It's beginning!

I have officially attended every class I will be going through the course of this long and time-consuming semester. Let me tell you a little bit about my classes.

1). Food Preparation I Lecture is a class learning the WHY aspect of cooking. I think it will be a useful class yet the lab aspect of it seems pretty intense. We have 2 hours after we pick a recipe to fully prepare, garnish, and serve a product to our professor and fellow students. We will be evaluated on the process of production, following the proper sanitation procedures, and serving the product at adequate temperatures, with proper plate temps as well ... and garnishing. Whew! That'll be fun!
2). Sanitation and Safety Lecture is learning all about how to avoid cross contamination, cooking/storing foods properly to meet standards/laws, and all the negative results that could occur if proper measures are not taken. I'm anticipating a lot of big words which will most assuredly go right over my head the instead they leave Chef Carey's lips. That's one way to put a group of college students to sleep at 8 am. The lab for this class is actually serving the gourmet meals during special events. No pressure right!? WRONG! At the end of this month we are serving at three meals for some large french gourmet thing. I honestly don't know- but there's nothing like being thrust into the hustle and bustle of it all, serving the pros of the industry!
3). Intro to Hospitality Services was exactly what I was NOT expecting. It's going to be FUN! We don't meet in a classroom and we do not have tests or quizzes. Instead, every class meeting we gather in the lounge and arrange our transportation to random restaurants/hotels/businesses throughout the area and get tours of how things are done. We have to do a write up after each one, but nothing more than two paragraphs.
4). And lastly we have Nutrition. This class to me (at least right now), sounds like a culinary "health" class, if you will. Doing some stuff with the food pyramid and all that jazz. It's crazy, but it prepares us for potential personal chef positions where we have to prepare specially for our employer.

So yes, those are my classes. I'm sure each one will provide its own headaches, trials, and victories as the semester rolls on.
As I leave you now, I impart onto you some wisdom from my mere 48 hours of being a culinary student.
-the menu is the dirtiest item in a restaurant
-gloves must be worn when the product is "as is." Meaning that it will not be going through further cooking, refrigeration, etc.
-good wines are often noted as being "skunky"....? Yeah...
-there is a website you can go in your state and check out any restaurants inspection history and detailed reports. Very very interesting!
-attendance and promptness are absolutely vital! There are absolutely no make-up labs, homework, tests, NADA! Basically if you are not there, you're out of luck.