JWU RI week 5

[KateW]

Last week was short because of career day on Thursday and the usual day off on Friday. Frankly, career day was a waste of time. (and I am not the only person who feels this way, so please don't all jump on me.) The companies there were interested in the higher-up students who were graduating soon, and they talked to the freshmen because they had to, but basically all we took away was a few menus, pamphlets and wonderful offerings..after we graduate.
I think, instead of working at a big company like that before I graduate, I will do something small like make sandwiches at a deli or something. All I really want is some practice, not all this corporate stuff right away.
This weekend was parents' weekend. Saturday we did some fun stuff; they had the main cooking building open so the parents could see the equipment, and a few rooms had samples of food. We had some amazing fried calamari with an olive and hot pepper relish. We also had a few other samples from different rooms. The main luncheon they had set up wasn't amazing, but it was under a huge tent in a cute Mardi Gras theme and they had a band. We ate there before we went to the classrooms, but we wished we hadn't because the food inside was so much better! After we were done on campus we hit a little town called Wickford which was very cute and colonial. Lots of nice little shops and restaurants.
Sunday there wasn't much going on on campus. I guess they expected everyone to come Saturday, which was kind of silly because why have it for two days if you're only going to do the impressive stuff one day? It also doesn't work well if you have two sides of family coming who don't necessarily want to come together, such as divorced parents. So we went down to Providence and went to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum. It had a lot of stuff! It wasn't huge lengthwise, but it had about 5 floors and we spent about 3 hours there and didn't get to see it all. We went to Hemenway's for lunch, and Empire for dinner, and both were excellent.
Monday was the practical exam for stocks and sauces. I had to make a hollandaise, then a bearnaise from that, and a choron from that. Now, there is no recipe for choron in the recipe book, so we had to wing it. I think mine came out okay. Then I had to make a bechamel which came out perfectly except a little thick (to him, anyway. He likes his sauces pretty thin). We get graded on color, texture, flavor, opacity and viscosity and i got 5 out of 5 points for each, except 4 out of 5 on texture.
On the hollandaise I got 4's and 5's, and on the bearnaise and choron, I got a 3 for flavor, because I forgot the shallots first time around in the choron (duh, I thought it was just tomatoes), and the rest were 4's and 5's.
Tuesday was knife cuts and the final scantron exam. This is another story. I got a 74 on the scantrol, and 11.5 out of 15 on my knife cuts. I need to work on making them more uniform and perfectly shaped.
So, this class may not turn out to be the best. I still have not gotten my paper back or learned my final complete grade. However, I feel like I did well on the sauces, which was the whole point of the class. I'm going to try to get some tutoring on knife cuts. I hear they have classes after school to help with that.
Today I start dining room. Wish me luck!

[KateW]

I got a 90 on my paper for stocks and sauces about Spanish cuisine and saffron, and a 79 total grade (C+) for the class. Could have been worse, could have been better.

[Greg]

The director of the culinary program at J&W, Charleston told me once to not worry about grades too much, as long as you believe that you are learning and progressing. At the time, I thought he was nuts, but in the last seven years after attending J&W, not one prospective employer has ever asked me what my GPA was. I'm not saying that you should let your grades slide, just don't worry about them after the fact. Use them as a tool to point you to the areas you think you might need to work on.

What's the current uniform for the dining room classes? We had to wear white button down the front coats. The buttons had anchors on them; I felt like I was working on the love boat.

[KateW]

Black pants, black socks, black shoes, white button down shirt and the grey, black and white vest. All issued by jwu except the socks. Oh, also an undershirt.
I agree about the grades. I do feel like I'm learning even if my grades aren't the best.

[wanabechef]

Hi Kate. I miss seeing our posts. I know you are busy, but really enjoyed reading them.

[Suzanne]

Originally posted by KateW
...I do feel like I'm learning even if my grades aren't the best.

That's all that matters! Keep learning!!!

[KateW]

I will start a new thread sometime this weekend! Sorry for the delay, I have been a little busy and also I am coming down with a cold.
You'll hear from me soon!