Amuse bouche

This will be my best effort to document my expeditions into the awesome world of food. I plan to mostly address my cooking experiences, but may also venture into discussions on eating out (alas, my poor figure).

First, some background.
I've been cooking for quite a while, and have been serious about the matter for about 3 years. Now, we're not talking 'executive chef at the Four Seasons' kind of serious. Just serious on a personal level - creating dishes previously only oohed and aahed over, throwing dinner parties for friends and family, and just experimenting with cool recipes on a day-to-day basis. Cooking and baking are my two loves, that give me a welcome reprieve from my days in front of the computer. My weary eyes also thank me (except, of course, for the onion chopping episodes).

I have also, to date, taken two courses at the George Brown Chef School, under their continuing education program. The first was a 'Culinary Arts I' course, which is an introductory cooking class. My partner for the class is now enrolled in the full-time program, and might open her own place in a few years (*fingers crossed*).

The other course was a 2 month course on tea. Yes, tea, my small obsession. Boxes and boxes of it filling my pantry shelves - black, white, green, herbal, oolong... But this is a discussion for another time. George Brown college now offers a unique tea sommelier certificate program, approved by the Tea Association of Canada. You'll have to excuse this, I tend to get side-tracekd so easily when it comes to tea =)

So I'm currently enrolled in the 'Baking Arts I' class, which provides intro level instruction for all manners of baking and cake decorating. Not to worry, I have a plan to preserve my "dainty" figure - I will feed my creations to others! Perhaps the hubby, perhaps the coworkers.

I'm hoping to be able to post my opinions on the course and on what I learn, as well as some pictures of what I make. I'm also hoping to have my partner for the course provide a few of her own blog posts on the matter. If she consents (no arm twisting here, I promise), she can introduce herself at her own leisure.

I have been enamoured with baking since about the age of 10, and have been known to make some cakes that resulted in my mom's lifted eyebrows (in a good way, shame on you for thinking otherwise). I think I've inherited this from my grandmothers, who are both amazing and accomplished bakers. So this course is not really a beginner course for me, but a way to learn some new techniques, and to glimpse the difference in commercial vs. home baking. It's also a prerequisite for the other fun courses I want to take.

Classes are Wednesday nights, so keep your eyes open for updates!

P.S. - If you didn't yet grasp the title of this post, learn about the amuse bouche