Four days to go

Well hello to all,

It's been a little while since my last post and might I say A LOT has occured! I'm sitting here on this Sunday, September 26, 2009, recounting the events of the past two weeks and can't believe how fast time has flown by.

I wont divulge into every detail but over the past two weeks there have been many fun outings.. I went to a Glendi in Santa Rosa, full of festive greek food, complete with dancing! I also GOT A JOB! Hurray for me. A friend from CIA hooked me up with a catering company: Graham's catering service . He does a lot of work for many local specialty grocery stores and personal chefing, as well as catering. I normally work 2 days a week, but that is just perfect for me. We recently got to cater a wedding as well!

Tons of school stuff as well: projects, homework, delicious tastings, etc.. One of our projects though is pretty cool and it gave me the opportunity to do a little traveling. We were instructed to interview a farmer at a farmers market and find out various information about their business and their relationship with the restaurant industry. Anyways, after my interview I really got to enjoy the whole aspect of the market; coming from Arizona left me in the dark about the whole farmers market boom and boy was I missing out! The particular market I went to was in Napa and I am in love! It's filled with local growers, homemade bakery items, jewelery, fresh honey and olive oil, and much more... It could become addictive. So while at the market I stopped at a particular booth with some AMAZINGLY gorgeous flowers and got to talking to the woman running it. She gave us some information on where they harvest from and we ended up taking a detour out to their farm.. the Aztec Dahlia Farm in Petaluma, CA, just about 15 minutes from Napa! Boy oh boy was it worth it; these flowers are just jaw-dropping. They are so large and so have such vibrant color I couldn't even believe it.. Here's a few teaser pictures:



Speaking of addictions... Two of my friends here and I have really taken to foraging and harvesting our own fruits and vegetables. I mean how could you not when you live in the Napa Valley?! Fresh fruit and veggies ALL around! Plus, about two weeks ago I joined the garden club at school, so that just re-affirmed my love for foraging. So basically, all we ever do is forage. And I really mean, all we do is forage. Fresh figs, tomatoes, lettuce, basil, squash, zucchini, tomatillos, apples, walnuts; you name it, we'll harvest it. There have been talks of group shirts.



Everyday I still can't believe i'm here.. There are so many opportunities
to explore and so much to do, there just isn't enough time! I need to transform into some sort of sponge so I can just absorb as much culture as possible....

Upcoming events:
-Laura Higgins 23rd Birthday: Pizzeria Travigne!
-Octoberfest
-Rock Music Festival
-The start of Block 3 : Meat and Seafood Fabrication. Woo hoo!
**FORAGING.


Gotta go get some homework done though..The joys of school :)

xoxo

Block One: Complete!

Well well well, Sunday, September 13, 2009 has arrived rather too quickly for my liking, but what can you do? It's a cool 63 degrees here today, and a perfect cloudy day that simply reaffirms my choice to lay in bed all day and watch movies. I feel so productive and efficient..

Time for a recap of events! This past Friday, the 11th, was the end of my FIRST block of Culinary classes! Hurrah! A happy and sad day it was; I'm happy to be done with Culinary math, not because it was difficult, but just because it's Culinary Math. Truly am bummed that Gastronomy is over though- It really is such an interesting class and I luckily still have my textbooks to read, thank god. What a nerd right? Anyways, I had such an amazing opportunity this past week to participate in the Flavor Quality and American Menu's conference held at CIA. The conference revolves around farmers and chefs working together to create relationships to ensure a joint future together. They go to classes, and tastings, and even do their own little iron chef thing. ANYWAYS, I got to work with some amazing chefs and meet even more. Chefs from all over California attended this year and were assigned to teams. Each team worked with certain sponsor products like peanuts, Barilla Pasta, Watermelon, Olive oil, pistachios, cranberries, etc. etc. The team I was assigned to worked with Chef Alexander Ong, of Betelnut --> all I can say is he is a friggen genius.

I even got to meet a recent James Beard Award winner; Craig Stoll of Delfina, and Chef Duskie of Zazu, a farm-to-table restaurant in San Francisco!

Here are some of the pictures of the displays from the featured products:

Pretty cool!

Next up: Product Knowledge with the ACCLAIMED Chef Tom Wong and a Servsafe class so I don't kill anyone.

More to come soon!
xoxo

Happy Almost Labor Day :)

Hello all, and happy Sunday to you! Today is September 6, 2009 and I am the definition of lazy bones today. Had to take FULL advantage of my three day weekend. My feet deserved it after two weeks of closed toed shoes and the CIA! Movies, food, and a little bit of homework time thrown in and i'm set. (The homework makes the whole day justifiable). Luckily I had the opportunity to walk into town last night with some girls, and got to see the whole sha-bang. Most of the stores were closed, but I could definitely do some serious damage at the Chocolate Store.

In town there are 3 grocery stores; Sunshine Foods Market, A natural food store, and safeway. Sunshine Foods is AWESOME! It's like a mini whole foods, but combined with a Trader Joe's type feel. Definitely lovin' it, but my debit card does not :( I gotta learn to stick with Safeway...

Since my last post, I had an awesome opportunity to go to a lecture given by Charlie Bamforth, Ph.D. Charlie Bamforth is a professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at the University of California, Davis. All I can say is this guy has got some serious style; he knows how to work a crowd! Aside from his amazing oratory skills, he knows his beer. He gave a bried desrciption on the origins and composition of most beers.
Fun Fact: The biggest use of rice in the country is used to make Bud and Bud Light. The rice takes away the harsh flavor in the beer, and gives it a lighter color. Good to know, eh? Anyways, he walked us through the brewing and fermenting process which I really enjoyed. People drink beer as if they were drinking water; justify your drinking with a little bit of knowledge and history next time!
Fun Fact: The hopps that are in beer are derived only from FEMALE plants. Hopps help to stabilize foam, provide aroma and bitterness, and are full of anti-microbials. Also, Romans used hopps as an addition in green salads. --> I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS.
Fun Fact: The closest relative to hopps is marijuana.


Alright enough of that. After a brief history, we QUICKLY moved on to tasting. We tried four beers:

1. Gordon Biersch Hefeweissen
2. Lagunitas IPA (India Pale Ale)
3. Lindemans Cuvee Rene
4. Lindemans Kriek

Overall, such an interesting day! Learned so much about beer that I didn't know before. Gotta love being able to go to school and keep the learning diversified, right?


Can't chat much long today, I've got some serious R&R to get to, but I just would like to mention that I have officially moved in to my brand new pad :) Everything I could've wanted in a college dorm and more! The whole building is "green" complete with water saving toilets and sinks! No queen bed unfortunately, but the twinsie will just have to do the trick. Unfortunately, the kitchen isn't open yet, but the 2 viking refrigerators and 2 viking range-tops have been installed.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Flavor Quality and American Menu's conference: September 8,9, and 12
Final week of Block 1! Only four days left of Gastronomy and Math....whatever will I do.

Hope everyone's labor day festivities are a blast; I'll check back in soon and try and post some pictures.


xoxo