Week 2; Semester 2
Posted 09-04-2008 at 03:03 PM by Stewey
So, somehow on Sunday (before class this past tuesday), I threw my back out. How? I don't know. I wasn't even doing anything at the time. I had just gotten up from the dining table and my lower back felt kinda funny, and a little stiff. Then, not too long later, it felt like a full blown, back-out situation! I was slightly hunched over to move. I couldn't twist, bend, and hardly walk without pain. And anytime my pelvic bone/hips made any slight adjustments for balance, I would feel a shooting pain up my spine. This, by far, was not the worst back pain I have ever had, but it definitely was the most debilitating for a few days.
So for class on Tuesday (remember, this is a full day--leaving 6:30am from house and coming home roughly 8:30pm) I was prepared for the worst. Luckily, Aromatics class was just a lecture and Butchery was breaking down chickens....and by the time that rolled around, I had limbered up just a bit.
As for specifics for the day, in Aromatics we reviewed a short history of spices. Gotta admit, I love history, but this was boring.
The only interesting point was when our instructor took it upon himself to subtly (but overtly) proclaim his religious belief that the earth is only a few thousand years old. I believe the actual quote was "I'm not one of those guys who thinks the earth is millions of years old. More scientific reports are showing that there is no evidence for such a claim."
So apparently scientists have been wrong.
But then contrast that statement with his later comments "There are more scientific reports showing that food additives cause cancer. I was in church recently and this little boy was eating a blue lollipop and and just said to myself 'how can you do that to your son? he has no choice in the matter. Why would you do that?'"
So I guess scientists are right???
For what it is worth, I really don't care what you believe. But when I am paying for "cooking classes" I don't want religion OR any other unrelated subjects brought into the discussion. Such missteps are irrelevant and shows either poor lesson/lecture planning, or poor execution. You think I don't mean it? Read my blog from last semester and my frustrations with our basic instructor to stay on topic and our tardiness everyday. Mind you, his comments were in addition to a number of overt bible citations in his spice timeline. If I am learning history, there are more sources out there for empirical, historical spice use. No need to use a specific sect's religious text in bulk.
All of this religious talk surprised me, however, since I was expecting the "fun" stories to come from my butchery instructor. Well, actually, he didn't disappoint us either and kept us well entertained late into the evening.
I can't think of a celebrity to compare our butchery teacher to, but the closest I could come up with is maybe Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor). Sarcastic, rude, and yet somehow funny. His commentary, his outspokenness, and his persistent belief that he is completely right all of the time has seriously been entertaining. Quick to pass judgment, but freely admitting his own faults...he takes you on a roller coaster ride. You chuckle at his comments; your jaw drops at his opinions; you blush at his criticisms.
And every other sentence ends with him saying, "Huh!"...as if he were saying "You understand me?!" For instance, "so you take your chicken and place him legs away from you. huh! Now wrap the string around the legs. Huh!"
Great guy. He would make a good subject for a book.
When we finally got to the kitchen for our butchery lab, our chef showed us three ways to truss a chicken, and demo'd breaking down a chicken a couple of times.
Then off to work we went. We didn't have to truss, so we got right to work on breaking down the chicken into french breasts, tunnel boned legs (with the oyster), tenderloins (which we used for a pasta later on), and wing drumettes.
I had recently seen a way of breaking down a chicken by Martin Yan which had now made the job a quick task for me. So luckily I was able to get through my chickens fairly quick (good for my back), but of course there is always something that could be done. In this case, helping other stations out to finish the job and/or clean up the kitchen. No problem. And our chef made us dinner (a tough task since our school has not filled its walk-ins or pantry with food for the semester yet). After it was all said and done, we were out an hour early--EVEN WITH dinner and clean-up. This is how things should run!
He did say that next week we will likely take the full class time. But it will be worth it. We are going to be working with pork: preparing tenderloins, making chops, and cutting ribs. I have been waiting a year to take this class and I am not disappointed in the least.
So for class on Tuesday (remember, this is a full day--leaving 6:30am from house and coming home roughly 8:30pm) I was prepared for the worst. Luckily, Aromatics class was just a lecture and Butchery was breaking down chickens....and by the time that rolled around, I had limbered up just a bit.
As for specifics for the day, in Aromatics we reviewed a short history of spices. Gotta admit, I love history, but this was boring.
The only interesting point was when our instructor took it upon himself to subtly (but overtly) proclaim his religious belief that the earth is only a few thousand years old. I believe the actual quote was "I'm not one of those guys who thinks the earth is millions of years old. More scientific reports are showing that there is no evidence for such a claim."
So apparently scientists have been wrong.
But then contrast that statement with his later comments "There are more scientific reports showing that food additives cause cancer. I was in church recently and this little boy was eating a blue lollipop and and just said to myself 'how can you do that to your son? he has no choice in the matter. Why would you do that?'"
So I guess scientists are right???
For what it is worth, I really don't care what you believe. But when I am paying for "cooking classes" I don't want religion OR any other unrelated subjects brought into the discussion. Such missteps are irrelevant and shows either poor lesson/lecture planning, or poor execution. You think I don't mean it? Read my blog from last semester and my frustrations with our basic instructor to stay on topic and our tardiness everyday. Mind you, his comments were in addition to a number of overt bible citations in his spice timeline. If I am learning history, there are more sources out there for empirical, historical spice use. No need to use a specific sect's religious text in bulk.
All of this religious talk surprised me, however, since I was expecting the "fun" stories to come from my butchery instructor. Well, actually, he didn't disappoint us either and kept us well entertained late into the evening.
I can't think of a celebrity to compare our butchery teacher to, but the closest I could come up with is maybe Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor). Sarcastic, rude, and yet somehow funny. His commentary, his outspokenness, and his persistent belief that he is completely right all of the time has seriously been entertaining. Quick to pass judgment, but freely admitting his own faults...he takes you on a roller coaster ride. You chuckle at his comments; your jaw drops at his opinions; you blush at his criticisms.
And every other sentence ends with him saying, "Huh!"...as if he were saying "You understand me?!" For instance, "so you take your chicken and place him legs away from you. huh! Now wrap the string around the legs. Huh!"
Great guy. He would make a good subject for a book.
When we finally got to the kitchen for our butchery lab, our chef showed us three ways to truss a chicken, and demo'd breaking down a chicken a couple of times.
Then off to work we went. We didn't have to truss, so we got right to work on breaking down the chicken into french breasts, tunnel boned legs (with the oyster), tenderloins (which we used for a pasta later on), and wing drumettes.
I had recently seen a way of breaking down a chicken by Martin Yan which had now made the job a quick task for me. So luckily I was able to get through my chickens fairly quick (good for my back), but of course there is always something that could be done. In this case, helping other stations out to finish the job and/or clean up the kitchen. No problem. And our chef made us dinner (a tough task since our school has not filled its walk-ins or pantry with food for the semester yet). After it was all said and done, we were out an hour early--EVEN WITH dinner and clean-up. This is how things should run!
He did say that next week we will likely take the full class time. But it will be worth it. We are going to be working with pork: preparing tenderloins, making chops, and cutting ribs. I have been waiting a year to take this class and I am not disappointed in the least.
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