First Externship Post!

Alright! So tonight will be my third shift at Restaurant Eugene, and I'm loving it. I'm coming home exhausted, hungry, and plenty irritable, but I absolutely love the restaurant and the people I work with. So before I get started, here are a few more pictures of the outside of apartment.

The outside, we're on the bottom floor.

The view from our front yard: you can see the buildings on Peachtree!

Okay, so now the breakdown.

On the first day I was there, it was pretty slow. They told me it was the slowest Friday they'd had in awhile, but it was for the best. I plated a lot of desserts, and mastered the art of the two-spoon quenelle, which they use for the cheese plate. I'm still trying to work on the crazy technique that Billy (the guy I work directly under) taught me, but I just bought a tub of butter to work with before I go in tonight.

The second evening (last night) was pretty busy. We did around 85 covers, which included a 5-course dessert tasting menu. It was awesome! I plated almost everything, and I now feel like I could work the station with less assistance. It would definitely get rough when it's busy and we have multiple cheese plates as well as desserts, but for my second day, I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job.

Tonight, they said, is hit or miss. Because we live in the South, most places are closed on Sundays, but Restaurant Eugene stays open. Since it's one of the only fine-dining restaurants open tonight, it could either be crazy-busy or crazy-slow. I guess we'll see once I get there.

For now, here are a few pictures of the desserts we did last night...there are plenty more, but I didn't have time to photograph them. I'll try to post some more later!

Licorice Cake with with Spicy Candied Pecan crumble, Tamarind Ice Cream, and Satsuma Pieces.

San Andreas Cheese Plate.

Mignardises! From top to bottom: Lemon Pine Financier (I baked these!),  Raspberry Ganache-filled Macarons, and Raspberry Pâte de Fruit.

Apple Pâté...I can't even explain to you what this is like. It's crazy; it's like stewed apple pasta. Topped with a wine fluid gel, pecan streusel, a quenelle of chevre, black pepper, kosher salt, and olive oil.

Carrot Cake dessert: cream cheese custard, pears soaked in buttermilk, cocoa soil, and, of course, crumbled carrot cake.

As soon as I have a few more pictures, I'll post them! Au revoir mes amis!

Externship: the Beginning.

So this is it!

After several days of traveling, lifting, moving, and socializing, Daniel and I have arrived in Atlanta. We have successfully unpacked our stuff and moved into our new apartment in Midtown! We love it. We're so close to Daniel's restaurant (Bacchanalia), and we're not far from mine!

Here are some pictures of my room in the apartment, I'll post some more of the rest of the place tomorrow!

So tomorrow we're going to spend the day doing free, fun things that don't require me to move around much. I pulled my back this afternoon moving something, so after we ate dinner at this AWESOME Mexican place down the street (La Fonda) we headed to Peachtree Street to find a CVS. Since we've arrived back at the apartment I've been flat on my back, wrapped up in a heating pad, watching Law and Order: SVU. I certainly hope I feel better tomorrow...especially since I start work on Friday!

I'll post more pictures soon!

Oops.

It has been....so long. And I'm sorry. I swore I was going to keep up with this blog, and up until December 5th (the date of my last post), I was doing a pretty decent job. I guess it's hard to keep up with a blog when you're constantly moving at 200 MPH. Sitting down to do anything is almost a chore at this point.

SO. Since December 5th, I have: passed IPP (Individual Pastry Production);

I passed my 2nd term practical with an 87.
I am nearly finished with my current class: Hearth Breads and Rolls.

I have found an externship and secured an apartment for myself and Daniel to reside in for 4 months until we're done working in Atlanta.
Oh yeah! Daniel got an externship in Atlanta at Bacchanalia. STOKED.

So my plans are:
-On Saturday morning we drive to Knoxville to stay two nights until we move down on the 22nd.
-What that means IS that I'll be in K-town for two nights and I want to see everyone! If you're interested, please text me! I haven't had to change my number for awhile, so it's still the same as when I lived there!
-What that also means IS that I'll only be three hours away from my fellow Knoxvillians for FOUR MONTHS. I expect to see all of you. Not joking.

Anyway, here's some more pictures of the stuff I've been making! I know that's all you guys care about anyway :)
 

Sourdough Loaves

Cinnamon Danishes

Kugelhupf Cakes

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

An array of our breads from class

Sourdough rounds

That's not everything, but the rest can be found on my Facebook page! From now on, I'll be posting more frequently, because this externship thing is going to be crazy!

Love and miss you all!