single again, and have been for about three weeks. i'm fine, he's fine, we're fine. just not together ( Read more... )

still doing trip research, have figured out a rough budget, but have no idea what to pack. the princesselisa method of bringing two t-shirts and a pair of jeans for 2.5 weeks, or the normal method of completely overpacking? hard to say. something in between, anyway. i also plan on leaving lots of room for vacation purchases ( Read more... )

so yesterday's judging was pretty cool - me at a table with four bonafide judges. which of these things is not like the other? surprisingly, cake for dinner is not all it's cracked up to be when some of the cakes are not all that well done... i ended up polishing off a bottle of wine with one of the girls in administration after everyone else ( Read more... )

yesterday's final exam went well, i think. i have yet to receive a "please don't come to the graduation ceremony" phone call, so i'm going to cross my fingers and hope that means i passed ( Read more... )

so i'm finished classes and my final is on monday. i have half-heartedly tried to study, but for some reason looking at my notes during commercial breaks hasn't been too productive. in my defence, it's kind of hard to get a quiet moment lately ( Read more... )

as a follow-up to this entry about decaffeination methods, i think this is pretty damn cool.

went to eighteen this weekend, although i spelled that wrong. there's some sort of clever insertion of numbers in the name, to go along with the very clever and chi-chi interior. and loud dj and slow service. i got a trio of creme brulee (vanilla, ( Read more... )

S is in town this weekend, and while no concrete plans have been made, there will definitely be some running amok (amok amok) to be had. i don't think that's a grammatically correct sentence, but whatever.

croquembouche went okay. you're supposed to gradually angle each successive layer of creampuffs so that you end up with an eventual pyramid, ( Read more... )

so after taking a solid 5 days off to recuperate, i had class today. a lovely 6-hour demo on croquembouche, french wedding cake. i guess it's not really a cake - an almond-caramel base topped with an impossibly high pyramid of caramel-covered creampuffs. and chef's was finished with royal icing filligree, pulled sugar flowers, and other ( Read more... )

second module starts tomorrow, so exciting! 3 whole hours' lecture on chocolate and how to temper it. crystal structures, relative percentages of cocoa butter, melting points - it's a foodie chemist's dream ( Read more... )

just got back from a graduamation ceremony at the chateau laurier, and have a "bronze" pin to show for my efforts. plus three glasses of champagne, five desserts, and a multitude of hors d'oeuvres from little plates. i actually chased down one of the waitresses for a petits four of some sort. i don't even remember what it was, but it sure was ( Read more... )