First Day Back in the Kitchen

Today was the first day in the kitchen at school, no baking yet but it was still fairly exciting. It's nice to be around people who want to create things like you do and getting to know that you're around that much chocolate doesn't hurt either.

Section 1 will be breads which means baguettes, croissants, and all sorts of yummy (read: fattening) things.

Tomorrow begins the real work here's hoping I pass inspection

Class Sit In

Last Tuesday, I had the great pleasure of doing a class "sit in" at the culinary institute. I wasn't really sure what to expect from a class sit in, especially given what I had already heard about the classes I wasn't sure how a class sit in would work.

I quickly learned that "sit in" was the wrong term. When I arrived the admissions counselor threw a lab coat on me and quickly shuffled me off to the where the pastry students were. There they were working on Petit Fours.

I was really shy at first I wasn't really sure what I was meant to ask. After a moment of standing there and watching all of them work a very nice young woman had placed her chocolate decorations in the freezer and took a moment to discuss what she thought about the program. Overall she seemed to enjoy it, she told me the program is really fast paced but at the same time you use the same techniques over and over so you get used to them.

All the students were really nice and even offered me a mini Opera cake and a mini Lemon tart. I must admit I had some difficulty understanding the Chef as he has a very thick french accent, but the students assured me that if accepted I would get used it.

I spoke with one student who actually just left her job in a marketing industry to come. She said it was competitive and interesting but it wasn't satisfying. I told her about how I was finishing business school with a marketing degree and she just smiled. I told her about how long I've known that I wanted to be a baker and she wished me luck on my application.

One guy told me about how he was on the team for the school and how they've begun team practices. I really like the idea of trying out for the team if I get into the school.

At the end of my sit in everyone pulled out cameras to take pictures of their work which put a smile on my face. It's good to know that if I get in I'll be able to take pictures of all my work.

The Road to Culinary School

2010 promises to be a very big year for me. One of the reasons I started this blog was not only to have a creative outlet for my baked goods and cooking experiments but also to have a place to detail the process of applying to culinary school--and hopefully to detail my experience there if I get accepted.

In May of 2010 I'll be graduating California State University-San Marcos with a degree in Business (Marketing) and a minor in Women Studies. If all goes as planned I hope to attend culinary school in San Diego in September.

The School:
The San Diego Culinary Institute--if you're in the Southern California area you might know this particular school by the cheesy commercials and I must admit the first time I went for an interview I was a bit nervous.

While waiting for my interview my mother suggested that I look up reviews from past students again to reassure myself. She was right, it did reassure me and I went into the interview feeling a lot better. I met with a very nice woman named Lorie and she went over the general overview of the school with me and my mother. We briefly discussed financial information and then Lorie gave my mother and me a tour.

The "classrooms" were amazing, and watching the students listen to their chef and begin work on their cuisine was nothing short of exciting. The pastry students were working on Opera Cake, which looked delicious. The classrooms are small, each program only accepts 16 students, so if accepted I'd be fairly close to the Chef at all times and when I met him during the tour he told me that there would be a lot of hands on experience.

The Program:
Diplome Professionnel du Boulangerie et de la Patisserie--The program is a total of 1060 hours over a period of 6 months. 5 day a week, 8 hours a day. Best part of all is that I get to take everything I make home, which is kinda crazy. I hope all my friends and family are prepared to gain at least 15 pounds. There is an entire week devoted just to chocolate cakes! Quick breads, yeast breads, breakfast pastries, cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, individual pastries, petite fours, dessert sauces, dessert containers, chocolate and sugar work! It's enough to make a girl's head spin just from the thought of the sugar alone!

I'm going to the school on Tuesday to sit in on a class and really begin the application the process.

It's weird, a few years ago this whole thing just seemed like a dream and now that I'm starting the process it's all a little surreal.