In case you wanted to know more about culinary school

I've been back at school for about a month now. So I suppose it's high time I stop saying"back at school" and just realize that this is my life for a while now.

Culinary school is weird though. Weird in that it's really nothing like any other school I have ever heard of and I'll try to show you why...

For starters, our dining hall is actually a number of kitchens that we as students cook in as our classes.

Now that I am in the Bachelor's program I don't get to cook unless I'm working but this is still where I eat...

It's pretty crazy how spoiled we are.

This was a great dinner of grilled swordfish and veggies over sweet/savory cous cous.  There was also a smear of spicy harissa on the side and a side plate of Mediterannean Meze: falafel, hummus, whole wheat pita, tzatziki, baba ganoush & tabouli.

Sometimes in the big hall that we eat in, they display award winning cakes....

By the way, that colorful looking glass thing isn't glass at all, it's entirely edible. 

It's also rather unusual that we are able to save up our "dining hall" swipes and use them at the restaurants on campus. 

This was a stellar lunch of wood fired pizza with mushrooms, caramelized onions, arugula & truffle oil and a side salad of prociutto and mozzarella. 

Life is just so fancy here. Ha I'm not complaining though!

Kind of amazing that one of my classes is all about brewed beverages, beer being the main topic.

Last week we tasted seaweed ale. Interesting but truly unpleasant tasting.

Our school is pretty much one main building, a building that was once a Monastery.  It's beautiful and reminiscent of Hogwarts at times.

Though from this angle it looks more like a penitentiary.

Here's another meal on campus. Once a block (3 weeks) one of the classes puts on Grand Buffet where they make a variety of small plates based on different regions.

Then all the students fight their way through to get as many tastes as possible. It's incredibly stressfull so this was the first time I partook this year.

Here's a peak from when my class did Grand Buffet...

I got some asian noodles, a mini empanada, some type of duck terrine that I didn't like (it was too smokey), a cheese plate, a little falafel bite with amazing tahini, a french lentil salad, and some caponata. I don't remember what else there was but there was quite a bit of food floating around...

All that being said, I think the weirdest part is having a campus full of students walking around in chef whites(the uniform)...and those hats! The french toque, strangely expensive to replace and even more strange is how normal those hats are to me now....

Amy's Bread Cake

I definitely prefer savory food to sweet food, there’s just no denying that salt is one of the most wonderful things around  BUT this cake is riiiiidiculous.

Nothing fancy shmancy, just some damn good cake from amy’s bread.

It’s a yellow cake, pretty dense, not that sweet & a super sweet, buttery pink frosting.

Sometimes simple is better. no sometimes it’s just straight up best.

Eataly

anyone been to eataly? it’s ridiculous!

I have no idea how anyone was able to land this much space in New York City, even Mario Batali and the Bastianich clan but jeez the place is huge…apparently it used to be an event space

anyway its filled with high end Italian groceries, and sevearl miniature restaurants featuring amazing dried/cured meats, cheeses, fish, meat, pasta, pizza. 

a couple of weeks ago we stopped by and had a lovely bottle of white wine and the Grande Piatto Misto Salumi e Forgmaggi, oh and lots of bread and olive oil

mmmm

classy broad

Twas such a lovely weekend over here in “midstate” New York

On saturday I worked front of house for a catering event with some friends and it ended up being at a gorgeous farm about 45 minutes away.

Such an adorable event, I want to live on this farm



The rolling hills in the background are still part of the property, the never ending farm

There was a hard cider table, packaged in jars! Glass jars are one of my most favorite ways to store things and drink beverages out of.

Anyway, this cider was really great, perfect for a picnic & it’s made at a farm really close to my school.



The boy who was working the stand makes the cider with his dad. He was kind enough to give us a taste, great work break. Fun fact, he had this tattoo on his arm:



Thats not his arm but that’s what it looked like. anyone recognize that snake?

It took me a second to remember but it’s drawn by Benjamin Franklin & was the first political cartoon. Each segment represented one of the colonies & was labeled as such. Below the snake it said “Join or Die” when it was published in 1754

Thats one classy tattoo if you ask me.

They were also serving Hurrican Kitty IPA at the event, sadly I didn’t get a taste. Word on the street is that this beverage is also made right by school by Keegan Ales, I gotta try it!



The beautiful flowers at the event & yet another way to use those lovely mason jars



Onward to Sunday…

We went to New Paltz, a small town across the river & got lunch.

Fish tacos from Mexicali Blue & juice from Karma Road

teriyaki and Sesame marinated tuna with shredded cabbage, guacamole, wasabi aioli & lime in a grilled blue corn tortilla. mmmmm



and to drink, kale-cucumber-spinach-apple-ginger juice. I really love this stuff.



Chill out, I know it’s not your normal, run of the mill beverage-color but its freakin delicious! just don’t knock it till you try it. or whatever knock it all you want but you’re missing out.

and a nightcap just because I’m classy like that. Bourbon on the rocks with some snacks in the evening. told ya, I’m one classy broad! Its genetics, my mom is THE classiest broad so I was bound to inherit some of that finesse.



that’s an orange, trader joe’s dried montgomery cherries (the best dried fruit on earth), raw almonds (because I truly think they taste better than roasted) & a piece of  Vosges Black Salt Caramel Bar.

Just an FYI…this chocolate bar is ridiculous, my wonderful friend Conner and I discovered this beauty while doing our culinary internship in Aspen. It’s pricey but soooo good. again, classy. so classy.



cheers!

I still love Brooklyn

I’m really into Brooklyn, it’s just so dang cute. I went into the city last weekend to visit my wonderful mum! We went to Brooklyn for the day cuz I haaaad to show her the Brooklyn Flea. 

Here are some bits and pieces from the weekend:

cute sign outside of Traif, funny name

adorable jam, packaged so beautifully by Maiden Preserves The lady at the stand told us she mixes the orange & bourbon jam with bitters, bourbon & sparkling water for a tasty drink…sounds so good!

Brooklyn Brewery

This lox toast was delish & at such a cute stand, they used fresh smoked salmon, topped it with a aioli, black pepper, and scallions. mmmm great snack

raw chocolate bars?

home brewing kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop. yes, I want one!

crispy porchetta, the smell was ridiculous. everyone, go roast pork!

Sandwich from Saltie, I’ve been dying to try a sammy from this place, so it was a convenient/exciting surprise to see that they had a stand setup

I got the Romaine Dinghy, it obviously had romaine….but also radishes, homemade mayo & anchovies on focaccia

uhhh is there a lot of surfing going on around Brooklyn? either way, I truly love the name of this shop!

Blood Orange glazed donut from Dough

The cutest frozen chocolate banana cart! Anyone want to start a stand/food cart with me in Brooklyn? I’ve been brainstorming

and last but not least, redefining BYOB: Bring your old Books!

Borough Hopping

First we went to the Brooklyn Flea (sidenote: i really love their sight design, the font & those cute flea markety drawings are great)

Porchetta had a little stand, but they ran out, made for a great picture though!



We found this stand and got grilled mahi mahi tacos. mmm

check out that great hot sauce line up too! valentina and tapatio…not too shabby



I thought this stand looked pretty darn cute too



I spotted this on our walk over, so sweet



Aubrey spotted Oasis so we had to stop in for a snack. such crispy falafel, but what we really came for were all the salads and the israeli pickles for me.



and we saw a fella painting this back in the village



Later we cooked a simple dinner for my cousin in Queens. no pictures though….