Good News & Bad News

     I've pretty much calculated that I'm going to gain about fifty pounds this mod. Because all I do is eat the breakfast pastries that I bake...really I can't help it, they're delicious!!!! On Monday, we made blueberry scones with a lemon curd. Now, before you go thinking about curdled milk, it was AMAZING. It's something like a lemon pie filling. Plus I love lemons, so....I almost just licked the bowl I was using. Tuesday we made orange scented and regular buttermilk biscuits that we made into strawberry shortbread with Chantilly cream. I also forgot my fork and didn't want it to go to waste, so I used my fingers. Chef laughed at me, but it was goooood!!!!

     Today we made miniature pumpkin bread loaves, blueberry muffins, and chocolate crepe batter. The chocolate crepes we will make tomorrow, when we makes Crepes Suzette. I love pumpkin bread, so I wasn't surprised that it was good, because we sprinkled it with sanding sugar. Sanding sugar is about ten times the size of regular table sugar, and about ten times as expensive, so it's only used to garnish. What really surprised me was the blueberry muffins. I don't even like blueberries. Yet I ate three of them. Which is why I'm going to gain a ton of weight this mod...good I joined a gym. I'm also making a wedding cake for Jim Knox, our pastor's son. He and his wife Jenny were married two weeks ago, and our church is converting a potluck dinner into a kind of reception for them. I was super happy when they asked me to make the cake. Pictures will definitely follow. Until tomorrow...

M

This mod....

I feel a little guilty because I haven't actually blogged at all this mod. It's not that I didn't have the time, because I just started as a work study in the education department, where I do very little except answer the phone and do my homework on the computer. Surprisingly, I love my new job; granted it gets a little boring, but its really easy, and I get to do my homework or work on whatever cake sketches I need. I also get to wear normal clothes!

But it is the end of the mod, and I feel like I should give some kind of summary of my newfound knowedge about wine and alcoholic beverages. My teacher, who was a former sommelier, was very passionate about wine and different types of alcohol, and I loved having him as an instructor. We learned a lot about wine and food pairings, and the origin and specific flavors of wines. My three favorite types of wine would probably be shiraz, moscato, and reisling. Shiraz (or syrah) is a red grape that has a peppery flavor, which makes me want to have steak. I love steak. Moscato is made from the muscat grape, which has many different names that depend on the producer of the wine. It's a white wine, served with dessert. Reisling is a popular sweeter white wine, produced most commonly in Germany and Alsace, France. It can be served with a light dessert or a light bodied entree or appetizer. We also learned about different spirits like vodka, which is the number one selling spirit in the US, brandy/cognac, and liqueurs/cordials. So, while I'm by no means an expert, I have an expert's notes. 

I'm super excited for my next two mods, because they are just kitchens: first breakfast pastries, and then  specialty cakes and pies. I also have had some cake orders this mod, so it's nice to make a little extra money on the side. I also made Dean's List and Perfect attendance again. Now I leave you for the weekend, with the promise that I'll be back into my normal blogging habits come Monday.

M