Winterizing the Cherries

Some of you might remember an old post about my cherry orchard. Of course I highlighted to joys of picking your own cherries straight from the tree, which is the end all reason for getting cherries in the first place in my opinion... but there needs to be some maintenance through out the year to keep those trees producing bountiful fruit.

Back in Bulgaria

My adventure at the CIA has lead me back to Bulgaria.  Despite my desire to inform readers every step of the way on my 30 week journey through freshman year, I failed to keep up with the workload that it required.  I am about to begin an externship at the same place I completed my food service experience portion of the CIA admission process.  They have offered me a position, which is really quite an opportunity, while it doesn't have the prestige of some of my other Michelin star offerings, I will really have the opportunity to experience many diverse tasks in the kitchen.  Had I chosen to go to Per Se (which has been offered to me) I would have spend 18 weeks chopping vegetables, not to say that is bad, but not where I eventually hope to be at the end of my path.

My return to Bulgaria was quite anticipated.  I was counting the moments till I was home and back with my family, who returned a week before I did.  All I could think of was tomatoes; ripe and borderline illegally delicious... We stopped at the shops on the way home from the airport for Bulgarian feta and some pink tomatoes... we had cucumbers in the garden and for anyone who has ever been in Bulgaria know that these are the makings of a Shopska Salad.  I decided that this salad would be my last meal (going to the chair... last meal), provided it was August and everything was in season.  It is so good that I don't even need a crusty loaf of bread to sop up the juices, which if you have ever eaten a Shopska in Bulgaria, knows the delectable goodness of bread overflowing with juice... even if it can be in poor taste.

My dedication to blogging has wavered slightly but, I will do my best to be more forthcoming in my communications and I will eventually start including more photos from my kitchen endeavors and gardening exploits!

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Why Being a Foodie Has Always Been Considered Elitist

This past April, Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and co-producer of Food Inc., wrote an article for the Washington Post titled “Why Being a Foodie isn’t Elitist”. I found this article particularly interesting, because within my own family, I constantly have to defend my love of food and devotion to local, organic or sustainable grown foods verses the commercial alternatives.  I assumed that this was a contemporary phenomenon only affecting our American modern gastronomes, but in reading Root’s and de Rochemont’s, Eating In America, it allowed me to see that throughout the history of America, this need to chastise those that value food has been present in all forms of society including politics. The Puritans went so far as to deem the richness of French sauces as a sign of the devil.

Nathan Myrhvald's 40lb Baby - Modernist Cuisine

Before I get into the book, I want to pause and give thanks to the wonderful man who I've been married to for almost 11 years.  Not many husband would support their wife, so completely that they consent to taking care of their two amazing children on another continent, while their wife pursues her passions for food.  When taking stock of the experiences that I am having, I need to reflect on the real person who made it possible; my darling husband.  I know in some posts or comments, I chide his lack of gastronomic enthusiasm, but I am foodie enough for the both of us. So, as I embrace another fantastic opportunity at the CIA, I have only him to thank! (Our family will be reunited in 54 days, when the girls finish school)

I love books.  I am a junky for those tactile passports to literary pleasure, screw Kindle, iPad, Nook and all other crannies.  Give me something that I can hold on to, pages I can flip at my leisure or take with me in the bathtub.  Oh yeah, the sixth volume a companion book is completely waterproof... perfect for the experimental kitchen/lab or some tub-time reading.

Ferran Adria comes to the CIA

I think I should start out by saying I am not a huge fan of "molecular gastronomy". This is not to say that if someone offered me 2 seat at El Bulli, I wouldn't max out my credit cards and hop on the first flight to Barcelona. Absolutely! These chefs (Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Grant Achatz, Wylie Dufresne etc.) are redefining food and cuisine as we know it.  They are pushing boundaries and forever broadening ideas about food.  But, while I am crafting my culinary education, I want to focus on learning perfection, finesse and working with the highest quality seasonal ingredients available. I don't want to waste time learning gels, foams and other techniques that I don't foresee myself utilizing in the future.

Week 4: How to Make Kombucha

I am a bad blogger, but my sacrifice to my love of blogging is only because of my aptitude to succeed at the Culinary Institute of America. I would say that I am slightly obsessed with studying, while I am a nerd, I have this compulsive need to absorb as much information possible. Naturally, you would think my "over achieving" (a comment that has been derogatorily passed my way) would guarantee straight A's but unfortunately there has been a A- or two tossed into the mix, which are still good and respectable grades, just not for me.

As the weeks slip away, my blog posts mound up. There is so much I want to share, but don't know where to begin. I had a revelation just now in the shower that my blog has become that great friend you have that suddenly got busy (new baby, married, moved away, new job etc...). There is a lapse in communication and then you come to the point where you start putting off calling that person because you know it is going to be a really long phone call, to say everything that you want to say, then weeks turns into months.... I hope you get where I am going with this... Anyway, I found myself with a solid hour and decided it was time to make that "phone call", so here it goes... A re-cap of Week 4.

This is week four of our six week B block classes. My classmates and I are getting really itchy to get out of our business causal monkey suits and into our whites and start touching food.

Week 3: Getting our Chef Whites

Reaching the half way mark on our journey through B block, brought about a gastronomy tasting and sniffing, a Tuscan wine tasting, and picking up my "whites".  While these were some of the high points, they by no means encompassed the whole of the week.