Cookie Lynn

Whew. Four weeks into the new semester of school, and I’m finally getting into the habit of bringing a camera regularly… My goal was to post weekly updates from my classes, so I’ll have to start with a bit of catch-up.

I’ve got two lab classes this semester; Baking I and Cake Decorating. I think I’ve always known that cake decorating, despite being my job, is not my calling. I lack the patience, steady hand, and artistic skill it requires… and honestly, I’m not terribly interested in it. However, I’m pretty excited that we’ll be moving into things I’ve not yet tried soon. Perhaps I’ll find something I like.

Butter cake recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum, homework for Cake Decorating.

The first take-home cake project fell on the first anniversary of our wedding. The second falls on my mom’s birthday. Handy little class I’ve stumbled into.

Double-Chocolate and Coconut Brownies.

Raisin-Chip Oatmeal Cookies.

Both of the above, plated.

Fort Brownie. (Hey, we get bored.)

“That Chocolate Cake” and Swiss Butter Cream.

So, this pie… essentially, it’s an orange curd folded into meringue. The resulting color was a pale yellow, not terribly different than a key lime pie. It didn’t look too bad, in my opinion, but the instructing chef wanted it dyed orange. These pictures don’t really convey the sheer atrociousness. I think a classmate was pretty spot-on in describing it as Cheez-Whiz… which effectively killed any desire I had to try it. (It contained gelatin, so I had no real intention of eating it to begin with.)

A few things made by other classmates that I may or may not get to try my hand at in the future; soft rolls, hard rolls with freshly made butter, challah, buttermilk biscuits, rosemary focaccia, blueberry muffins, dill poppyseed bread, pecan pie, and raisin scones. All of the breads have been amazing, and I’m really looking forward to starting that section myself.

As I am currently halfway through my first semester as a Baking and Pastry Arts student, I thought I’d take a break from my midterm study session to let you know a bit more about it.

I chose to go for the Baking and Pastry Arts certificate rather than an Associates in Culinary Arts for a few reasons…

1) I don’t cook much. I can spend hours working on a baking project, but when it comes to dinner, I’d rather have it done and over with. I can muster up the ambition and patience on occasion, but it’s really not something I like to do on a daily basis.

2) I don’t eat meat, and I’d rather not have to deal with it. I’m not terribly grossed out by it, but it’s been years since I’ve eaten or prepared it, and since my (vegetarian) husband and I moved in together, I haven’t really been around it at all. I don’t intend of becoming a chef or working in a restaurant, so the chances of needing to know how to braise, broil, or baste meat in the future is fairly slim.

3) Truth be told, I just didn’t want to deal with the prerequisites. An Associate Degree requires at least 20 credits of general education.

Skipping the general education portion of an Associate Degree has enabled me to jump right into the core classes… and this semester those are; Introduction to Hospitality Management, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Principals of Nutrition.

Having taken two food-related classes at my high school, attended the local career center for Food Service and Culinary Arts in my senior year, and now working over two years in the deli/bakery department of a supermarket, a good deal of my current coursework is review. Most of it is pretty interesting, though.

So, now that you know where I am… I should probably go back to working on presentations and studying for exams. I’ve certainly procrastinated enough already.