My Penn Foster Career School Experience

The Art Of Catering

2008-06-29T09:01:00Z

It’s time for me to make a choice. Do I want to be a cook or a chef? There is a difference between a chef and a cook. Rachael Ray calls herself a cook. Bobby Flay calls himself a chef. Although they both have their own shows, books and are pretty famous in the culinary world, they both have very different styles of cooking. I can’t imagine calling myself a chef as I’ve always thought of myself as a good cook, but it’s time for me to make a change in the way I think.

My husband and I were at a dinner the other night and one of the guests asked me if I could cook. My response was, yes I can. It should’ve been, as a matter of fact I’m a chef, but in my head that just isn’t true yet.

In this particular section of my studies the focus is on the art portion of culinary arts. Plating (how you present the food prior to service) is a big part of making the leap from cook to chef. A prime example is Rachael Ray will cook on her show and the end result is a plate of good looking food. Bobby Flay will cook on his show and the end result looks like a work of art on a plate. I know I have the creativity within me to make my meals look like a work of art, I’ve been doing that with desserts for years, but I’m actually nervous about doing this with actual food.

One of the things I have to learn is how to create an exquisite dish without making it too pretty. People will actually avoid eating something if it looks too pretty to eat. They don’t want to ruin the display. My book keeps telling me that simplicity is the key, but my mind just isn’t going there. As a matter of fact, my mind isn’t going anywhere at all. When I make dinner for my family, it’s pretty much each man for himself. We’ll all dish out our food and then sit at the table. I guess it’s time I dish out for them and try to create something simply beautiful, but how do you do that with roast chicken, mashed potatoes and corn?

I guess it’s time I make the change from Ms. Ray (and her “yummo” way of thinking) to an Iron Chef. Tonight when I make dinner I’m going to try my best to present a dinner plate worthy of Mr. Flay himself.

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Surgery Provides Hope For The Future

2008-06-28T14:42:00Z

We’re all here because we’ve made a plan for our future and education is a part of that plan, but what happens when life throws you a curveball and your plans are completely shot?

A few years ago I was a working mother. As a matter of fact I was the one that carried the health insurance for our family and my paychecks were, more often than not, bigger than my husbands. We had a good life. There was always extra money, I could pay for my own medications without asking my husband for money, and if I wanted to go shopping I could go without having to budget it. It was a charmed life for a little while. We had planned on saving money so we could buy ourselves a house. My husband kept talking about starting his own business and as for my future…I was going to continue to work for as long as humanly possible. Then one day our entire world changed.

I’ll never forget the morning I woke up and thought I’m going to make a special breakfast for my family. I left my bedroom and turned for the stairs, that’s when life changed. One of my son’s friends had eaten a piece of candy and left the clear cellophane wrapper on the floor. I couldn’t see the wrapper, but the heel of my foot found it and I fell down the L-shaped flight of stairs. Even now when I write about it, I can see it happening in my head in slow motion. My back slammed up against the wall of the stairs and then I tumbled down the rest of them. It took the paramedics 45 minutes to get me out of my house because of the position my body was in. I wound up breaking my tailbone, and causing major problems throughout my body. I could no longer do the same things I was able to do the day before.

Over time my family has learned to deal with the disabilities that the fall caused, the most difficult one being my unemployment. It’s taken us awhile, but my husband and I finally accepted the fact that the woman I used to be will never come back…or will she?

Thursday my doctor did a medical procedure on my back to help alleviate the pain that I go through on a daily basis. We’ve discovered that I’ve got arthritis throughout the lower part of my back now, and the doc thought that he could help by doing a little surgery. He gave me a bunch of medication, put in an IV and then preceded to place about five or six needles in my spine along with an epidural. I was in and out of the hospital within a few hours, but I was also completely drugged up. By Friday I was feeling really good so good that I actually did housework without hurting. Of course I overdid it and by Friday night I was in an enormous amount of pain, but now I know that this procedure will work. It’s not something fun to go through, but this test run showed us that there is a chance that I’ll be able to have a normal life again. Sure there are still some other medical problems that I deal with, but being able to bend over without having to call someone from another room to do it for you, is an incredible feeling and one I hope to continue to have.

I can’t tell you how excited I am now just knowing that there’s a chance I may be able to pull this catering thing off without killing myself in the process.

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The Ins and Outs of an All You Can Eat World

2008-06-24T03:23:00Z

Today was a very educational day for me. I finally learned the ins and outs of setting up a buffet. As I read this section of my catering course, I had a lot of aha moments. I finally understood why Golden Corral, China King and Old Time Buffet, lays their food out in a certain way.

Did you know that restaurants put out the most inexpensive foods at the front of a buffet line so that the guests will fill up on the cheap stuff before loading up on the expensive stuff? I guess that's why the salad bar usually comes first and then the hot food.

I'm sure we've all set up a buffet style table before. I can remember my mother setting up two long tables and loading it up with food. The plates were at the beginning along with the napkins and utensils. With eight brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, there was always a crowd in our house and serving buffet style was the easiest way to feed people. My mom never thought about how to display the food. She just put it out there and we all stood their and waited to chow down. I do remember thinking many times that her food looked and smelled so good, and I never gave a thought to how the table looked. I just wanted to load up my plate like everyone else.

These days it's a different story for me. How my food looks and tastes as well as the garnishes and displays I use are very important to me. Even if I'm just serving a few people I try my hardest to make the table and buffet setting easy on my guests. I was happy to know that I have been doing many things right, like putting napkins and utensils at the end of the buffet table, and keeping cold food with the cold food and hot with the hot. I usually try to keep the beverages in a separate area, and the desserts are always at the end of the table with their own plates next to them.

What I learned from this section (and there's still more of it to go over) is that it's easy to make people think you're putting on an expensive display without breaking the bank by making simple substitutions. The hard part is trying not to overdo it. Now that's something I'm definitely going to have to learn how to do.

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A Customer Service Rep Renews My Faith In Penn Foster

2008-06-22T20:29:00Z

I recently logged onto my student account with Penn Foster Online to see when I'd be getting my new study material and found that my husband and I forgot to do something very important, we forgot to update our credit card information when we received our old card expired. What did this mean? It meant that I was almost three payments behind. Don't ask me why I didn't notice this when I logged on to the site to take my exams. I guess I was too focused on getting my test results. This error on my part caused me to do something I hate doing...I had to call Penn Foster.

So far my experiences with Penn Foster's customer service haven't been stellar, but I was willing to forgive and forget since this mistake was my fault. And since I couldn't make the payment until the end of the month I really needed to use the old saying, you catch more flies with honey not vinegar.

When I called I had a short wait and the woman that answered the phone was actually cheery. She had to search for my account since I didn't have my student number on hand, and since I gave her my nickname, Cat and not my given name, Catherine, it took her awhile to find my account. Whoops. Another boo boo on my part. When she finally found my account she informed me that I would be in danger of getting pulled from the program if I let my account go on without payment. Since I simply didn't have the money right then and there she made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. She allowed me to post date a check for my husband's next payday. This would keep my account current and allow us to pay when we had money in the bank. She was very helpful and offered to help me in anyway possible, and I actually believed her.

In short, I must say, this woman reinstated my faith in Penn Foster's customer service. I only wish I wrote down her name.

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Are you Taking A Summer Break?

2008-06-21T13:56:00Z

Today is the first day of summer, yet there’s no summer vacation in this house. We’ve got three students in this household that never get the summer break most do.

My husband is constantly studying. The poor man looks like he’s going to lose it over his financial accounting course. His days are spent at work, then he comes home and cracks open the books. I’ll give him this…the man is dedicated. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it and does it well.

My youngest son is homeschooled so there are no summer vacations for him. We’re taking it easy during the summer months, but he still has school everyday.

As for myself, I figure I’m always in learning mode. Since I’m learning how to be a caterer, every time I cook I’m learning. Right now I’m working on how to write a recipe. I’ve always cooked by taste so converting my meals into a recipe is a big…BIG challenge for me.

I once had a job that demanded a lot of hours, and I remember looking out the windows of the restaurant and thinking, wow it looks beautiful out there, on my next day off I’m going to go to the lake with my family. Before I knew it I was wearing sweaters to work and the trip to the lake never happened.

We online students don’t get the coveted summer vacation that most students do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a little break every now and then. When you get home from work, take an hour or two and just enjoy the sunshine. Go outside and play some ball with your kids or take a dip in your pool. We just bought a little 12’x36” and we’re having a blast in it. My point is, just because we don’t get a traditional summer break doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy our summer. Trust me, take the time to appreciate those sunny days because before you know it, you’ll be wearing sweaters again.

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