After spending the last couple of weeks in confusion about how to properly sharpen a knife, I woke up this morning and watched a video on About.com on how to sharpen a knife with a whetstone. So, I did and my knife was so sharp that I was able to cut through a blueberry without squishing it. The use of the butterfly clip really helped.

This is the end of week two at the W Hotel and my first week at the Terrace. I like working up there infinitely better. I feel like I am learning and inspired to get better and faster. I cut another watermelon today with a bit more luck and I got to try the seabass coated in a mint-basil batter today. Delicious! There were a couple of times that I got overwhelmed today, but I think I kept up alright.

I went (rushed) to the culinary club today after work. Since I was one of four students in the room, I am now the co-president of the culinary club. We will be hosting a cup cake competition to raise money and awareness for the club. I'll be looking into nearby butchers to help set up a field trip.

Floor R

This morning, I started my first day on the roof. I did a quick tour of the upstairs and got to see The White House and waved to the snipers. Working upstairs and during the day seems far less intense than downstairs in the steakhouse. I now cook for POV Roof Terrace. Here's a link to a review of the place: Washington Post Review.
In addition to garde manger, I also cook hot appetizers (Read: Ding. Fries are done).

Martha's Vineyard, I mean Marta's Garden

We went to Marta's garden today and her husband talked to us about The Growing Connection. It is a global network of a type of garden that uses minimal resources and can be grown just about anywhere. Their particular garden was organic. Here's some cherry tomatoes on the vine. Beautiful color:

Here's some of the loot:

The results? A mozzarella basil tomato salad, pasta with pesto and pasta with stir fried vegetables. It was fresh, wholesome and delicious!

In the Food Safety and Sanitation class, Chef Fleckinstein recommended Taylor brand digital thermometers. He also noted that the Lexington Fisherman's Wharf at New York had very high sanitation standards.

Today was my first day team leading. Items that a team leader need to check for:
- Uniforms
- Mise en place
- Recipe cards
- Understand vocab
- Do demonstration of new concepts

Our team had to make all six soup recipes in one day rather than spread it out over the course of two days because tomorrow we are going to Marta's home to see her garden. It was slight chaos today, but we finished out our soups. I made the clam chowder and the cream of broccoli soup with Sterling. Our product turned out really well. Sterling wanted to add more salt to the cream of broccoli, but instead we added chicken base per Chef Lipford's suggestion. It tasted much better because it had more flavor, but was not too salty.

Several of my classmates are extraordinarily interested in molecular gastronomy. The Big Fat Duck Cookbook was brought up as an excellent cookbook for molecular gastronomists.

We made Bechemel and Veloute today. We learned that Bechemel must be strained to get rid of the specks. A watery Veloute can be fixed by adding more roux. The butter that we used was not clarified very well and had residual scum. It did not make a large difference when making an opaque sauce.

Ben's Chili Bowl

Audrey and I headed over to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl in Dupont Circle. The chili cheese dog I ordered was delicious! MMM...They had a sign posted that I thought was amusing:

People who eat here for free:
Bill Cosby
The Obama Family (but he paid)

Marta shared with the class that her husband works for the UN created an organic garden that can grow with limited resources. We will be planning a field trip out to the garden that is part of The Growing Connection.

Chef Lipford asked Ty and Jonathan to make a hollandaise sauce for the the class to observe. It was a pale yellow and seemed to be very acidic.

I asked the chef what pointers he had for someone like me, with zero experience to get a job with in the restaurant industry. He basically told me to show enthusiasm and passion for the field. Volunteering is another great way to gain experience, Martha's Table was brought up as a good place to volunteer.

Art and Soul was brought up as a restaurant to try, the owner was a personal chef for Oprah and recently competed on Top Chef: Masters. The Little Inn at Washington was also brought up as a nice classic restaurant to try.

Online Journal Entries

As part of my skills class, we are required to keep a journal and I thought that it would be pretty fun to post the journal as a blog.

Put the Brakes On!

Cuz my vegetarianism has come to a screeching halt. I baked some yummy bun bread last night to go with the yummy burgers that Rick made today.
Here's the bread/work in progress:Here's what the completed masterpiece looks like:

YUMMY!!!

Ft. Wayne Farmer's Market

Yay! I've gone to the local farmer's market for the past three weeks and it's been really nice. Here's a snapshot of Rick and I at the market.
And a delicious little lemon cupcake made by Celebrations Bakery.

Prancer and Vixen (title will make some, not much more sense after you read the post)

I went to three coffee houses in the past two days! Wow! What an effort! We'll talk about them in the order of appearance.

Firefly
Last night, after an unsuccessful attempt to run, I wanted to treat myself to a coffeehouse/blogging experience. So fond of those, so many hours spent in a coffee shop typing and letting a stream of consciousness escape from my fingertips. Anyway, back to the coffeehouse. It was a long and narrow-hallway-like layout. The menu was vibrant and typical boho style complete with brick walls. The drinks were your typical 4 bux a pop. I ordered the firefly smoothie, so I wouldn't be up all night from the caffeine in my usual drink. I don't recollect any music playing in the background, which could have contributed to why I thought the place was a little off. Cute place, don't know if I'd be calling it my next Cafe Royale anytime soon.

Higher Grounds
After a free trial yoga session at Nameste Yoga, I spotted Higher Grounds across the way and decided to pop in for a drink. I liked it. It had all kinds nooks and crannies. It also seemed to have higher hygienic standards than that of Firefly. Not wanting to ruin my calmness from the yoga session, I ordered a chai latte with some chocolate flavoring. It was a good drink. As I was sitting and staring out the window, vigorously scribbling my thoughts onto some old receipts, I remembered that I had another appointment, so I dashed out of there quickly. This Higher Grounds location is a good candidate for my new coffee home.

Dash-In
It was such a beautiful day outside that I REALLY wanted to sit outdoors for a while and read. I decided to head downtown and grab a snack on the way. So, I dashed in to Dash-In. Nice place, didn't like the waitress. It also had a very open floor plan and the requisite brick walls. Although, I was not highly impressed with the ambiance (which didn't matter because my order was to go), the food was delicious! They had turned off their grill so I could only order off half of the menu. I purchased a turkey pita and it was bliss in my mouth!

Just Ducky

I went to Wegman's while I was out and about in VA. I heard that their cupcakes were quite yummy, so naturally I had to buy a four pack of cupcakes. They were pretty lackluster. The vanilla was slightly better than the chocolate, but nothing I'd be rushing to purchase or recreate.

Waaaay Late

Rick took me to Joeseph Decuis for Valentine's day. It was one of the most memorable Valentine's Day's I have ever had, far exceeding any expectations. They had a limited selection available for Valentine's Day. This is what we ordered:

Amuse Bouche:
A lobster bisque with a lemon grass foam

Appetizers:
Ahi Tuna served on a Kimchee pancake with a wasabi cream sauce
Indian chicken samosas delicious with the chutney and an annoyed Rick (I was taking too many photos)

Entree:
Filet mignon osso bucco served atop a bed of creamy polenta with mushrooms and truffle oil. The meat fell off the bone. Wow, it was so delicious and although the meat was supposed to be the highlight, I could have eaten a bowl of the polenta.

Macadamia nut encrusted seabass

Ginger mousse on meringue disc
Chocolate cake

Ambiance was nice, felt like I was dining in a cellar. Overall it was a fantastic meal coupled with a fantastic date.