today is st. brigid's day. more details about this feast day can be found here.
i had a new instructor in the kitchen this morning which put an interesting twist on my cooking. i made mushroom soup, marzipan apples, an omelet and i helped my partner, nicole, out with her apple and clove jelly. it took me much longer to chop my mushrooms than i anticipated, but i still managed to find a good pace for the morning. making the marzipan turned out to be tricky and i managed to wait too long for my sugar and water mixture to boil to a 'thread phase' and i ended up with a lumpy mess instead of a soft, dough like mixture. not wanting to bin it, i worked the lumps out as much as i could and confirmed with my instructor that it could still be used to stuff the apples. the lumps would dissolve while the apple baked, leaving the less than desirable consistency of the marzipan unnoticeable.
making the omelet was enjoyable and a bit of a relief considering all the pressure surrounding it (it is one of the techniques we'll be tested on at the end of week six). even though rory demonstrated the technique again this morning, i was not anxious to practice. i borrowed some mushroom a la creme to put in my omelet and called my instructor over when i was ready to have a go. i talked my way through each movement with the spatula, confirming that i was doing it correctly, and then flipped it out onto a warm plate. and then i got to eat it! it was delicious and i am looking forward to making another one sometime soon. we've been encouraged to practice often and it would be a shame not to take advantage of the endless supply of the beautiful, organic eggs we have access to!
i didn't eat much for lunch since i ate my omelet, but the tomato salad was delicious and i tried a marzipan stuffed walnut just because. my duty for the day was kitchen blitz, which meant sweeping off the rugs (more of a challenge than it sounds, really), rolling them up and then sweeping the kitchen floor. i finished with a few minutes to spare before demo started, so i headed outside for a bit of cool air.
in demo today, rory went over how to make chicken liver pate with melba toast, white yeast bread, filleting round fish (again), pan-grilling fish with flavored butters, the art of homemade noodles, cucumber neapolitana, steamed potatoes, leeks with yellow peppers and marjoram and lemon meringue tarts. since hazel and i decided to go running after, we skipped the tasting and went straight to our cottages to change. we ran the loop and took the same route as saturday, choosing to run along the beach for a short section instead of along the road. it was a good, hard run considering we both had zero energy when we started. i forget how, but toward the end of our run we got to talking about irish names. hazel was sharing some of the names in her family and she mentioned 'raeltin' (pronounced 'rail-teen') which immediately became my new favorite! that and niobh (pronounced 'neve'). good run and good chat.
the evening was relaxed since tomorrow is lecture day and no one has to turn in an order of work. a few of us watched 'fletch' and then a few went on to the pub. rumor has it that we are doing wine tasting in the morning, which could be interesting! there is also a pilates class starting tomorrow evening. it will run for the next six weeks and there is a good number of students interested in participating. another great way of staying active while we're here eating all this amazing and delicious food!
on that note, i'm off to bread!
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