Fudge & More Bread

Last week at this time I was sitting writing that tomorrow would be the end of week six… Tomorrow is the end of week seven, and I honestly don’t know how that’s happened! Had a great morning in the kitchen, even if my short crust pastry did decide to crack while blind baking it – which I didn’t know about until I poured the custard into the tart (in the oven), and it started coming out the bottom! Even with that, the tart was still delicious, and nearly perfect, so all was well. I made an apple tart with short crust pastry, made flakey pastry (which I will use tomorrow for a rhubarb tart), buttered cabbage (yum!), brown bread, and a loaf of sour dough. Mid morning I had a lull so I decided to make fudge, what a work up, it is setting over night, and I am sure the end result will be well worth it!

Demo today was done by Pam, there wasn’t a lot on the go, but it was still a great demo. Pam is so full of life, and has her own twist on teaching and food in general, so it’s always a nice change! After demo, Mary drove me into Cork to see mum and dad (yay!). What would I do with out Mary? She is such a lovely person, and I am so, so glad I’ve met her – and not only because she’s my personal chauffeur (ha!), she’s one of the good ones, and I hope to keep in touch with long after Ballymaloe!

Pam touched on our final practical exam today, so I have started to think about my menu, I have so many ideas, but need to properly sit down and put the ideas together to make a menu that flows. It’s crazy to think about that, and I don’t really want to because it means we are on the home stretch.

Tomorrow is my last day in Kitchen 2, I am headed to Kitchen 1 as I expected next week. It’s quite funny how you get so used to a kitchen, and the teachers around you, and then you have to switch – but it’s also a nice change. After demo tomorrow, Chris is going to drop me into Cork. Not too sure what mum, dad and I will get up to, we will see how it goes. I am hoping for some decent weather on Sunday to show them around the farm, do the cliff walk in Ballycotton, and stop in at The Blackbird for a pint. Time will tell, it will be a great weekend no matter what.

“Just remember, there will be life after Ballymaloe…” Pam on cooking in your own kitchen