i need to stop this! i am on break from school and i cant even bring myself to blog! wtf! my chef was suprised i hadnt blogged sooner. its cause i have been sick! it started with a sore throat the day before my last final. my cooking final. i thought it was nothing and maybe i had inhaled too much helium from the valentine's baloon my best friend gave me, but NO. i finished my final, ate my 1/2 of my final, and waiting with bated breath, and a sore throat. for my teacher to call my name, more like holler "Melissa" which isnt even my name. after what? 12 weeks? he couldnt remember my name. just call me "omelet girl" and im comin' a runnin'! lol. for my final, i made sauteed chicken breast, lemon caper aioli, mashed potatoes, and julienned carrots. i went into class with the sore throat feeling nervous as all hell. the night before, the chef and i had made it, without some of the ingredients but he said my face lit up so many times. so he pretty much gave us a little speil, and we all split up. the bitches in one kitchen and the cool kids in another (guess where i was! and if you said bitches, you are wrong!) i gathered all my ingredients except the chicken. i felt calm, my heart racing. i had a shitty whisk. my arm was tired. the teacher came by, says "you know, there is another whisk in the other kitchen" i felt like dying. i shoulda just brought my whisk from home! damn. (my whisk from home is a little cheapy cause we had to buy it just to practice my final! ha!) i felt like i was on chopped, and i was going to get the axe. i mean, what if i didnt pass? my mind was racing, but my hands were calm. i kept repeating what my chefboyfriend was saying the night before. i am so glad that about 20 mins into it, i checked my phone only to see a sweet text from him. i was a lot calmer after that. i had forgotten to check what the cooked temp of a chicken was so i had to ask another student (thanks brandon!). i had discussed presentation with my chef the night before but my hands were shaking. there was not just my teacher at the table, but our TA, and another teacher. OMG! i dropped off my plate. it looked awesome (and yes, i tasted my mashed potatoes and my aioli before dropping it off). the only think i wasnt 100% sure about was my carrots. i didnt practice those. i was given a sheet and told to go eat my plate across the hall. my food, it was GOOD! on the sheet, there was a question that asked "what grade do you think you deserve?" i had put a 90%. its a low A but, i didnt do as well on the carrots as i should/could have. the teacher *finally* called my name and critiqued my food (again, i felt like i was on chopped) just with one judge. you know, i know that we are our own worst critic. i had wanted to put maybe an 80%. but i was feeling ballsy. my teacher said that i was going to get a low A/high B on the final. he said that i could have done a better job on the carrots, they werent hot enough but he attributed that to the cut we had to do. he said my chicken, it wasnt seasoned properly, however, it was cooked perfectly. *thanks again brandon!* 2 days later, and a worse sore throat and aches and pains, i checked my grades, I GOT AN A! i was elated, but sick. now, almost a week later and 3 and a half days on the couch, i am starting to feel better. by starting, i mean: i am coughing up a lot of junk and its still hard to breathe, but i dont sound so much like a 70 year old smoker, more like a 40 year old one. i had to wait until very early friday morning to get my other grade, my math grade, which i wasnt too worried about, but it too, was an A! wth! i wasnt a good student by any means in high school and when i started college, i let the voices of my parents ring in my ears. they were telling me i wasnt a good student. that i barely passed high school. i didnt think i was going to make it. i had worse of encouragement in my ears on the day of my last final this quarter though. they were the words of someone who loves me, someone who has faith in me. i dont think he will ever doubt me, my chef that is. it wasnt easy to ask for his help, especially after him thinking i was just going to cut my finger off when practicing for my midterm. HA! the only cut i acquired that whole class was from a grater, and that was on a carrot! (a minute later, we were told to cut the carrots, not grate them). i am blessed to have people in my life that have faith in me, my chef, my sponsor and my best friend. i am getting to know my chef's family online (distance is a problem) and they offer words of encouragement too. i just want to start feeling better so i can get my kiss i have been wanting since i found out i have an A! it will be worth wait.
-Jes
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