Carolyn's Adventures in Culinary School

i'm 28

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 18:51:03 GMT

and have been for a few days now.

how does one reconcile their hopes and dreams with their partner's? what do you do when you love someone and have very different ideas about when you want to get married and have kids? i told dan my friend got engaged after dating someone for 5 months and he couldn't believe it. he then said, i'm not getting married until i'm 35. i said oh really, then he came in the room i was in and said, but for you honey, 29. that's 4 years from now. i'll be 32. and then he says he doesn't want to have kids for 10-15 years, putting me at age 38-43 to have my first child. i don't know how much truth there is, or just him talking shit. i had always hoped to have my first child before i turned 30, but that's fast slipping away.

why does this matter so much to me anyway, i find myself thinking. shouldn't it just matter that i found someone i truly love with every inch of my being and want to spend the rest of my life with? why do i need a marriage license? i just don't know why i care. i'm trying not to though.

i think it's partially because i've had 5 friends and family members get engaged in the past few months.

so... what else is new. my dry cleaner finally found my custom made silk top i had made in vietnam. can you believe they still charged me? after sending it home with someone else and trying to tell me that i must've already picked it up, another customer brought it back in. i'm never going there again. unfortunately, it's the only dry cleaner downtown. their shop also smells like stale cigarette smoke. i'm afraid to smell my top.

my internship is stressing me out. i'm supposed to have 700 hours by the end of may. things are so slow and we're so full staffed, they keep sending people home. and i want to get saturday night off to go to dan's cabin, but i'm afraid. argh.

i moved into my new house. i'm now living with two new people, weird in their own way. they're nice enough people, but they're even more high strung than i. they wanted to divide up the fridge so they know who's food is who's. why not just label it if you're that worried about it? what the fuck. now one of them has drawn up a roommate agreement, in addition to our lease. i still need to read it again. my next place will either be by myself or with dan. enough said.

things with dan have been stressful the past couple of weeks, but still ok. he's retaking the gre, is taking a class this semester, and is applying for grad school. so he's made a schedule and has told me we can only see each other thurs-sun nights. i think it's bizarre, just being scheduled in. this is just his craziness, and if needs this schedule i'll go along with it i guess. i know i have to concentrate more on expanding my relationships outside of the dan-carolyn world. he says he needs to have this schedule because he likes spending time with me so much, if he's even slightly tempted, it will be hard for him. i feel bad, i know he has a lot on his plate. i guess it's the selfish, get-your-way oldest child coming out :)

my birthday was pretty alright this year. dan was sick, so it was fairly mellow, and all the snow melted so we couldn't go snow-shoeing. but we relaxed most of the day, then two of our friends took me out and dan tried to get over his icky tummyache.

tomorrow it's supposed to be a high of -7. and that's not even taking into account the wind chill. ARGH.

hmmm

Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:35:32 GMT

i always hate the subject line.

so i'm in michigan, haven't been here since july. it's nice to be here, but xmas is always crazy.

i had the best cookie recipe from school and i totally fucked it up. go culinary school student.

i got my first paycheck from the restaurant. a big fat $380. w00t. hmmm. i need to get a phat waitressing job STAT.

i've seen so many movies this month i'm amazed. first, mystic river which was incredible. then lost in translation, which was truly disappointing to me. then kill bill which i enjoyed. just saw LOTR3 yesterday, which i loved of course.

i need to stop being moody pms-y overanalyzing girl. so dan and i have been tossing around cities to move to. we're talking about going to SF to visit friends, and last night he said well if i moved there i can always stay with (friends of his) while i look for a place to live. hmmm. i didn't know what to say. i already told him i'd move with him, and i asked if he wanted me to go and he said, of course. that was just odd. probably not, i'm probably reading too much into it... but whatever.

this is the first time in over a month that dan and i haven't gotten a day without seeing each other. is that bad? it's got to be. i've basically been living with him the past month, just going home to shower and get more clothes. i haven't slept at my house in probably 3 weeks. i just haven't ever spent so much time with someone in a relationship. is that health/normal when you're in love with someone?

no, i'm not dead

Mon, 08 Dec 2003 16:03:28 GMT

most of you have thought so though, i know.

gosh i don't even know when i posted last. here we go.

school's out til june. i'm so happy to be working. though i'm only making $7.50/hour. can you freaking stand it? i broke down the other day because i wanted to buy snow pants and gaiters and couldn't afford them. i made nearly $40k before i moved here. i'm fine now, i got paid cash one night for work so i bought the gaiters and my mom found my snow pants at home. i don't feel that i'm obsessed with money, i just like the things it affords.

so we got dumped on snow-wise, like over a foot. dan and i went cross-country skiing around town the past two nights after i've gotten out of work. skiing at the country club is so fun, but it's so windy here. now i need a baclava.

the honeymoon phase with dan is over. i've been a bit annoyed with him at times and things aren't quite as perfect as they used to be. i'm really emotional right now for some reason. i think i got over it when i broke down about the money thing though, so things have been better the past day or so.

dan got me a lovely new winter jacket for xmas/bday. what a guy!

so the new job is good. i'm going to learn a lot there. you can check it out at www.smokjacks.com i really really like the sous chef and most of the employees there. yay! everyone works hard, it's so refreshing. i get to go home for xmas too, so that's great. sun-fri, not too long but good.

i also found a new place to live. it's in a duplex south of downtown, right on the bike path. i would like to be in walking distance like i am now, and a mile isn't too bad, just not doable on cold wintry days i guess. i'm excited.

life

Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:01:38 GMT

whoa, i haven't updated in a LONG time.

don't want to spend forever here though. things are still good with dan. enough said :D

so, i have an interview for my internship tomorrow. at www.smokejacks.com i really really want this job. i've eaten there and their food is incredible. i'm so excited. the head chef is female, which is super sweet i think. she uses as much local organic product as possible, they have a gret cheese list and wine list and they pair wines with their dessserts. i'm so psyched!

today, i got some crazy news. the head chef at one of the restaurants we operate asked me to be part of a team to compete in a culinary contest in NYC on nov. 8. i can't even stand it! i find out tomorrow if it's going to happen i guess. we ahve to do a savory and a sweet dish containing grand marnier. i've been racking my brain for ideas. i don't particularly like grand marnier. but assuming i know the two guys i'm going with, they'll have tons of ideas.

otherwise, things are good. i'm trying to decide if i'm going to move out of my place or not. i don't love 1 of my roommates. one guy jyust moved in and he seems pretty alright so far. i would love to move in with people i was friends with, but no one i know is looking. i would kind of like to live by myself. but i don't know if i can afford it. i wish dan and i weren't going out, cuz we would make awesome roommates.

oh my!

Tue, 21 Oct 2003 22:54:06 GMT

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

10 minutes... and anyone know anyone who homesteads?

Tue, 30 Sep 2003 22:58:39 GMT

that's how long i have to type.

so, another fabu weekend with dan. i'm so in love it's pathetic. he is too, it's great. we gross out our friends. he laughs when i say this and says it's payback for when his friends did it to him.

friday night we got drunk with some friends. i met one of his female friends, who i love and want to hang out with again. after we left the bar she was at, dan said, i can't believe i havne't hooked you 2 up yet, you two would get along so well. saturday we went apple picking then went to his dad's cabin. his 87 YO grandpa was there, the cutest thing EVER. he has the sweetest little dog. we made an apple torte and pie with the apples we picked. the next AM We made my signature pumpkin waffles and sauteed some apples and pears to go on top - DIVINE. his grandpa even asked for the recipe! w00t! came back on sunday to meet his mom and her friend for dinner. that was the 1st time i met her - she was really sweet and apparently liked me, which is way more important than his dad liking me.

it was so sweet, justina's friend brought over a futon he said i could have. i was having dan help me take the cover off so i could wash it this weekend and as we were pulling it off, it was pretty nasty - stained, ripped, etc. dan was like, no way, you're not sleeping on this, come on let's go to futon gallery right now and we'll buy you something else. i wouldn't let him. but did decide to let my roommate have the futon.

i really have been thinking about moving in with dan, but i don't know. i really have mixed feelings about it. it would be great, my old roommate already lives there, whom i loved living with. he has a nice place with parking, a great kitchen, yard, sunroom etc. but i always said i wouldn't live with a guy. but now we're starting to talk about saving money to buy some land or a house or something, and it would be a great way to save money. can you believe we're already talking about this?

yeah, so we want to homestead, at least partially. maybe not go all the way. so we've been talking about ways of doing it while having a business, like a restaurant or B&B. we talk about it all the time. dan said, it's so great to have someone who really wants to do this, to talk about with. neither of us have ever been with someone who truly shared the dreams of ours.

but now what's realisitic? do i finish school, dan go to law school, then move to boston, work our asses off for 10 years then we move back here or to maine or something and homestead/open our b&b/restaurant? or do we buy some land now and then work part-time while we start up our homestead/operation? we need to learn more.

anyone know anyone who homesteads? we're trying to gather as much info as possible.

i hate being sick

Wed, 24 Sep 2003 22:57:46 GMT

yeah, so dan got me sick. argh. i've been sneezing nonstop. well, i guess i was sorta already sick, but i think his bugs infiltrated my system and made me sicker. oh well. i just want to be sorta better when he gets back.

so dan's all excited about the B&B. and he's started reading up about homesteading. hee hee. it's so freaking adorable. he eamiled me the other day and said, you know how it's scary when you're dream is right and front of you and you can almost touch it? yep dan, i know, welcome to my life - coming to culinary school after musing on it for 10 years, falling totally in love with an amazing guy, etc... yes, i do.

i just had a craving for lemon chicken. yummy.

so i checked out the vermont small business association's website and found they offer some classes on getting started. they also had a link to an online class place where they had some 6 week business classes that look interesting.

so here's the latest question i've been overanalyzing -- am i being a wuss about my internship? there's this place mirabelles - you order at the counter and they bring you your food - they serve breakfast and lunch and have great pastries/baked good/desserts. they're only open 7-7 M-F and 7-5 on Sa, so the hours would be nice, and i'd always have sundays off. i think i'd lke it there and all, but everyone else is going somewhere to be a hard core line cook. see, i don't ever want to do that. and i want to have my nights off and some free time on the weekend. there is another place i'm interested in, but i dont know what my hours would be like.

i'm a pathetic lump of goo

Mon, 22 Sep 2003 21:15:53 GMT

hee hee, like that title?

yeah, so dan came home after ten excrutiating days of being away. naw, it wasn't that bad, but it was harder than i thought. of course, the pending dog death made it all harder but we're hoping she fights it off for another couple months.

anyway, from friday at 5 pm til sunday at 8 am we were together. he was sick, so that sucked. but we had a good time - went out to a nice dinner on friday night, cooked breakfast together on sat, then i made a nice healthy dinner sat night. he took me to breakfast on sunday am before he left. i got him a cute card that had a bed on the front, then inside it says "wanna cuddle?" aw. so i gave that to him when he dropped me off and told him to read it later.

on the way to my house after breakfast i said something or other and he said, you stole my heart. omigod, i almost cried.

we saw masked and anonymous this weekend - horrible movie. cool seeing dylan play, but never figured out what the movie what is about. totally ambiguous.

ok, i need a new living situtation. this guy drives me nuts. he's dirty, he lets his friends park in my parking spot, etc. hopefully i can stick it out til the end of november and HOPEFULLY my buddy steve will move up here and i can move in with him. half of me wants to move in with dan - my old roommate who i LOVED moved in with him and their other roommate is moving out. but it's too soon. but it would be perfect, i already know i can live with greg - he's fairly clean and crunchier and fun to live with. and dan is as anally clean as me. but it's way too soon. argh. this sucks, i feel like i've known him for 20 years, yet it's only been just over 2 months - why???

ok, so my 29 YO roommate actually asked me how to clean the bathroom. gimme a break.

school is going good. i'm doing desserts now, which is really fun. i'm thinking about getting my internship at mirabelle's, a breakfast/lunch place in town that does a lot of pastries, desserts, wedding cakes, etc. they're only open M-F 7 to 7 and Sa from 7-5. so i'm guaranteed sundays off, and don't have to work dinner shift. i just want to have a life, you know? i dont' want to work every weekend night til midnight and never be able to hang with my friends or my honey.

ah, yes, i guess i'm just not a tolerant person...

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 19:44:35 GMT

so today, i asked ben who's kind of the unelected leader of our class how come he can bust everyone's balls and no one cares but when i say anything, it's a huge fucking ordeal. and i was right, it's cuz i'm a girl. he said, i'm not totally sure, but i'm going to guess that meatheads (i.e. the 18 YO dumbass in my class) don't like when women cut them down. HA!

this older woman in our class is driving us all nuts. she was still making dough when we were cleaning up. none of us has ever been that far behind. and i made 2 of her doughs today! i swear! have some selectivity NECI!

i finally sucked it up and went to the chiropractor yesterday, i decided i need to splurge and take care of my body. i've been really hurting. he seems cool and there's a gal my age-ish working there who seems cool.

dan comes home tomorrow. i'm so freaking excited. i can't wait to see him., then he has to turn around and leave again on sunday. BOO!

death

Tue, 16 Sep 2003 22:59:36 GMT

it's funny, i was telling dan that bad thing always happens in 3s. my grandfather went into the hospital labour day weekend, then dan's dog is ill, now my dad's sister is in the hospital and will probably die. its so sad. i've only met her once. she has the mental functioning and physical development of a 3 YO. she's been living in a home for most of her life (she's in her late 50s now). i feel really bad. i guess all she has is a UTI, but since she's so tiny there's little they can do for her i guess. i mean, what kind of life has she really had anyway? she's nevre lived with her family really. i know one of my dad's sister's and my cousin visit her every week or so. anyway, i feel bad. she's such a sweetheart. when we went to visit her, she cuddled up to me like a cat. she's so sweet.

anyway, on happier notes, dan's dog seems to be getting better. i hope she stays that way at least til xmas. i think with all his traveling this fall, he doesn't need this to stress over.

my car is fucked. i've felt this barely perceptible fish tailing of my rear while driving in the snow. well, they jacked it up and apparently at some point, the contol rods go bent. they run between your tires. i'm so annoyed. i'm sure they won't be cheap to replace. i think i'm just going to get snow tires and get an internship i can walk to and be done with it.

speaking of internhips, there's a place dan frequents for breakfast that i apparently can intern at. they serve breakfast and lunch and have amazing looking pastries and cakes. HUGE PLUS - closed on sundays. w00t. i'm seriously going to consider it. though i'm torn, i never really want to work a line, so i wonder if i should do that for an internship for the experience. but having sundays off would be so nice!

this keyboard sucks. k, i'm dne.

are you sick of me gushing yet?

Tue, 09 Sep 2003 22:25:13 GMT

i know, you are.

so i wanted to enter a recipe contest so i made dan come over for dinner lsat night and be my guinea pig. i noticed a red card in his hand when he walked in, but i didn't say anything right away. i was so intersted to know what it was, so as i was cooking i offhandedly asked when i got to open the card. he said, you saw it? i said yes, hard not to. and he said i had to wait til after dinner. argh. i hate waiting.

so after dinner, he says, hold on and runs outside. i hear him drop a bag outside the door and he comes in and hands me the card. it was really sweet, thanked me for my patience with him this month and said he can't wait to do some more hiking with me this fall. i was like ok, great, thanks! and then he runs outside and comes in with a bag -- with a set of trekking poles sticking out. oh my god! i can't even believe it!

i had gone hiking without him on sunday and that night i was telling him how bad my knees hurt coming down and that i was going to go straight out to buy poles that afternoon, but had to watch the vikings game instead. and i said i just needed to pick some up. so the very next day, he goes and buys me some! what a sweet pea!

so then we went to ben & jerry's, our favourite, sat on the street and ate it, then went to get some tea at a coffee shop nearby. talked more about our bed and breakfast. he really talks like it's going to happen. i wonder...

another crazy thing he sprung on me last night. out of the blue, he asks me if i could do a longer internship and not go back to school til next fall, like work over the summer somewhere. i said, well yeah, sure they're really flexible. why, i asked. he said, well, i thought we could go to cape cod and surf for the summer. there's a really great restaurant there you'd love, he added... i'm in a fucking dream!

so i have this catering gig on sunday. $20/hour. yay! carolyn needs money. i'm also making up my missed class on saturday. and working tonight and tomorrow night. i just want to get it out of the way, making up the class. i want to miss one when my family comes next month and dan mentioned going to cape cod sometime, or NYC, so i might have to take another day off... i hate having class 6 days a week. argh.

on another note, i had a bad day in class. there's this new kid we got - gene - he's 18 and thinks he's the shit. his parents own a catering op in NJ and so he has some experience. but he's the most impatient person ever. so today, we were doing a salt tasting. he kept putting too much salt on his spoon and then dumping the remains on the floor, right after we spent over an hour cleaning. and then h e kept saying shit, like where's #2? where's #2? so after he dumped his salt on the floor again, i said, so gene, do you want me to get you a garbage can so you don't have to dump your salt on the floor? and he was like, what's the big deal? its' just salt? and then there's was this salt sitting in front of him, and i was likd, so are you going to taste that or what? just like he had been doing to kelly the whole time. so he was like, why do you have to be like that all the time, and this other guy aaron said, yeah you like that all the time. and i said, look we just spent an hour cleaning up, i think it's rude, throw your crap in the garbage can (luckily the chef backed me up) and then i said, and he was doing the same thing this whole time, getting on everyone's case for not passing shit. i'm just doing the same thing to him to show him what it's like. and it totally pisses me off, cuz ben busts people's balls all the time, but no one gets defensive to him. what? just cuz he laughs through it it's ok? 5 minutes later he started giving gene shit for talking about salt lake when we were talking about how salty oceans were. what the fuck.

i'm sorry, i just have very little time for annoying 18 YO smartasses who think they know it all and don't.

i know i'm not the nicest person in the world to everyone. but i work my ass off. i'm not like kelly who fucking wiped the same surfaces over and over today instead of helping us haul everything out of the bakeshop, sweep, scrub, mop and squeegee. i mean come on, how many times can you wipe down THE SAME FREAKING COUNTER??? she hasn't touched one thing to clean the floor in the 4 days i've been in class. but no, i'm the one who gets yelled at for being a bitch. apparently, being lazy is more desirable? yeah, we'll see.

my greatest fear is that my classmates hate me more than i think and are not going to want me in their class next year and i'll be stuck in the shitty block. but who knows, maybe i'll be on cape cod next summer and won't even be starting with them again..

i see stupid people

Mon, 08 Sep 2003 19:48:18 GMT

i feel live i've already titled an entry that...

so dumb girl had to help me today. she can't count or follow directions for shit. so i had a small plate, a not very full tray and a full tray out. i said, the plate needs 3 croissants, the not full tray 4 and the full tray 10. she stares. i repeated and pointed. ok she said and started moving the croissants around.

i look over, the plate has 4. no kelly, i say, and repeated FOR THE THIRD FREAKING TIME. she stared blankly so i counted the 4 and said, 3, not 4.

yikes.

then i asked her to take the full tray up to the restaurant. i turn around and when i turn back, the not full tray is gone. ACK! i grab it and go up there. on my way, i hear here and run into her picking up stuff off the floor. i said, you brought the wrong tray. she stammers, oh i did? yes, kelly, you did and i see you dropped some product, fabulous.

why does she always have to help me???

so i'm pooped today. dan was gone thurs thru last night and didn't get home til almost 9. i had class at 4 this morning, but wanted to see him. he called and asked if i wanted to stay over, of course! he practically jumped all over me like a puppy kept at a kennel for a week. tee hee. he told me 6 times how much he missed me AND, drumroll please, called me his girlfriend for the first time.

/me does backflips

we also had a long talk about our lifestyles. he has high blood pressure so i need to help him not go out so much (which he doesn't really as it is) and eat better, get more exercise. he does work out quite a bit already, but we need to stop eating out so much and cook in more. so i'm doing some research on how he should be eating. i'm excited though, it's so fun to cook with him.

this upcoming weekend is going to be busy. i decided to makeup the class i missed last week on sat, so i don't have to worry about it later (plus i might want to miss a few more when my parents are here and to go out of town with dan). and then i got a catering job i'm doing sunday that pays $20/hr. i need the money.

ok, off to the grocery store.

i see stupid people

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 02:50:36 GMT

apparently you don't need much in terms of brains to get into culinary school.

so this chick who drive me nuts had to convert a recipe the other day. she was asking how much a gallon weighed. the chef said, "well, one pint equals one pound the world around. so, how much would a gallon weigh?" she stared blankly at him.

chef: so, there are 2 pints in a quart and 4 quarts in a gallon, so...
kelly: another blank stare

in kelly's defense, i might not have gotten it right away, but she did have a pen and paper in front of her.

chef: ok, a pint is a pound. there are 2 pints in a quart so how much does a quart weigh?
kelly: another blank stare

i'm not freaking kidding you.

bakeshop is really cool. the chef is a goofball, don't know if i love him or not. but class is fun. getting up early is challenging, but once i'm there it's alright. and being done between 12-1 pm is great. this week i was the floater, so i made a 140 apple crisps and a ton of cookie dough and helped the dessert guy out a bit. i like this class cuz we work pretty independently. mon and tue i'm the baker, which means i bake everything for the bakeshop. hot stuff! i like learning the chemistry behind baking. our book is really interesting too.

i finally told my parents about dan. i waited so long this time cuz last time i told them too soon. but since i met his dad last weekend, and he obviously knew something about me, i thought i should tell them about dan. they're coming nexxt month and hopefully will get to meet him. i found out my sister is now coming (YAY!) and so i told dan that and he asked when they were coming again and said he'd try to be around part of the weekend. so that's cool.

we went to single pebble again for dinner this week. god it's so freaking good. we got the same kickass red curry soup, tempura eggplant with ponzu sauce and garlic and soy broccoli. we had some chrysanthemum tea and mango sorbet. it was perfect. YUM!

i'm so happy, my roommate has a cd burner. now i don't have to go buy one. YAY!

let's see, what else... oh yeah! so i think i posted that i had decided to run a marathon with dan this may. i decided i was going to run 6 miles today, as 4 is my normal run. i thought the winooski river was 6 miles RT. i passed the sign with the mileage on my way and saw it would actually be 8 mi RT. i thought, well if i can run 6, i can run 8 right? dan ran 8 last weekend! i can run 8! HA! so, i did it. i ran 8 freaking miles! w00t! we'll see how i feel tomorrow. i'm pooped now. so i started tracking my mileage in runner's world and that'll help motivate me. at this point, i'm trying to run 4x a week and lift 2x. i'd like the throw yoga in too, but we'll see. after bakeshop, the subsequant 6 weeks will be tough.

BOUNCING AROUND THE ROOM

Wed, 03 Sep 2003 17:26:51 GMT

so i knew dan was going to be gone tonight thru the weekend probably, so when i ended up missing class today, i thought i'd get him to meet me for lunch. we finally made it over to this awesome sandwich place in essex, near school, that i've heard good things about. it was pretty good, about an 8 i guess. dan is spoiled and doesn't like any place that doesn't have roasted red peppers - ok. what a dork. anyway, we conversed a bit about gun control (we watched bowling from columbine together last night - awesome!) and the morality of keeping terminally ill people alive.

near the end of our lunch, i told him i turned down the internship in asheville. i thought he was going to jump up and down. his whole face lit up and he grabbed my hand and told me how happy he was. oh my god, i can't even stand this! the mere mention of me moving to san francisco was enough to turn hans' hair blue! anyway, so he was like, so you're staying and i said, yes most likely and told him i was going to try to get an internship at smokejacks. then he says, nate, greg and mark (his friends and sorta mine now) will be so excited - you're been a huge hit up here. how fucking sweet was that? i must've been hugely blushing. anyway, it made me really really happy to know he wants me to stay. i just feel so good about this relationship. it's so fun and relaxing. i mean, i still can't believe we're not sick of each other yet with how much time we've been spending together. and we still talk non stop, we always find something.

~~~~~

ok, here's my first stab at a restaurant review. this is for smokejack's, the restaurant i want to work at.

most everything about smokejack's impressed me. i wish i could day everything was amazing, but it wasn't. the service was definitely not the greatest. i don't know if it was because it was a slow, cooler night and we were one of the only tables outside, but i was often lacking water in my glass and we waited for our check. luckily my dining companion and i enjoy conversation.

the inside is very chic. gray toned walls are peppered with bright, local artwork for sale. a sleek bar runs the length of the restaurant and tables line the opposite wall. it's a long, narrow space which felt very intimate for the 3 minutes we spend inside. we chose to dine outside, wanting to enjoy one of the first fall-like days of the year. i wish the restaurant were higher up on church street, so cars wouldn't be buzzing by, but we ignored it.

the menu was nice and short. two soups and a few salads. there were a variety of small plates then a half-dozen entrees. one page of the menu was dedicated to cheeses. another page of wines by the glass, and an extensive list of bottles, including a few half-bottles.

we decided to share the salad special, which consisted of roasted golden beets, red lettuce, red onions, crumbled bleu cheese, sugared hazelnuts and a light vinaigrette. i wasn't too hungry, so i chose a small plate of spice-rubbed shrimp. it was a decent portion of food for under $10, with 4 sweet & spicy shrimp served on top of sweet hominy and pea shoots. a spicy sauce was drizzled all over. my companion's entree was perfect. cider-glazed pork tenderloin served with bacon-wrapped peaches over a bed of lentils and summer vegetables had us both moaning with pleasure.

we chose three cheeses for our dessert, one was lazy lady, a sage-encrusted soft ripened cheese, then an herbaceous and oozy brie-like cheese, and finally a super sharp bleu.

we were never offered the dessert menu (BOO!) and i was a bit miffed after i looked at is as we were leaving. a corn ice cream with local berries, candied corn and caramel sauce caught my eye. i guess i have to go back now.

~~~~~

here's another one from a single pebble, an upscale asian place i also love

my roommate and dan came home around 7 on a saturday night. we were all exhausted from a long night of partying and a long day. we just wanted to enjoy some tasty ethnic food and relax.

"call single pebble and telle them we're coming," dan told greg. i giggled, having heard it took weeks to get a reservation.

somehow, greg fanagled a table for 6 at 8:30. the phone calls began and we got a group together. get a bit dressed up greg said too.

we all assembled at 8:30 at the restaurant, dressed up for burlington (guys had collared shirts on). i was the only girl with 5 guys. we had the best table in the place i though, a round 6 top in an alcove with a lazy susan in the middle. our server was great. she first asked if we had all dined there before, and when dan and i said no, she went on to explain that the dishes are served family-style and that they come out as they are ready. we ordered a couple bottles of wine then pow-wowed about what we should order.

first off was the soup. we ordered two kinds, a watercress and tofu and a red curry. the red curry was TO DIE for. a super flavourful coconut red curry broth chock full of crunchy and soft noodles. i practically licked my bowl clean. the watercress tofu had potential but was a little flavourless for my taste.

pk, gotta run, more on this later ;)

um, who's joshua jackson?

Wed, 03 Sep 2003 10:38:30 GMT

i like the tying up part though - rargh!

<td bgcolor="#000000">Username (no caps)</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA"></td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">You will mess around with</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA">Joshua Jackson </td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">You will have sex</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA">One time when you slip something in his drink </td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">He will like it when you</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA">Tie him up </td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">You will get lucky on</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA">September 12, 2011</td></tr>

You Celebrity Whore by poolofjello

Created with quill18's MemeGen!

hysterical

Wed, 03 Sep 2003 10:26:58 GMT

i find this amusing since dan's 2 years my junior...

<td bgcolor="#000000">LiveJournal Username</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA"></td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">Favorite Number</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA"></td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">Favorite Color</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA"></td></tr><td bgcolor="#000000">Your Yaoi Fanfic Cliche is</td><td bgcolor="#DDDDAA">"Who cares if he's a minor? This is LOVE!" </td></tr>

What Yaoi Fanfic Cliche Are You? by windandwater

Created with quill18's MemeGen!

i did it

Wed, 03 Sep 2003 10:23:05 GMT

i emailed the chef in asheville and told him i wasn't interested in the position. whew. it's done.

what a great day so far. got up at 3:20 to make it to class by 4 am. i knew i needed gas but i didn't have time to stop, not that anything was open anyway. my light hadn't gone on yet so i thought i was alright to get there at least. well, about a mile from school, my car breaks down. my aaa had just expired 8/31 and it was 3:50 am. ACK! luckily aaa has a 30 day grace period - whew! - and they sent a guy with some gas and a tow just in case to me. i waited an hour with nothing to do. my hazards wouldn't work, so i had to leave my lights on and it kept dinging - so fucking annoying. so i had just ran out of gas and drove out to school. i was too late to start class, so i have to make it up now. argh. and now i'm awake. and i don't want to go to bed because i need to be able to fall asleep early tonight so i can get up at 3:20 again tomorrow. i'm annoyed. maybe a little nap....

surprise

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 13:33:30 GMT

Congratulations, you're Seattle, the Emerald City.
What US city are you? Take the quiz by Girlwithagun.

ah, life is good

Tue, 02 Sep 2003 13:25:14 GMT

first off, thanks to mal, mel and jeff's words of wisdom regarding my internship. it makes me feel better knowing my friends and family support me (my dad told me i don't have to justify anything to him, thanks dad).

well, my grandfather ended up in the hospital this week. all seems to be alright. he got to go home on saturday and is now being treated as an outpatient. i guess his lungs were partially filled with fluid, and he became really anemic, which he isn't normally. they think he had congestive heart failure, but are running some tests this week to find out what's up. still need to talk to my parents to see what's up.

so this weekend was fabulous. saturday after class i drove to dan's dad's cabin with him. it is amazing. his dad has a beautiful piece of land and amazing cabin about an hour from here. we were just going to stay on saturday, but it was so relaxing we stayed an extra night. his dad and stepmom were there, i think they liked me. they love food and wine, so we got along pretty well. we drank a bunch of wine, had dinner and talked til late on saturday night. sunday we did some work around the cabin then drove to this cute town called warren and saw an amazing bed and breakfast before heading to waitsfield to have dinner at a great restaurant. the b&b was super $$, but so cute. had theme rooms, like the schoolroom which had a blackboard as a headboard. the downstairs had some incredible furniture and cool pictures up. dinner was really good. so vermont, the staff was wearing khakis and polos, but the entrees were $15 and up. i had a roasted tomato and eggplant soup and a sauteed cod with tomatoes, ginger, and lime served over orzo. then we all shared key lime pie and a belgian chocolate mousse pie. monday we chilled out and on our way back, stopped at neci for lunch.

~~~~

so last weekend, i shared my lifelong dream with dan about my b&b. went into all the details about cooking classes, backpacking trips, cross-country ski trails, etc. told him how i wanted it to essentially be an eco-lodge in the middle of vermont, but on a small scale. i wanted to grow my own vegetables and have a seasonal menu. etc etc etc. guess what? he wants to do it too. the rest of the week, he'd throw out ideas for a b&b. then sunday morning, he says, from now on, i'm just calling it our b&b. sigh. then at lunch monday, i asked him what he plans to do about law school, because his dad is obviously pushing him to at least get his master's. and he said, i'd love to be an environmental lawyer for the nature conservancy then run a b&b with my wife on the side. sigh again. then he proceeds to tell me how happy he is that i decided to move out here. SUPER SIGH. then we were talking about his travel this fall (he says he'll be gone for like 2 months starting next week) and i said, well, really, if you're anywhere cool, let me know ... and he interrupts and says, you'll meet me for the weekend? and i laughed and said yes, and he said, i was hoping you'd say that. freak, i already told him that. hee hee.

is this really happening? i keep pinching myself. what's going to happen to ruin this? why does he keep wanting to hang out with me? we spend like 5 of 7 nights together a week. i'm almost looking forward to him leaving this fall. i've been neglecting the other people i've met since i've been here. but the past few weeks, i've wanted to take advantage of being with him, since he's going to be gone so much this fall.

so what else is new? well, i finished my first mod of school. i'm officially a sophomore now i guess. i start bakeshop tomorrow at 4 am. YIKES. still checking out restaurants for my internship. dan and i had dinner at smokejack's last week. it was fabulous. definitely high on my list of places to intern. good ambience, they change their menu, they have an extensive and lovely cheese list, they use local ingredients, and apparently have their own garden. i might pop in their this week and talk to the chef. i have 3 other places i definitely want to look at, but they're not in burlington. if i like any of those, i might have to move out into the country. BUMMER. hee hee, really, that kind of is appealing to me.

oh yeah, i'm running a marathon this spring i guess. i'm doing it with dan and mark. in burlington. whoa. can't believe it. i always said i wanted to do one, but then have chickened out recently. so dan brought it up and i said yes. we'll see what happens. first have to get in, like the twin cities and grandma's marathon, it fills up every year.

anyway, that's it for now. sorry so long. WOO!

Thu, 28 Aug 2003 01:48:57 GMT

life

Thu, 28 Aug 2003 01:16:36 GMT

it's so hard sometimes isn't it?

i had an incredible weekend. it started out on thursday really. met some school friends for some wine and music. ended up getting much drunker than i anticipated. but it was really fun. friday night dan and i made dinner together. it was really fun cooking with him, he really is interested in learning what i do. we then met some friends out at a bar i hadn't been to, which was fun. saturday we went to this amazing restaurant here in town. i love the spontaneity in burlington. we made a reservation at like 7 pm for later that night and found 6 people to go out to dinner with. anyway, the meal was absolutely amazing. can't wait to go back. sunday was perhaps the most perfect day i had since i moved here. dan and i hiked up camel's hump, the 2nd tallest mountain in vermont, went for a swim in a freezing cold swimming hole, played ultimate frisbee for 2 hours, grabbed some dinner and watched gattica. holy long day. i think i've finally recovered.

so, why i titled this post life is because i'm just struggling with what to do right now about my internship. i really don't think this site in asheville is for me. i absolutely LOVE burlington. vermont is incredible beautiful. the past 2 weekends i've gone hiking and its been great, just drive out of town 20 min and voila! it's insane. and people are spontaneous! it's a hey, what are you doing tonight kind of crowd, not any of that have to plan your weekend a week in advance b-s i felt like i dealt with in minnesota. so i don't know why i feel like i have to justify staying. i just feel like people think i'm staying just for dan. and while he's a teeny part of the reason, i just want to stay. there are people who like to do stuff here, and i want to take advantage of that. i don't want to pack up all my shit just to move back here 6 mos. later. i don't want to have to make new friends again then have to restart relationships here. i don't want to pay to move when i'm already here. i don't want to have to find another apt. i want to hike or ski every week. i want to play cards and drink wine on my porch with my friends. i want to be here. ARGH!

am i scared that i finally found a city to live in? am i scared that i'm lying to myself that dan is only a small reason to stay? who knows if things will work out with him or not, all i know is that i've never felt more alive with a man before. he's become one of my best friends in a month. i can't believe i've only known him for a month. it's ridiculous. i feel like he was my next door neighbor growing up. jeez. but i've never felt happier living somewhere than i have living here either. i feel like i have more friends than when i was in minnesota.

your thoughts kids? i appreciate them.

so the restaurant i went to on saturday was one of the ones i maybe want to intern at. it's close to home, just a few blocks away. it's asian, i'm not sure if i want to just cook asian, but they have a great menu, really tasty stuff, a pretty good wine list, great decor and service.

now i just have to try out 4 more restaurants and start trailing (meaning i go in and follow someone for a shift to see if i get along with the staff and like what i see).

mike says no - the best line (or worst) of it. HA! best chalkdust torture ever too. WHOA. just listened to that again! woohoo!

major dilemma

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 00:12:14 GMT

UGH.

so, i interviewed a few weeks ago for an internship in asheville, nc. i thought i wanted it, but now i don't think i do. basically, i got an email today saying i could have the job. he said he just wanted to talk to me again to get some more info for HR. that means i have to have it.

but i'm so fucking happy in burlington. i finally feel like i have a home here. i feel like i have more friends than i did when i was in minnesota. i LOVE vermont. LOVE IT!

so what am i supposed to do????????

pros for staying in vermont:
1. can get an internship at a small restaurant or catering company like the kind of place i'd like to own one day
2. will work in the same kitchen for 6 months
3. may have more opportunity to learn
4. don't have to move three times in one year
5. can establish a life here
6. can move more stuff to burlington
7. can sign a year lease
8. can further explore my relationship with dan

pros for going to asheville
1. check out a new town
2. will be sure to rotate through 4 kitchens in 6 months
3. will get the experience of working at a large resort

ok, so i had to read a chapter of becoming a chef, required reading for culinary students everywhere. one of the chefs said to intern in places like the ones youd' like to own. i don't ever want to own or work at a huge resort!

i was nice to the annoying guy today

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 23:48:18 GMT

yeah, so the annoying dumbass in my class, jeff, i was nice to him today. i'm trying sorta to be nice to the two annoying people. i'm going to encounter many more of these folk in my career and i need to become more patient. yay.

so i got to see dan again last night after a 10 day hiatus. my roommate was hanging up with him as i was walking out the door. when i called back, i got his voicemail. when called back later, he said he wanted to hang out but had already kinda made plans with mark and nate, would i mind hanging out with them. mark's girlfriend had just moved back to germany last week and nate's girlfriend just left for a 2 month road trip yesterday. so i went over there, drank some beers and watched some discovery channel. later, he asked if i wanted to sleep over -- our first! -- and i said yes. i was a good girl. he cracked me up -- he offered me his toothbrush (which i never have a problem sharing) and as he hands it to me he says, this is a big step for us carolyn. ha ha. then later he said something about it was good to see me and i asked if he missed me, half jokingly and he said emphatically, yes. aw. he asked if i missed him too and i said, of course, crazily enough. anyway, we cuddled and talked to the wee hours as usual. i got no sleep last night. but that's alright. i get done with my super early class tomorrow! for the time being at least.

i went to the dentist today. i may have to get a root canal. ACK! aren't i too young for this? i can't imagine how much that's going to cost me. not happy.

so this is supposed to be a log about cooking school and i don't think i've been doing a very good job. so here we go.

so today, i had puchasing at the crack of dawn. yesterday, the sewer backed up near the cafeteria at about 7 am. for the 2nd time this summer. seriously, it happened like a month ago. the inn is so fucking cheap. so anyway, it backs up again. we grab all the breakfast stuff and hightail it up to main kitchen. this kid, gene, who is going to be in my class next mod, comes in. he's in cafeteria right now - meaning, he's in that class. so he says, dude, we might not have class today cuz the sewer backed up. yeah right buddy. your class has to feed 150 employees and students - i'm sure you'll get the day off. whatever. there are 6 kitchens in the hotel dumbass. anyway, so i get to purchasing this morning and chef john says that the drain in the purchasing area had backed up overnight. holy crap - literally. invest some money man!

anyway, one of the chefs at the montpelier campus was on the today show this morning. he took his class chantarelle hunting, and they filmed that plus a cooking demo that was severly cut off cuz of some supposed breaking news (all i know is that they spent a lot of time talking about cosmetic foot surgery). it was fun seeing him - the guy was funny. i actually met him on my tour.

then i had the condescending math class. horrible. in the time it took me to do all 5 problems on a page, someone still couldn't do the first one. oh jeez. how come i have to sit through this shit? i did finish my laundry list of vitamins and minerals and the fruits and veggies that are high in them. i think i'll type it and put in on the pb website. yeah!

oh what a night!

Sun, 10 Aug 2003 15:05:14 GMT

oh what a fun night i had last night! so both of my roommates were out of town this weekend so i decided to have some friends over from school. i love spontaneous get togethers! so andy, sonja, lisa and scott came over and we grilled out for dinner. then bryan and lara came over, then kate, then mark. it was so cute, mark left me a message yesterday, "hey carolyn. francisca's gone now, and dan and greg are in cape cod. what are you doing?" aw. poor mark. francisca just moved back to germany this week. he misses her so much. i feel bad. they're such a great couple. and who knows when they'll be together again.

so anyway, we had a blast. everyone but mark left at 10ish. then he and i kept boozing. we talked on the porch til midnight or so. he's a sweetie. he gave me some gossip about dan. all good things. yay!

and then after mark left, the phone rings. it's dan. "can you hear what's playing? sweet caroline is on. i thought of you! SWEET CAR-O-LINE. DOO DOO DOO!" he sings. LOL. sweetheart.

it was good to hang out with school folks. i don't do that enough since i don't live on campus.

so i found out that BOTH of my roommates are moving out. interesting. i must smell bad. i'm hoping i get along with the new people, then i can stay here as long as i'd like. i might need to go home at labour day and move some more stuff back, depending on what the new people have.

ok, i never finished my post about maine. so lisa and i were super close. if you were there, we were 3 rows from stage, right by the dog on mike's side. we could see so well. we had super cool people around us for the most part, at least those who were there all day with us. some people were rude and tried to steal our space after we had been sitting there for hours. but i met a bunch of cool people. i had run into foxy earlier and he came and partied with us during the 2nd set. sunday's show was so much better IMO. although there were high points to saturday (the most rocking waves ever, a great 7 below, solid bowie, OF COURSE AC/DC BAG). but the 3rd set sunday blew me away. the 46 days had a CRAZY ambient jam that went on forever. i hadn't heard julius in ages. lizards was fun. i always want to hear antelope (did it sound like trey was crying?) etc. and the encore spoke of the weekend so well - good times bad times. lol. how perfect. though i TOTALLY thought they'd play fluffhead after the whole crowd chanted it during the 1st set and trey says, "mike says no." LOL. i thought that was hysterical.

after the show we were super wired. lisa, foxy and foxy's friend and i were all running around dancing thru the lot at the various music being played. from "add it up" by the violent femmes to "bust a move" by young mc, we had a ball. we tried to find camp phunky AGAIN to no avail. went back to camp, slept for 2 hours, then hit the road. the drive back was painful. it took 11 hours. argh. i was exhausted for days. i'm finally back in black though.

totally knew the answer to this one

Sat, 09 Aug 2003 17:22:10 GMT

You're Page McConnell.

Which Phish member are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Carolyn's Adventures in Culinary School

i'm 28

hmmm

no, i'm not dead

life

oh my!

10 minutes... and anyone know anyone who homesteads?

i hate being sick

i'm a pathetic lump of goo

ah, yes, i guess i'm just not a tolerant person...

death

are you sick of me gushing yet?

i see stupid people

i see stupid people

*BOUNCING AROUND THE ROOM*

um, who's joshua jackson?

hysterical

i did it

surprise

ah, life is good

life

major dilemma

i was nice to the annoying guy today

oh what a night!

totally knew the answer to this one

BOUNCING AROUND THE ROOM