merit. It's my greedy little heart, what can I say? I'm not quite sure if I stand much of a chance if chef takes my behaviour into account. Let's just say I don't have anything to lose and a cheeky sense of humour that's not infrequently directed at chef.

Speaking of practicals, we finally had one today after a weeklong break from the kitchen. We made jalousies out of puff pastry with pears and almond cream. Yum.

Chefs creation.

And mine (after I cut it in half).

I definitely could've left it in the oven for a bit longer but we were running out of time since we had rock hard pears that took forever to cook. I also could've done a better job with the egg wash and gone a little easier on the syrup. But so shiny! In all honesty, I'm just glad I had time to finish as someone accidentally stepped on my rolled out pastry as it was chilling in the fridge, and I had to start over again. I swear, January was so not my month and I'm beyond glad to see the back of it!

Week 3: All About Tarts

It's kind of crazy how quickly things ramped up at pastry school in the last week. The practicals, where we try to replicate what the chef did at demonstration, used to be at a pretty relaxed pace, and we would chit-chat as we worked on our dishes.

Not this week. Not even a little bit.

We found out that we would be required to make a dish from memory from a choice of three options for our final exam: a lemon tart, eclairs, or a genoise. We won't know which dish until we walk into the kitchen on the day of the exam.

We've only learned how to do the lemon tart at this point, and I showed up early for that demonstration, but it seems like everyone else had the same idea. I did manage to take some snaps of what it's supposed to look like, and chef had the chance to show off a little bit. It's amazing how beautiful everything looks, and it's also a bit intimidating that we're expected to do the same.









I think the best part of the demonstrations is that we get to sample most of the things. I've learned by now to not eat breakfast before class so I have lots of room to gobble down chef's creations. Teehee.



As fun as eating at the demonstration can be, the practical was beyond stressful.

We have only 2 1/2 hours to make the lemon tart from scratch, which means making and blind-baking the tart shell, cooking the custard filling, making and piping the italian meringue, candying the lemon peel, and assembling it all into a beautiful presentation within that time. I made plenty of mistakes like forgetting to strain my custard after I finished cooking it and forgetting to add the butter until I already cooled my custard. Urgh. My custard was also a bit runny, and I think a bit more sugar wouldn't hurt.

In the end, it came out fairly presentable and was ridiculously delicious. I was planning on taking it to J's office, but he told me to take it home instead. Big mistake. We ended up demolishing the entire thing that night after dinner.



The following demonstration/practical was for an apple tart, and it was a walk in the park after the lemon tart. I actually had time to slow down and enjoy myself, which resulted in a pretty good looking tart. Chef was very kind, and I got the best marks I could've hoped for! I took it straight to J's office, where I hung around for a bit to enjoy a piece, and I was glad I didn't take it home. Otherwise, it would've been a repeat performance of the previous night, and I'm not quite sure how much my waistband can stand!

The £209 Storm

I've had my first real smartphone for less than a month when it decided to do a swan dive out of my (closed!) purse and faceplanted onto the pavement. I had just left my cheese lecture, and I was running to get out of the unexpected downpour. But to be honest, that's my own damn fault - when in London, one should always expect a downpour. In any case, the jogging caused the flap on my purse to fly open and my phone to take its suicidal plunge. And now it looks like this.

Apple told me it's going to cost £209 to replace the outside case, and I have to wait a week for it to be back in stock.

This is why I can't have nice things.

It's been raining pretty much nonstop, and J and I have been spending most weekends hunkered down at the flat. The only times we do venture out is when we need to go to Tommy Burgers to satisfy J's burger addiction and to restock our coffee supplies.

So far, this year is not looking good.

The only good news is that the pets in LA are much better. Torre's ear infection has completely cleared up, and Kitty is much more mobile ever since her surgery removed her tumours. My mom swears up and down that Kitty still has a lot of life left in her. I really, really hope that's true, but I'm being as realistic as I can.

As for the cat in London, he's up to his usual ruckus and closing in on 12 lbs! No one believes me when I say Casper can do more tricks than some dogs so I made a little video of him working for his kibble. He can also "sit" and he comes when he's called. Not half bad for a moggie!

Dessert on a Dish

We spent yesterday learning how to make a long list of French goodies including creme caramel, creme brûlée, creme anglais, tuile, and fruit coulis. We watched the chef demonstrate the steps, and then it was off to our practical to try to replicate the fiddly processes on our own.

The practical went fairly smoothly, and I didn't have too much trouble. I'm still struggling with what the consistency of some these items are supposed to be, and I ended up curdling my creme anglais and undercooking my coulis. Better luck next time, I suppose. Fortunately, my creme caramels came out like a dream.

Today was the first lesson we had in plating our creations. Let me tell you, it was a lot more difficult and frustrating than I could've imagined. I ended up with something fairly basic before I ended up tearing my hair out and calling it a day. Note to self: take the photo before chef takes a bite!

The orange dots are mango coulis, the yellow smears are creme anglais, the music note (fallen over) is a tuile, and that clear thing is a sugar cage. Believe it or not, the chocolate lines were what gave me the most grief. Piped chocolate and I are NOT friends! I also probably overdid it with the kiwi, but I think it's such a pretty fruit. Caramelising the creme brûlée was lots of fun, and a blowtorch is now on my wish list along with a few other kitchen items.

I was glad when today's practical was over. Fussing over a plate for that long was starting to give me a migraine, but it felt a lot better when I got the whole lot into my belly. Teehee. I had some extra left to take home, and J and I are both fat and happy after having the leftovers for dessert after our thai takeaway. And don't worry, I haven't overlooked the irony of someone spending 6 hours in cooking school having a takeaway for dinner. Sigh.

Back to School

Big news: I just started a patisserie class at Le Cordon Bleu a few weeks ago!

We had orientation and our food safety course, and we're finally getting into the meat of the course. Can I just say how weird it is to be back in school with uniforms and lockers and textbooks and everything?!

My section is quite small, I think there are about 13 of us, and everyone is from somewhere other than London. I've met people from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Portugal, Russia, Hong Kong, and Mexico so far. Crazy and very cool.

Casper's not very happy about this new development so this is how he tries to make sure I don't leave the house when I'm home.

Anyway, I just got back from my wine tasting class, and it was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be! I sipped enough to figure out what our sommelier was talking about, and we're allowed to spit it out into the black decanter. I was careful to drink just a little bit since I usually run home after school, and I didn't want to dodge London buses while drunk.

Casper was super happy to see me when I got back, and he had a lot of presents waiting for me!

Lazy Sunday

After I wrote my Kitty update, I talked to my family, and everyone made an effort to make me feel better about the situation. I'm so lucky, I definitely won the family lottery.

J thought a day out would help, but the weather has been pretty uncooperative lately. We had a window of sun this morning, and we went to The Providores on our high street for Sunday brunch. French toast can only help, and we managed to snag our favourite seats in front of the window.

We picked up some groceries for pasta bolognese for dinner and went home where I did this...

J hates it when I give myself a home haircut so I waited until he was on a work call and couldn't hear the buzzing of the clippers. I think I did an alright job so long as you don't look too closely. ;) 

I've got to admit, I feel a lot better after the French toast and shaving my head. Hey, different strokes for different folks.

Christmas Leftovers

So there were a few things about Christmas I didn't mention what with all the pet health scares. They were good and/or funny moments that definitely bear remembering.

Like when my dad had a little too much Christmas cheer at dinner and decided to "help" my mom with cleaning up after we opened all of our presents. This resulted in my mom having to hunt for tree ornaments among the discarded wrapping paper and coming across a Christmas present or two in the process. This is exactly the reason why my dad shouldn't clean.

My older bro officially got engaged! He gave his now-fiancée a gorgeous ring hidden inside an origami heart, and we were all lucky enough to be there for the moment. It was sweet and hilarious at the same time. Let's just say neither my brother nor I were born with a romantic bone in our bodies, but we both enjoy a good laugh. He's a born engineer, and he undertook an extremely comprehensive and exacting process in picking out the diamond. Once he bought it, he spent hours sipping whiskey and examining the diamond with a loupe, which I find to be both typical and incredibly amusing. 

Soon after I arrived, I found myself busy in the kitchen baking a chocolate and raspberry cake for my family to taste test. It turns out I passed, which means I'll be baking my brother's wedding cake! Don't worry, I'll be taking the proper preparatory measures and practicing a lot! I've already done some research on the logistical hurdles on building and transporting the cake. It's a lot more complicated than one would think, but I rather like the idea of a challenge. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

I was also responsible for cooking Christmas dinner, and I decided to go with a goose and ham instead of turkey. It turned out to be a great decision! Goose beats turkey hands down, and I think we all decided that we'll have goose for holiday meals from now on. It costs quite a bit more, but the difference in flavour and texture is amazing. I can't figure out why people ever decided to switch to turkey, other than that you get more meat with a turkey. It's also nice to know that geese can't be battery-farmed like turkeys if you're concerned about animal welfare.

Casper also had a fun time trying to eat Christmas. Yep, he tried to eat an entire holiday. That's my boy!

Ornaments that were clearly not edible.

I ended up getting mugged for my candy cane.

And he made out like a bandit on Christmas gifts! A new, fancy carrier courtesy of his aunt D and uncle P.

And lots of kitty toys, which he's been hard at work on destroying to bits.

London's been pretty empty since we got back. I think most people stay on holiday until the last possible moment, and I think everyone will be back at work on the 6th. I don't blame them one bit as the weather has been pretty foul with lots of rain and wind every day. The weather forecast looks pretty much the same for the next month or so, but I'm really hoping it's wrong!

Kitty Update

I got some very sad news today. The vet came back with the results on Kitty's biopsies, and it turns out her growths were carcinomas. The prognosis is looking quite poor at the moment. With chemotherapy, she will have another 6 months and only 3 months if she doesn't have any treatment at all.

I've been steeling myself for bad news ever since we took her in for surgery; expect the worst and hope for the best, right? Now that I know how bad it is, I've got to decide what to do. I'm inclined to let her live out the rest of her time with us in peace. She's such a nervous and skittish cat that a trip to the vet is traumatic, and I can't imagine doing that to her on a weekly basis. I don't think it makes sense to prolong her life so she can keep making vet visits. I don't know. This is so hard.

I never really thought about Kitty dying, and I certainly never imagined how it would happen. I suppose I thought that she would just slow down and peacefully go to sleep one day without waking up. Or maybe she would just go on living forever. 

I've had her since I was 16 years old, and she's seen me through high school, college, law school, a few major break ups, and a wedding. She moved in with me to my first apartment. She's flown with me from San Francisco to LA, she's driven with me from OC to LA and from Berkeley to Cupertino. She helped me make the transition from rowdy teenager to married adult. She was there through it all. 

No matter if I have Casper or if I ever have a baby, Kitty will always be the first I tried to care for as best as I knew how. I hope I did right by her. I beat myself up for not bringing her to London when we moved here, but it was originally meant to be a temporary move, and everyone agreed that the flight would be too much for her. I'm still not sure if I made the right decision.

Ideally, I'm going to try to fly back to LA in March to say goodbye to her in case she doesn't hold out until my next scheduled visit in July. J suggested flying her out here once she's fully recovered from her surgery so I can keep a close eye on her and make her as comfortable as possible. I haven't ruled that out, but I'd like to speak with the vet and my family first to decide what's best for Kitty.

So to all the pet-owners, give them lots of hugs and kisses. You both deserve it.

Goodbye 2013

It's been a busy year, full of ups and downs, thankfully many more ups than downs.

Two new members joined our family, one of the furry variety and the other not so furry. I love them both!





I went platinum blond... and then back to black.

I was lucky enough to travel a fair amount. First to Dubai in April...

Then Namibia in May...

And back to LA in June for the wedding of the year!

A long stay in Iceland in August...

And then a brief visit to Washington DC in November.

And Christmas in LA, of course.

Career-wise, it was pretty exciting with James making partner. We celebrated with some of his colleagues at Hereford Road Restaurant with Dom Perignon (yum!) and calf brain (yuck!).

I also made the big decision to leave law and maybe start a new career. More on that to come!

2014 is shaping up to be a banner year with 3 family weddings on the horizon.

We'd like to add a dog to our family, but that's not a done deal. That doesn't mean I haven't been researching dog breeds when J is asleep. Teehee.

A small thing, but I decided short hair is just not for me. When you have thick, wavy hair and lots of it, you wake up looking like you have a mushroom cloud on your head most mornings. It's also a lot more maintenance than long hair, and I just can't be bothered with all the combing and styling and cutting.

I'd also like to exercise more consistently. As they say, health is wealth, and I've got to keep in good shape to take care of J and my fur baby.

I'm not much of a resolution making type person, so nothing to add to that. Just to keep being happy and hoping that everyone I love is too.