Busy...

I haven't posted in the past few weeks, yet it feels like it couldn't possibly be that long since my last post. Time has conspired against me to go by so fast! I've finally gotten some hours at work, after very long dry period, so that contributed to it. It's good to get back to work once in a while, especially when things run smoothly. We even got so ahead of ourselves that we were reallocated to inventory duty! Even that wasn't so bad, though. The times we put our work down for a few minutes to make lunch, stick in a Poison cd, it's the simple things in life that make it worthwhile. Things get kind of crazy, we can get behind, but it all turns out well enough in the end.

Last week my class visited Tassel Ridge Winery just outside of Oskaloosa, that was a really fun field trip. I had a lot of questions about growing wine grapes in Iowa. Tassel Ridge was opened just under three years ago, in March of 2006. Every year that they've been in operation, their production has been steadily growing. While some of their wines boast 100% of their juices come from local grapes, they still rely on some product brought in from California for other wines. We got a brief tutorial of the basic varietals of wine grapes, some of which was a repeat from Fine Dining class and my own "personal research" ;-) I learned that for the first three years of growing grape vines, you're not supposed to let it produce fruit, in order to ensure strong branches and healthy vines. Once it produces fruit, all of the nutrients the plant draws in go to the grapes instead of fortifying the rest of it. By limiting production, it significantly increases quality in the final product. I could go on for much longer about the things I learned at the winery, but I have other things to write about.

Last Friday we held the annual ACF Scholarship Awards Dinner, which I helped serve. I came early to help make sure the kitchen was clean and in good order, then I started setting up the dining room. The awards recipients were all paired up with a chef to prepare a course of the dinner. Some of my classmates helped out in the kitchen, but any time I popped my head in it felt like if I jumped in I would be in the way. The kitchen at Bridge View is large, but we had it filled to its bursting point. I was content just to peek in and watch for a few minutes between dining room inspections. Before the dinner itself there was a cocktail hour, with passed hors d' oeuvres and sparkling wine. That part was fun, meeting and greeting our guests, popping champagne corks, it all had such a sense of occasion to it. When everyone trickled into the dining room and sat down, the dinner began, and I finally got an accurate head count to send back to the kitchen. I'll have to find out if anyone took pictures from the dinner, everything was so beautifully plated that nothing I could say to describe it would do it justice. They varied from simplistic to extravagant, each chef and student assistant fully used this rare opportunity to pull out all the stops.

My instructor, Chef Gordon, gave us all a scare that night when he left abruptly after cocktail hour. We were assured that he was all right and merely "needed rest". When he wasn't in class on Monday, I was getting worried about him, especially when the word was that he was seeing a doctor in Des Moines. Thankfully, he returned to class yesterday, much to our collective relief. He just needs to start taking better care of himself and quit smoking. Turns out it's bad for you ;-)

Today in class, I mentioned that I'd seen an "event" posted on facebook about an "End of the World" party scheduled for Dec 21, 2012, the supposed date of Judgement Day. I said I might go, but I wasn't really serious about it, and likened it to what I predict to be the biggest Star Trek party in history scheduled for April 5, 2063 (First Contact Day: that's supposedly when Earth makes contact with Vulcans for the first time. It's a Trekkie holiday. I'll be there in Montana with the rest of the Trekkies!) when my doom-and-gloom classmate staunchly affirmed that none of us will be around to see that, 50 years after the end of the world. I don't go in for all that Mayan calender stuff. They say that hindsight is 20-20, and you can put a spin on any of these "predictions" to make it match up to what you want it to. It's too easily manipulated. Besides, if we're all going to die in three years, what's the point of finishing this degree? What's the point of anyone planning a future when the universe is going to implode in a few short years? If I thought for one minute that that was true, I'd kill myself. As I said in class today, the best form of getting revenge on people is by outliving them! Now, my belief, when it comes to the whole 2012 theory, is that maybe the Earth may simply change hands to the next civilization. All civilizations die out eventually, and every revolution carries the seeds of its own destruction. It's much more plausible, so I don't think we're facing the end of all creation in my lifetime. Besides, if the world ended and I died with it, I wouldn't have a chance at being sent back, and I don't think I got it quite right yet! When and if the torch must be passed, hopefully we can leave something worthwhile behind.
See you in Montana on First Contact Day, I'll bring the treats!

I finally got my blinis to turn out satisfactorily this week, and I made eggplant caviar and roasted red peppers to top it with, I think Chef Gordon came up with a nice plate presentation for it, and it tastes great! I'll go lighter on the garlic with tomorrow's batch, it's easy to get carried away. I love the sharp, clean smell of garlic! As is usual in the lab, we had an impromptu picnic when Ross made a batch of tasty barbecue pork kabobs. I ate too much in the lab to want anything for actual lunch! With my eating habits, I'm surprised I haven't needed to invest in bigger pants since I began this program!