I did it! My first week of culinary school! It was scary and exciting, and I really can't believe I did it. The change in my daily routine is enormous: I wake up at 5 AM instead of 7:30 AM, I have to wear a uniform complete with houndstooth pants and clogs, and I have to leave the house! On my second day of class when I was driving at 7:30 AM, I couldn't stop smiling. I'm doing it. I'm doing the thing I want to be doing.
I am taking six classes this semester, which sounds like a lot, but a couple of them won't have too much outside work. I'm taking Food Prep I Lecture, Food Prep I Lab, Intro to Hospitality, Safety and Sanitation, The College Experience, and Fine Dining. I'm most excited about Food Prep I Lecture and Lab. These classes are what you think of when you think of culinary school. This semester we'll be learning about quick breads, pies, pastry, bread, CHEESE, salad dressing, vegetables, starches, grains, pasta, soups, stocks, sauces, and proteins. In the lecture, we'll talk about food and techniques, and in lab, we'll actually make the food. I have two different chef instructors for these classes, and they seem really different, but I like them both. I think Safety and Sanitation will also be fun. I know, I know, sounds boring, but tbh, cleaning the kitchen is kinda my favorite. Fine Dining is working in the DMACC restaurant. I am incredibly nervous about this. It's a serving job. I have never once in my life worked or wanted to work in a restaurant. I feel like I am going to be terrible. While I don't plan on working in a restaurant when I complete school, I want to learn and understand how cooking and serving work on that scale. Understanding that level of organization will be extremely valuable.
As far as Intro to Hospitality and The College Experience, I haven't had either class yet, so I'm not too sure what to expect.
It is going to take a couple of weeks to get up and running. For now, we're just reviewing the syllabi, getting to know each other, the school, getting our lockers (YEP! I am a 37-year-old woman with a locker).
I didn't get a chance to take a ton of pictures. But I am so in love with these rolling pins and tart tins lining the walls. It's on the way back to the women's locker room. Everything is so organized, and it's glorius. Mise en place.