Peach Cobbler, Apple Crisp, and Blueberry Lemonade, Oh My!

The morning rushed by as I ran through my morning routine and prepared for class. When I arrived at Le Cordon Bleu, we early-shower-uppers prepped the room and then started preparing for the day’s assignments. On today’s agenda (or menu, rather): Peach Cobbler, Apple Crisp, and Éclair Shells (to be filled and decorated tomorrow). I learned, during demo-time, that the cobbler people typically make is not authentic cobbler. Cobbler is called cobbler because it is supposed to be garnished by multiple circular biscuit-like toppings that look like cobblestones when cooked. Crumb topping (which is typically sprinkled over top in common, incorrect cobbler) makes a dessert called crisp. Today, as mentioned we made both so we could see the difference. For the apple crisp, we simply sprinkled the crumb topping after preparing the apples. For the peach cobbler, we mixed the remaining crumb topping with heavy cream and followed the same biscuit technique to furnish little one-inch biscuits that we placed on top of our prepared peaches. After throwing them in the convection oven, we made our éclair dough and piped it onto baking sheets. We presented our desserts and cater-wrapped our éclair shells for tomorrow’s use. Chef used some of the extra blueberries from our pies to make blueberry lemonade. It was delicious! It was a super fun day in the kitchen. Sanitation and food safety class? Same old.  (Picture: drinking my blueberry lemonade standing next to my éclair shells).

When I arrived home, I quickly set up for the daily photo shoot and did my best to place the cobbler and crisp on our dishes—a rather sticky task! Yolanda had the brilliant idea to slice up some apples to garnish the apple crisp which I thought looked like fried chicken in the first few shots I took.  Ha!  I love fried chicken.  Side note: I used to dream about fried chicken and I'd wake up and wake Penny up and tell her about sinking my teeth into crispy juicy dark meat chicken.  Oooo.  My mouth is watering.  Anyway, I spent a little bit of time with the kids before preparing spaghetti for the family. It was nice to be preparing something savory for a change! We ate a delicious meal and I ate well over my share of food, probably due to the fact that I forgot to pack a lunch for myself this morning, oops.

Peach Cobbler

Hunter snapped a shot of me preparing my Apple Crisp in my "studio"

Apple Crisp (turned out pretty good eh?)

After dinner, Hunter asked me whether I would like to get a library card at Pasadena’s Central Library. With extra time at my disposal, I decided to tag along. At first sight, the library seemed rather plain—the exterior surrounded by a large unadorned wall that only allows you to see the upper levels that peak over the wall’s edge. As we entered the front entrance we stepped into the courtyard that contains a strikingly different, more elaborate façade that I can only explain as some type of hybrid between Spanish and Neoclassical architectural elements. Through the front doors, we walked into the main hall of the library which extended about the length of a football field but in place of the green grass and white painted numbers lays dark wood paneled flooring. Dimly lit lamps decorate small study tables that run down the hall’s center—each playing a rather insignificant decorative role when considering the vastness of the cathedral-like hall. I liked it! I received my new Pasadena library card and explored the building for a little less than an hour, leaving with only two borrowed CDs.

Library Courtyard

Library Main Hall

Back at home, I’m now finishing the day by updating my blog and studying up for tomorrow. I don’t imagine anything blog-worthy will take place before the night is through. I’m out!