...so my title is long, but so was my adventure yesterday...
i got to penn station as i always do, and truth be told, i've been taking cabs to and from school. crazy? yes. but very much necessary because there has been a lot going on this week. for starters i resigned from my job only a week ago, and that still feels intensely weird. i don't just...walk away from a paycheck. that even sounds crazy to say. but i had to make this choice, to follow this wild wind that beckons. and so penn station, and the garden...and the city on a friday night, with all its chaos and flurry of sights, sounds and smells, feels very much appropriate for someone who has deliberately turned their life upside down, scattered the pages to the breeze, and twirled around five times with their eyes closed...only to open them and feel that dizzying, excitable nausea that comes with such inner-frenzy.
when i finally emerged from underground, i took one look at the cab line and froze. the line was four times the normal length it had been this past week. and that sucked. because i hadn't yet bought a metro card, i couldn't quite remember the letter of the subway train my friend Christi told me earlier this week... and i just sort of stood there - frozen, people bumping into me, grumbling at me because i was standing directly in their way (but it's NYC, you're always in someone's way, so that didn't bother me.) Panic leered at me from across the sidewalk, like a menacing, bug-eyed bully, watching from a crowded pretzel stand, following. i took one step left, so did Panic. His best friend, Confusion snuck up behind me, like Elmer Fudd: vewy vwey qwietly... (let's face it, i'm an artist...i'm weird, so it makes sense that my enemies lack that certain, serious, true-grit quality they have in Guy Richie films) i stood there, feeling the city begin to swallow me. it closed in and i felt the ground move, just a little. but then i focused on the Metro lady. she's this lady, who has the sing-songiest voice, singing about the Metro paper (which is free by the way - she gives them away - but i never take one, i just like listening for her voice- she has no idea how important she's become to my travels). she's become a certain constant in my routine. and her voiced pulled me up out of the water. i took a deep breath and heard my voice, from inside some where say, "well, you're here. figure it out." and i began to walk/run to the N train. i remembered suddenly that one of the letters was N, and i remembered from a few years ago exactly how to get there (shockingly!) so i tightened my backpack straps and started to run. (i only have 20 minutes to get downtown.)
luckily, there was a nice girl was downstairs, with a pack of her closest 15 friends, and she was more than helpful in telling me i should get off at Prince or Canal St. and so i waited and the train came, and i got on, and i was on my way. it's funny, when you're sort of lost amidst the flurry of NYers. no one really cares that you're lost, not that they want to see you get run over or cry and never make your way back upstairs...but they just have their own bubble-suits on. and you have to stay the f*ck out of their way. but i've started to notice that as long as you walk fast, have a plan and get there whilst staying out of everyone's path, you sort of blend in, and the only part of you that is lost and freaked out, is the part that's inside, that no one can see. and that's sort of calming.
anyway, i did get off at the wrong stop. CRAP! well, not wrong, just not the best stop. so when i came up from underground, i had NO idea where i was. and needed to get my bearings. first i asked someone. she had no idea, she's not from here. then i asked some guy, and he had no idea as he's not from here either. i walked a bit, and asked another woman (who was with another girl) and neither of them knew because they weren't from here either?? i think that all those people are full of crap. what are the odds that every single person i ask has no idea AND isn't from here? i had to figure out a new plan. so i did something that is going to make you laugh. i looked up and past some of the tall buildings, using the glare in the windows, determined where the sun was. then positioned myself so that i knew west was on my left, and from there determined which way south was. and then started walking in that direction. you might think that's ridiculous, or nerdy...but i don't care. i was proud of it. i was very native american about the whole thing. and laugh if you will, but i don't have an iPhone...but i have a sun. and it always sets in the west.
anyway, long story short, i continued to walk when all of a sudden i saw my school. i literally said, "YAY!" and some girl looked at me before going back to her blackberry. (god, does everyone have a smart phone??) i half-walked, half-ran to school, since it was already 5:05 and i needed to be "mise en place-ing" in 5 minutes.
*side note: mise en place: means everything in place. it means to get all your tools, your equipment, your ingredients (measured), everything ready for the recipe (or formula) you will be working with in the immediate future. i love the French. they have the coolest little expressions for everything.
speaking of class, let's talk projects.
the first project for friday, after the health and sanitation lecture, was the chocolate genoise. genoise cakes are something i'm going to be practicing. because i want to perfect the egg-foam. this cake is a WHOLE egg foam cake, and uses mechanical leavening to give it height and volume. i had made the vanilla genoise. friday was chocolate.
i didn't get to take as many photos as i would have liked, but i'm not there to take photos as much as i'm there to learn so forgive me while i still establish a routine and method to my madness.
though, i particularly love the shot i took of my egg-foam in process.
while waiting for the whisk to add triple the volume and thoroughly bubble up my eggs, i sifted my dry ingredients together. the cocoa smelled AMAZING. i love the quality of the ingredients we get to use here. i mean, it was just a dark, sweet, intoxicating, berry-like smell that filled the room.
by the time it was time to put my cake in the oven, i fear i MAY have slightly over-glutenized my batter, but i sincerely don't know how. and it bums me out, because i worked quickly and carefully, following every direction to the T. but that's why i'm here. to practice. to perfect (or come close to it)...so since it's only my second attempt, i'll go a little easy on myself. besides, to be fair, i haven't actually gotten to inspect it, since it was only baked on friday. so the jury's still out on that.
even still, i think it looked beautiful and that made me happy. it just wasn't quite as tall as some of the other cakes. (of course, the conditions for photography with my little camera aren't ideal, so forgive any shots that look blurry or half-assed. there's limited light, and i can't very well be traipsing a tripod around with me. i do my best.)
behold, my chocolate genoise...well, upside down and cooling...
anyway, last on the list to make was a white cake. and OH MY GOD can i just tell you how much i love the smell of almond? we added vanilla and almond extract to our white cake and the smell... was incredible. almond has the most calming effect on me. now, i didn't get any photos of the cake finished, because it was just finished at the end of the night, so i'll be excited to introduce my white cake to the world monday, but i leave you with an image of my mise en place for the white cake.
yes those are page protectors and yes, they are very necessary.
by the way, we also got to watch the chefs demo a creme brulee and a creme anglaise. and rumor has it, we'll be getting to eat the creme brulee on monday night. have you ever had creme brulee? because if not, you simply have to. it's amazing and one of the most incredible little indulgences one can have. it's a baked custard, and the chef prepared it with vanilla bean. need i say more?
more to come!
xo
m
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