4 States and 1 Time Zone!

Today we left Ohio and crossed four states and entered one time zone! We drove through Kentucky, Indiana, Illinos and Missouri! Most of our morning was spent driving through fog.

And farms and more fog! And then finally we reached St. Louis and saw the Gateway Arch! I must of taken 20 pictures of it! Not realizing that we were going to literally almost drive under it! And then I snapped this shot!

 Tonight we are exploring Kansas City! Until tomorrow! See you in Colorado!

Birthday Cake!

 As promised..birthday cake from Sevatiis! Delicious! Happy 23rd!

Eating our way through Ohio...

 Tuesday was all about eating eating and eating! I told you it would be! We started our day with a huge breakfast at my Grandmas.....bacon, eggs, english muffins, yogurt, fruit....Yum! And then we left for a tour of Sevartiis Bakery! Sevartiis is a family run European Pastry Shop and Deli that has been around for almost 50 years. My mom and dad both grew in Cincinnati and have been spoiled with these treats as long as their parents have been customers! The cookies and cakes are delicious! We were really lucky to get a behind the scenes tour with the head pastry chef, Don Rose! The bakery that we saw prepares all of the baked goods and sends out to their 11 stores.

After going to the main bakery we headed to one of their bakeries and picked up these small little buttercream cakes for dessert. We got one that was a Mocha Buttercream and another one that was a Nougat Buttercream...I loved both of them! We also picked up a birthday cake...but I'll have to show you that tomorrow! For lunch we went to Skyline Chili. Nothing quite beats Skyline! I wish we had one of the East Coast.

Oh my goodness! We ordered a Coney and a 3-way. A Coney is a hot dog, chili and cheese and a 3-way, my favorite is pasta, chili and cheese! Lots of cheese as you can see! There are other options on the menu but these are our favorites! We finished the day off with more dessert! Graeters Ice Cream!

Graeters ice cream is to die for! I think their secret is the chips! The chips are so big and they melt in your mouth when you eat them! After such a food filled day this was the perfect note to end on! See you tomorrow!

Together Traveling!

Yesterday my mom and I left Rochester to begin out journey to Colorado. We traveled about 80 miles and stopped in Buffalo to have half a cup of tea and an english muffin with my sister carrot chopper and then we continued our journey to Cincinnati, Ohio. Before I left I was instructed to take lots of pictures during my journey....but the drive down to Cincinnati isn't exactly filled with beautiful scenery...but we did see a few things that caught out attention like the corn husk tepees above and then we saw this sign below...

Work Zone. Speeding. Fines doubled. Causes death or injury. Fine Jail. In New York state this sign would simply say fines doubled in work zone...but here in Ohio they go a little deeper into your future if you speed in a work zone. The first sign I saw like this the last line was Results in Prison. For some reason that was a little funnier than Fine/Jail. But I was laughing too hard I couldn't react fast enough to get a picture. This one was snagged right after we left Columbus. And we were not speeding! Other signage that we saw in Ohio was this one below...interesting. Welcome to Ohio! We will be here until Thursday eating eating and taking pictures of food! And then we leave for Kansas City on Thursday! Happy Tuesday!

Machovietz

There is this delicious polish sweet bread called machovietz...the first time I had it I didn't think I'd ever be able to replicate the recipe! I tried this one in December and it turned out perfect. It is a long recipe but it's flawless. I would recommend making this for your next brunch!

Mocha Cake

More cake photos! Enjoy!

Black Forest Cake

This was a traditional black forest cake that we made in Classical Cakes. This cake had so many steps, and sadly it was not my favorite, so I am not going to post a recipe....but the pictures turned out nice so I wanted to share! Enjoy!

Vacherin

This week we made vacherins...a small, bite size, simple dessert! These were really quick to make and had an unexpected creamy texture as they melted in your mouth! They were really delicious. The two components of this dessert are Italian meringue and diplomat cream topped with fresh fruit. These were piped into 2 inch circle bases and then peaks were piped around the edges. After they dried out in the oven, they received a small coating of white pate a glace and filled with diplomat cream stabilized with gelatin! I can't wait to make these again!

Italian Meringue
8 oz sugar
4 oz whites
2.5 oz water

Heat sugar with water in a saucepan until 240 degree F. Once it reaches about 210 degrees F, start egg white whipping in a mixer until soft peak. Once sugar syrup reaches temperature, pour over already whipping whites slowly. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Pipe into shape above.

Filling
8 oz pastry cream
8 oz whipped cream
2.5 sheets of gelatin

Make pastry cream. Bloom gelatin in cold water and add to hot pastry cream. Whip cream to stiff peak and fold into room temperature pastry cream. Pipe into Italian meringue molds and top with fresh fruit.

Second to last week in pictures!

This is my second to last week at CIA before I begin externship! I have lots of pictures to share it was hard to decide which ones to add to this post! We made so many delicious puff pastry desserts and tartlets this week! All of which I tried and was regretting on my run this morning! But you have to know how everything tastes...right?!

Holiday Cookie Bar

During the holidays it is necessary to have cookies to share with others and have around the house for general enjoyment. This previous holiday the cookie production was limited to gingerbread men, peanut butter blossoms, rum prints and almond crescents. I think my favorite would have to be the gingerbread men or the rum prints! Delicious!

Last Week in Pictures

Last week I started my final class before I begin my externship at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The class is called Production Pastries and last week was spent making roulades and puff pastry...and managing a water main break. It was survival of the fittest at CIA and ice became our most valuable resource!

Warm Chocolate Souffle

One of my chefs at school taught us an amazing warm chocolate souffle recipe. It actually made my fall in love with souffle! Who wouldn't want to eat something that jumps up out of the bowl like this. When I served them I poked a hole in the top and inserted fresh whipped cream! They were delicious!

It is kind of hard to describe how our classes are at the Culinary Institute of America. So I ran into this video of my current teacher that was done three years ago. His name is Chef Schorner and he has been one of the best teachers I have had here at the Culinary. When I was watching this video I felt like I was in class making the Sachertorte with him.

Good Morning!

These we a gift from a very special MM. They were edible nondairy chocolate cups that came with a packet of mousse that you had to add heavy cream to. They were so much fun to make because they took a second to put together! And then it took two seconds for everyone to eat them! Thanks MM for the delicious Mousse Cups!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Together Cooking! We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Charlotte Russe

This cake is called a Charlotte Russe Cake. It has two layers of vanilla sponge and two layers of Bavarian cream. On top we piped whipped cream and made chocolate shavings. On the sides we layered fresh lady fingers. At first I didn't think that I would like this cake, but my rule is that I have to try everything. And oh boy! This cake was delicious! It sort of tasted like an ice cream sundae! I could have eaten two pieces it was so nice and light!