What could be worse?

Last night there was a lot of change in the kitchen. A new four course menu, and new table assignments. I was assigned garde manger, responsible for the appetizer. The fish is a barramundi in an Americaine sauce, served with mussels and shrimp, and garnished with cocotte potatoes. The meat is chicken grand-mere. Dessert? DELICIOUS dessert! A simple lemon tart.

The appetizer? A poached egg with hollandaise served over a macedoine salad and garnished with tomato “julienne”. The main components of this salad are two of my least favorite things – both egg yolks. Poaching eggs last night, one after the other with no more skill than my first poached egg in Level 1 or 2, I realized that I need to learn to like, or at least like to (and learn to) cook, things I do not like. It took me way too long to poach the eggs… and eggs only poach for 2-3 minutes. It took even longer to figure out whether my hollandaise was the correct texture and correctly seasoned. I presented ten minutes late.

Once again, some downward comparison to make myself feel better…. Well, I did present second (after Julia). Everyone else was even later than me. Some students presented after the fish was served.

So why is this titled, “What could be worse?”

Well, here is how things could have gotten (and did get) worse. Not immediately, but between then and now. I am sitting here, writing this entry, on the 6:05AM Amtrak from New York to Washington. I was scheduled on the 5:30 train. I arrived at Penn Station at 5:15, picked up a cinnamon twist donut and coffee at Zaro’s Bakery *yum* and proceeded to print my ticket. Then I realized that I had some time to refund a ticket from two weeks ago, so I went over to the customer service window where I spent at least five minutes explaining to a woman how the customer service representatives usually refund a ticket (using a credit card as opposed to ID). Not believing me, she called over another customer service representative, who, after another 3 minutes of explaining, confirmed that I was right.

So I finally got my refund, just in time to get to the gate and show the “ticket checker” my ticket. I had the wrong ticket. I asked, “Is there a kiosk nearby where I can just print the ticket?” She said yes, no problem and pointed to a kiosk 20 feet away. I printed my ticket. When I returned she looked SHOCKED that I was trying to get on the 5:30 train!? The train was pulling away from the platform and I felt like I was in one of those terrible heartbreaking movies where my long lost love was on a train departing from Paris and I was moments too late. I saw him sitting in the window of a train departing for some foreign city.

So now, after multiple less than satisfactory interactions to get my ticket rebooked and a short wait that seemed like forever next to (not really, just close enough to enjoy the odor of) a very smelly homeless man in the Amtrak waiting area (note: for paying Amtrak customers only), I am on the 6:05 train to Washington.

Note to self: it can always get worse.

Time flies by

Thanksgiving came and went. New York is bustling for the holidays. Next Saturday is Christmas Eve. This year is flying by and will be over before I know it. I aced my Level 2 Exam and Practical, and am now ServSafe certified. I am two weeks into Level 3.
Level 3 moves into real production. The class is divided into teams/tables of four. Each evening each team is responsible for a four course dinner. Each student is required to produce four plates of one dish (an appetizer, fish, meat, or dessert) and present at a certain time (8:15, 8:30, 8:45, and 9 PM respectively). The responsibility is individual and it is kind of nice to only worry about yourself. On the third day, Chef added an amuse bouche due at 8 PM. The amuse bouche is a team effort and requires team work and communication.
For the first rotation the menu was consomme printainer, skate a la grenobloise with cocotte potatoes, pork chop with pommes darphin, and tarte aux pommes. Last night, our first mock mid-term, required us to produce two courses (appetizer and meat -- consomme and pork chop) and present at a time picked from a hat (I got 8:17 and 9:17 respectively). I was second to present. All students got to start at the same time, so this is truly the luck of the draw. I was ready to present my delicious consomme at 8:12, but disaster twice struck my pommes darphin and I presented my pork chop closer to 9:30. Something was wrong in the kitchen last night. Potatoes were sticking to pans and burning left and right. Some students presented pork without potatoes. My potatoes were less than stellar, even on the second take.
Everything is so busy. At school, I feel like I am just trying to keep my head above water and deliver my dishes on time. At work, we are working on a big deliverable. Outside of school and work, I have had friends visit (and stay) every weekend since the week before Thanksgiving. We had our firm holiday party in Washington, DC, on Saturday and I am heading back Thursday for a team celebration. I worry that I am so busy that I am not enjoying things as much as I used to, not savoring every moment like I want to.
I actually missed my grandmother's 89th birthday last week. I just totally forgot... I only remembered today.
I used to read other culinary students blogs and think, "Interesting that they started a blog and didn't continue. People have no discipline." Now I wonder, do I have no discipline? Am I just like the rest?
Maybe culinary school has a way of taking over. Everything is so fast-paced - class, the exam schedules, etc. They expect you to learn so quickly, and practice at home, and you do... or I did and do. I find that I am a totally different person in the kitchen today. But still I am just exhausted. I dread the alarm.