sometimes you have to remember to put 'you' first

there were some new faces in kitchen 1 this morning and i was happy to see hazel and rose. i lucked out and have been paired with bryony this week and where i stand at our work station is directly across from aileen. i'm definitely in someone's good favor. :) even if none of my cooking goes as planned, it's going to be an excellent week.

i also had a sweet note from harriet waiting for me when i got into the kitchen. LOVE unexpected things like that, LOVE them!

today's order of work included carrot cake, romanesco (again) and a plate of irish shellfish with homemade mayonnaise. i made my carrot cake first so it would have plenty of time to cool before serving. then i whipped up the cream cheese frosting and set it aside. bryony and i worked together on the shellfish and we each plated up a starter made up of mussels, clams, shrimp, a sea urchin and an oyster. while we waited for the water to boil, i made the homemade mayonnaise. since it's one of the techniques i need to 'check off' before the end of our twelve week, i was anxious to get it out of the way.

at ballymaloe, mayonnaise is considered a 'mother sauce' and is the mother of all cold emulsion sauces. so, once you can make mayonnaise, you can make any of the 'daughter' sauces simply by adding some extra ingredients. we learn to make the mayonnaise with a hand whisk, but a food processor can be used in real life. the quality of mayonnaise depends totally on the quality of the egg yolks, oil and vinegar used. as darina says, it's perfectly possible to make a bland mayonnaise if the ingredients used are of poor quality.

starting with a pyrex bowl, combine two egg yolks, a quarter teaspoon of salt, a pinch of english mustard and two teaspoons of white wine vinegar. in a pyrex jug, mix six ounces of sunflower oil with two ounces of olive oil. set the bowl on a tea towel (so it doesn't spin away while you are whisking), hold the whisk like a pen in one hand and cup your other hand under the handle of the pyrex jug so your thumb and fingers are holding onto the jug itself. while the one hands whisks, the other hand drips in the oil from the jug, drop by drop. it's important not to add the oil too quickly because the mixture can suddenly curdle (eggs can only absorb the oil at a certain pace). our recipe says this process takes only 5 minutes, but it took me close to 15. i had a fear of getting to the last few ounces of oil and then, in the excitement of almost being done, dripping it all in in one go and having the mixture split. so, slow and steady i worked. i'd say it was a success in the end because rory commented on it as he walked by and told me it was 'just beautiful'. i covered my mayonnaise and set it in the fridge.

bryony and i blanched some seaweed to use as a garnish on our shellfish plates. it was quite cool to watch the black weeds turn bright green after only a few seconds in the boiling water. we removed it from the pot and placed it in a bowl of ice water while we cooked up the mussels and clams. the oyster was left to eat raw and it put up quite a fight to stay in its shell. i arranged my shellfish on the plate, garnished it with a lemon slice and some mayonnaise and called it done. my instructor, tina, tasted my romanesco straight out of the saucepan, so there was no need to plate it up. i took my time frosting my carrot cake and garnishing it with some carrot strips and walnuts. tina had a quick taste before i took the rest of the cake out to the dining room to be placed on a table with the other desserts. i'd say it's something i'd make again, however i'd make a few changes...starting by omitting the sultanas. :)

i was responsible for feeding the hens at lunch today, so i grabbed the two buckets from kitchen 1 and headed for the hen house. apparently the hens are allowed the assortment of shells from the shellfish because they help sharpen their beaks. more reason to stay away from them! the hens surrounded me in a hurry and talked to me all the way down the path to the fence where we dump in the contents of the buckets. (i'm sure i've said it before, but these hens eat well!) i washed out the empty buckets and headed back to the kitchen.

i ate a piece of kerry pie for lunch along with my standard salad leaves, a little romanesco and a small scoop of the kale colcannon. i tasted the ginger bread and some of mick's beetroot cake. so good!

the afternoon demonstration was all about breakfast. rory stressed the importance of serving freshly squeezed juices and then went on to make a few different smoothies, two dressed up soda breads (spotted dog and stripy cat), muesli, granola, oatmeal porridge, waffles, american buttermilk pancakes, strawberry jam, blackberry and apple jam, kumkwat marmalade, blueberry muffins and raw apple muffins, ending with a full irish breakfast. tomorrow every student will be making a full irish breakfast for lunch and there is a contest in each kitchen for the best display. a little friendly competition will be good for all of us.

hazel and i were anxious to take advantage of the dry and windless evening and run the loop, so we bypassed the tasting and headed back to our cottages to change. the run was good. quite good, actually, considering it was the first run for both of us since last tuesday. there were some good waves that taunted us as we ran along the beach. the smell of the ocean was righteous and we both commented, several times, about how lucky we are to have this escape.

we were back to ballymaloe before seven and felt quite virtuous. when i got back to the pink cottage, i made myself a quick dinner. we have a new roommate in the pink cottage, ellen from london. she's here as an intern for the next month and actually went to grade school with another student here on the course. i visited with her for a bit, asking questions about what she was doing before arriving here, how long she'll be here, etc. she's lovely.

i'm hoping to get my order of work done here in the next 15 minutes and then crawl into bed. early, i know, but i'm exhausted and a bit cold. :)