Week 5 of IP

January 29, 2013 Tuesday
Demo Class#8: Chef Eric Jaouan demonstrated how to do Millefeuille Praliné (puff pastry dough with a chocolate hazelnut crispy layer and a light hazelnut cream filling)

Practical Class#8: Millefeuille Praliné (puff pastry dough with a chocolate hazelnut crispy layer and a light hazelnut cream filling) wasn't difficult to make.  The other thing different for us was that we had to use the dough prepared by Chef (or other students) because there was no enough time for dough to rest and for us to work the dough in 2 and half hours.  Chef Eric liked my work, the only criticism he had was my piping :-), as usual!

January 30, 2013 Wednesday
Production Kitchen Assistant: Like last term, I was working with Quinn (and other classmate) in production kitchen.  When we walked into the kitchen, this guy, whose name was either Brian or Ryan, asked for 2 students to help him cook.  Quinn jumped into the opportunity and asked me to work with her.  We were asked to make 2 salads, but then this guy kept asking Quinn to do something else.  So I was left alone doing these stupid salads.  Since I wasn't creative, I kept asking Quinn what she wanted me to do with the salads.  She dared to ask me to "julienne" the carrot! So I showed her my "julienne" carrot! :-) This guy kept feeding Quinn to the point that she was willing to come and volunteer regular, well, at least that was what she said.  At first, I didn't have a clue whose the food was for, until he said 5 mins left, then we finished everything and put everything into a cart.  We took the elevator up to the staff dining area, then I realized the food was prepared for the staff.  Overall, it was fun, especially Quinn was there with me.
Then, Cindy, Cynthia and I went to have lunch in Sidedoor http://sidedoorrestaurant.com recommended by classmates.  I ordered the seafood laksa, it tasted good, but for me, it was a bit pricey for a bowl of noodle.  Well, at least we tried it.

February 1, 2013 Friday
Complimentary Lunch @ Signatures: It's always nice to have free food.  It was time for complimentary lunch at Signatures from school for our group.  We had Chef Eric as our guest.  The menu:

Onion quiche, arugula and candied lemon dressing,
balsamic vinegar reduction
or
Traditional fish soup, crouton, rouille and grated parmesan
• • •
Seared pork tenderloin,
Spinach spaetzle, orange BBQ sauce, Roasted parsnips
or
Seared striped bass filet,
Mussel and chives risotto,
Chioggia beet, tomato syrup
• • •
Chef Yannick Anton’s tiramisu

My experience from last term told me not to order salad nor fish, so this time I ordered soup and tenderloin.  I was happy for my decision.  We didn't really enjoy the tiramisu......  It was fun talking with classmates about other classmates :-)

I knew it was Cynthia's birthday, I saw her on Facebook, so I asked if she was doing anything.  She replied "nothing".  Then I asked her, Cindy and Jason to have Pho in Chinatown for dinner.  Jason was in Rideau Centre and bumped into Hariyo (who graduated from cuisine program last year), and texted me about it.  I told him to invite him to dinner, especially Cynthia and Hariyo both are Indonesian and knew each other.  During dinner, I learned to say Happy Birthday in Indonesian--Selamat ulang tahun. I think I did a pretty good job saying it...... not as good as Cindy though.

February 2, 2013 Saturday
Cupcake Creations Workshop: I volunteered for assisting in Cupcake Creations' demo and practical classes today.  Chef Eric Jaouan and Chef Hervé Chabert were the instructors.  We had 20 something people who paid for the course, and 20 something LCB students attended for free.  It was fun to have Erin, Dina, and Tika there as assistants as well.  Erin and Dina were helping Chef Eric in kitchen 2C.  Tika and I helped Chef Hervé in 2B.  I had noticed that male students in the practical class would try to finish the products as fast as they could then left, while the female students just took forever to decorate their cupcakes.  Typical.

Cynthia's Birthday Dinner: Cynthia invited Jason, Cindy, Dina, Quinn, Matt, Tanvi and me to have Italian meal in Mamma Teresa Ristorante http://www.mammateresa.com for her birthday.  We had ordered so much food, everyone was so full.  The food was very good, and the service of the waiter was nice.  We had a great time as usual, thanks Cynthia!

Week 4 of IP

January 20, 2013 Sunday
Breakfast @ Art Is In: We had been talking about having breakfast (brunch) in Art Is In http://www.artisinbakery.com for a long time, finally, we made it today.  Total of 9 of us, including me, Cynthia, Jason (and his girl friend), Cindy, Erin, Chad, Quinn, and Matt.  I ordered the Benny's, check out the pic, so yummy!

I was glad that everyone liked this place.  After breakfast, Jason dropped me, Cindy and Cynthia off at my place.  We then watched RENT the movie and the musical http://www.siteforrent.com , and did some chocolate practice.

January 22, 2013 Tuesday
Demo Class#6: Chef Eric Jaouan demonstrated how to do chocolate bon bon including Muscadines, Praliné, Boules de neige, Rocher, Truffes (au miel, et au rhum), Pâte d'amandes.  Chef Eric rarely smiled, at least not in front of us.  And he usually hated being photo taken.  But today, he posed for my camera with a smile while I was taking pictures of the bonbon.  Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough take the picture...... he said if he found a picture of him on Facebook, i would be dead. LOL Good luck, Chef!!

January 23, 2013 Wednesday
Practical Class#6: Today, we had Chef Jocelyn Bouzenard as our instructor.  I did a good work, except that my Rocher looked very interesting after being piped.  The chocolate bonbons tasted good and looked good inside the chocolate box.  At night, I took the bus and dropped it off to Nicole and Deb's, 'cos I know Deb loves chocolate.  It was great to see them and Sammy :-)

January 24, 2013 Thursday
Demo Class#7: Having Chef Jocelyn Bouzenard as our instructor today, he showed us how to make Petits fours, including Souris (mouse), Barquette, Moka Dome, Raspberry Jam Triangle, Pink Frog, and Ganache Rectangle.  Everyone was saying how much we all missed Chef Jocelyn and his hand writing, especially when you saw Raspberry "ham" triangle instead of Raspberry "jam" triangle on the board :-)  Oh, and he mentioned how British called French "Frog" while French liked to call British "Roasted Beef"! LOL LOL LOL

After class, Tanvi, Quinn, Cindy, Jason (and his girl friend) and I had lunch buffet in Sitar Indian Restaurant.  Food wasn't great and no many choices neither..... not going back for sure.

January 25, 2013 Friday
Practical Class#7: For us, we had to do Petits fours, including Souris (mouse), Moka Dome, and Ganache Rectangle.  Fabienne supposed to be sous chef today, but she didn't show up for class.  Chef Eric told me to be sous chef, so I tried to finish my petits fours as quick as I could.  As nosey as I am, I asked Jocelyne and Quinn about Skills Compétences Canada (Skills Competition Canada).  They were the top marks students in Basic Pastry, so they got a chance to have an intramural competition against 3 other students to represent Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa.  All I knew was that we would have to do a chocolate box, and pipe some pate a choux.  I wish them luck!

January 26, 2013 Saturday
Today, I met Cynthia, Cindy and Dina for a trip to Kurt Schmidt Importe in Hull, Quebec (across the bridge).  Dan was kind enough to give us a lift.  When we arrived there, it was closed for lunch.  So we decided to find a place for food.  Across the road, we found a breakfast place called Tutti Fruit http://www.tuttifruttidejeuners.com/fr/ Nice food.  Then we went back to Kurt Schmidt and were shocked to know that it was still closed! Anyway, we decided to leave.

Pierogi Party (Ukrainian Dinner): I was excited to "finally" be invited to Quinn's long-waited pieorgi party.  She mentioned the party since last year.  Her reason for not having it was that she didn't have a couch for us to seat on..... well, we had a great carpet picnic at her place.  Chef Matt and Chef Quinn prepared us an amazing Ukrainian meal, including pierogi with different fillings, cabbage rolls, borsht, homemade sour cream (did I say "homemade"?), pampushky (bun), dessert, beer, vodka and sauerkraut!  We (Cindy, Cynthia, Erin, Chad, Dina, Tanvi, Jason, Jason's girl friend, me) all had a great time! Thank you both!

January 27, 2013 Sunday

NHL Game: I had never seen a professional hockey game live before, and I would never buy a ticket for the game.  So I didn't hesitated when school offered us free tickets to watch NHL Game Ottawa Senators vs Pittsburgh Penguins in Scotiabank Place.  The ticket also included $8.50 value for food or drink! It was a tight game.  It was 1-1 tied, then Senator lost in shootout.