Happy Halloween!!

I hope you're all enjoying this Halloween day! Tracy and I had great plans for a Halloween feast...sadly it fell short. It was great on paper, squash and mushroom gnocchi, you know, orange and the black. The squash turned out well and was a beautiful color of orange. It was the mushroom gnocchi that didn't step up...it was grey and ugly. It looked like rat brains. Or animal turds. Or ogre toes. Take a look for yourself...
While it's definitely not attractive....it is Halloween, which makes rat brain's quite festive.
It ending up tasting yummy...even though it looked less than delicious!

Here's to culinary mishaps!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Back to Michigan...

Going to Michigan is definitely in my top 10 greatest experiences of my life. Yup, that big. Competing was more fun then I imagined. Being awarded medals for the first time in my life was definitely a highlight. But my favorite part was meeting people from all over the world and getting to know them well enough that I was sad to say goodbye come Sunday. Like my roommate for 6 days...Iona from Scotland.She is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. She was up for everything...even riding an 80 year old carousel with me!

This is Chef Mike.

He found out early on in the competition that was I jumpy and easily scared....he took advantage of that every time he could.

*This picture was taken right after he scared me for the 5th time!!!*

This is Chef Angus and I. We watch videos of him making stock in the first year of school. He's from Scotland as well and has an amazing accent. He is a sweetheart.

Here I am getting medals!!

And the moment you've all been waiting for...the winner of the 2009 Nation's Cup, Team USA!And then was lots of hugging...
Lots of toasts...
And lots of relief that the compeition was over and everything went well. We were quite happy...
I am so happy I went. So glad I had such a good teammate and coach...
and so glad I was able to make more connections and meet more wonderful people.

New posts soon!

I'm back in Charlottetown and I promise to do recaps from Michigan...as soon as I'm caught up on homework! I sure missed a lot being away for a week! But not to worry I'll be back!

The results are in...

And Team Canada walks away with 3 silvers and 3 golds. And they are the Nation's Cup runner ups! Woot! Woot! I couldn't be happier with this competition...the people, the food...amazing!

Now I'm must say goodbye to all the other teams...

More posts to come.

We did it!

All 5 black box competitions are complete! I'm dead tired but very happy! I learned a lot and really, really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we have the international gala and then we find out who wins the Nations cup as well as the individual bronze, silver, and golds.

*Sorry I have not been giving very good recaps. I'll catch up once I'm back home!

3 down, 2 to go

Phew, we did it. It was a long day but we're now more than half way through the competitions. Here are all the competitors:If you can't spot me in the sea of whites I'm the second in on the left.

All three (appetizer, salad, fish/shellfish) went very well and since we had a professional photographer I'm just going to give you the link with all the pictures. Lazy maybe, but I am very tired. So, here are all the pictures. I will do a better recap once all the competitions are over and I'm not having to get up at 6:00 in the morning!

I will leave you with a picture of all the girls on the teams. We went out for Tapas tonight and took many group pictures. Here are the girls:

*Notice my proximity to the cup...

Tomorrow is two more black boxes and then the international dinner on Saturday! It's crazy, fun, and an experience of a life time!

Fall Harvest Party

Yesterday was a busy, busy day. We explored Michigan a bit, even though it was pouring rain, it seems to have followed us from PEI. Then we got all uniformed up and headed to the college, where we had tours and took many many photos.

They had a "Fall Harvest Party" planned for us where we carved pumpkins (the Americans and Canadians were the only ones who had done it before), dipped caramel apples, made caramel corn, and iced cookies. Wow. So fun! It was like going back in time to an awesome kids birthday party!

Here is the pumpkin my roommate (Iona) and I carved:

Here's Adam, my team mate, making caramel apples:

And crazy Iona and her 18th decorated cookie:It was a really fun night...and a really great way to get to know the other teams. Today the competition starts.

I made it!

Good morning Michigan! We arrived last night after spending 1 1/2 hours on the smallest plane ever, there were only 9 rows. There were 7 people on the flight. Adam, my partner, and Chef Kevin, our coach, made endless jokes about the size of the plane. For 3 hours all I heard were jokes like "the plane is so small they need to have an even amount of people on each side so it doesn't dip to one side". Harharhar. It was actually quite amazing how many they were able to come up with!

When we arrived we were met by Chef Angus Campbell, the US team's coach, and a organizer of this competition. Right after we arrived at the airport

we ran to the other gate to meet team Scotland and team Barbados. We all headed back to the hotel where we checked in and were giving these:

I love goodie bags. This one was filled with all sorts of stuff. A hat, pens, candies, chips, water, pop, maps. It was like a Christmas stocking. I could get used to this competition business!

We spent the evening getting to know some of the other teams as this competition is also about making contacts and friendships.

Tomorrow we have time to get comfortable in the kitchens we'll be competing in as well as do some exploring and take team photographs.

I have full internet access in my room so hopefully I will be able to keep you quite up to date!

Exciting News...

I'm going to a competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday! I was asked if I was interested the first day I got back to school and of course said yes, and now here I am 1 month and a couple practices later!

The competition is called The Nations Cup and this is the 3rd time that students from this school have gone, you can read about the 2007 team here. I think there are 5 black box competitions and a final competition to determine the winner of the Nations Cup.

A black box competition is where you don't know any of the ingredients before going into the kitchen and once you go in they give you a 'black box' full of products you must use. It's all about creativity and quick thinking. Stressful, but lots of fun.

This competition could open lots of other 'competition doors' which means the pressure is on. Just kidding, well, not really. But I'm staying calm and just focusing on the one right in front of me. I'm going to go and give it all I got. Who knows, Gordon Ramsey's 'Hells Kitchen' might be next. Ha! Not!

I'm bring my laptop with me and will do my best to keep you posted...hopefully there will be a picture of me with some sort of medal around my neck!

First Day of School

Today was my official first day of school. Although I have been going to school for the past month, today is the day I started with my friends and classmates (don't read that as my classmates that are my friends, read it as my friends and then those other people I have to put up with to get my education). As per tradition a first day of school picture was needed. The only problem was that Tracy was leaving before me and I hadn't had time to shower and get dressed in my brand spanking new clothes...so here I am, first day of my 2nd year of culinary school, in my penguin pj's with my knife kit.

Life is good!

Brett and Revanna Cook a Turkey - Part 2

We took the took the turkey out of it's brine and put it in the roaster at 2:00 pm. The roaster was a little tiny for our big bird and we didn't have a rack...

We put tin foil over him and put him in the oven...just like that. No seasoning, no nothing. We weren't really sure how it was going to turn out, but we were optomistic!

While the turkey was the oven Brett made the stuffing

And I made dessertAfter 1 1/2 hours we took the turkey out of the oven and removed the tin foil. It looked a little ugly, but we basted it in butter and popped it back in a hotter oven to get nice and brownButter makes everything better.

While we waited for the turkey we had a mini dance party...It was "Lean on Me" how could I not get emotional!

By the time the turkey was ready for it's second basting it was starting to look more like something we might want to eat.

It was at this point when Brett and I first started smelling the turkey...ah the sweet scent of thanksgiving!

And then just like that we had a brown and juicy turkey...Isn't he a hunk?

His wings and back fell off when I removed him from the roaster...so that's really the only good picture of him!

Then we made gravy. We, because sometimes we do stupid things, tried the turkey juice drippings. A brined turkey makes very salty juice....It was like taking a gulp of sea water!

The evening went by very fast after that....

Brett and I got our "Look at what we made" picture:

(It is a very unattractive angle for the turkey)

Then he carved it....using a spatula.

It was impressive.

Then we ate. After all the time we spent tending to our turkey it was a sweet, sweet, reward to be eating such a juicy, fine bird.
I hope all of your thanksgiving dinners were as yummy and laughter filled as mine!

I am thankful for...

The sun...

Today was the first day in a week that the sun has shone. That is not an exaggeration. This morning I woke up to the sun shining through my window and I was so grateful. It is amazing what a day of sunshine can do...especially after a week of gray.

And while the sun never lasts forever, neither does the darkness that comes after it...

Thank you Sun!

Brett and Revanna Cook a Turkey - Part 1

This is our turkey:

Here he is having his bath and getting his 'goodies' removed:

Since he was still frozen a bit we had some trouble getting his neck out...thankfully Brett seemed to be an expert at Turkey Wrestling and with his incredible arm strength he was able to get the darn neck out!

Now, maybe you're wondering why we're doing all this now when we're not having the Turkey till tomorrow. Well, the answer is, Brett and I are adventurous and decided we would brine the Turkey over night. This is supposed to make the turkey even juicer and flavorful than usual...its like giving the turkey a day at the spa. We didn't have a container big enough to completely submerge the Turkey so we've decided turning him a few times will do the trick. I'm planning to get up every two hours during the night to turn him. Ha! I don't think so!

Turkey is currently chillin' in the fridge until tomorrow! He seems pretty happy!

Stayed tuned for "Brett and Revanna Cook a Turkey - Part 2"!!

I am thankful for...

My family. My immediate, my extended, and the ones I've picked up along the way. I love these people. When I am with them I am comfy and warm...and when I am far, far, away from them my thoughts are always on them. These are my people. And I am so thankful.

Its...THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving Saturday everyone! I can't say Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, because there are just too many to choose from, but it is pretty high up there. I love fall and I love hearing what people are thankful for and sharing what I am thankful for. Over the weekend I'll share with you all what am I thankful for as well as documenting what is going to be known as "Brett and Revanna Cook a Turkey". It should be entertaining....and hopefully delicious!

Requests

This is Isabelle. I have known her so long that I can't remember how old I was when I met her. Let's just say that she's been a part of a big chunk of my life! She's appeared on the blog a couple of times and is probably the person that leaves the most comments! I swear she checks the blog once a day and I will get email's saying "Where's a new post?" or "DIDI! POST SOMETHING NOW!". She can be quite demanding...and I usually listen. She is Vice-President at her school, after all! I asked her recently for some ideas about what she wanted to see on the blog and then I thought I'd ask all of you too! So, what'll it be? Is there something you want to see here, or a question you have for me, or anything you can think of! I'm up to any challenges and would love to hear back from you. Now, I must go work on Isabelle's request...another walk down memory lane!
P.S. Isabelli, I know you're out there reading this and I just wanted to say...I love YOU!

Thusday Night at Dalvay by the Sea

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to assist Chef Hans, my Chef Instructor, at a dinner at Dalvay by the Sea. It was a dinner that was a part of the Fall Flavors Festival that has been going for the past week. The menu consisted of 8 courses, eight different chefs from around the island were responsible for one. Eight chefs that all know each other, some went to school together, some had others for chef instructors, and some had worked together. Put them all in a room and chaos ensues! It was hilarious to see them all tease each other and then all work together.

It was amazing to be a part of. It was like getting into a secret society. A very yummy secret society.Oh, and guess who showed up? Can you spot him?Yup, it's Chef Michael Smith! Again! Jeez, if this keeps going the way it is he and I are going to be besties by the end of the year!

It was a great experience. I got to see the creation of some beautiful and delicious food.