Winter break time!

Well, we ended up having class yesterday and with it being the last class before break, things were quite busy.  Luckily, we only had one more item added to our "to-do" list and the rest of the time was just for us to (try to) catch up.  So we had a tiny lecture, a demo on pumpkin pie filling, how to roll out pie crust, and how to make a chocolate pie.  We got to taste the baklava that we had made on Thursday and then started on our own goodies.  I had come in early to try to get a head start on my pies, so I had scaled out all of the ingredients for both my apple pie and my berry pie - which I was making with rhubarb, which yes is not a berry but is able to be part of the berry pie pies.  So the pre-scaling was definitely helpful and I felt much more prepared for the day.  Since our group had to go plate desserts for the restaurant tonight, we also felt a little more pressure since we would be leaving early, but luckily Chef said we had until 10pm tonight (instead of the usual 8:15) to get things checked off, so that helped a lot! 

So I first started with my quiche because I had most everything ready to go from the day before and just had to roll out my dough and shape it into a tart pan and pre-bake it partially.  While my dough was baking, I started cutting up my apples for my apple pie as well.  Once my shell was out of the oven, I filled it with cheese and half of the quiche custard Michelle and I had pre-made, and got it started baking.  I finished up cutting all my apples and mixed up my cornstarch with some water so it would be ready to go.  I cooked up the apples, adding the sugar and spices (it smelled so yummy!), adding the cornstarch to thicken, and adding brandy and vanilla at the end.  Once it was all mixed up, I spread it in a sheet pan and put it in the fridge to chill.  My quiche had come out by then and it looked super yummy to me, though I need to put something else with the cheese next time, because all the cheese came to the surface and locked the quiche shell to the tart pan - a problem to take the quiche out to be sorted out later as I still had another pie to make! 

On to the berry pie.  My rhubarb had been thawing and draining by this point since before class started, so I then just needed to add a little extra juice to it because the rhubarb didn't give out that much juice.  I cooked up the juice with some sugar and then added a cornstarch-water mix to thicken it.  Once that got thick, I mixed it with the rhubarb fruit (this method keeps the shape of the rhubarb better than cooking the rhubarb with the juice) and then spread that mix on a sheet pan and placed it in the fridge to chill as well.  I then took out two pieces of dough and rolled them out to fill the bottom of two pie pans.  I set those back in the fridge to chill as well, and then rolled out one more to make the top of the apple pie.  I then filled one chilled pie shell with the apple pie filling, placed the top crust on, cut air vents, and pressed the edges together, and started it baking.  By now it was almost time to go to service, so things were getting rushed and we still had to clean, but I still to fill my berry pie and put a lattice top on it (like a basket weave) and get it started baking as well.

Well, we got all cleaned up and into service and luckily only had 15 people in the dinning room tonight.  That made things easy, since while Hannah was back to class, we were still missing Natalie and so things could be a little rush, but in the end, no caramel nut tarts were ordered, so we each had one dessert to concentrate on and it all was done smoothly.  Once we got the desserts set out, I set to work trying to pry my quiche from the pan.  With a little help from a solid toothpick, I managed to get it out, yay!  I then wrote my #'s 1 through 5 for my last chocolate filigree and went back to Chef Hall to get those checked off!  

Once we cleaned up the service kitchen and gave away all the extra desserts that wouldn't last through the break, I went back and helped clean up our regular kitchen since there was extra stuff to be done for the break, but I also had Chef look at my pies.  He checked off both of them, so that was great, and now I don't feel so behind!  When we come back, I will have to still make my chocolate pie, my crepes, and my whipped cream rosettes, but that doesn't sound as bad to me!  I think I am going to try to come in that weekend before class and start my chocolate pie and make my crepes, so I can just get them checked off when we come back in January.  But then it will still depend on the weather if the school is open that weekend either!

So pretty much I am on break for two weeks, so now I can ENJOY my snow!!!  :)  It has been snowing again since last night, and I have yet again become a pro at scraping off my car windows with a school id card (or a credit card), some thing I haven't done since cold college mornings.  But hopefully I will get to enjoy the snow over break and when I get back to school it will be back to the rain and no more ice on the sidewalks so I can walk to school again.  For now, I will just enjoy the snow and have fun with friends and family coming to visit over the holidays!