I've got a practical exam tomorrow morning on Knife Skills. And I've been cutting up carrots, chopping onions, and turning potatoes since Monday. I'm hoping that I do fine tomorrow. I'm not going to rush my cutting, or else I'm bound to lose a finger. Tomorrow's strategy is to work a steady pace, but work accurately. I'm not planning on joining a speed cutting challenge anytime soon, so I don't care if I don't end up the fastest.

I'm On A High

Woohoo! I got my test scores back today, and I couldn't be happier with my grades.

Basic Stocks - 44 /45
HACCP - 77 / 80
Stocks and Sauces - 60 / 62
Kitchen Terminologies - 29 / 30
Kitchen Organization - 36 / 36

I got an average of 97%! I didn't even get grades like these in college. All those days spent studying don't feel like a chore all of a sudden.

I had a tough set of exams today. It wasn't hard in the sense that I couldn't answer the questions because I didn't know it - it was tough because it was long and tedious to answer. I felt battered and tired right after taking it. I needed a good pick-me-up, so I decided to watch a movie to lift my spirits. I watched Hellboy 2, and it was one of the most visually entertaining movies I've seen this year. It was the perfect distraction and reward from the stress of the day.

I've been trying to make a habit out of cooking at home whenever the weekend rolls by. Weekends are pretty much the only free time I have from the busy week at school, so I try to make the most out of it by practicing my would-be craft. Anyway, I prepared a couple of things over the weekend. Last Saturday, I made a Pesto sauce and a Pesto Butter. I didn't know that pine nuts were expensive, until someone pointed out that we didn't harvest pine nuts in the Philippines, so there you go. Anyway, I think I made a good pesto, since my mom couldn't get enough of the pesto butter I made. Yesterday, I tried my hand on Minestrone Soup, which was the highlight of my week. Before I started school, I didn't even know the ingredients to making minestrone, yet here I was yesterday, chopping up all these vegetables. This was the first time I felt confident in my cooking skills. I was like, if I can cook minestrone, I can cook anything. Today, I made pasta with the left over pesto from Saturday and I'm going to be cooking a Swedish dish called Pork Emincer for dinner. I'm turning out to be quite the week-end cook, and I'm very very happy.

A week of kitchen work is finally over! Its been both fun and exhausting. As I type this entry, I can barely keep my eyes open from fatigue. The hours working in the hot kitchen, where aching knees and feet are commonplace are over for now. What's to look forward to in the coming week? A 4-day weekend, an exam on cooking methods and a recipe quiz, and 2 days of lecture that will run from 2 - 8 PM. Yay...

Being a chef is physically demanding. Its the third straight cooking day, and I feel physically tapped out. I've felt pain in my legs, knees, and back for the first time. I'm probably going to run on fumes for the rest of the week and suck it all up. In the future, I think I have to condition my body to be able to withstand the physical exertion that working in the kitchen demands

Today was a good day as the kitchen session was not as hectic as the day before. We were cooking ahead of schedule, so Chef Uli gave us a couple of long breaks that allowed us to catch our breath and rest our feet. Today's recipes consisted of Cream of Tomato Soup, Buttered Vegetables, Buttered Parsley Potatoes, and Pork Ragout (Stew). I was assigned to prepare the Potatoes ala minute, which meant that I had to saute the potatoes right before service time. This was kind of stressful, because you had to watch out if guests/diners were coming in so that you could start cooking, but I could definitely say that this was the good kind of stress. It was all good, except for the comments I received from diners that the parsley on the potatoes were a bit burnt. I kind of took offense at that, but what the hell, shit happens in the kitchen right? Besides, I was scanning the plates of those who finished eating, and I didn't see a trace of my potatoes coming back uneaten. I guess that they didn't mind the burnt taste of parsley. Its either that, or they were just really hungry.

Today was my first day back in the kitchen after the week-long break preparing for and taking the exam. I was a bit slow in adjusting to the frenetic pace of the kitchen today. I tried my best to keep up though. Anyway, it was officially the first kitchen day where we prepared the meals for students and the staff to eat. They also say that its one of the most important weeks in class because they get to see who has what it takes to survive and thrive in the kitchen. I don't know how they'll be doing this since I didn't really notice anyone watching. My take is that they'll say this each and every week just so we remain on our toes the whole time.