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So this week went really fast, which is pretty ok, since we have a 3 day weekend. We’re not doing a whole lot, just hanging out with some friends, relaxing, etc. If I’m feeling really ambitious I might do some stuff in the yard, but I think that’s probably pretty unlikely. Jon just started the last class of his undergraduate career; in 5 weeks he’ll have his degree. Way to go sweetie!

On a related note, Julia’s last day of high school was today. It made me think that I’m getting old; I remember when she was 9 years old. It also made me think about my own memories of high school. Ahh….it’s like it was just yesterday (cue sappy music)…oh wait, nevermind….there’s not enough money in the world to make me want to be a teenager again!

So we’re working on cakes in class this week (and last week and next week) and I must say if I never eat another cake for the rest of my life I won’t be too upset. Today I made an Alhambra cake, which for those non-pastry inclined of my readers, is a very moist chocolate hazelnut cake filled with whipped ganache (essentially truffle filling) and glazed with dark chocolate. It turned out really well, it was the first cake that I’ve made that actually looked like something you might see in a bakery. Here it is. The roses turned out really well; they’re made out of marzipan. I guess all that playdough I used to play with served me well.

So Jon got his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday, so we spent this weekend pretty much taking it easy. He said that it wasn’t too bad, but his mouth was still sore. I took pity on his inability to eat solid food and made him some soup. I’d never made soup before, which is kinda wierd when you think about it, being in culinary school and all. Anyways, I reached for my “How to Cook Everything” cookbook (by Mark Bittman) which is what I do whenever I make something for the first time. I ended up making split pea with ham and cream of tomato soup, and damn, they were both pretty tasty. I’m not a big soup eater in general, it makes my stomach feel all sloshy, but the pea soup was really thick, almost more like a stew kinda thing, and I enjoyed it too.

Other than that, we just relaxed all weekend, no yardwork since it was off-and-on rainy, and the yard was pretty muddy. We rented “Timeline” which totally sucked, but so did the book so I wasn’t expecting much. We also watched “Stuck on You” which, although waaaay better than “Timeline,” was still kinda lame.

Hopefully Jon will heal quickly so I can stop being so nice to him all the time

So I’m a major geek, but it’s ok; I’m comfortable with my geekiness. I have this totally immature and silly (but very real) fascination with vampire stuff. I’ve probably read a bajillion vampire books, I always see the movies the day they come out (although I thought Van Helsing was kinda lame) and of course I watched Buffy religiously when it was on. And when Angel was spun off as its own series, I watched that too. But alas, Buffy ended last season, leaving my Tuesday nights meaningless. And tonight was the series finale of Angel. So no more vampirey goodness on tv.

Without giving away the ending, I was left feeling rather unfufilled by the whole thing. I mean, I didn’t expect a happy ending; that wouldn’t have been believable. But it didn’t even seem like it had an ending. I would have been ok with a big downer, even, I just wanted some closure. But I guess since Joss Whedon isn’t dropping me emails asking for advice, my opinion doesn’t mean a whole lot. Overall, the episode was good, I just think that it ended rather abruptly. But it could just be that I didn’t want it to end at all.

I wouldn’t be such a whiny bitch about it, but Angel was one of the very few shows on network tv that I actually watched. It’s ok though, I’ll just spend that time reading instead.

So we finished up the practical exam in class today, and after three mornings of getting there at 6 am instead of 7 to get things done, I must say it’s a relief to be done. I ended up getting an A, so it was worth the work, but I wasn’t perfectly happy with everything; some of my glazes weren’t shiny (they got too warm in the classroom last night) and there were some other little nitpicky issues. Overall though, I feel like I learned a lot, and that’s what’s important. Next time someone asks me to make petit fours though, I’m running in the other direction.

Pictures from the practical can be found here.

So I feel like I should write something, but I can’t really think of anything to write. Right now I’m listening to “The Scientist” by Coldplay. It’s a pretty kick ass song. I like most of Coldplay’s music, although not as much as I like Travis. They’re both good mellow bands though. It’s funny how certain songs make you think of things in your own life, like your own personal soundtrack. I always think of my friend Kim whenever I hear any Guns’n'Roses, or any Aerosmith. When I hear Bon Jovi, I think of Jon and Jonah singing Karaoke in Japan, and it always makes me smile. Then there are some songs that don’t have a particular person associated with them, just a period in time. It’s amazing the things that will come back to you when you listen to a song that you haven’t heard for a while. Now I’m listening to “Barry Williams Show” by Peter Gabriel, which is also a really good song. Peter Gabriel music in general is pretty cool, it’s really eclectic; every song sounds different.

So I guess that’s all for tonight, if something eventful happens tomorrow I’ll write again, but I’m thinking I’ll prolly wait until this weekend.

So this is the last week of our most recent 3 wk class at school, so we have a practical, which basically means we have the week to make the items we’ve learned to make in the last 2 wks and present them on Friday to be graded. This particular class was focused on basic pastries, so our practical is a presentation of 12 different types of buffet-sized pastries. Buffet sized means they’re about half the size of what you would buy from a bakery in a case.

So in the next 4 days, I’m making Palmiers, Cream Puff Swans, Eclairs, Napoleons, Strudel, Baklava, Cream Horns, Meringue Tarts, Opera Cake, Petit Fours, Florentines, and Coconut Tartlets. None of these things are super complicated, although some of them have to be done over several days, but it takes a lot of planning to get everything done and looking pretty by 10am on Friday. Not to mention, what the hell am I going to do with all that stuff after its been graded? Anyways, it’s been occupying my mind for the last couple of days, and I’ll be glad to be done on Friday afternoon. And this Saturday, I’m going to try something different and NOT bake anything.

So I just wanted to say happy Mother’s Day and I love you to my mom and mother-in-law. I hope you both had good days and Jon and I are sorry that we couldn’t spend them with you.

So I finally feel like I have some friends here in Oregon. I consider myself a pretty social person, but while I’m adept at making acquaintences out of strangers, I feel that I lack the ability to turn most of those acquaintences into friends.
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So after living in our house for 7 months, we finally decided to do something with the weedpatch that has been our backyard. When we had the house built, everything was done for us except for the yard, which was essentially a blank canvas; an 8×10 patio and a bunch of dirt. So of course instead of doing the logical thing and finishing the yard right away, we had to wait for 7 months of weeds to grow in before we got down to landscaping.

We don’t have any plants in yet, but we put in a couple of flower beds, pulled all the weeds, and put down black landscaping fabric. Even though there’s nothing green out there yet, it’s still a vast improvement. Next weekend we’re going to lay a gravel/ stepping stone path and another little patio area to put a table and chairs. Hopefully I’ll get some plants planted this week after class.

All in all, it was a lot of hard work, but I can see why people get really into gardening; it’s gratifying to see the major improvements you can make if you really work at it. Jon has a couple of pics of the yard up, but once it’s done we’ll take some with the regular camera and post them in the gallery.