Plating: Finals for T1!

Hello there-

Sorry about the lack of posting in the past couple of weeks, I hate to make excuses but they have been very busy and stressful. Last week was finals for my first term of my culinary diploma program that I am taking this year at Oregon Culinary Institute. It's crazy how fast this first term went by, in total it was 40 week days but it seemed more like a week to me. So far this week has been filled with adjusting to learning in a new kitchen (my second term started Monday), planning my christmas break (finding cheap tickets around the holidays is impossible), and taking poor, sick Willow to multiple vets. She has been sick since Saturday and they are still trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with her! It seems that every vet we see has a different diagnosis. Hopefully we figure it out soon and she gets better quickly!

Back to last week, for our finals we had to produce two FULL entrees. This means that we needed to make a total of two proteins, two starches, two veggies, and two sauces in less than two hours. We worked in groups of four and I think that our group finally hit our stride during this week. It seemed that each day had it's own challenges but we managed to finish everything on time, every day. It was both relieving and sad as we finished our last kitchen clean up on Thursday because we would never be a class again but we also never had to stress over making recipe cards, schedules, equipment lists, or ingredient lists for the next few days! Here are some of the dishes that my group made, unfortunately I didn't take photos every day (I was pretty tired and scattered brained by the end)

Pan-fried chicken breast // fresh pasta with lemony-alfredo sauce // steamed asparagus

Sage brined pork tenderloin // creamy mushroom risotto // spiced roasted butternut squash //
robert sauce

Grilled pork-chop with apple stuffing // creamy polenta cakes // grilled mushrooms, onions, and
peppers // modern demi-glace (Check out those grill marks!)

Mushroom and prosciutto stuffed chicken cordon bleu // braised collards // creamy polenta //
mornay sauce

Roasted chicken leg and thigh // bacon butter // sautéed brussels sprouts // mashed potatoes
// gravy

Thai red curry // braised pork shoulder // stewed cauliflower // basmati rice pilaf

Again, sorry for my complete lack of photo quality (especially on the blurry pork tenderloin) we can't bring cameras into the kitchen (as far as I know of) so cell phone photos will have to do!

Check back here tomorrow, I am hoping to post about a fun diy that Matt and I have been working on for the past few weeks and I'm excited to show you!

Have a good night!

xx -c