I swear I cook.

I cook. Don't worry, I'm better at cooking than I am at blogging. Let's see what I can get out to you while I'm home in bed sick today.

I am almost through with the Pattiserie and Baking Program at Le Cordon Bleu Seattle, and I must say Dad, you were right! (shock! lol). It's a great school, but in a nine month program everything is so fast. You know that whole tip-of-the-iceburg analogy? Spot. On. 9 months of too-much, too-fast, somewhat out of date baking education for $18,000, or your local community college for a 2 year degree.

Dear Dad, 
I really just wanted the brand name. Apparently brand name education doesn't automatically upload everything I'll ever need to know right into my brain. You were right, I was ...misled (I'm a woman, and therefore never -actually- wrong). Dwell on this moment. 

Don't get me wrong. Le Cordon Bleu is a great school. Most of my chef instructors have been great. They are very knowledgeable and will work you hard, but sometimes if feels like initiation into a gang or something. My first instructor made us do everything by hand. I mean we were standing at our stainless steel tables whisking egg whites and sugar by hand for our meringues and whipping up our own heavy cream. We spend probably a whole week on meringues. It was torture. Then my very next class our chef just laughed and said pull out the mixers! All teachers teach differently, that is true in any school.

Cooking is my passion, but after attending this school I wonder how passionate I really am. If I didn't have the military paying for 70% of it (thanks to my AwEsOmE step dad) I am +positive+ I wouldn't have signed my life away in student loans for this. Maybe for the local community college though. I'm just saying, before you decide on a school because it'll rock your resume, make sure it's really what you want. Make sure you are getting what you are paying both time and money for.

If you like to cook, then cook. You don't have to attend a high end culinary school to do that. Learning in your own kitchen is the most fun way to go (and no one knows when your cream puffs don't puff, or you over-whip your heavy cream). If you have the means, go to school for it. Just think about what you really want out of your education; the name, or the knowledge.

So out of all the recipes I've gotten in school, I have a few that were tasty. Here we go!