Oh my God, it is beautiful today! Fall is officially here. The sun is still shining, but there is that crisp breeze that can only mean fall. The trees are starting to change colors, and everyone is pulling out their sweaters. So, fall is here, right??? The most telling signal for me though, is that it feels like someone has pushed the restart button. Fall to me always feels like the starting point of the year. Not New Years. This is the time that everyone goes back to school...where new adventures await them.
In school there was always the question of who will the girls have a crush on this year? Who will become best friends? What will be every one's new favorite subject? At Patina, the Opera and Phil started their new seasons. The fall was full of Galas and the biggest parties. Fall always brought the question of what will the holidays bring? How much money will we make? Will we meet our goal for the year? Fall is the beginning of every cycle.
Now that I'm back in school and working part time jobs, fall brings a whole new beginning. My school schedule is divided into three week classes. So, every few weeks, things change. That hasn't meant a whole lot up until now. Oddly enough, with the onset of fall, the class changes are starting to feel real. Monday I start baking. I start something completely new and foreign, just like the beginning of every school year. I'm so afraid I will burn the kitchen down. Okay, not the whole kitchen, but at least everything I put into the oven. What if the bread doesn't rise? I've managed to ruin boxed brownies. How is making it from scratch going to go any better? I have learned at this school, there is no guarantee of anything. At least it is a new beginning. I have three weeks to figure out the rest.
Work is another story. This past month has been a struggle just to get through. I've been training at two jobs and working an inconsistent schedule. All I want is some constant. I want to know what each day is bringing and where I'll be going for that day. Fortunately, both jobs offered me more hours. Unfortunately, I was faced with making a decision....the one thing I'm horrible at. But I did it and am really hoping I made the right one. Next week I begin working 35 hours a week. I'm up for the challenge. I only hope that there is time to sleep somewhere between 35 hours of work and 25 hours of school. It will be like being at Patina again. Good thing I can't afford to have a social life. I have to use the energy and rebirth of fall to get me through it and into my rhythm.
I know I'm making it sound awful. It really isn't. I still love Boston and have not regretted moving for an instant. We are simply in a transitional phase and are working to have all the pieces fall together. I trust that one day we will be making money again and living the high life. We will be able to enjoy the city and all of its pleasures. Until then, we will stick to eating dinners at home and drinking Pabst. At least I'm getting lots of practice cooking.
So, here's to fall and all of the exciting adventures you will bring. I have hopes and wishes for you. Please bring the New England beauty and array of colors. That, above all else, will make it all worthwhile.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
photos for bianca
Next weekend, our good friends Bianca & Jaime are getting married. These two are high school sweethearts. Until meeting them, I didn't believe that could still happen. In my experience, your high school love is just a starting point. He/she becomes the person to teach you how to love and how to understand the different levels of love later in life. For Bianca & Jaime, they found the true thing the first time around. I adore this and have so much respect for them.
Unfortunately, we are not able to attend the wedding. Due to financial challenges and having just found our jobs, we can't make the trek back to sunny California. I know it is going to be beautiful and cannot wait to see photos. Bianca- just know we are sending our love from across the country.
In honor of you, I am posting photos. I forget that not everyone wants to subscribe the demon Facebook, and therefore has not seen our Boston life. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order. I'll try to do better at posting in both locations.
Monday, September 7, 2009
developing a palate
I have so much to write about. This has been by far one of the most amazing weekends of my life. But...I want to relish this moment a bit more before dissecting it with words. So, for now, I will share the adventures of my palate.
I am not sure whether my current situation is due to having more time for myself, living on the East Coast, or that I am officially getting older. Either way, I am being forced to expand my palate. This is an odd concept to me. I have learned to love the finest foods and wines and developed a great sense of taste. As a child, my mother and I would play a game every time we went to a restaurant. After one bite, we had to name every ingredient the chef used. I remember doing this as far back as the age of 6 and loved it. Of course, with the time, the catalog of known spices, herbs, and flavors continued to expand and the game actually became harder. Yet, a sense of taste was developed and thus became the core of my knowledge of life. Only now I find myself completely lost. It turns out I know nothing about coffee, tea, and chocolate. Thus far these are items I did not have time to give any thought. The funny thing is these are the three best sellers at my job. So, I must learn them well and FAST.
Coffee has simply been a hot morning stimulate that I added hazelnut flavoring to and went on my way. That is if I even took the time to make it myself. Usually I wasted money and calories at Coffeebean to get me through the day. Don't get me wrong. I have had a great cup of coffee. My mother's cannot be beat. But it is something of which I have never understood the intricacies. Now, I depend on coffee to get me through the day. 5am is not my friend. And when I get up, I want something that tastes good. Thus, my first quest began. It turns out beans from Guatemala taste completely different from those from Mexico. Thanks to Kirstin and her wonderful Starbucks job, I am able to further my quest and soon become a full-fledged coffee ordering Bostonian.
Apparently chocolate is just as diverse. Did you know there are beans grown in many countries worldwide? And each one has a different flavor? Do you know what percentage constitutes a dark versus milk chocolate? And this said percentage is up to debate amongst chocolate connoisseurs. I had and still have no idea. I truly think we sell over 100 different types of chocolate in the store and each is completely foreign to me. Again, I have had great chocolate from Switzerland, Peru, and France. But the chocolate world goes so much deeper than that. There are at least 5 different dark chocolate bars with chilies in the store and probably 20 with some sort of orange. Each has a different texture, density, flavor, and breakdown. I need to know these differences and discover a good way to describe it to someone as clueless as I currently am.
Lastly we come to tea. To me, tea is just lightly flavored water. I have never understood how people could throw parties centering around flavored water (no offense friend). I have tried many times to make a good cup of tea...usually when I am coming down with a cold. However, every time, I am so disappointed. The leaves themselves smell amazing. Such great combinations of flavors and aromatics. But add a little water and you just get water..with a slight hint of that great smell. I don't get it. Why does tea have to be such a tease?!
I know to some of you reading this, my confusion may seem silly. How could I not know about chocolate, coffee, and tea? These are the staples in so many lives. I, however, could not have been bothered. I was too busy chasing the savory side of life. I ate at fine restaurants and dissected some of the best dishes in Los Angeles. I challenged my palate with different types of wines- sparkling, reds, whites and roses. There was no time to spend on hot liquids that usually tasted like crap or chocolate that usually tasted like wax. I was too busy working and planning everyone else's extravagant lives.
So now, like so many other aspects of my life, I need to figure out what it is that I like. I must return to the basics and develop a foundation so that I may one day have an extravagant life of my own.
I am not sure whether my current situation is due to having more time for myself, living on the East Coast, or that I am officially getting older. Either way, I am being forced to expand my palate. This is an odd concept to me. I have learned to love the finest foods and wines and developed a great sense of taste. As a child, my mother and I would play a game every time we went to a restaurant. After one bite, we had to name every ingredient the chef used. I remember doing this as far back as the age of 6 and loved it. Of course, with the time, the catalog of known spices, herbs, and flavors continued to expand and the game actually became harder. Yet, a sense of taste was developed and thus became the core of my knowledge of life. Only now I find myself completely lost. It turns out I know nothing about coffee, tea, and chocolate. Thus far these are items I did not have time to give any thought. The funny thing is these are the three best sellers at my job. So, I must learn them well and FAST.
Coffee has simply been a hot morning stimulate that I added hazelnut flavoring to and went on my way. That is if I even took the time to make it myself. Usually I wasted money and calories at Coffeebean to get me through the day. Don't get me wrong. I have had a great cup of coffee. My mother's cannot be beat. But it is something of which I have never understood the intricacies. Now, I depend on coffee to get me through the day. 5am is not my friend. And when I get up, I want something that tastes good. Thus, my first quest began. It turns out beans from Guatemala taste completely different from those from Mexico. Thanks to Kirstin and her wonderful Starbucks job, I am able to further my quest and soon become a full-fledged coffee ordering Bostonian.
Apparently chocolate is just as diverse. Did you know there are beans grown in many countries worldwide? And each one has a different flavor? Do you know what percentage constitutes a dark versus milk chocolate? And this said percentage is up to debate amongst chocolate connoisseurs. I had and still have no idea. I truly think we sell over 100 different types of chocolate in the store and each is completely foreign to me. Again, I have had great chocolate from Switzerland, Peru, and France. But the chocolate world goes so much deeper than that. There are at least 5 different dark chocolate bars with chilies in the store and probably 20 with some sort of orange. Each has a different texture, density, flavor, and breakdown. I need to know these differences and discover a good way to describe it to someone as clueless as I currently am.
Lastly we come to tea. To me, tea is just lightly flavored water. I have never understood how people could throw parties centering around flavored water (no offense friend). I have tried many times to make a good cup of tea...usually when I am coming down with a cold. However, every time, I am so disappointed. The leaves themselves smell amazing. Such great combinations of flavors and aromatics. But add a little water and you just get water..with a slight hint of that great smell. I don't get it. Why does tea have to be such a tease?!
I know to some of you reading this, my confusion may seem silly. How could I not know about chocolate, coffee, and tea? These are the staples in so many lives. I, however, could not have been bothered. I was too busy chasing the savory side of life. I ate at fine restaurants and dissected some of the best dishes in Los Angeles. I challenged my palate with different types of wines- sparkling, reds, whites and roses. There was no time to spend on hot liquids that usually tasted like crap or chocolate that usually tasted like wax. I was too busy working and planning everyone else's extravagant lives.
So now, like so many other aspects of my life, I need to figure out what it is that I like. I must return to the basics and develop a foundation so that I may one day have an extravagant life of my own.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
things I love about Boston
after the day I had today, I decided to put together a list of the things I love about Boston. hopefully by the time I'm done, I'll feel better.
* riding the t- specifically the red line
* looking into Boston and seeing all of the sailboats
* the Commons
* the way the breeze feels and blows through the trees
* turning the corner every morning and seeing Leonard on his smoking break
* children playing in the public fountains
* the duck tours
* bricks
* that I can walk everywhere and anywhere
* all of the history
* walking along the river and pretending I'm in Europe
* putting on my uniform every morning
* the way people light up when you say good morning... as if no one has ever said it to him/her before
* getting lost and finding something new
* my office/study room that is full of color and postcards
* that my friends are on their way to school as I'm getting out of class. works out perfectly
* the North End
* my wine & specialty market in Beacon Hill
* that you can store food outdoors in the winter
* that it is a city
* riding the t- specifically the red line
* looking into Boston and seeing all of the sailboats
* the Commons
* the way the breeze feels and blows through the trees
* turning the corner every morning and seeing Leonard on his smoking break
* children playing in the public fountains
* the duck tours
* bricks
* that I can walk everywhere and anywhere
* all of the history
* walking along the river and pretending I'm in Europe
* putting on my uniform every morning
* the way people light up when you say good morning... as if no one has ever said it to him/her before
* getting lost and finding something new
* my office/study room that is full of color and postcards
* that my friends are on their way to school as I'm getting out of class. works out perfectly
* the North End
* my wine & specialty market in Beacon Hill
* that you can store food outdoors in the winter
* that it is a city
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I've had a lot of people complaining that we don't update the blog enough. Truth of the matter is I don't really know what to say. Everything, every day is a new experience. Most of it is truly boring though. I don't know what should and shouldn't be written about. So, I go on day after day, not writing anything at all. :( Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you want to know. :)
Tomorrow I start Culinary Skills 2. It will be my 3rd class in school. I'm excited, but I don't think as much as my fellow classmates. It will be so nice getting to cook again. But really scary too. I mean, we didn't really do anything in the last cooking class. So, this is the time we will probably be divided according to skill level. We'll get to find out where everyone lies and what he/she can and cannot do. To be honest, I'm not totally confident where I'll end up. I LOVE cooking. It calms my soul. And when I'm relaxed, I cook quite well. But the key is, I have to be relaxed. Because of this, I think only Mario and my parents have actually been able to enjoy my hidden talent. When it comes to cooking for friends, or now chefs, I get really freaked out. I forget everything I know and drop the ball in one way or another (like burning a pizza box). So, I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow, now that I think about it.
This fear is not something new. When I was a kid, my mom tried to enroll me in a magnet school. She was so excited and really thought it would be good for my future. By the time we got to the school for my interview, I had forgotten my name. I kept telling everyone it was my babysitter's name, Kathy. Really???? How does someone forget her name??? I guess I'm just that special.
I'll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Tomorrow I start Culinary Skills 2. It will be my 3rd class in school. I'm excited, but I don't think as much as my fellow classmates. It will be so nice getting to cook again. But really scary too. I mean, we didn't really do anything in the last cooking class. So, this is the time we will probably be divided according to skill level. We'll get to find out where everyone lies and what he/she can and cannot do. To be honest, I'm not totally confident where I'll end up. I LOVE cooking. It calms my soul. And when I'm relaxed, I cook quite well. But the key is, I have to be relaxed. Because of this, I think only Mario and my parents have actually been able to enjoy my hidden talent. When it comes to cooking for friends, or now chefs, I get really freaked out. I forget everything I know and drop the ball in one way or another (like burning a pizza box). So, I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow, now that I think about it.
This fear is not something new. When I was a kid, my mom tried to enroll me in a magnet school. She was so excited and really thought it would be good for my future. By the time we got to the school for my interview, I had forgotten my name. I kept telling everyone it was my babysitter's name, Kathy. Really???? How does someone forget her name??? I guess I'm just that special.
I'll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
random stuff
We've been here a month. Can you believe it??? A whole month. It feels longer. Not in a bad way. I just feel like we've been here for quite awhile. In honor of our one month anniversary, I thought I would post about some of my favorite moments in Beantown. It will be all the things we should have blogged about while we were wrapping up the road trip stories.
#1- Fourth of July- We didn't really end up doing anything during the day. We had planned on going on a boat all day. However, there were storm warnings, so that got cancelled. I was dying to see what this new patriotic city would do on the nation's holiday. But instead, we lounged and unpacked. Yuck! I did put my foot down and declared we were going to watch the fireworks. Fourth of July is not anything if not the best time of the year for fireworks. Usually, we would be at the Hollywood Bowl enjoying the show. I was not going to miss out just because we didn't have anywhere to go. So, at around 7:00pm, we headed toward the river. We figured we would follow the people and see where we ended up. Only the fireworks out here don't start until 10pm. YIKES! So, back home we went to wait it out. Even though it ended up begin a little bit of an adventure, we found wonderful seats in a park right along the water on the Cambridge side. We had Boston as a backdrop while fireworks lit up the sky. Perfect way to spend the night.
#2- Eslie's Birthday- My first friend's name is Eslie. We met in class one day and decided we needed to go dancing after the first week to celebrate making it that far. I was very excited to find another person that likes to dance and go out in this new city. Anyhow- that following Monday was her birthday. So, I went online to find a bar near school. We figured we'd go out right after class and grab a quick drink to celebrate. In looking online, the closest place seemed to be at MIT. I thought, why not, it is probably a cheap college bar. Exactly what we need in the middle of the afternoon. :) Well, the bar turned out to actually be inside an old MIT classroom... or meeting place... or something. We actually had to go into a building full of classrooms to get to the bar. And it was only for MIT students. Ooopppss. Luckily they took some pity on us and let us in. The whole time, we felt like a bunch of kids hiding our beers in case one of the professors caught us. I don't think I'll be in charge of picking the next place.
#3- Patriot Place- This is by far one of my favorite memories so far. In doing a little research, Mario discovered the Patriots' training camp was actually open to the public. It just so happened to fall during the week I had no school. So, we packed a lunch and drove about an hour to Foxborough. It was a beautiful day, and we were both so excited. We managed to find great seats in the grass looking down on both practive fields. Bill Bellichick and Tom Brady were both through strutting their stuff. It was sooooo cool to be so close to all of them. That is until the sky opened up and starting raining like crazy. It was coming down so hard. I had packed a small umbrella, just in case, thinking we would never need it. Ha! We could have used three more. The funny thing is all of the locals started running, like a little rain was going to hurt them. HA! They just weren't true fans. There we sat, soaked to the bone, watching football, and realizing we were really on the East Coast. This would never happen in CA.
#1- Fourth of July- We didn't really end up doing anything during the day. We had planned on going on a boat all day. However, there were storm warnings, so that got cancelled. I was dying to see what this new patriotic city would do on the nation's holiday. But instead, we lounged and unpacked. Yuck! I did put my foot down and declared we were going to watch the fireworks. Fourth of July is not anything if not the best time of the year for fireworks. Usually, we would be at the Hollywood Bowl enjoying the show. I was not going to miss out just because we didn't have anywhere to go. So, at around 7:00pm, we headed toward the river. We figured we would follow the people and see where we ended up. Only the fireworks out here don't start until 10pm. YIKES! So, back home we went to wait it out. Even though it ended up begin a little bit of an adventure, we found wonderful seats in a park right along the water on the Cambridge side. We had Boston as a backdrop while fireworks lit up the sky. Perfect way to spend the night.
#2- Eslie's Birthday- My first friend's name is Eslie. We met in class one day and decided we needed to go dancing after the first week to celebrate making it that far. I was very excited to find another person that likes to dance and go out in this new city. Anyhow- that following Monday was her birthday. So, I went online to find a bar near school. We figured we'd go out right after class and grab a quick drink to celebrate. In looking online, the closest place seemed to be at MIT. I thought, why not, it is probably a cheap college bar. Exactly what we need in the middle of the afternoon. :) Well, the bar turned out to actually be inside an old MIT classroom... or meeting place... or something. We actually had to go into a building full of classrooms to get to the bar. And it was only for MIT students. Ooopppss. Luckily they took some pity on us and let us in. The whole time, we felt like a bunch of kids hiding our beers in case one of the professors caught us. I don't think I'll be in charge of picking the next place.
#3- Patriot Place- This is by far one of my favorite memories so far. In doing a little research, Mario discovered the Patriots' training camp was actually open to the public. It just so happened to fall during the week I had no school. So, we packed a lunch and drove about an hour to Foxborough. It was a beautiful day, and we were both so excited. We managed to find great seats in the grass looking down on both practive fields. Bill Bellichick and Tom Brady were both through strutting their stuff. It was sooooo cool to be so close to all of them. That is until the sky opened up and starting raining like crazy. It was coming down so hard. I had packed a small umbrella, just in case, thinking we would never need it. Ha! We could have used three more. The funny thing is all of the locals started running, like a little rain was going to hurt them. HA! They just weren't true fans. There we sat, soaked to the bone, watching football, and realizing we were really on the East Coast. This would never happen in CA.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Culinary School
I'm sorry everyone! It seems as though I've lost my "he said". His interest tapered off towards the end of the road trip. I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to keep the blog going. Up until this week, school has been absolutely incredible. That's not to say it hasn't been difficult. Culinary Skills I, our first class, seemed virtually impossible until it was over. We had 15 days to learn how to make stocks, figure out our mother sauces (bechamel, veloute, tomato, hollandaise, & espagnole), identify about 50 spices & herbs, and perfect our knife cuts. Even saying it all sounds like a lot. It was an insane amount of information in such a small amount of time. Literally my schedule consisted of waking up at 5am, walking to school, going to class, getting home, studying, making dinner, studying more, and going to bed. There wasn't time for anything else.
But as I mentioned, it was absolutely incredible. A portion of the final exam was to identify 100 herbs, spices, and kitchen equipment. I studying for about 4 hours on just the herbs & spices alone. Look at dried basil, oregano, thyme, & parsley next to each other. Pretty similar, huh? Look at cayenne, chili powder, & paprika. Even closer. I really didn't think I could do it. So, to walk out of that portion of the exam with a 100% was like walking on air. An indescribable feeling.
Another portion of the test was to complete 9 knife cuts in 45 minutes. That's 5 minutes per cut. That's 5 minutes to make a carrot into 1/16"x1/16"x1/16" perfect squares. Before this class, I don't even think I knew what an 1/16 of an inch looked like. For some reason, I started cutting everything into 1/4" pieces. I don't know what was going on. Thank goodness I figured that out pretty quickly. I'm just really glad I'm not the guy that cut the onion in the wrong direction.
It is truly amazing to be doing something that makes me so happy. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with it at the end of the day. But I trust that will all fall into place. Right now, I just have to enjoy every moment and cook absolutely everything I can.
But as I mentioned, it was absolutely incredible. A portion of the final exam was to identify 100 herbs, spices, and kitchen equipment. I studying for about 4 hours on just the herbs & spices alone. Look at dried basil, oregano, thyme, & parsley next to each other. Pretty similar, huh? Look at cayenne, chili powder, & paprika. Even closer. I really didn't think I could do it. So, to walk out of that portion of the exam with a 100% was like walking on air. An indescribable feeling.
Another portion of the test was to complete 9 knife cuts in 45 minutes. That's 5 minutes per cut. That's 5 minutes to make a carrot into 1/16"x1/16"x1/16" perfect squares. Before this class, I don't even think I knew what an 1/16 of an inch looked like. For some reason, I started cutting everything into 1/4" pieces. I don't know what was going on. Thank goodness I figured that out pretty quickly. I'm just really glad I'm not the guy that cut the onion in the wrong direction.
It is truly amazing to be doing something that makes me so happy. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with it at the end of the day. But I trust that will all fall into place. Right now, I just have to enjoy every moment and cook absolutely everything I can.
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