ML vs. The World + Drinking at 2pm + Buttercream Roses = 1 Hilarious Week

I've got you hooked with that title, don't I?  Was it the ML or the drinking?  Oh, it doesn't matter, on with the blog!

I'm going to have to give you a little bit of background info first:  so there's this woman in my class, let's call her mustache lady - ML for short.  First, trust me when I say that there shouldn't be ANY confusion about where she gets this nickname from - I'm not talking about a little peach fuzz like almost all woman have, this is a full on mustache.  Does she not have a mirror? Tweezers? Razor? Wax?  I do not have the answer to these questions, getting her better grooming is not why we're here.  I didn't really have any issues with her during the first couple of weeks - she seemed nice enough and I'm not the type to dislike someone without good reason, but as it turns out, she's really quite mean.  She talks down to her partner all the time, barely lets him do anything and makes him clean up after her.  She's also a hoarder, and that's where this story really begins.  Whenever there's a shortage of equipment in the classroom, she always globs onto it and won't share with anyone else (what is she, 5?).  She's also seemingly obsessed with the plastic wrap.  Now yes, it does take awhile at the end of the day when everyone is trying to wrap up their products but so what?  If you don't get the roll of plastic wrap right away will the world come to an end?  Probably not.   So we're cleaning up at the end of Wednesday and all of the sudden I hear ML yelling, very loudly, at one of the girls who stands at the next table over from her.  I can't really make out what she's saying until I hear quite clearly, "You should have more respect for your elders!!" Really?  ML is definitely one of the oldest people in the class, but who cares?  Age doesn't make any difference in the kitchen, and we're all at the same level, so why make an issue out of it?  It turns out that this other girl went to grab the plastic wrap that apparently ML had "dibs" on.

*shakes head*

Is that really something to start yelling about in the middle of class?  Not really, but alas, I am not ML - who knows what makes her tick...

So when I came into class on Thursday, I found out that apparently Chef Katie had told ML and the other girl that they had to stay away from each other.  ML interpreted this by taking over my and Julie's table and telling us that we had to stand at her table now.  Whatever.  I'll miss standing next to our table partners, but I'll live.

After class we were all supposed to go bowling together (in full chef's regalia to boot), but the bowling alley was going to kick us out at 3pm for a private party so we decided to postpone and a few of us wound up heading over to Dave & Busters to drink and blow off steam.  It's pretty funny going to a Dave & Busters to drink at 2pm when the only other people there are moms with their kids.  Also, it became readily clear to me that when you start drinking that early, no topic becomes off-limits.  I know a LOT more about my classmates now.  We also joked that we should each buy ML her own roll of plastic wrap and stack them up underneath her table at the beginning of class...I still haven't ruled this out completely, we'll see if there are any recurrences of her craziness first.

The rest of Thursday was pretty relaxed.  We each made a carrot cake (yum!) and a variation of buttercream called "rose paste" which is used (surprise!) to make roses and other cake decorations that often need to be made with a stiffer icing.

icing carrots ftw!

We practiced making roses and general piping techniques and before you knew it, the day was pretty much over.

 Julie's and my practice roses

 The cake that I made for the culinary students after they shared their ravioli with us

after only learning how to do them the day before!

manic swiss dots on the sides of the cake

However, my favorite part of Thursday had nothing to do with roses or getting ousted from my work table.  While we were on our lunch break, a few other girls and I decided to run out to get something quick to eat.  We stopped at a shopping center, split-up and then met back up at the car to go back to school.  So, we're all getting back in the car and there are 3 of us trying to squeeze into the backseat.  The other 2 girls are already inside, and I'm halfway in when all of the sudden, the car starts to move!!!  Now I want you to take a moment and imagine the hilarity of this situation: 4 girls sitting in a car, the driver completely unaware that only the left side of my body is currently in her moving vehicle.  I start yelling, "Hey!" repeatedly, all the while my right leg is trying to quickly hop along with the rest of the car.  At the same time, there are a bunch of women working at a nail salon laughing hilarious as this scene unfolds.  Our lovely driver finally noticed I wasn't completely in the car and I'm able to finish getting in.  I looked at her with wide eyes and said, "What the hell!" and then started laughing so hard that I didn't stop until well after we got back to the school.  I thought she did it on purpose, but I could tell she was mortified once I got in the car, she felt so bad.  Obviously, I'm not mad, it was too funny!!  We did tease her a lot for the rest of the afternoon about how she was subconsciously trying to do away with me, but let up by the end of the day.  I really need to start wearing my Brooke Safety helmet everywhere I go!

It's always important to practice Brooke Safety

In other school news, we finally got our cumulative grades for the first section of pastry school: Baking Basics.  I got a 96!  I'm beyond thrilled.  Right now we're in the middle of the cakes module, and after that it's on to breads, advanced pastry and then we're done!  It's hard to believe how fast we're moving through everything, but I'm having a really great time and everyday I feel more convinced that I made the right decision.  As scary as it was (and still is!) to leave my job to start school again, I am infinitely happier and honestly, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Goodnight friends!  Shabbat Shalom.