Melmo26

Day 1 Practical Test Results:

Bechamel- 95%

Chicken Stock- 100%

Chicken breakdown (2 airline breasts, 2 boneless leg quarters)- 100%

Plate: sauteed airline breast with veggies, pan sauce, & rice pilaf- 100%

I am SO excited and ready for my 2nd day of practical tests I hope you had a great day hun! I just wanted to let you know what I got :huglove:

Today we visited the slaughter house. It really wasn't that bad! I was nervous when we first got there, because I thought I would cry. But I got really into it and learned a lot. My instructor came over and explained step by step what they were doing, and he was only explaining to me! I think he could tell I was a little nervous lol. Adam says that he thinks my instructor really admires me as a student & can see my passion for cooking Chef Bob always talks to me, wants to know if I tried this or that, what seasonings & spices I like to use..he's really chill. It was FREEZING cold today! Aiden usually has breathing problems in the winter. I think he has asthma. He was coughing & had a fever too, so he was in rough shape, but he's back to his old energy & happiness Haha thank you! If we do get married, I will send a plane ticket for you to come out here, and your family is more than welcome as well I hope you have a great day tomorrow

Well today I took my written exam & I was the first one finished There were 3 or 4 questions that stumped me, but other than that I felt pretty confident about the rest. Tomorrow is the hardest day of this entire week! It's the day I have to break down a chicken & make stock. Thursday won't be that hard, but it's still a test lol.

My mom said she'll buy the ingredients if I would make that and my cream of broccoli soup, and she'll take them into her work I told her I'd do it, and that if anyone wanted any more, then I'd sell them a quart of it (about a liter) and I'd charge $3.00 per quart We just had a giant snow storm last week! They cancelled classes on Tuesday, and it was too icy Wednesday so I didn't go in. Aiden's been sick, but he's feeling better now I still have a feeling like I'm going to marry David...it's weird, but I love him more and more each time we hang out I hope now you can relax, take it easy a little bit with school Take care hun!

I am sure you did a great job on your exam! If not an A, then I know you passed it I've been very busy & frazzled. I have my written exam & my 2-day practical exam coming up, so I've been practicing. I'm not sure that I'll do well with my chicken break down...I sort of forget how to do it! I only did it once in school, but I think he said something about demonstrating it again real quick before our practical so we're refreshed. Today I made chicken fricassee and it was soo good! I should have made more because I went up to get another bowl and it was gone! LoL

We usually get some snow in January & February, but this is more snow than we usually get, except for last year. I'm sorry that you have some idiots in your class that laugh at you. Teenage years are so awkward & difficult, and some people just don't know how to deal with themselves, so they take it out on other people. It's smart of you to ignore them Feeding into them would only make things worse. If it makes you feel any better, I've seen in my own experience, that the people that picked on me in school are now struggling as adults, while I'm getting an education and doing well. Stay on track sweetie, and you'll be a very well-rounded adult who's successful, fun, & has it together The bullies & mean girls almost always have it bad by the time they get to my age You're doing great, and you ARE great! Don't forget that when you take your exams Love ya hun! Take care

As for my tuna steak, I made it the way it's meant to be eaten...it was between rare & medium rare. Chef Bob said that I made it the classic way which was good, as long as I knew that if I served it here in America I'd have to cook it well done because people would freak out otherwise It's so true though! The past 15 years or more, there have been a lot of foodborne illness outbreaks, so people are scared to eat things that are rare or medium rare. We are such a wimpy, spoiled country sometimes! LoL I'm glad we have each other for support You won't find alligator, bison, or rabbit on a lot of menus over here. Maybe duck or frog legs in the really expensive restaurants lol. The chocolate just provided some fat & coloring. It was unsweetened chocolate so you couldn't really taste it with everything else that was in there, but it was good

Wow haha it's so much fun to read all the different paragraphs! I forgot just how much I updated you lol, so I'll just start with the most recent & work my way back to the first message Thank you for being happy for us For as frustrated & upset as I was with him, underneath it all I still knew we were supposed to be together, I just didn't know when. And at that, I told him about me going to the gym & stuff and he said he's going to find a full time job & get a gym membership himself, so I think he's coming out of his "shell"...which is only a good thing! His mom is home & she's doing fine, but she's very tired.

Hey lil bunny! I'm very busy but good How have you been? Today is my son's birthday party haha How's the weather over there? I'm sorry we don't talk very often....I'll try to work on that Every time I cook with carrots at school I think of you! I hope you have a great weekend!

And then I said "So I guess it's safe to say you missed me, right?" LoL and I don't know if you saw Lord of the Rings: Return of the King...but right after Aragorn is crowned king, he sees Arwen for the first time in a while & gives her this really passionate kiss! Well David let go of my hands, grabbed my face & gave me a kiss like that! I was so surprised! So we're going to have a relationship, it'll just take a little bit for him to get used to it all over again lol. I hope you're having a great day!

Just wanted to update you real quick This morning something huge happened! David texted me & asked if I could come over to talk...at first I was really nervous! I got over there, and he told me that his mom was in the hospital! She's okay though, they just wanted to keep an eye on her for a few days & thin her blood a little. But she's home now & safe Anyway, while we were talking I started to get emotional, and he grabbed my hands & held them. Then he said, "While I have you here, I think I should clarify something from our last conversation. I just wanted you to know that I still really like you & really care about you! I'm just scared to start a new relationship. It's been a while since I had a girlfriend, and I'm not used to having a girl around all the time. But I guess I"ll just get used to it :wink2:" I could have melted. The whole time he was holding my hands!!!

I'm starting to get a feel for things I really need to work on my time management, but other than that I think I'm doing alright We got the papers for our 2 day practical exam so we can practice what we need to make. Day 1 we have to make a chicken stock, break down a chicken into 2 airline breasts, 2 thighs, & 2 legs (which was my most frustrating thing!) make 3 sauces: bechamel, veloute, & hollandaise...which are so easy! My veloute is the best sauce I can do Day 2 we're grilling salmon, and doing 2 other things...I don't remember what they are. So it's not too bad of a practical I hope you can remain calm for your next exams hun Just remember that your "big sis" over here in the USA is cheering you on abroad & has complete faith in you & your studies

Today we did ahi tuna steaks, swordfish steaks, & pan fried trout. I've never had the tuna or trout, but I love swordfish! The tuna I made a blackened rub for it & it turned out perfect! It was so delicious, I think I might be a great seafood chef! Hahaha with that I made risotto cakes...they were really crispy & flavorful! The trout was really good too! Tomorrow we have a lot to do! We're making grilled salmon with pineapple salsa (blech..i hate pineapple!), red snapper baked in a salt dome, oysters, clams, & either lobster or crab...he said it was some crustacean lol.

I hate reading lol. Adam might know it...he loves to read! LoL Adam and I were playing the new Mario brothers game for Wii Haha it's so much fun, and we always end up laughing! Maybe if I become famous enough & have the money, I'll come over to France & open my own coffee shop & bakery and you can come in & try all of my different batches I'll make cinnamon rolls too! Yesterday we learned how to cook "game" which is foods like alligator, bison, frog legs, & rabbit. We didn't get to the bison, but I tried everything else. I hate alligator...it's too fishy for me, the frog legs reminded me of the texture of chicken & the flavor of my fav fish- Mahi Mahi The rabbit was the best though! We braised it & made a chocolate sauce to go with it!

It's okay about the late reply...I've been a bit busy myself! We had 8 inches of snow last night! It looked really pretty outside though...some how the sky was lit up just a little. But I'm still not a fan of winter! Aww hunny, I hate hearing how stressed out you get for exams! But at the same time, that's how I was when we were learning sauces! I kept crying because I screwed up just about every sauce! There were days where I wanted to walk out, but I didn't. I even started smoking cigarettes then But I just quit, so it'll be better Maybe when you start to get that build-up feeling of stress, try to close your eyes for a minute & say a quick little prayer & you can make it sort of silly if you want, to put yourself in a good mood Anything is worth a try I've never heard of that novel, but I'm not really the one to ask.

Adam & had had a blast the other night! We stayed up until 3am playing my Mario game on Wii! I made New York Strip steak & grilled mushrooms for him. I gave him the big steak & took the smaller one for myself since I'm trying to lose weight & he's trying to gain some weight. He loved that I wrote a diet journal for him I hope you enjoy the rest of your day off today & have a great day at school tomorrow Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my friend Shannon for some coffee & cinnamon buns at a bookstore called Borders. They have their own mini cafe inside & it's a nice place to chat TTYL! PS Look in your email box...I'm sending you that cookie recipe! (finally!!)

Good luck with your next 3 NAB's I'm very confident that you'll pass these as well I think it's probably best that you don't get yourself in trouble :/ But just think- when you've graduated from University, then you can make decisions for yourself, or at least you should by then I found out that I will be with my dear friend Karen again for the catering class next term! So that makes me really excited for that class

My new term starts the last week of February I'm really nervous about catering, but I'm going to approach that class with confidence Today was the last day of my no-carbs diet Tonight Adam's coming over for grilled steak & mushrooms I'm going to surprise him with a diet journal I've been keeping these past 15 days! I wrote down what I ate everyday, how I felt, what my weight was, & what carb I was missing that day A couple of the days it was something sweet that I missed, but most of the time I missed breads lol Well hun, I hope you have a great day tomorrow

Hey sweetie! I'm so glad to hear that you passed all your NAB's...but I had a feeling you would I think you're old enough to make your own choices, but that's just my opinion. I think maybe they just want what's best for you I still haven't gotten my written test back, but I know I did well You should definitely try out my salad that I made! I didn't have my phone with me to take pics, but it was so yummy!

Chef Bob (my instructor) loved that salad the best! It was just something I thought of at the last minute, & it worked well I plated & sprinkled the spinach chiffonade over the rice I didn't have my camera with me, or I would've taken a picture I'm so excited for next term! I got my schedule yesterday! I have Garde Manger, International & European cooking, Breakfast cookery & Wine Pairing, American Regional Cuisine, & Catering!!! So many of the hard classes all at once I like the challenge though

For my practical, I was given half a chicken, spinach leaves, & basmatti rice. My instructor said "Make a meal" & we could used whatever cooking method we thought was best, plus we could use any other ingredient around the kitchen, but there had to be some of each of my 3 ingredients. So I simmered the rice in garlic flavored water, I stuffed a mix of dill, chopped chives, & garlic powder under the chicken skin, then I made a mirepoix & put the chicken on top & roasted that in the oven. I made a sauce from the pan drippings, half of a lemon juiced, & some of the mirepoix after the chicken was done, & reduced it. With the spinach, I took some leaves & cut them chiffonade, with the rest I put them in a bowl, I sliced & grilled some apples seasoned with cinnamon, & I took goat cheese & rolled it into little balls. Once the apples were cooled, I added them to the spinach & goat cheese & squeezed the other half of the lemon over top & mixed it together.

Congrats on passing your 2nd NAB I remember when you passed the first one for chemistry! Good luck with your other ones, although I'm very positive that you will pass both of them as well You're an excellent student, so I'm not worried, if that makes you feel any better I've missed chatting with you too! The router was un-hooked this whole time! My dad could've knocked it off in his sleep, since it's right beside his part of the bed! That recipe sounds great! I would like to try it Good luck picking your classes! I hope you figure out what you want to do in life & you're taught by very well-credited teachers My car is home now and works just fine! I had my practical exam on Thursday and I got a 90% I don't know my grade for the written exam, but I have I feeling I aced the test It was so easy!

Hey hun! I got my internet back How have things been with you?

Hey hun! I'm okay. My car is gonna cost over $500!! Plus our internet went out so i have to use the computer at school. Sorry to cut this so short, but I have to check my bank account & let my friend use the computer! I hope to have our internet fixed by this weekend We'll see! I hope things are going great with you!

This morning I made hard boiled eggs, cut them in half, seasoned them with salt & black pepper, & wrapped them in bacon since I can't have any toast lol. I think I like the French diet...baguettes & rolls every day If I stumble across any more delicious recipes, I'll be sure to email them to you Do you like veal, or have you ever had it? I have a delicious recipe for veal cordon bleu with a hollandaise sauce! I made it for Adam once & it was so yummy! Instead of swiss cheese I used that smoked gruyere I told you about & it was so good with every bite! Today I'm making a spin-off of cream of broccoli soup & I'm mixing in some cauliflower! It should be really tastey Well I hope you have a great day in school