LE CORDON BLEU UPDATES -2

This past week was awesome! We've been making a lot of fun things in school and the best part is that we can take them ALL home! That also means I bring home crazy load of goodies which we can never finish. That also means I wrote a lot of post it notes and stuck them on our neighbours doors saying,'If you would like to have a slice of freshly baked brownie,knock on our door!'. The responses were amazing!

I usually bring these goodies in a huge cardboard box and who ever looks at me strangely seeing me carry SO much food all piled up in a box, I just offer them a couple of biscotti's or a brownie and that look immediately breaks into a wide grin as they help themselves to a treat or even two! That means, I've been generously giving away food to the people I meet in our garage,our elevators,our corridor,our office and even our lobby!
I wake up every day with a smile on my face because it's something I really look forward to.Going to school. Apart from having a lot of fun with ingredients,I am learning SO much that I wouldn't have if it weren't for LCB. The Chef''s are well experienced and are so thorough in what they know. They teach you the science/reasoning behind why we do a certain thing in a particular way.It lets us think and make us realize why some recipes work better than most others. So for all the fun reasons, I am sharing with you a video that my friend Sara took. I hope you like it!

Things we made last week:
Macadamia & Pecan Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Pistachio & Orange Biscotti's
Chocolate Tart
Fresh Fruit Tart
Lemon Tartlets
Creme Brulee
Creme Caramel
Brioche Buns
Sliders
Thousand Island Dressing
Remoulade Sauce
Garlic Aioli
Cinnamon Rolls
Chocolate Snails
Doughnuts

LE CORDON BLEU UPDATES!

It's been 7 weeks since I've started living my dream... even if that means I need to wake up at 5.30 am every weekday! Which also means that my body has set a natural alarm clock that I wake up at 5.30 am on weekends too.Yes, my days start super early and I leave home by 6.20 am. I got so used to sleeping in late every morning for the last 5 plus years. Now, I am usually up earlier than my alarm clock just to make sure that my alarm goes off at the right time! Seriously,I love what I am doing right now.Even if it's chaotic. Oh by the way, the stuff that you just saw above was a Linzer Tart ( with ground hazelnuts in the base) and Strassburger Cookies (with a hint of cardamom).

School is wonderful. The first six weeks were for sanitation and foundations.Which simply means,we were taught how to handle every single thing so that no one falls sick or dies of a foodborne illness from the food we make or sell. It was one of the best sessions. Now, from 7th week onwards,we have started our Introduction to Baking and Patisserie classes.It's pure FUN! The first day was good and slow,the second day was total total chaos (like in the FN's Chopped kitchen). Third day onwards,things started to get better. We got more organised as a team. Oh yeah, we work in teams.Team work is everything,right? Each one of us gets our own stuff,mixers etc but we work as a team of two,helping each other with mise en place etc. It's a lot of fun! We baked so many cookies,muffins and quick breads,pies and quiche last week. It was so GOOD! The quiche that I baked was my personal favourite. We could do our own filling and I decided to do a Curried Chicken Quiche.It was awesome! Did you know that we could bring all the goodies home? Yes,we can and Amma and I were literally fighting over that Quiche. It was so good!

Things we made last week:
Pate Sucree
Linzer Tart
Strassburger Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Blueberry Muffins
Cornbread
Pate Brisee
Curried Chicken Quice
Old Fashioned Apple Pie
Blueberry Pie
Chocolate Chip and Candied Orange Scones
Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

HAPPIEST THIRD BIRTHDAY,IAN!

We officially have a THREE year old in our house now! When he turned two,people warned us about 'terrible two's'. I must say we were really lucky as this guy was not a handful,instead,a pleasure to be with. He has grown in size and can read alphabets and numbers without our help. Infact, he started to read alphabets and number when he was around 20 months,even before his second birthday. The best part of it all is that he learnt it all by himself! One day,when we were walking in our corridor,he pointed me toward the exit door and read out each letter by himself. I don't have to explain how shocked I must have been! Same was the case with numbers.

Appan and Amma were here for his birthday,for the very first time! It was special. I baked a chocolate cake that he had been requesting for his birthday since January for the big day. I covered it with a decadent milk chocolate frosting. He is crazy about construction vehicles now,so it was a construction site kind of a cake for him. He loved it!

For his party,I made a George pig cake from the cartoon Peppa Pig. For that, I made a vanilla pound cake with vanilla buttercream. We don't do fondant for our personal cakes.It's butter all the way!

This year,he has learnt to run a lot faster,throw and catch ball really well as well as to jump up high and land with perfect balance. His current favourite shows are Mickey Mouse, Peppa Pig, Blaze,Pocoyo,Thomas and Friends,Masha and the Bear and Tayo the Little Bus. The party update took me the longest as I was almost drowning in school assignments and tests. Yes, even we have tests and assignments :-) So without much further talk,here are the details!

Saturday Brunch Menu

Fresh Peach Sangria

Carrot Lemon Cooler

Pastry Onions

Egg Salad Croissanwich

Cucumber Cups

Veggie Pizza

Balsamic Onion Fritata

Mushroom & Spinach Quiche

Mousakka

As much as I would love to be a regular here,things are not moving in its favour. Amma has been cooking all our meals and once in a while,I join her and we have so much fun together in the kitchen!I am being pampered and I am not complaining at all!