# jwu ri trimester 2 week 4



## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

Well, Nutrition and Sensory Analysis is over. While I did not care for the personality of the woman who taught the cooking part, I still feel like I got a lot out of it. It just makes me uneasy when the chef has to look at the answer sheet of our final in order to tell us the right answers when we were going over it. I suppose she can't be expected to memorize everything, but the students are expected to? 
My boyfriend always says I have high expectations. Maybe this is just a case of that.
Anyway, nutrition was fun for me. By no means do I apply it to my life, but in the past couple weeks I have tried to be just a little more conscious. I am also considering joining the gym, but only if my room mate does, because otherwise I know I will never go.
I have made connections with a couple kids in my class, but wouldn't call them friends. I feel like a little bit of an outsider because my main goal here at school is to learn. Most of the other students are here primarily to have a good time. I don't look down on this but it makes for some frustrating times. I think if this were my first time at college and if I were 17 or 18, I would probably be there to have a good time also, but not to the extent of some of the others.
Well anyway. I think I may get an A in this class. I got a 96 on the final, mostly 100's on the quizzes, and a 14 out of 15 on the cooking final.
Oh, I also have to tell you about the cooking final. Well throughout the class we had been in groups of three. For the final paper, we had to get in our groups and we were given three recipes from the book--an entree, a starch and a vegetable. We were asked to modify the recipes to certain standards of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, cholesterol and other nutrients. We had to write the paper on what we did and why, and also list the health risks of certain aspects of an improper diet, such as too much fat, or sodium, or sugar.
Then, for our cooking final, each person had to cook the complete meal their group was assigned, just one servings' worth. I thought I didn't do as well as I did. My mock bearnaise sauce was way too mustardy but I managed to tone it down a little, but it would still be considered mustard sauce. I think I may have made a mistake--it called for a teaspoon of mustard so what I did was take the dry mustard and make a wet mustard out of it--I think this mixture may have been too potent. What should I have done? Taken a teaspoon of dry mustard?
Chef checked our mise en place before we did any cooking, so I prepared the potatoes (thinly sliced) before cooking them. I think this was another of my mistakes as they would have come out less overdone if I had cooked the whole potatoes and then sliced them. I sauteed the potatoes with some beef stock and onions and salt and pepper.
My "braised" green beans with pears came out well. I did not braise them as the recipe called for, but blanched them and sauteed them with the other ingredients--pears, salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley.
I took four ounces of chicken breast, skinless and boneless and cut it into two pieces. Then I pounded then to about half an inch thickness. Then I sauteed them and put bearnaise sauce over them. I also took an artichoke bottom, scored an X into it and pulled it open a little, and sauteed it. 
I tried to make a nice presentation but that is not one of my strong points. I'm not a fan of piling everything on top of itself so the customer has to take the plate apart before he can eat something. I like everything in one layer so you do not lose the potatoes under the chicken, or find a squished artichoke bottom under everything when you are done eating. But chef complained there was no height and this was apparently a fault to her. She took a picture and if I can, I will link to it or something, if I can get it online at some point.
Well that's about it. Until next time!


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## paulh (Jan 5, 2003)

Thanks for the information Kate, I'll be tuning in weekly to see your progress  If you don't mind me asking, how old are you (you made a few references that made you seem older)--would you say most students are fresh out of high school?

In preparation for J&W I'm going to cook a few meals for my family each week (with recipes found on food network) and read a whoooole lot of cooking books over the spring/summer.


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

I am 23. I have attempted college before, once for a year and a half for psychology, and once for a few months in massage therapy. I lost interest in those mostly because my expectations weren't met. (That high expectation thing again Hehe) Then I lived with my boyfriend for a couple years in a state very far away from my home state and tried the independence thing. It worked on a couple levels, but I wanted to get a degree in something I enjoyed doing. So I moved to RI, a little closer to my home state, and here I am.
Most of the students here are fresh out of high school, and a few have gone to college before, mostly in a totally different field, and most of them did not get a degree. A handful of them seem really seriously into cooking. Some of them say they can not see themselves doing anything but cooking, but still appear to not care that much about their work. Another few know how to have fun and not take themselves too seriously but are still good at the work. I think I am the most uptight person I know so far, LOL, because I have a very short temper and a short attention span and the littlest thing distracts me and pisses me off. I don't get as distracted when I am cooking, but mainly during the lecture part of class. Because I wasted my time at those other two colleges, it pains me to see other kids doing the same thing.


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## culinarian247 (Jan 21, 2002)

They're also droppin' $40k while wasting their time. That's sad. I'm glad to see you're kickin' butt at JWU (there are a lot of J-Dubbers here) Providence. How much more time do you have, schoolwise?


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

Well I have been here about half a year. I could go for two years, or 4. At this point I am thinking 2, logically, based on what I can afford and how much I can handle before I go insane...but I am considering going into the nutrition field in some way and it would really benefit me to join the Nutrition major in my 3rd and 4th years. Do you think there are cheaper schools that offer a good nutrition major that I could go for for 2 years? I am also taking into account the fact that my boyfriend and I want to get married soon. So I may marry him after two years here, get a place with him, and take classes at someplace I can commute to rather than having to live there.
Just some thoughts.


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

dear kate,
http://www.framingham.edu/consumer.htm
this sight is for framingham state college, not to far from you.
that address should take you to the right place, scroll down to go to the nutrition area.
kat


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

Thanks for that link


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

Just wanted to make a quick midnight post...I got an A in nutrition and sensory analysis, and now I am in foodservice production, which helps us learn how to make the most of our products, use the whole thing and how to make stuff out of leftovers...also we are supposedly learning how to make food for a large amount of people, but it doesn't seem like a large amount to me...however our project has to be 5 menus portioned for 100 people. Our chef is really funny and I had a lot of fun the first day--my partner and I made a chicken soup with poached eggs and I had never tried anything like that before, so I had some when it was done, and I loved it. Tuesday I will be chef of the day which shouldn't be too bad.
More later when I am more awake...


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Yes. Most state colleges are quite affordable. The requirements vary from school to school but chances are you will have to take an extra chemistry or biochemistry class. If you decide to get into nutrition, be sure you take the necessary lower division courses before you transfer in your third year. Otherwise it's just a pain to have to go back and makeup those classes. Besides, it gives you a better foundation for the upper division classes.

Kuan


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## Chef W.G (Nov 8, 2001)

It looks like our schedules have finally parted ways, I'm in Storeroom this segment. It's kinda different cause we don't cook, just fill the orders for all the classes and put away trucks. We are learning about how to order food, cost control, and product indentifacation. I have learned a bit about our suppliers. JWU-miami has about 6 who all give us our food at huge discounts. Sysco gives us everything at cost and McCormick gives us all our spices free. For our final, we must create a menu and cost it out. We have a lot of freedom in this, but we have to have pictures. I wish I could offord to just cook all this, but alas I am a poor culinary student. Anybody have any tips on drawing food?





For everyone interests I'm a Freshman at Johnson and Wales in the Miami campus were it's curently 68 degrees.


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## katew (Feb 22, 2002)

Oh HUSH. we are having the coldest winter in years and you are in sixty-freakin-eight degree weather..grumble grumble... 
Anywho, I have store room next. I am in a way looking forward to it because I never can tell the difference between fresh herbs by sight...
I am terrible at drawing, let alone drawing food, and so are most of the other students whose pictures I've seen. Sorry I'm no help there.


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