Thanksgiving 2008

We had a little break from Culinary School this week and last week and won't have class until Monday night. I have been very busy making things for people and Thanksgiving. Jesse McElreath, pastor and friend, hinted that "it was pumpkin season, wasn't it?" at church a couple weeks ago. I have been giving him pumpkin spice cakes with cream cheese and orange glaze for a few years now ever since I gave him some for Pastor Appreciation Month one year and he confessed he ate them all without sharing any with his wife, Darlene. He puts butter in the well in the center of the mini-bundt cake, heats it and then eats the whole thing. I made a batch of...

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Week 11: Soups

Photos: Ray and Robert: Partners in crime and 4 of the 5 soupsI was looking foward to soup class. After all, one of the best parts of fine dining for me has been eating the soups. There is a restaurant in Fredericksburg, Texas, The Nest, where I always look forward to the soup as a first course. Even ingredients I don't normally like, such as mussels, taste wonderful in soup prepared by Chef/Owner John Wilkenson, a graduate of the CIA. Over the years I've had all types of creamy vegetable and other soups there that I have yet to find as good anywhere else in the country. Maybe I was hoping I could learn to make really, really good soup. I was...

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Food and Wine Pairing for the Holidays: Internship Hours

We are required to complete 22-24 hours a semester working at the Culinary School as our "internship". I signed up to work at "Food and Wine Pairing for the Holidays", an adult continuing education course offered at TCU (Texas Christian University) in conjunction with the Culinary School of Fort Worth on November 14, 2008. People enrolled in this class paid $75.00 for the four courses pictured above and five wines. I sure hoped we didn't disappoint them. When we show up at the school we don't know what to expect in terms of assignments for the day. My first assignment was to slice baguettes for crostini with a student I've never met, Becky. Becky...

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Week 10: Egg Cookery

It hasn't been a big week for culinary school practice. On Sunday I made some chili for a chili cook-off at work and grilled flank steak for the family. On Tuesday I started getting ready for a big lunch event I was in charge of on Thursday. I made the dessert, a white chocolate covered nut, pretzel, candy chex mixture. The chili cook-off was on Wednesday. My Santa Fe chili, a beef and pork chili with Hatch green chili, won 3rd place. Thursday was very hectic. I didn't realize that making wraps and sandwiches for 50-60 people would be so much work. Of course, I had to make chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, ham & swiss, beef and cheddar...

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Week 9: Sauces

It's been a busy week for cooking but not just for culinary school. I started out last Sunday by making homemade pasta for the first time (not under supervision). Jennifer, my son Glenn's girlfriend, and my daughter Alexandra helped and were fast learners. We had fettucine with a homemade meat sauce. I intended to practice sauce making this week in anticipation of Week 9 but didn't have an opportunity until Wednesday morning. On Monday morning I made a pumpkin spice cake to take to Marie at Hairworks for being a great stylist and friend. On Tuesday morning I made a huge bowl of Asian Chicken Salad to take to work for a staff event. I also made...

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