It's been a looooong time

I haven't been updating my blog as much as I originally anticipated, my apologies. Just to update you, I have one more week left of classes...ever. I can't believe it. My experience in culinary school has gone by way too fast, I almost wish I could have just another month of class time. It's scary to think that in two weeks I will be working at my internship, trying to do everything I can to get hired full-time. I've made some great friends in school and I have surprised myself with how good my work really is. I'm really proud of what I have created. The only thing left to do is to make my final decision as to where I will accept my internship...I guess having three choices is better than having none. I should be making that decision by this weekend and will keep you updated. I also wanted to post a picture of my most recent work of art...the chocolate box.

February = Chocolate

It's February! To me, the month and February and chocolate go hand in hand. It could be the buzz created by Valentine's Day but I think this is the month for everything chocolate. I decided to make a few chocolate goodies at home...orange chocolate truffles, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered potato chips and red velvet cupcakes(pictured above). Chocolate is definitely my favorite medium to work with, it is such a versatile ingredient. I plan to work on my truffles...too bad guitar cutters cost so much.
This month in school I am studying custards, creams and bavarians. I am really enjoying what we are working on this term. So far I have made Creme Brulee, Creme Caramel, Charlotte Royale and a Triple Chocolate Bavarian Cake. We also made Panna Cotta and I experimented with flavor infusions and made a green tea panna cotta, it was absolutely fabulous. Its great to learn how to make everything by the book but more fun when we can experiment.

One More Final Completed

I just finished my final for PBK 131, Viennoiserie and Laminated Dough. Those are both fancy words for puff pastry, croissant and danishes.
My danish dough gave me trouble from the very beginning, it just kept growing or was too soft. My future is definitely not in making danishes. I was able to proof my croissants on Tuesday and realized this morning I needed one more Pain au Chocolate so I had to quickly make one up...not an easy task and this left me with five giant ones and one itty bitty baby one. Everything else had already been finished on Tuesday, they just needed to be pulled out of the freezer to bake. This was the first class I didn't feel stressed about time for my final and it was nice. I'm not 100% happy with my final product but overall it was a success. I actually woke up this morning (at 5:30am) feeling very prepared for the day. Even the homeless man who harrassed me at Starbucks this morning couldn't distract me, though he did make me spill coffee all over my pants. I still feel good about the day.
I have posted pictures of my Pain Au Chocolate, Palmiers and Gateau Pithivier. These were my favorite items from today.

Let the Sweet Journey Begin

Let me first start my blog by introducing myself. I'm Andra, a 25-year-old culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, CA. I will be graduating this August with a diploma in Patisserie and Baking.
Sweets are my passion and I'm finally trying to make a career out of my passion. I went to a workshop yesterday at school hosted by Chef Denise Fennell and her advice for aspiring chefs was to start a blog. The only way to get my name out is to do it myself. So here I am, trying to get my name out.
I invite you to follow me on my journey as I go through these last seven months of culinary school and try to make a name for myself as a Pastry Chef.