Where has Leann been?

LOL... busy, busy, busy month behind us.  I finished yesterday with my summer internship.  I worked 190 hours in the last 2 months and about 90 of it was done in the last two weeks.  I have a three week break and then I am back to it the last week of August for a new semester.  I have waffled and wavered but finally decided that I wanted both the culinary and the pastry degrees.  I am scheduled to walk the stage for graduation in May and finish up my last class in the summer of 2011.  I am glad to have made that decision.  My precious husband has encouraged this strongly and I respect that and will finish.  I am hoping to take my CC exam next summer if it is offered and maybe the pastry one, too.  I am not sure if they will let me do both but I will try if they will let me.

I had a thrilling summer experience and am excited about the fall semester, too.  I really love the place that I am working.  Here are a few highlights of the last month...

Gluten Free chocolate chip cookies

regular chocolate chip cookies

We do lots of whole foods and healthy menus and we make LOTS of fruit salads and fruit and cheese platters as well as veggie trays...

I did a bread baking session and made several kinds of breads that we used for menus for the month of July

I also got to practice my Tuile skills.  LOL  So FUN!!!

This is a compound butter... honey and rosemary and it was delicious!

This was a salad from one of our plated catering events.  I made that mango vinaigrette.  YUM!!!

This is a dessert we did with the tuile and the ganache and raspberries.  Such a great combination of flavors for this!

We also did some Vegan personal chef cooking.  These are black bean patties raw... before they were cooked.  We experimented with a binder.  I used flax meal and soaked it in water until it was the consistency of egg white and it really held the patties together.  Very nice!

We also did a vegetable curry that is out of this world!

I am going to brag a bit on this one.  I recently visited a local restaurant that is kinda the rave around here called Ripe.  They have this dish on the menu that is an Israeli Couscous with almond, craisins and cilantro.  My boss loved mine more than theirs and that made me SO VERY PROUD!!!  This was my own recipe that was inspired by the one at Ripe and it has been a hit with everyone who has tried it.

Another dish my boss loved was this vegan version of a German Potato Salad with soy bits instead of bacon bits.   The pink is a bit weird but the flavors were great!

I have learned TONS this summer and have gotten to spread my wings and really build some confidence in the kitchen.  I know I am made for this now in a way I did not before.  One more year and then I will be a full fledged chef... I cannot wait!  :)