One down...

I can't believe that I've finished my first class already. The second half of the practical went swimmingly and I aced all of the skills that I needed to do today (finishing up the poached pear, whipping cream by hand, making creme anglais, and knife cuts).

Tomorrow it's on to bigger and better things (aka Pies and Tarts). I can't say that I'll miss julienne-ing all those dern carrots. Here are some things that I learned in my first class, in no particular order of importance:

• Don't underestimate how good cooking delicious food for people can make you feel. Two high points of my day were when my teacher made a yummy noise when tasting my poached pear, or how excited the nurse was when we brought her ice cream we'd made in class.
• Three things I'd never like to have in my mouth again: Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Cornstarch. If anyone knows how to tell these powders apart in a blind taste test by looks alone, I will give you $5 to share your secrets.
• If you want to come up with great shortcuts, master the original (slow) method first.
• Not everyone who goes to culinary school is an epicure. Most people I've talked to laugh at the idea of buying local or organic, never dine out at restaurants (and there are a TON of them here), and definitely don't read trendy celebrity-chef-turned-author memoirs. Also, the majority of people don't want to work in fine dining or in a small, independently owned venue. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I expected.
• Tide pens and OxyClean are the greatest inventions on the planet.
• Sometimes (in life and in the kitchen), sh*t's going to spew out the floor drains. Enough said.

You'll all be happy to know, also, that my teacher thought my papaya paper was totally boss. Whew... looks like that BA in English wasn't a waste after all. Rest easy, Davidson professors.

GET READY FOR PIES! I wonder if I should mention that my dad and I won a father-daughter cherry pie eating contest to my class tomorrow... probably not, considering it was 17 years ago. I think my pie eating skills have atrophied since then. I guess we'll find out.