waffles, school, and tomatoes: a two week update

So, Apparently blogging is one of those things you have to actually DO. My first 2 weeks of school were full of realizations. If I had gone to city college initially, I would have never transferred after 2 years. It's just such a different atmosphere than Oxy was. I had my fair share of registration nightmares every semester, but I was never struggling to get into the prerequisite class for every class in a series, putting my education off track by a semester. Perhaps that's only because I was never on a particular track at Oxy, just managing to end up in enough classes that they gave me a diploma.

After crashing what felt like fifty classes, I managed to finalize my schedule with 2 culinary arts lecture classes and a PE class. That means, I don't get to do any actual cooking in school this term, but I don't have to pay for a gym membership. It also means that I probably won't be able to finish the program in the four semester time frame laid out by the department. I do think that I'll just end up taking a ton of classes in the spring, when I can register with everyone else. There doesn't seem to be that much homework in any of the lecture classes, and I can't think of much outside the class work from the lab classes except for maybe: cook. I do that anyway.

I also managed to go two weeks of school without really talking to anyone. It feels kind of funny, but there are no ice breakers, no get to know your neighbors, no living with them. It's so different coming from a residential college where I don't know how anything works, but we're all thrown together at basically the same point. At CC, people might have been taking classes for literally years. They know how the computer labs work, where everything is, and they have a group of friends or what have you. I feel like I'm independent enough, and know how to read directions proficiently enough that it isn't super obvious I'm figuring all this stuff out on the fly.

Also, I'm pretty serious, especially in a classroom. I'm not a class clown, and I definitely don't say stuff just to get a reaction from the crowd. This might be why people aren't flocking to meet me. Also it brings me to another point--it is true, in my experience, that people at a private, liberal arts college, where you're paying very dearly for your education, take it more seriously. There is a group of people, predominantly male, in both of my classes. They just tell stories that have no point, talk out of turn, curse at the instructor, and just generally like to hear their own voices. It's super distracting and annoying--and it seems to fly here. The most that happens is someone rolls their eyes, or someone from the other side of the room tells them to shut up. Neither option seems to have any effect.

While I haven't been cooking in school, I have been cooking at home. My new favorite thing to make is WAFFLES! plain, vanilla, apple cinnamon, pecan. I've never taken advantage of how easy waffles are to make and how easy it is to customize them. Plus I get to feed the fam and whoever else is around, and it's no extra work for me. bonus points. I also spent Saturday afternoon processing homemade tomato sauce. I have 3 quarts of roasted garlic basil tomato sauce, and the tomatoes keep on ripening, so hopefully I'll get more creative and efficient and have a nice larder stocked up. I have some pictures of cooking, so if you care to continue, it will be mostly visual from here on out.

Blanching tomatoes to skin them, and slowly warming olive oil with TONS of garlic. 

Peeling tomatoes after they're dropped in the ice bath. 

Ice bath kind of looks like rice, no? 

Peeled tomatoes in the bowl, tomatoes saved for salsa-making later on. 

Our reflections, and a head of garlic roasting in the teeny tiny toaster (t)oven.

chiffonade-ing basil 

smashing the tomatoes in the garlic oil from earlier.

After much simmering and tinkering with spices, the sauce went into jars and into the boiling water to process. There's just enough sauce left over to dip bread in. nom nom. 

The three jars, complete with sealed tops. One for me, one for Sami, and one for Dad. Hopefully more to come in the next few days. 

And now to make salsa and other tasty treats. 

mixing peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon juice, all of which came from sami's or dad's garden. 

done mixing 

the salsa ready to take to sami's house 

Some chard from the garden sauteed with garlic. This went on top of a salmon salad with lemon. 

Some stewed squash topped with parmesan and basil. 

That's what's been going down in my kitchen lately. I haven't realized how easy it is to walk outside and have everything I need to make fresh, tasty food. Here's where I thank my dad for working so tirelessly on his magnificent garden.

and she blogs again

I set up a blog while living in Amsterdam a few years ago for a semester abroad in college. It was mostly a collection of lists, if I recall correctly. I decided to blog this chapter in my life, because Jesse H. told me he would read it. Oh and because Corey was blogging about driving to Alaska, and I thought culinary school might be more entertaining than driving up the western coast of North America...?

I just got settled back in Santa Barbara. I don't start school for another week, but I've been getting my sitch organized. Tomorrow I'll be picking up my knives. Hopefully I don't chop off any important digits. Earlier this evening, I tried on most of the little outfits they make you buy. There's one for catering, one for actually lab cooking classes, and then whatever 'business casual' means for lecture classes. I feel like I'm a pretty small person in general (5'2'' when rounding) but these clothes make me feel super tiny--in an awkward, not at all flattering kind of way. I'm waiting for the first day when I show up in my ill-fitting uniform. I was usually really good at school. Memorizing and regurgitating facts was something I took to quite easily. I'm sure to some people that's a talent and something I should never have taken for granted, but I'm nervous for cooking school, because it won't necessarily be the same sort of coast by situation as, I don't know, grade school?

I transferred starbucks stores, to keep a paycheck and all the benefits, so I start at my new store tomorrow. It's like another first day. We'll see how it goes.