And the winner is...

I've won my first medal. Here's what I had to do for it:

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!



Let me explain. Last Friday Chef Troy came in to our class and announced that we could compete in a culinary competition, a la Iron Chef, and possibly go to Nationals. I considered competing. I thought about the competition. I knew I probably wouldn't win, but I thought I'd still compete for the practice. As I was thinking this over, my current chef, Chef Todd came over and said, "Tanya, the board had our meeting and we all nominated you for the Food and Beverage Service part of the competition." I asked him if it was because I was a bad chef. He laughed and assured me that it wasn't. Cody, another of my culinary professors was very complimentary and I was flattered that several people who hardly knew me had such confidence in me. In any case, I met once with Cody and we discussed how we'll practice for the state competition in March.

Skip ahead to today.

The three classmates who won in the school level cook-off and I headed to the meeting we were instructed to attend. I assumed it would be an information meeting and I knew they'd announce who won of my classmates who competed. And they did. I clapped as my three classmates headed up front to receive their gold, silver, and bronze medals. As the clapping subsided, the man at the front proceeded:

"And in the Food and Beverage Service competition, First place goes to Tanya Quinn." The lecture hall of people began clapping for me as I had to walk down and accept a medal for doing absolutely nothing. The worst part is that another student won second. I felt for him. Who gets second for a competition you didn't compete in?!

I think it's an okay thing, winning before you compete. I already have a win under my belt. I can move on to the state level with full confidence. So go ahead. Celebrate something you're going to do. It's a good feeling. Have that ice cream sundae because you're going to work out tonight. Paint your nails because you're going to scrub the bathroom tile. (Wear gloves when you do scrub so the painting isn't for all for naught.) The important thing is, find joy in the things you're going to do, then the strength to do them and go out and do them!

Maybe at the next level I'll compete before I take home the gold.

Hey Good Lookin'

I have been making some good looking food. I'll post recipes soon, but here are some pictures. I've included a lot of the things we've made. I also included a picture of me and my two team mates after we each butchered our first fish. I know you're jealous of my stylish uniform, but sorry, those elastic-waist checkered pants are all mine!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The decision to begin culinary school is definitely one of the best I've made. I've really enjoyed it. We work hard every day, but the days go by so fast.

So far we've had one practical exam. I had two hours to make a meal for my teacher from scratch by myself. We had to produce a soup, sauce, starch, vegetable, entree and had to demonstrate three types of classical cuts. Chef Todd said no one had ever finished their first practical on time. So of course I had my challenge. He laughed when I told him I looked forward to being the first to finish on time.

So, the day came and I had planned really well. I finished on time! It was great. I was really pleased with how it turned out. My goal was to finish on time, and I did. I got a good grade too. I was really pleased because Chef always says we need to balance speed with quality and I did just that.

We're Famous!

Here are our celebrity look-a-likes. Soon I'll be able to post my own pictures, but until then:

In case you were wondering, yes, that girl cut off at the end that Tom looks like is Kate Beckinsale.



Here's mine. As a side note, not a surprise, there were three more oriental girls that I looked like.