Labour dispute, strike action - and - a time to catch up.

For the last 10 days the University of Vancouver Island has been closed.
The members of three of the unions that are represented on campus have been without a collective agreement for almoust a year.
I am part of CUPE 1858 as an employee in the cafeteria of VIU. I am also a student and therefore a member of VIUSU. My instructors in the Cullinary Arts Program fall into the category of ' Trades, Vocational and Adult Basic Education, which is represented by BCGEU which leaves the instructors of the academic section on campus, which are represented by the VIUFA.

Information about the job action is posted on the VIU website http://www.viu.ca/ as well as on the sites of all the unions.

This last week was also Spring Break for my girls and I have been trying to take each day as it is ( a gift). When I am in school, life at home is very busy and scheduled. It has been a nice break.

Some of the things we did, while being off:

• play dates, play dates, play dates for Sophie
• Pool
• Movie and the Mall for Rachel
• Baking, cooking
• studying: math for Rachel, culinary arts for mom
• dad has to work (sorry)
• friends, friends

 I made Spaetzle (german pasta) this week. It went one day with Schnitzel or breaded tenderized pork cutlets and gravy and the next day it went with Gaisburger Marsch, a soup with broth, spaetzle, potatoes and meat or european wieners.

   We made Cinnabon Buns for a birthday party and Hefezopf, a sweet bread, on Saturday. 

I also had time to give both my girls a pedicure. Sophie did her own nail polish and Rachel did not want any nail polis; but they both enjoyed getting a food massage.



I would call this last week 'little blessings in disguise'. Not to mention the extra sleep I got, which felt wonderful.

The latest update on the labour front is as follow:

A tentative agreement for the BCGEU, which includes my instructors.

No agreement for the VIUFA, no further scheduled talks and therefore continued strike action for this coming week.

I'll take one day at a time.



Pear Excellence Culinary Student Competition

About a week into my course at the Culinary Institute a flyer was posted at our locker room doors regarding a student competition; something to do with pears.

Still adjusting to this new life as a student and hardly seeing the light as it was, I gave this flyer no attention.
A few days later a senior student from the program came into the food lab to use some extra time to practice her recipe for the competition she was about to enter.

We got talking a bit and at the end of the day I went home to have a look at the web site.

                                       http://www.usapears.org/

'Show us your flair with the pear' was  the caption.

The competition was for a recipe of your own making that had to include fresh Anjou or Bosc pears.

Image via Wikipedia

Needless to say, it got me thinking.

I have not cooked or baked with a lot of pears.

Looking through a few recipes, I had to see how I could incooperate pears and change things up a bit.

I remembered the cakes or 'Torten' my dad used to make.

He was a baker (retired now) in Germany. We had our own bakery and I remember that I was watching him often.

Well dad made Black Forest Torte, Chocolate Torte, Blueberry (Heidelbeer) Torte, Strawberry Torte,...

you name it, he made it.

The basic structure was always the same.

So I wrote out my own recipe for a Pear Torte.

My sponge cake had some cocoa and ground hazelnuts. My pears were poached in a light syrup with a local pear spirit and I was going to layer and cover the cake with whipped cream.

My own kitchen became a food lab. Time was of the essence, since I only had 4 days to perfect my recipe, make it, photograph it and send it in.

I`m not sure why I was looking for more work and the extra challenge. I`m sure my family was wondering the same thing.

But at the end I was able to send in a recipe and some pictures.

I named it: POIRE WILLIAMS TORTE

                                 

Tomorrow I am starting my first rotation in the main kitchen. Breakfast and Meat Cutting. We start at 6 am (and we better be there 15 min early!).

Ratatouille - not just a movie!

Well, week two has come and gone, and it feels like I'm getting into a groove.

Most of our time this week is spend in the food lab. There we each have a designated area with kitchen equippment, tools, sink, gas stove, induction stove,...here is were we learn the basics.

Each day we start out with a procedure called "mise on place".

We establish a plan of what we are going to cook, what ingredients we need, which cooking procedures and techniques are used and we write it down, so we can reference throughout the day.

We are fortunate that a lot of our ingredients are sized and measured and prepared for us ahead of time. We line up with our trays and pick up what we need. (This will change, once we head upstairs into the main kitchen).

We are reminded and encouraged not to be wasteful, instead to use and collect some of the peelings or ends of vegetables for stocks or 'mire poix', to be organized as you work and to always keep a clean and tidy work area.

One day this week we made Duchesse potatoes and used our piping kits to practice piping.

We also made Beef Bourguignon (which is beef in red wine). Our ingredients were:
5 oz stewing beef, 1 tsp oil, 1 shallot minced, 2 oz red wine, 8 oz brown stock, 3 mushrooms quartered, 8 pearl onions, 1 slice of bacon, salt and pepper to taste.

                                   The food lab smelled delicious that day.


Another fun dish we did was Chicken Ballotine with a demi glace, Lyonnaise Potatoes, Sauteed Snap Peas and Cranberry Sauce.

For the Chicken Ballotine, we deboned a chicken leg and stuffed it with a delicious stuffing (medium diced bread, sweated shallots and celery, a few chopped cranberries, orange zest, stock, salt and pepper). Then we rolled the leg up and tied it in a 'bundle', hence the name ballotine. We seasoned and oiled the skin lightly and baked it in the oven.

It smelled and tasted like Thanksgiving dinner. The only thing missing was Pumpkin Pie.


It has been another busy week. I am learning a lot. I'm getting to know a few of the students in my class and I love my instructor.

Life is good!



Week 1. At The Culinary Arts Institute

With eyes wide open I venture into this new and exciting part of my life  called 'Culinary Arts Student at the University of Vancouver Island'.

Day one is orientation, house rules, facility tour, filling out forms, buying supplies and textbooks, including my very own kit of chefs knifes, lockers and fitting for uniforms.

I am glad I see some familiar faces on Campus. People I have worked with for the last three and a half months. It proves to be a source of encouragement to sit with colleagues during break time and catch up with the rest of the world.

Week one is tough. I am physically exhausted by the time my day is done, but I am also mentally drained from a lot of information and the challenge of textbooks, homework and the lack of a routine.

I haven't sleep well the first few nights and on day three I am wondering why I am putting myself and my family through this.

But things get better from here. Lot's of great encouragement from family and friends and also the fact that I have a great instructor. She makes learning interesting, allows for feed back, has numerous ways to communicate facts and procedures to make them 'stick' in your head.

We learn how to use our chef knifes and cut and dice.

We learn how to make white stock from chicken bones and brown stock from veal bones. And since we are learning the 'Art of French Cooking', I will be brushing up my french vocabulary.

We learn about: mise en place, mire poix, emulsion and beurre mainie, as well as the difference between a sachet and a bouquet garni and also the difference between herbs and spices.

On Friday we make carrot soup, tomato sauce (with tomato concassee) and penne primavera.

Unlike my primavera sauce, this one has vegetables (carrots, celery root, zucchini, mushrooms and tomato) of different texture. By applying different cooking methods to the vegetables and pasta they are all done 'al dente' (soft but not mushy, tender but not crisp). We season with salt and pepper to enhance the flavours not to give it flavour.

This is the end of my first week and I am looking forward to more to come...

Hungry For More

Image via Wikipedia

The other day I was looking through an information package, my daughter Rachel received a couple of years ago.

We had made some reservations at a restaurant called 'Discovery Room', which is located on the campus of Vancouver Island University.

The Discovery Room Restaurant is unique in a couple of ways. First, it is situated so the guests can enjoy a panoramic view of the Georgia Straits. Second, the menu is put together and cooked by students of the Culinary Arts Program.

We went there to celebrate a birthday, and because Rachel voiced some interest in the program, the hostess gave her this information package. She also took Rachel in the back to see the kitchen first hand.

I don't think I have to tell you that I read the whole info package before we made it home. But since at that time I hadn't realized yet that the dream of cooking, was mine much more then it was my daughters, the info package was shelved.

Now I am 3 days away from starting this very same program.

Hungry for more?

You bet I am!

The Pieces of a Puzzle

Things are falling into place, or should I say, the puzzle is coming together.
It has been a couple of weeks since I made the decision to enrol in the Culinary Arts Program here at Vancouver Island University.
Arrangements for child care have been made, I was notified that my student loan application has been approved, I picked up my class schedule for the month of February and I have had the chance to get some feedback from various people regarding this new direction in my life.

I am thrilled and I feel at peace.

For most of my life I have been a planner. I like to look ahead and anticipate and plan and make lists (if not on paper, though in my head). I have often missed out on being in the moment, for that matter. This is something I am aware of, something that is slowly changing.

This morning my daughter Sophie and I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sunrise behind the clouds. There was just enough time to acknowledge its beauty and take a couple of picture, before it was gone again.

Today I am preparing a meal for some friends, who just had a new baby.
The kitchen smells good, as I write.

I love cooking for others.

The Wolf

Just after New Years, my family and I went on a little trip here on the Island. It has almost become a tradition for us to book a hotel, do a bit of schopping and a bit of site seeing and go out to eat at places like Nandos, Milestones and The Old Spagetti Factory.

In the Hotel where we stayed was a display case with some beautiful handmade jewellery and I decided to look up the store on our last day.
'Artina's Handcrafted Canadian Jewellery' was not too far from the Hotel and there I found this beautiful ring, made by local artist Victoria Harper.
The symbol on the ring is a Wolf. It represents umong others things, togetherness, communication, loyalty and family.

I love wearing this ring. I love being reminded of my husbund and my two girls throughout my day.
Thank you for the gift of this ring.