End of the Year Update (2011): Culinary School, Jobs, and the Blog

You may want to get a snack or a drink before you sit down and start reading this, because there's a lot to catch you up on. A lot...

The weekend before Christmas, I spent three-and-a-half glorious days with my boyfriend and friends in Greenville, SC—we ate, drank, roamed around downtown, and attended a beautiful wedding and reception for two college friends (she was in my sorority and he was in John's fraternity—fun connection to have!).

Me and John at the wedding

It was the perfect way to help close out the year, except for the fact that I left for home on that Monday with a cold. I got through two days of work and last minute Christmas shopping before heading out of town to visit my grandmothers and family for Christmas. Ever since I was a little girl, we've always spent Christmas Eve with my paternal grandmother, and Christmas day with my maternal grandmother and the handful of aunts, uncles, and cousins I have on that side of the family. This year was a little different, though still a lot of fun, but, unfortunately for me, my cold transformed into a severe sinus infection, which I'm still battling now.

 

There were no hours available for me to pick up at Macy's this week, so I had grand plans of using this week to buckle down on my job search, cook a ton of new dinners, and try out my brand new creme brulee torch, but I can't really focus on anything for more than a few minutes and I have absolutely no sense of taste (as a lover of food and cooking, this is absolutely killing me right now!), so all of those options are out. Sitting here now in my extremely muddled up bed (I haven't really been sleeping well—I can't breathe at all through my nose), my nose red and raw and my lips dry and cracked, I figured now would be a good time to write an update post, since I'm not really able to do much else and the blog is in dire need of an update, so here we go...

On Culinary School...
Back in October, I spent a long weekend in Greenville, SC, back for my first college Homecoming. I hung out at the football game (we won, against Wofford, so that was pretty cool), dined out with friends, did a little bar-hopping, and caught up with former classmates. I planned my visit so that I'd have that following Monday and Tuesday to drive up through North Carolina and visit the two Art Institutes I've been researching and considering applying to for the culinary arts program. One school is located in Charlotte, a city I'm totally smitten with since returning home from my visit, and the other is located in Durham, a city a little further away from friends and family than I'd like but that still has some interesting sites to see and activities to do. Each school was housed in a nice building, with clean, light-filled (they had windows!) kitchens, good facilities, and an array of students. The Art Institute of Charlotte is located back in a wooded, beautifully landscaped business park, built next to a small pond and fountain and surrounded by trees. The kitchens looked a little smaller than the kitchens I take classes in now, but they had big windows that faced out onto trees and greenery, and they had viewing windows that allow people in the hallway inside to look in at what's going on in the kitchens (I got to see a chef demonstrating how to make a variety of sushi rolls and sashimi in the main kitchen, and watched students work on making apple pies in the bake shop). The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham (located in Durham) was similarly set up, but had a very unique building space—it, along with many other businesses, design firms, and restaurants, is located inside a renovated tobacco factory/warehouse, creating a really unique class space that's fresh and new (the renovations took place just a few years ago). Both schools had a lot to offer, but having been unemployed up until just a week or so before this trip (I got hired as a part time, contingent sales associate in the women's shoe department at my local Macy's at the beginning of October), and having lived at home with my parents for many months, my views on culinary school had been changing. I absolutely loved my culinary classes at my local community college—in fact, I'm taking a baking class there this spring—and I love to work with food. Food and cooking are incredibly important to me, but I've really had to rethink how I want and need to incorporate them into my life. When I first started thinking about culinary school, I think I was attracted to the idea of escaping the real world for a little longer and of having a reason to get of my parent's house (yes, a job would do this too, but I wasn't thinking about that then). I knew I would love it, and as I worked through my culinary classes, I realized that I would more than likely be pretty good at it too...in fact, I still believe that—I believe I would love culinary school and excel at it—but when I gave it real thought and considered my reasons for going or not going as well as the pros and cons, I realized that I don't want to go to culinary school, and I don't need culinary school for what I want to do. I want to be a freelance food writer, but I don't want to do that full time. I want to cook and bake as much as I can, but I don't need to go to culinary school to do that. I've taken culinary classes, so I know I'll never look back and regret not going to culinary school, because I did, even if only for a few semesters, and I loved it. I want to get a job. I want to move. I want to cook and bake in my very own apartment. I don't need to go to culinary school to do any of these things. So, that is perhaps the biggest update and the most important: I am not going to apply or attend culinary school, beyond taking classes at the community college while I'm still living at home.

On Getting a "Real" Job...
While I do want to do some freelance work as a food writer, that's all it would be: freelance. Not full time, not stable. I want to do it for fun and this blog is a good place to start. To be honest, my dream job would be to work on a food magazine, but I'd be happy simply working on almost any sort of small publication (preferably not newspapers though—not a fan of that style of writing). I'm also interested in publishing (it would be great to get involved with book publishing—it's changing so much now!) and I'm considering other options, like PR and Advertising, and I'm researching beyond even those possibilities. Being an English major is hard, because it doesn't lead you toward a particular career, but it's great because it gives you options because of the skills you learn for that degree. My biggest hang up with this whole job thing was deciding where to go—my boyfriend, John, is in law school in Memphis, but I wasn't too excited about living there on my own; I love Greenville, where I went to school, but there aren't a lot of jobs opportunities relating to what I want to do there; and really, all I knew was that I wanted to be down South. After a lot of thought, and discussion with John and friends and family, I've decided to look primarily at Charlotte, NC and look a little bit at Charleston, SC and Greenville (hey, something may just pop up there...who knows.). I was really impressed with the Charlotte area when I visited in October—there are a lot of job opportunities there, it's close to friends and not too terribly far from family, and I think it would be a great place to start off. I've been to Charleston many times and love it (except for that intense humid heat in the summertime)—I know a ton of people there, it's a great city, and John and I have both talked about living there someday when we're married because it has so much to offer, but I'm thinking Charleston will come later in life. So, this is what I know: I want to focus my job search on Charlotte (and check out Charleston and Greenville too; I'm also open to other places if I find a great opportunity) and I'm primarily looking at jobs in the publishing industry and jobs involving small publications.

On Updating the Blog...
When I first started this blog, I envisioned it as a place for me to share recipes, restaurant reviews, and cooking tips, with room to grow and incorporate the "reading" and "writing" in the title by possibly including book reviews and the occasional literary-themed post. What it turned into was a collection of recipes and a few random non-recipe posts, and looking back on that, it makes me feel a little disappointed. Yes, my readership has grown and I've gotten positive feedback, but I want to give my readers more. I've been busy with work and class, but not so busy that I can't find time to update more than once a week and add in some new posting topics. My new goal is to start branching out and posting more often and about more things. I want to have at least one, maybe two, "theme" days that will hold me accountable and ensure that I post every week, even during the weeks when I have no time or energy to cook. I love the idea of a "Techniques Tuesday," a post with cooking tips and techniques that would go up every Tuesday. Recipes are great, but if you don't know how to properly handle food and employ common cooking techniques, you're going to have a hard time recreating recipes and creating your own. I continue to educate myself in the kitchen each time I cook or bake and I think it's important to educate my readers. I also want to share a little more about my life. I don't want my blog to be "me, me, me" because, frankly, I don't like blogs like that, and I don't really need my readers to know every little thing about me, but I do want to share personal anecdotes a little more often—just a short post here and there to break the monotony of recipe after recipe (though you should still check out the recipes!). I also kind of like the idea of incorporating in some sort of book reviews or something like that to tie into the rest of my blog title, but I'm still working through what I want to do, if anything—review food blogs? Or food-related books and magazines? Or any sort of book that I read? I'll figure it out. So, you, the reader, should expect more updates in this new year and more variety in my posts. It's going to take some time to make the change, but I really want to improve my blog, and in turn, improve my writing and my cooking skills.

Well, I've written entirely too much and, during the time I've taken to write this, my nose has decided to accept that it really needs to drain, so now I've got this great runny-stuffy nose thing going on, and I think a bubble bath might be just the thing I need right now. I'm not sure when I'll be over this sinus infection and able to cook again, but you can bet there's going to be a slew of new recipe posts in the next few weeks after I'm better. Be on the lookout for more baking recipes, because I'll be learning a lot in my Bake 1 class, and stay tuned for those "Technique Tuesday" posts and maybe another themed post. Thanks for all of the support and please feel free to Like my Facebook page or add yourself as a follower directly on the blog.

Robert Irvine told me I had a great smile, and other stories from the Fabulous Food Show

So, the Sunday before last (the 13th), my dad and I spent the day in Cleveland, OH at the Fabulous Food Show, and, well, we had a fabulous time! The event is held at the I-X Center, a huge exposition center with, I bet, enough room to fit several airplanes, so there was plenty of room to move around and space for a lot of stands, stages, and displays. We were pleasantly surprised by the By Hand artisan expo set up at the front of the center, a sort of bonus show on top of the main event. This annual expo features a slew of artisans selling their handmade works—glasswork, photography, clothing, jewelry, woodwork, pottery—and just about everything we saw was beautiful and unique (except all of the hippie clothes...tie-dye tee shirts are nothing special or original, people!). My dad got this really unique wine barrel tray (the artisan takes wine crates, cuts the logo side out and fashions it into a serving tray) and these beautiful woodcraft Christmas tree ornaments. I found some beautiful earrings made with handmade polymer clay beads (they are so intricate and beautiful) and we found some gifts for my mother. Perhaps my favorite purchases were some beautiful cherry wood kitchen tools and accessories from Jonathan's Wild Cherry Spoons—the craftsman had these absolutely perfect wooden spoons/spatulas that I was so happy to find. Unlike traditional wooden spoons/spatulas, which are typically straight and a little hard to work with, these have the perfect weight and feel and they are slightly curved, which makes them so much easier to work with. We have one at home that my mom bought a few years ago, but we haven't seen anything like it since then, so I was incredibly excited when I saw these in the craftman's booth (I bought 3!). Seeing all of these artists showing off and selling their works and seeing how much they loved what they did was great to see, and, obviously, I'm very happy with our purchases (all of which are being "forgotten" about and saved for Christmas ;D ).

Now, the food show area featured various small stage areas, where shows were going on throughout the day—everything from lectures about food to cooking demos to kitchen tool demos—and a majority of the rest of the space was filled with rows of stands, some selling food, others selling knives or kitchen cabinetry, and still others selling farm goods and bath products made with all-natural ingredients. There was a wine-tasting area and wine store, a restaurant, a cookbook store, and a decorated cake display, and all of this was off to the side of a huge curtained area, containing the main stage, where five celebrity chefs (Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Duff Goldman, Robert Irvine, and Michael Symon) held shows throughout the weekend (this is an annual 3-day event in the fall, and there's another show in the spring). My dad offered me two (yes two—I am a lucky, lucky girl!) VIP tickets for whichever celebrity chef shows I wanted to see (I have a post about this here), and, because of other commitments going on this weekend, we chose to go to the shows on Sunday, which was just fine by me, because I got to see and meet Robert Irvine (Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America Season 2, Restaurant: Impossible) and Michael Symon (ABC's The Chew, Iron Chef America, and far too many more to name) and it was absolutely amazing.

The main stage

Robert Irvine's show was up first and he was so much fun to watch and even better to meet! He's always so intense—yelling, ordering people around, smashing things—on his shows (I'm mostly thinking about Restaurant: Impossible, which I watch all the time), but on stage here, he was sarcastic, witty, passionate, and so fun to watch. His show was very casual, but still informative—he had an audience member help him on stage (she was pretty funny and did a good job) and he did a Q&A at the end (which included a girl asking for a hug and another girl asking to feel his muscles, haha). He made a mixed drink featured in this month's Thanksgiving Food Network magazine and this delicious-smelling ruben burger and he was more than happy to talk about the restaurants he helps on his show and give some thoughts on his recent loss on The Next Iron Chef (he was definitely bummed out, but still joking, especially since Michael Symon was right there backstage—the two of them are good friends and had some fun during Symon's show joking about The Next Iron Chef). After the show, we were taken backstage to a little room set up with dining tables and a light lunch and Robert Irvine showed up a few minutes later. We had plenty of time to talk to him, get autographs, and take pictures. I had him sign his cookbook (the VIP package included a free cookbook) and my apron—I joked with him about whether or not my chef instructor would let me into class with autographs all over my nice white apron, so he wrote a little note in my cookbook telling chef that he was to allow me to where it to class. :D Very funny. We chatted about how my boyfriend, John, and I watch Restaurant: Impossible each week as a sort of "date night" and he thought that was pretty cool. All in all, he was a great guy!—Very funny, sarcastic, and down to earth. So happy to have met him (oh, and as the title of the post says, he told me I have a great smile :D )!

"How much Crown Royal should we add? Oh, the whole bottle? Yeah, let's do that."

Me and Robert Irvine :D

Michael Symon's show was up next and it was a completely different, but still very cool, experience. His show was more structured and ran more like a cooking show or class. He answered questions throughout the show and had some culinary students up on stage with him to observe his cooking. He made a braised pork shank with brussel sprouts and gave some great advice about when and how to brine meats and how to make a vinaigrette, all while lamenting that fact that the Cleveland Browns were losing their game, which was going on during his show. At one point during the show, a plate was sent out with something like "What about the peanuts?" written on it with some sort of sauce—it was from Robert Irvine, a joke about his peanut dish that ended up getting him sent home from The Next Iron Chef. He came out on stage to joke around with Michael Symon and the two of them started talking about muscles and how, even though Robert Irvine has a built upper body, his calves are skinny, so they stood side by side and compared legs—so funny! After the show, we went back to the same room with dining tables and more food and Michael Symon came in and spent a little time with each table of people. When he made his way over to us, we talked a little bit about my culinary classes and favorite sports teams, got a picture and some autographs, and then we were done. He was really calm, cool, and collected—you can tell he's spent a lot of time in the public eye, doing interviews and working with fans. He's a really nice guy and he's so passionate about what he does!

He loves meat. A lot. He said so.

Me, Michael Symon, and my dad

After Michael Symon's show, we were free to roam around and our first stop was the wine tasting section. We had some great whites and reds, from various parts of the world, but I think my favorite was a French white wine called Lillet—it's very sweet, kind of like Canadian ice wine, but it has a beautiful flavor. It's highly recommended as an addition to a mixed drink—something as simple as seltzer water with a splash of lime—and I'd love to play around with it in drinks. After the tasting, we headed over to a gourmet chocolate stand and sampled everything from chocolate-covered bacon to key lime chocolate truffles. My favorite?—Chocolate-covered cheese doodles (or cheesy poofs, as I like to call them). It's weird, because I really don't like cheesy poofs that much, but they reminded me of chocolate-covered pretzels, with that mix of salt and sweet, and they were so good! After that, we just strolled up and down the aisles, tasting an assortment of dips, soups, sweets, and cheeses and ooo-ing and aww-ing over various kitchen knife displays and a cake show.

Mmm....food.

Honest Abe

After we finished up at the show, we drove over to the town of Hinckley, where we lived for 2 years when I was in elementary school, to see our old neighborhood and downtown. We stopped for dinner at the Winking Lizard, a restaurant with amazing wings and a great beer selection, that we used to go to all the time when we lived there. After three different plates of wings (Caribbean, Spicy BBQ, and Spicy Asian Sesame—so good!), loaded cheese fries, beer, and the Oreo Oblivion dessert, we were stuffed and ready to head home. It was an amazing day and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to meet two amazing chefs and spend a day surrounded by all things food.

I'm taking culinary classes this fall!

A few weeks ago, while discussing my hopes and plans for culinary school, my parents suggested I take a few courses at our local community college to get a little experience. They want me to be absolutely sure that culinary school is right for me (and I think they're hoping I'll decide to go to the community college full time rather than a culinary school out of state, because it's much cheaper), so the plan is for me to take two courses this fall, see how they go, and then discuss where I could go to school.

Because the culinary arts classes are credit courses, I had to apply to the school before I was able to register for courses. I received my acceptance letter at the beginning of this month and spoke with a woman from the culinary arts department about what I wanted to do with a culinary degree and what classes I should take. I called the school today, and after a few phone transfers, no luck logging on to my online account, and the reassurance that I didn't have to attend orientation or take a placement test, I was able to register for two culinary arts classes: FSM105 (Foods 1) and CUL130 (Basic Culinary Skills).


FSM105 (Foods 1)

Course description: "Introduction to food preparation and theory will introduce the student to the application of principles of food cookery. Principles relating to various categories of food preparation will be investigated and then applied in a laboratory situation. Sanitation and safety procedures will be emphasized. Uniforms and program tool kit required for all lab classes." 

Fridays: Lecture 8:00AM - 9:50AM & Laboratory 10:00AM - 1:35PM

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CUL130 (Basic Culinary Skills)

Course description: "This course is designed to prepare the student for entry level cook positions. Equipment usage care and safety will be demonstrated and practiced by the students. Basic preparation skills such as dicing, chopping, mincing, breading etc., will be demonstrated and practiced by the student. Uniforms and program tool kit required."

Wednesdays: Lecture 8:00AM - 8:50AM & Laboratory 9:00AM - 12:35PM

Class days are definitely going to be LONG, but I'm really excited! FSM105 starts August 19th and CUL130 starts Aug. 24th. I'm hoping to find a job this fall so I can raise a little money to put toward culinary school (because I doubt that dream of going to culinary school in North Carolina is going to leave me).

A little background on how I got to where I am and where I'm planning to go

I recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Furman University in Greenville, SC. Like many college seniors, I'd been struggling to determine what direction I'd go in after graduation and, even as I walked across the stage, shook President Smolla's hand, and received my diploma, I was still juggling the possibilities around in my head. During the school year, while my classmates were taking the GRE and an array of other tests, submitting grad school applications, and sending out resumes, I'd been wrapping my mind around the fact that I'd likely be returning home to western Pennsylvania for at least the summer, festering in my room, reading countless books and watching hours of TV.

Now, I don't want to sound like the college kid returned to the depths of her parents' basement, destined to work dead end jobs and not move out until the age of 30. I've had some ideas rolling around in my head and I've been putting my abundant free time to good use, researching various grad school and job options and thinking how to build on my internship experiences. I interned at a small publishing company in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2010, and while there, I was the Acquisitions Editor for a literary-themed online publication sponsored by the company. During the spring of 2011, when most of my classmates were coasting through their classes and nervously awaiting responses from grad schools and employers, I interned at a Greenville-based publishing company and worked on their business magazine. It was through these experiences that I came to realize that I'd enjoy working on small/local publications, particularly magazines. I love the idea of being able to work in any town or city and I love the idea of being able to do freelance work. I like the writing style and set up of magazines and I like that fact that they have a focus—lifestyle, fashion, travel, cooking, etc. So, with this knowledge, I'd been toying with the idea of returning to the South to pursue a masters degree in journalism. But something wasn't clicking—I had read through countless information packets that I requested from schools, but I wasn't excited about any of them. I'd spoken to my dad about my thoughts on journalism school and was surprised when one night he said "You know what? You should just forget about journalism and go to culinary school! I think you'd be good at it." Sounds like this was right out of left field, right? Well, surprisingly, I'd actually briefly considered that option. I had been reading up about freelance work and how to get more writing experience and I was finding that it really helps if you specialize in something, whether it's sports, food, parties, or medicine. Problem is, I don't have any specialization. I have a broad knowledge of many topics, but nothing extensive. So, when I thought to myself "Well, what would I really like to know more about and then write about?", my mind immediately went to cooking. I've enjoyed cooking for many years, ever since my cousin Kate let me tag along while she cooked dinner during my summer visits in middle school, and I have recently reunited with this love now that I'm out of my crappy campus apartment kitchen and back home in a kitchen with fresh herbs, All-Clad pots, and a gigantic sink. My dad's suggestion regarding culinary school came from the fact that he knew I enjoyed cooking, and, during that week alone, I'd made swordfish and spaghetti with citrus pesto, Italian mac&cheese, and prosciutto and spinach ravioli for the two of us while my mom was at the beach with her mother. So, I put his suggestion in the back of my head and continued on, trying to formulate a plan for my future but still feeling sort of lost.


Feeling like I was stuck in limbo, my boyfriend and I planned a trip to Greenville so we could spend time with each other and visit friends who are still living in the area. I really just needed a break and some time to relax and not worry about my future. Being at home and doing nothing career-oriented was driving me insane and I wanted to talk to friends about it, see what their plans were, and get feedback on the ideas I'd been thinking about. Turns out, this trip was just what I needed and, on the drive back home, I was feeling elated (despite the fact that I had 8.5 hours to drive). I'd had time to think about journalism school, I'd mentioned the idea of culinary school to friends, I'd been thinking about moving away from home, and suddenly everything clicked: culinary school. In the South. Perfect.

So here's my plan: Complete a certificate/diploma or associates program for culinary arts, then possibly pursue my masters in journalism, then work with a food-focused magazine(s) writing about what I love. And hey, maybe I'll even work as a private chef or small-scale caterer on the side.

I loved going to college in the South and I want to go back, so I've centered my culinary school search on North Carolina, a state I've been smitten with since a few trips there during my first year in college. I'm looking at the Art Institute of Charlotte, the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham, and Johnson & Wales in Charlotte. 


So now you know my background, my goals, and my plans. As for the point of this blog: it'll be a place for me to share recipes and restaurant reviews, write about my experience applying to culinary arts programs, and more. Hopefully soon, it will even be a place to share my experiences as a culinary student.