It Was Food All Along

I've always been the person who wanted to know and do everything. I set myself up as a Jack of All Trades and I was a complete hoarder, with both tangible items and information. I do have a horrible memory. One of my greatest fears is that I will learn something and subsequently forget it. To retain information I have to practice over and over again until it becomes second nature.

In my early years, I've done everything from cheerleading and dance to Michigan Youth in Government and academic games. I juggled both DECA and volleyball competitions. I never nailed down my true calling because I was always interested in EVERYTHING and I always changed my mind and I always needed everything to be particular. But… usually in stories, no matter how chaotic, there's always a central theme. Maybe even a few. I can look back on a ton of things I've done in my life… some of the earliest things I've loved was reading and writing, but even those weren't surrounding my everyday life. It's weird that I didn't think of this before, but it was always food that everything connected to. Let me explain.

I used to keep a daily journal. Like I said, I loved to write all the time. I loved composition books and those flimsy tan journals the most… in fact I kept tons of them. I loved fresh notebooks and interactive or lockable diaries. Each day I would write down mundane things… but I always made sure to write what I ate. My favorite times to write was during a holiday because I could write down the exact things that my mother made and what I would eat later. My favorite thing to do on those mornings was watch the food channels to see what the celebrities cooked.

In reading, I used to read the Baby Sitter's Little Sister series often. I ventured to the Narnia and the Harry Potter books as well, but what were my favorite parts? What they ate and what they cooked. Karen's Turkey Day had to be my favorite because of the food they prepared and I got a new recipe to melt sliced cheese on top of saltine crackers in the microwave (the book had them do that to Fritos). I chose later books based on the titles (Karen's Pizza Party), and still remember that Karen's favorite food was Hamburgers with Mashed Potatoes. In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is an eating scene with Mr. Tumnus that I used to reread and the same with the beaver family. I didn't know what Turkish Delight was, but it sounded delicious! I lived for Harry Potter's feasts at Hogwarts and loved the various new foods of the magical world. Another secret? I never read the Boxcar children series… I skimmed through them to find the inevitable scene where they would find something to eat and prepare a meal.

If there's nothing to watch, I switch to the Food Network. One of my favorite shows growing up was Iron Chef. I used to love to receive fake food for my dolls. My mom had a subscription to a recipe card service and I used to separate them by category and decide which ones I wanted to cook. There are still stains all over some of them. Light reading was a food magazine or a cookbook. With all this, I don't understand how on earth going to school for Culinary Arts or Hospitality Business was not my first choice! Food brings people together and food attached to a memory helps me remember that memory.

All my life I wanted to cook a large meal for my family and friends and I would cross my fingers in hopes that they would like it. I took pictures of food. I kept a little review book for restaurants I attended. I think going to Culinary School will be a large step for me mentally because it is pure and concentrated joy for me. When I see fresh ingredients, I can't contain my excitement. When I step into a place full of cookware, I'm in ecstasy. My best Christmas was the year I got a stand mixer and a food processor. My graduation gift was a set of bakeware, my birthday gift a cast-iron pizza stone, and Christmas of 2013 featured my cake turntable, a flour sifter, and a Couture Chocolate cookbook. My craziest dreams included a batch of truffles and milk-chocolate leaves.

It might sound gluttonous and I may be obsessed, but it is what it is. Everyone knows the risks of following their dreams. Everyone always believes that they will be the exception. I still want to do everything and know everything. I still want ten kids who will look up to me and I still want to build my own dream house. People say don't hold on fast to dreams because not everything is realistic. All I can say is, technically, everything is realistic if you just do it. If you make sacrifices to get it done, it’s never too late. I know for a fact that I'm still procrastinating, but in the end, unless I die prematurely, I'm going to get it done.

Catch me if you can.

10 Things That Delighted Me During My First Culinary Course

                Last time I told you about the 10 Things That Irritated Me During My First CulinaryCourse. I didn't want to unbalance the system by showing all the negatives, so here is a list of the positives! And believe me; these alone make it worth it.

               

1. I learned a lot about knife cuts.

   This may not seem like such a big deal, but before, I just randomly chopped things up, impressing everyone with my speed. I never truly 'diced' things… more like cut into weird little bobbles. I thought dicing celery was just chopping it down its length and chopping a carrot was making half-moons and cutting that in half. Herbs were a little rough, garlic wasn't fine… I look back like damn, what was going on? Now, I take my time and I've gotten faster with perfecting perfect squares. I'm a little obsessed with making them exact squares as well. I can almost tell the difference between small, medium, and large dice as well, which is probably one of the hardest things. Another great thing is that I now know how to have less waste!

                               

2. I have committed basic things to memory through practice.

     I have a really poor memory- that's no secret. One of my worst fears in school is that even though I have get a degree, I will forget everything, so I'll be worthless in my field. How could I commit a ton of basic recipes to memory? With this class, there's no way I will forget how to make white stock, roux, or Velouté sauce. I know the percentages of mirepoix, a bouquet garni, and a sachet. I was amazed how easy it was to commit these things to second nature and I'm so glad that is happening. Now I'm hoping to get that with my baking!

                               

3. Good people.

     The entire class was one big family. Even the nut-jobs and the annoying people were part of our special group. I could talk to anyone and ask them a question, we could all laugh as a group, we all chatted about our exams after we took them, we all rolled our eyes at the same things… we had a good bunch! I really thought everyone would clique up and leave me out of everything, but it was completely the opposite! Which brings me to my next point…

                               

4. I thought I would be the old outcast, but everyone was of a different background and had different stories.

   I thought it would be typical. I would be the chunky black female that's too old to be starting an introductory culinary program while everyone else was perfect, skinny, white, high school graduates who had the best chef knifes, had to pin their jackets to fit their small torsos, and practiced every technique in the book through their high school vocational courses. I thought no one would talk to me, and I would just keep to myself the whole semester. Boy was I wrong! In the group of girls I told you about alone, two were lesbians (one black with a wife and two kids and one a white high school graduate), and one was a mixed girl. The class was sprinkled with different races and backgrounds. Some were old enough to maybe be my father. No one was stuck up and everyone had the attitude that they wanted to learn. Except for those who dropped out… that was cray cray. Anyway, I appreciate diversity and acceptance in a school, especially when Wikipedia will tell you that Livonia is the whitest city in America.

                               

5. Great, caring chefs.

    Each chef may have had their unique personalities, and each chef might have been a little tough, but you could tell instantly that they cared about every one of us. There was nothing that indicated that they didn't love to teach. Each conversation and lesson was given with warmth and tough love.

                               

6. The beautiful and unique facility.

     The reputation of Schoolcraft College's Culinary Arts program precedes itself. I've only heard about good things and success stories (one baker going on to work with a Food Network chef, another becoming  a personal chef for Lady Gaga) and I plan to be one of them. One of the things they don't talk about enough is how awesome and state-of-the-art the facility is. The VistaTech center is huge and beautiful. The various culinary kitchens have almost everything you need, and everything is curated specifically for that purpose. I still love that we obtained that panning machine! The school is proud of and cares about the culinary program for sure, and that makes everything an even higher quality.

                               

7. I felt like people were in awe of me in my uniform.

    I've worn a chef coat before. In fact, I get compliments because the stark white looks nice against my brown skin. However, when I wore one for MSU, it was obvious to everyone I just worked as a student cook in the cafeteria. When I walk around after a day at Schoolcraft in my white chef coat, white toque, and lame checkered pants, people stare and ask questions. I like to browse in the produce section of the grocery store so it can look like I'm about to cook something from scratch. It's like I get an instant professional upgrade!

                               

8. I learned about various herbs and spices I would have never used before.

   For our herbs and spices identification as you may recall, we needed to know what certain herbs looked like, smelled like, tasted like, and what it was used for. I've never heard of savory and mace, and I never thought to ever want to use coriander or fennel seeds. Now, when I shop at the store, I want to include new spices to add more dimension to my cooking.

                               

9. I am now the go-to person for everything culinary.

    Ok, this is sort of a win-lose type of thing. I mean, I took one freaking class and people are acting like I'm a Master Chef! Now my family and some of my friends already ask me things because I always knew a little more about cooking, but some people go over the edge! I can't make any accidents or people will be like 'I thought you were in culinary school!' it drives me crazy! However, I do enjoy it when people are interested in my opinion and my techniques. I like when people go for my things  first at work because they know I'm an aspiring chef, or when people request me to make things. My joy comes when people love my food and brag about me. It's embarrassing, but my boyfriend brags about me all the time to his family and friends and he has even told me I'm his inspiration and he admires me. My mom does the same, and random Facebook people will message me asking about something to do with cooking or a recipe. I will never get tired of that.

                               

10. I actually enjoyed school and learning.

      I have always hated school. Now I know it's necessary and I've always worked hard to get good grades but I just want it to be over with! Especially an 8 am class! With this course, I looked forward to spending my entire Saturday in class. It didn't feel like the usual learning. It was so engaging and informative that I couldn't wait until the next class. I had zero problems studying and reading the book because it was interesting. I didn't have that even in some of my fashion and interior design courses which I loved. This is probably the hardest I have every worked in a college course and came out smiling.

So these are some pretty positive things and if you are thinking about going to culinary school, you should start thinking about what is important to you in a classroom setting. You're going to be spending hours at that place! Make sure your dedication lines up with the requirements of any program you are going into. Everything is not going to be easy, but if you really want it and you work hard, you will succeed!

10 Things That Irritated Me During My First Culinary Course

Now that the course is over, the glamour is gone and I can gripe about some of the things that irritate me in hindsight. I still love it and I'm going to do it, but I think there should be some changes to help out new students that are especially new to this college thing!

1. Getting out early but my tuition bill is the same.

After the first few classes, we got out early almost every week. And it wasn't like a few minutes, some was more than 2.5 hours! Yet, I still paid the fool eight-hundred-and-something dollars out of pocket. I feel like if you can't fill the whole long day, cut the credit hours.

2. Constant stains on white jackets.

Okay, this is more my fault. I guess chef coats are white to reflect the heat and yada yada, but come on! We only had waist aprons… I needed one for the top too. For a custom jacket that was a little pricey, I want some protection. I feel like every semester I'm going to have to purchase a new one. Sometimes it was my carelessness, but when mysterious stains started showing up, I knew that some things around the kitchen were coated in something designed to make me look bad!

3. Know-It-Alls were legion.

If you are not my professor, I do NOT, repeat do NOT need you to come over and check my stock. Go away! When you're over here being nosey all in my grilled and the chef is calling to you telling you your stuff is messed up, you need to check yourself bro! Okay, that was one guy. The next guy would just tell me things that I didn't ask nor want to know. Yay, you used to work somewhere where they cooked this differently… sorry but we are doing Classical French cooking and your method is Disillusioned American. I repeat: GO AWAY! I wouldn't be upset with these people if it was a one-time occasional thing, but it happened every class to both me and my girls. Also watch out for the 'know-it-none's'. These people did not retain any information and kept the class slow and constantly asked for answers even in the last few weeks. It's like they didn't even try. One even whined and accused the chef of picking on her when she claimed that a mixture can be 60/60 and he asked her to show where in the world possible that can happen. Sigh…

4. The supply list was a lie.

Ok, not really but come on! I shouldn't have to be scrambling to purchase things for the next week when you suddenly decide we should all have something. That expensive of a facility should have enough wooden spoons and scrapers for us all. Or you could just, you know, figured out it was needed from the prior classes and put it on the supply list. Thank goodness my mom had some 'mesh' that suddenly became required to put underneath our cutting boards!

5. We had two chefs overall, both with different directions.

I spoke about this in my previous posts. There was Chef Loving and Master Chef Gabriel. It looked as if Chef Loving commanded the most respect, but everyone wanted so bad for it to be that the Master Chef always knew what he was doing. It usually turned out that Chef Loving's methods were the best and not only was that a bit odd, it left the class confused as to who wanted what on the exam.

6. There wasn't enough time set aside to do everything we were supposed to.

Maybe this was just my opinion, but it seemed like we were supposed to learn a little more. The beginning was focused on knife cuts, but it became almost the focus of the entire course. Though I'm grateful for that, I wish we had enough time to make ALL of the mother sauces, make some brown stock, spend more time on fresh herbs and dry spices, and see the uses of all of the equipment. Everything else seemed like such an afterthought.

7. My group never got enough feedback.

It's true that my group did a good job of working together and were usually successful at our attempts, but I wish the chefs and the assistants came over to us more and critiqued more. Sometimes we all got to walk up to show our work, but they paid more attention to others during our cooking process. I guess that means that they trusted us, but still, it would have been nice.

8. There wasn't any real structure, just an illusion.

Not to say the course was unorganized, but we surely did not follow the syllabus. While I'm grateful we got to work more on things the class as a whole was bad at, I still feel like there were other things we needed to strengthen. We never knew which chef we were going to get and I really was disappointed when we didn't actually make that bread.

9. I felt like the homework was a waste.

It was cool that we had little quizzes or whatever, but it just seemed like busy work. There were right and wrong answers and that's it. Nothing to make us reflect, nothing to fill in our opinions on anything. I felt like it didn't even need to be there. We should have just been given a chapter to read and discussed it the next week. To make it worse, a completely different chef was in charge of the homework and it felt like a detachment from the rest of the course.

10. They overreacted on the ability to catch up.

I was really nervous because the attendance policy and syllabus let you know that it was near-impossible to catch up or make anything up if you miss anything. I call bull on that. Mainly because a lot of things were repeats. It may have hurt to miss a demo, but some of the things were simple to learn and practice on your own if you needed it. I really thing that girl should not have had to drop if she missed the first course because we basically learned it all again, plus it was in the book. I can see missing the time where we had to use stock from the previou- oh wait, the stock spoiled anyway so we had to remake it. I could really see missing one of the last few weeks when we practiced the timed exam and learned the herbs and sp- oh wait they tricked us and used other herbs and spices that we didn't learn about at all. See where I'm going here? If someone is dedicated, they will get the work done. If they want to continue and they end up failing out, let it be their choice.

Don't worry, I'm not here to complain. Even with all it's faults, I absolutely love this program and the chefs were amazing! I just wanted you to realize that everything that glimmers is not gold. Go into what you want with an open mind and the faults will be nothing to you. Schoolcraft College really is one of the best out there. I'm going to let you in on a secret. I took half of a culinary course at Lansing Community College before they shut the program down and I had to drop because they tricked me on financial aid. In that course, all we did was attend class, he would hand out various recipes, we would cook them either alone or in groups, and at the end of the night we all sat down for family dinner and ate it. We critiqued. We cleaned up. We went home.

I can do that ish at home.

With Love,

Cookie

Aftermath

Class is over... what now?

Grades are posted. They were up less than a week after I walked out of the VistaTech Center, head held high. 

3.3. That means I am most DEFINITELY in the program.  I might have been one of the first ones to the advising office to turn in the remaining section of the Culinary Arts application. She checked everything out, filled out the rest of my file, and sent me on my wait. Now... it's the waiting game.

I will receive an acceptance letter, more details of the program, and I will talk with an advisor about which rotation I want to start. During the wait, I'm going to research and share with you everything I can before I enter into the program. I'll figure out how I'm going to pay for it, I'll practice a ton of techniques, and most importantly, I won't leave you hanging until next fall.

Stay tuned!

Culinary School Day One, Part Two: Stocks, Sauces, and Burnt Onions, Oh My!

Picture from here.

Okay so it sounds better when it's pronounced 'oignon brûlé', but a burnt onion is a burnt onion which is… apparently a cool way to color stock. But we'll get back to that in a minute.

A student from another class showed up for a demonstration or practical I believe, so we got to watch Chef Loving work his magic. It was a Fish Velouté? Or whatever he pronounced he got to taste it and I swear to you it tasted like memories. I know I've never had it, but the flavor was so familiar… I just couldn't remember where I remembered it from. It obviously had wine in it, so maybe I'm just a crazy drunk and it reminded me of my favorite Chardonnay (kidding- I only really like sparkling wines).

In that part of class, we learned about Bouquet Garni (bo-KAY gar-NEE), Sachet d'Épices (sa-SHAY DAY-pees), Mirepoix (meer-PWAH), and our buddy, the Oignon Brûlé (uh-NYON broo-LAY). They add flavor to stocks, sauces, and soups and each have their own standards. The Bouquet Garni is usually a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, a couple of leek leaves, and parsley stems, all wrapped around a celery stalk with string. Add that in your soup, stock, or sauce and take it out when it's infused. The standard sachet is parsley stems, a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, cracked peppercorns, and possibly a garlic clove wrapped in cheesecloth and infused in the same way as bouquet garni. Next is the burnt onion. You cut an onion in half or quarters and literally burn the heck out of it (okay, 'char' it) in a dry skillet. Cook it in your stock or sauce for a long time and the color will look nice and the flavor will be delicious, but it is mostly for color. Lastly is the mirepoix. We learned the standard will always be two parts onion, one part carrot, and one part celery. The onions can be intermingled or interchanged with leeks, the carrots with parsnips, and the celery with celeriac. There are different formulas, including an Asian and a Cajun one with different ingredients, but the onion family ratio is usually still the same.

During our small breaks, one of the girls in front of me turned around and we discuss our worries about the course. She was just as nervous as I was about how to fit in the time for school and work. Here is basically the schedule I have to work with:

Each 'plan' is a rotation for the semester,  each class one at a time for five weeks at a time. It looks intimidating, but I'll find a way...

We had an hour lunch (in which I indulged in Spicy Spaghetti and Meatballs at Noodles and Company), and it was our turn to meet Chef Sam Musto. He is the 'hybrid' part of the course and mostly works with us on Blackboard which is where we complete our quiz homework. Of course, the person who never pays attention said Chef Loving didn't go over the practical (which he did) so Chef Musto went over what will be on it AGAIN. Here is what will be on the practical:

• Equipment Identification and Usage
• Herb and Spice Identification
• Knife Cuts
• Sauce and Stock Making

In six more weeks, I hope to master this material and focus my energy on preparing for both the practical and the written exam.

Chef Musto was very nice. He told us the real about the industry and basically inspired me overall. Sitting in that class I knew that it was what I wanted to do. He told us that the education was worth it. He said don't let a chef tell you not to go to school and just work under him. That way, you most likely won't make more than $15 as a chef. He told a story of how he was offered a big promotion at a restaurant, but he would have to quit school. He refused, and one of his friends accepted the offer. He didn't hate, she said she was living the life, condos, she drove a Porsche, she was fancy. But then he said, what happens if they have to let you go? What do you have to fall back on? Education is important.

Lastly, he spoke to us about climbing the ranks in the culinary world as far as credentials. This is what made me want to at least attempt to become a Master Chef. There's Certified Culinarian, Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Executive Chef, Personal Chef, etc, but the top is Master Chef and Master Pastry Chef. The requirements are pretty steep,  but I want to work to get to that point!

And that was the first day! I'm excited to find out what we learn tomorrow and I hope you are too! In the mean time, enjoy these videos we watched in class.

If these don't inspire you, I don't know what else will!

Culinary School Day One, Part One: CAP 103

CAP 103 is Latin for Introduction to Professional Cooking Skills and Techniques. It's the class you take after Culinary Sanitation which I bypassed because I'm awesome and just went to take my ServSafe exam to get certified. I'm really hoping that's not going to come back and bite me in the donkey.

This is the class that is really important prior to starting the rest of the culinary program. There's definitely a waitlist for it, but I lucked out and only waited for three  or so weeks to register for it because someone couldn't pay. Once I pass this class, I get into the Culinary Arts school and from there, the waitlist takes about a semester. I really need that because I need time to work on my savings and working, but never fear! There are culinary courses that don't require the rotating schedule and that will be on my list for next semester: Culinary Nutrition and  Introduction to the Chemistry of Food for Culinary Arts. Sounds fun AMIRIGHT??? Don't worry, I'll make it fun! God, help me…

Imagine the worries I had coming into the class. The day before, I was in tears because I had no idea how I was going to pay for the $249 chef hat. We all know how that worked out in the last post. The morning of, I had my nails trimmed, my pants pressed, and my chef coat buttoned. I was afraid that I would be the oldest person in the room. I was afraid that they would kick me out because my long braids didn't quite fit in the chef hat. I was afraid I would be the OBK (Only Black Kid) like the old days and no one would talk to me. I was afraid that everyone memorized the book cover to cover and the chef would constantly choose me to answer his many, many questions from 8:00am to 5:24pm. None of that happened. We didn't even stay the full day. Here's how it really went down.

My support is my boyfriend. When I'm afraid, he can make me feel better because he's silly and confident. He drove me to class and walked me up to the door like a kindergartener. He chatted with one of the chef's while I took a seat in the back of the class. There were three girls in front of me that I immediately joked with because they were also trying to fit their hair into the hat. Some people didn't even have a hat on. After getting advice to put my hair in a bun and stuff, I sat, staring around the kind of diverse room (I mean there were only black and white people, no Asians, no Hispanic people like I'm used to at MSU). There were quite a few older people, women, black people, and our professor, Chef Shawn Loving, was a nice looking black man.

Chef Loving was everything his name implied. He was so warm, witty, and real. He is the first teacher I've heard in my whole life say 'I'm not going to sit here and read you the syllabus. For what? You can read it at home!' He got right to the point. Of course we had to do introductions which always make me nervous, but I faked the confidence. He even teased me for being a Spartan. Sorry I made the only correct university choice in life! (Cut me and I bleed green).

The college itself is freaking amazing. Everyone who has ever told me it is one of the best culinary facilities in the country was quite obviously being truthful. The class room was a demo kitchen. We sat in chairs behind tables and in the front was a kitchen. There were three TV screens that detailed what the chef was doing as he showed it. 

It's lesson time lovelies! Our first lesson detailed the Kitchen Brigade. What is that, you ask? Why let me tell you! Without the help of my book. Created by Auguste Escoffier (yep you can say it all fancy ess-COFF-ee-AY), the Kitchen Brigade system basically gives each person the job they need to do while in the kitchen. It eliminates the chaos. Imagine you run a kitchen and there are about ten chefs. You're running around pulling up the fryer, the oven goes off you run over to open it while someone else places something in the fryer, the veggies need to be sautéed but two people are fighting over who should chop the garnish. If there is a designated fry chef, sauté chef, and veggie chop person, then wouldn't they make things so much better?  Here's a great guide to familiarize yourself with the various roles. I need to know all of these terms, including the French terms.

After the lesson, we toured the kitchens to learn all of the equipment we need to know for our practical exam which is the big timed final test the last two days of class. A few facts about Schoolcraft culinary institute:

• There is literally a separate kitchen for everything. You will not make sausages in the pastry kitchen or borrow items from the bread kitchen. Each kitchen has their own special equipment and dishes. There is a donut fryer in the pastry kitchen, a deck oven in the bread kitchen, and a smoking machine in the butchery kitchen.
  

• There is a machine called a 'panning machine' that coats things like candies and nuts with chocolate or a candy shell. According to Chef Loving, there are only three in the US, one in a New York restaurant, one in the M&M factory, and a nice copper-colored one at Schoolcraft. How awesome is that?
• Of the 74 Master Chefs in the US, 5 are at Schoolcraft College. Of the 13 Master Pastry Chefs, 1 is at Schoolcraft College.
• Our experience at the college will consist of us working at the student-run gourmet restaurant, The American Harvest. It's where we will live the Kitchen Brigade system the most, and give us our experience to gain a CC credential right after graduation.
  
• In Chef Loving's words, 'You can look for frozen and canned prepared foods around here all you want, but you won't find it, it doesn't exist.' If it can be made fresh, it is made fresh at the college. Even our own hot dogs.
• The style of cooking taught is French Classical Cooking.

I hope you've become just as excited and interested as I have! Part two is coming soon… don't want to bog you down with too much information! I will share with you one last funny bit of information. Of course, there's always that person who doesn't pay attention. THIS person in particular decided not to and just ask questions when Chef Loving clearly told us about it. Seriously? What a waste of time!

Is Culinary School Right For You?

Here is a chronicle of my beginnings as culinary student- one of my lifelong dreams coming to fruition.

I'm not your average culinary student either… well, for starters, I'm freshly (sort of) graduated from MSU with my Bachelor of Art's in Apparel and Textiles with a cognate in Interior Design (whatever the hell job that gets me). How many people out there go get their Bachelor's and then an Associate's degree? Someone who figured out they can be whatever the hell they want to be a little too late. I'm not going to bore you with details, you can check that out on my personal blog:
www.thechocolatetease.blogspot.com.

I've searched high and low for years for the answer to the question 'Is Culinary School Right For You?' or 'Is Culinary School Worth It?' I've seen and heard a lot of answer which included it being an expensive waste of time, you eventually start out with low pay, you can just learn to cook on YouTube. My first day of class last Saturday came my real answer: Anything you aspire to do is right for you. Anything that gives you another step towards your goal and you love it is totally worth it. There's no quiz, no magazine article, no hater on that haterade that can analyze whether or not something is your forte. Only you can figure that out when you experience it.

My dreams are to own a bakery/café, an event planning business, a restaurant, a nightclub, and eventually a hotel. I want to be a Master Chef and cook the best damn food you and your friends have ever tasted. After these two years I want my Master's in Hospitality business, that's just what I want to do. I don't care about becoming famous, I care about hordes of people gathering in one place because my food is delicious and my businesses are freaking awesome. Your goals may be similar or different- either way, you need to decide. Will a bunch of articles and quizzes shape your future or will you?

I'm also not rich, don't have rich parents, don't have any scholarships. MSU wiped me out in financial aid. Schoolcraft College is much cheaper, but it still costs money, and I'm investing in myself. I'm not making big money either, I just put myself on a monthly payment plan and budget it out. I've sacrificed a few things to start my journey. Five credits ran me over $800. When I move to twelve credits, I'm afraid to find out what the price will be but that's not stopping me. I bought my $40 checkered pants, my $60 personalized chef coat, my $249 chef hat (kidding! There was a misunderstanding over the phone. It was a cheap $2.49 hat), my $40 book (thanks Amazon!), $60 non-slip shoes, and about $60 in supplies including two quality knives. Money is absolutely an issue, but somehow I'm doing it. I'm worried like all hell, but I'm staying positive for now.

After that major issue, there are other things you need to think about. Location is one. I'm banking on my boyfriend to drop me off and pick me up from class because I don't have a car, and some genius decided a bus line shouldn't run past this school. Next is time. One you're past the initial Basic Skills and Techniques class (which I'm in) to get into the school, the actual program is intense in terms of schedule. I take three classes a semester one at a time, each for about five weeks. The problem is that they have times like Tu-F 6:30am - 10:20am… I'm really going to have to be nice to my boyfriend if I want to keep my job. I need the money so I can't just quit my full time. It's going to be hard, but I already knew that. Try to make a plan for yourself. Unfortunately, my job is a 9-5 desk job type thing, so there's only so many hours I can get in each day. The next thing I try to factor in is my passion. Do I want this enough that I'm going to come to class four days of the week at 6:30am? Hell yes. I'm paying the money. I want to get this done. Another thing is, what will I learn that I can't learn on YouTube or some website? You get better instruction, experience, and you get graded. Everyone needs to be critiqued, and not just by Momma. YouTube can be a great supplement, but it can't take away the value of true education. Also, getting your degrees and certificates will help you to earn more. Make sure your school is accredited and all that. Schoolcraft College's reputation is amazing. When I walked into that building, I saw that everything was true. You don't have to go to Le Cordon Bleu, but make sure you're getting the excellence from the teachers that you deserve. Eventually, people think about the money and what the future will hold. I'm thinking the food industry will never die. People will always like to eat. Of course I Google'd the salary like you probably did. On average, a professional chef apparently makes 44,000 something, and that's before moving up the ranks. Personal chefs $200-500 a day, private chefs up to $80,000 a year. You can make serious money in this industry, you just have to work for it. With any job, you can't get too hyped up by the glamour because the ones that really want it know the hours are going to be hell for the pay but that's where passion > trials and tribulations.

That's it for my intro post… sorry for the length, but you needed to know what this blog was all about. I'm going to write about my time at culinary school and anything related to my culinary goals. I've been looking for a blog that would show me what it's like, and this is my gift to you. Even if you have no intentions of ever becoming a chef and just thought it was interesting to see what happens in culinary school, I hope you enjoy this and find it useful. To aspiring chefs, you can decide if culinary school the right choice for you by living vicariously through someone if that's what you want. Or, you can go out there and get it yourself. I dare you.

Links to check out:

www.acfchefs.org

http://www.schoolcraft.edu/academics/majors/culinary-arts-pathway/culinary

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/culinaryschools/a/5culischooltips.htm

www.culinaryschools.com