Today, I Cried.

Warm yourself up a nice cup of tea, grab your favorite blanket, and curl up in your comfy chair, because you're in for a nice long read. I do apologize for missing a couple of days, but I've been pretty wiped the last few days. Where to begin?

Thursday: I got to casually mention in class that I was staging at Uchi to Chef Porter. She said that was awesome and asked me to pass along hellos to Chefs Tyson and Paul. I also heard a few whispers of "Wow" and "Uchi? Cool" among my classmates. Anyway, we quickly reviewed Chapters 1 & 3 for the quiz and got to it. Six minutes later, I was the second to turn in my quiz and head outside. I had studied like a champ and it paid off. After the break, we moved on to Chapter 4 "Basic Cooking Principles". Yaaay! We started talking about proteins and carbohydrates and sugars and starches. Finally, we were talking about food - and not about how it can kill you. I headed straight from school to work and from work I drove 45 minutes South in the rain in Austin traffic to pour wine at the Whole Foods Rooftop Reception for the Texas Food & Wine Festival only to find out that it had been canceled due to said rain. Great. So I ended up having sushi with Summer and Toby at Umi (decent) and to see Green Zone (also decent).

Friday: Quizzes get passed back to review. Another 100. Aaaagain. And then we started talking about vegetables and fat and vitamins and water in food. Nothing tooo exciting. Again, straight from school to work, but this time, I went from work to The Long Center to pour wine for the Stars Across Texas Grand Wine Tasting. I was pouring wine for McPherson Cellars Winery‎ out of Lubbock, Texas (I guess they're trying to class up the town - good luck!). The wine was REALLY good. Especially the Viognier (Vee-On-Yay). But the best part of the event was that each booth had two volunteers, so we got to alternate working the table and enjoying the event.

I got an hour to check out the food and wine and I used the WHOLE hour! I had food from some of the swankiest joints in town- Uchi (talked to the guys like I knew em), parkside, Bleu River Cafe & Ventana (restaurants from the school), Hudson's on the Bend, Driskill Grill, La Condesa, Jeffrey's, and on and on (full list here). "What did you eat," you ask? Well let me tell you: I had a mint julep chocolate, Cap 'N Crunch gelato, dandelion soup, an antelope tostada, tuna tar-tar, baby octopus, shrimp cakes, a chocolate tart with a caramel bottom and sea salt, almond gazpacho, spicy shrimp skewer, a tofu and pork burger (I know, but it was SO tasty), chicken liver paté with caviar, salmon mousse, and the pièce de résistance: hamachi topped with foie gras. This was my first (and long awaited) run in with foie gras and it WILL NOT be my last. I think the most accurate way to explain the flavor and texture of this most wonderful of ingredients is that it's like "meat butter". Mmmmmmm.......

Saturday: I was back at Uchi this morning for some staging. I made sweet potato and yucca chips again and grated ginger and dikon again as well. Everything else was new. I "stretched" shrimp for tempura: The raw shrimp is peeled (tail on) and scored inside the curve. Then the shrimp is placed in a bamboo sushi mat, pinched and squeezed and rolled until it is about 9 inches long. Awesome. I sliced kabochas (Japanese pumpkin). I cut cucumbers into large batonnets. I cut red grapes into red grape "coins". I mixed wasabi and sobbed like a little girl - that stuff is POTENT!! You think chopping onions makes you cry? I had tears streaming down my face like I was watching the end of "Old Yeller". And I actually got to COOK! What? Yep! I combined onion, lemongrass, garlic, white wine, and rice wine vinegar, brought it to a boil, and added rinsed mussels. They were steamed to perfection. I nailed another day. So much fun.

Phew! I told you it was a long read. I'll make sure to keep up daily so that I don't have to type you another novella. I hope you enjoyed all this info and I'll try to post a bonus blog tomorrow if the Sunday Fair for the Wine & Food Fest provides anything worth posting. BOOM!